WIC Families

 WIC is a nutrition program for:

• Pregnant women
• Breastfeeding women (up to one year postpartum)
• Non-breastfeeding, postpartum women (up to 6 months postpartum)
• Infants
• Children until the age of 5 years
   

The WIC Program provides:

• Nutrition education including breastfeeding support
• Nutritious foods to supplement a person's routine diet
• Screening and referral
• WIC participants must meet certain financial requirements.

Watch this video to learn about what WIC can do for you!

• Welcome to WIC (English)
• Welcome to WIC (Spanish)

Do you have questions about how to use your Allowable Foods List? Watch this video for more details.

• Closer Look: Allowable Foods List (English)
• Closer Look: Allowable Foods List (Spanish)

WIC participants receive these benefits:

1. Supplemental Foods. WIC participants receive monthly checks for healthy foods to supplement their diet. Typical foods are low-fat milk, cereal, eggs, cheese, juice, beans, peanut butter, whole-grain, fresh fruits and vegetables.
   
   • Allowable food list in English
   • Allowable food list in Spanish
2. Nutrition Education. At each WIC visit (at a minimum every three months), participants or their guardian receive personalized nutrition counseltations and breastfeeding support.
    
3. Screening and Referral. WIC participants are screened to assess their health status. Additionally, WIC participatns are informed of other community resources that may benefit them or their family.

In order to participate in the Colorado WIC Program a person must meet the following three criteria:
 

1. Categorical - a person must be one of the following:

• Pregnant woman
• Breastfeeding woman (up to one year after the delivery of a baby)
• Postpartum woman who is not breastfeeding (up to 6 months after the delivery of a baby)
• Infant
• Child up to 5 years of age
  
  Not all categories are served in all Colorado counties. In Weld, Rio Grande, Conejos, and Costilla counties the categories served by WIC are limited because of the availability of the Commodity Supplemental Foods Program.
   

2. Income - In order to financially qualify for the WIC Program, a participant’s combined household gross income cannot exceed the WIC Income Eligibility Guidelines (IEG). The WIC IEGs are 185% of the Poverty Guidelines published in the Federal Register on 03/23/2012 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

 

WIC INCOME ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES

These income guidelines are effective July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013

NOTE: Add one to household size for a pregnant woman

Use the following steps to manually calculate gross income.

• If a household had only one income source or if all income sources have the same frequency, compare the income, or the sum of the separate incomes, to the published WIC Income Eligibility Guidelines for the appropriate frequency and household size.
   
• If a household reports income sources at more than one frequency, perform the following calculations.
  • Annualize all income by multiplying weekly income by 52, income received every two weeks by 26, income received twice a month by 24, and income received monthly by 12.
  • Do no round the values resulting from each conversion.
  • Add together all the unrounded, converted values.
  • Compare the total to the annual income for the appropriate household size to determine income eligibility.

3. Address - Participants in the Colorado WIC program must live in Colorado. Generally, they are also required to be served in the county where they live. In some cases one local WIC agency may serve several counties. In that case, a person must be served by the local agency that provides services for their county.
 

Not sure if you qualify? You can also complete the online WIC Prescreening Tool to determine if you may be eligible for WIC benefits. This Prescreening Tool is not an application for WIC. To apply for WIC benefits, please call your local WIC clinic.

• Pregnancy (English)

• Pregnancy (Spanish)

• Postpartum breastfeeding (English)

• Postpartum breastfeeding (Spanish)

• Infant 0-5 months (English and Spanish)

• Infant 6-12 months (English and Spanish)

• Child (English and Spanish)

Allowable Food List

(Effective April 1st, 2010)

	Allowable food list in English The foods offered to Colorado WIC participants include a variety of healthy choices, such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grain items. These foods were chosen to address the nutritional needs of today’s population, to improve the health of WIC participants, and to support the nutritional education provided during WIC visits
	Allowable food list in Spanish Los alimentos de WIC incluyen una amplia variedad de alimentos sanos como las frutas, vegetales y granos integrales, como el pan integral. Los alimentos WIC buscan satisfacer las necesidades de nutrición de la población actual y mejorar la salud de los participantes de WIC.

Colorado WIC Program Approved Formulas

Click here to see a list of WIC Clinics by county

Below is a list of what you may be asked to bring to your WIC certification appointment:

• Your Infant/Child
• Immunization Record (infants and children)
• A Proof of Identification - Must be current/valid original document (not a photocopy):
  
  • Drivers license
  • Medicaid card
  • Colorado ID card
  • Work/student/military ID
  • Passport/U.S. Government ID
  • Birth certificate – original or certified copy
  • Social Security Card - original
  • Foster Child Papers
  • U.S. Immunization Record (Infant/Child)
  • U.S. Hospital Documentation (Infants) (Examples: infant wristband, footprint card, discharge papers)
    
    • Must include name of hospital, date of birth & mother’s name.
• A Proof of Address (1 item with current physical address)
  
  • Drivers license
  • Food Stamp eligibility notice
  • Government ID/document
  • Utility or other bill
  • Government mail
  • Rental agreement/mortgage receipt/statement from landlord
  • Bank or credit card statement
  • Car registration/title/insurance
  • Pay Stub/W2
• A Proof of Income
  
  • Must be recent/current
  • Bring documentation for all income received by the household members— whether related or not
  • Food Stamp eligibility notice
  • Check stubs from employment
  • W-2 forms or income tax forms
  • Military Leave and Earnings Statement (LES)
  • SSI letter or check stub
  • Written statement from employer
  • Self-employment documentation
  • Child support/alimony document
  • Student Award letter
  • Foster Placement/Award letter

Cuando venga a su próxima cita en WIC, traiga lo siguiente:

• Su Bebé, Niño o Niña
• Registros de Vacunación (bebé u niños)
• Una Identificación (debe ser una identificación valida, vigente y original, no una fotocopia)
  
  • Licencia de manejar
  • Tarjeta de Medicaid
  • Tarjeta de identificación de Colorado
  • Identificaión del trabajo, de estudiante or militar
  • Pasaporte o una identificación del gobierno de U.S.
  • Acta de nacimiento (el original o copia certificada)
  • Tarjeta de seguro social o “social security”
  • Los papeles del Hijo adoptivo
  • Registros de Vacunación de U.S. (bebe/niño)
  • Documentos del Hospital de U.S. (bebe)
    
    • Ejemplos: la pulsera de identificación del bebé, la tarjeta del la huella del pie, la documentación que le entregan al salir del hospital
    • Deberá incluir el nombre del hospital, la fecha de nacimiento y el nombre de la madra.
• Comprobante de domicilio (traiga uno de los documentos incluidos en la lista siguiente)
  
  • Licencia de manejar (con dirección actual)
    o Aviso de que cumple los requisitos para recibir estampillas para comida (Food Stamps)
  • Tarjeta de identificación de Colorado/document del gobierno
  • La cuenta de servicios públicos u otra cuenta
  • Correo del gobierno
  • Contrato de renta/recibo de pago de su hipoteca o carta de la persona de quien renta
  • Banco o estado de cuenta de tarjeta de crédito
  • Registro del carro/título/pago del seguro del carro
  • Talonario del cheque/formas W-2
• Ingresos
  • Debe ser reciente y vigente
  • Traiga la documentación de todos los ingresos de todas las personas que vivan en la casa, aunque no sean familiares
  • Aviso de que cumple los requisitos para recibir estampillas para comida (Food Stamps)
  • Talonario de sus cheques de pago del trabajo
  • Formas W-2 o sus declaraciones de ingresos (pago de impuestos)
  • Baja de las fuerzas armadas y estado de cuenta de sus ganancias
  • Una carta de la oficina del Social Security (SSI) o el talonario de sus cheques de pago del trabajo
  • Una carta de la compañía donde trabaja
  • Documentos que demuestren que trabaja como contratista independiente
  • Documento que señale lo que recibe de manutención para los niños o pensión
  • Carta de estudiante
  • Carta indicando donde ha sido asignado(a) como hogar temporal o carta de asignación

The WIC Program has been successful in improving the health of pregnant women, infants and children and in reducing health care costs. Various studies indicate that WIC participation:

 

• Reduces the number of premature and low-birth-weight babies
• Reduces Medicaid costs
• Improves diets
• Reduces deficiency anemia
• Improves cognitive development in WIC children
• Improves immunization rates
• Increases breastfeeding duration rates
• Reduces infant mortality
• Decreased infant mortality
  

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides funding and policy to the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (CDPHE) to operate the WIC Program in the State of Colorado. CDPHE in turn provides funding and policy to county health departments, nursing services or community health centers to provide WIC services for people in individual Colorado counties.