Child Nutrition and WIC
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The Impact of the Sequester on WIC
Revised April 11, 2013
WIC — the highly effective nutrition program that serves roughly 9 million low-income women and children — has been battered by funding uncertainty for the last six months as Congress grappled with how to accomplish deficit reduction over the coming decade. The WIC funding level recently enacted for the remainder of the … -
Testimony of Robert Greenstein, President, Before Senate Budget Committee
February 13, 2013
I appreciate the invitation to testify today on the impact of federal budget decisions on families and communities. This is an important matter. As you know, the nation will have to make tough decisions to put the budget on a more sustainable fiscal course. The issue is not only whether policymakers act to secure adequate … -
Statement of Robert Greenstein, President, in Response to Republican Budget Offer
December 4, 2012
House Republican leaders portray the deficit-reduction offer that they issued yesterday as a fair middle ground. It isn’t. On the crucial issue of revenues, the new Republican offer proposes $800 billion over ten years. Contrast that with the plan that Erskine Bowles, Alan Simpson, and some members of their commission issued in December 2010, … -
Key Steps to Improve Access to Free and Reduced-Price School Meals
September 6, 2012
The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a well-established federal program that provides school children with a nutritious lunch every school day. In recent years, free and reduced-price school breakfasts and lunches have been especially beneficial for children from low-income families that are struggling to afford nutritious food in … -
How to Improve School Meals Applications
August 31, 2012
The school meals programs support the healthy development of children and help to ensure that low-income school-aged children have access to adequate nutrition. The process of enrolling for free or reduced-price meals and the application form itself are the gateway to these benefits. Typically school districts send home school … -
SNAP Plays a Critical Role in Helping Children
July 17, 2012
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) is the nation’s largest child nutrition program, providing benefits to help one in three children in the nation to be able to eat a nutritionally sound diet. As such, SNAP is crucially important to children’s health and … -
Blog Post: Greenstein on the Ryan Budget
March 21, 2012
We’ve issued a statement from Robert Greenstein on the budget from House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan. Here’s the opening: The new Ryan budget is a remarkable document — one that, for most of the past half-century, would have been outside the bounds of mainstream discussion due to its extreme nature. In essence, this budget is … -
Statement of Robert Greenstein, President, on Chairman Ryan's Budget Plan
March 21, 2012
The new Ryan budget is a remarkable document — one that, for most of the past half-century, would have been outside the bounds of mainstream discussion due to its extreme nature. In essence, this budget is Robin Hood in reverse — on steroids. It would likely produce the largest redistribution of income from the bottom to the top in modern U.S.… -
Contrary to "Entitlement Society" Rhetoric, Over Nine-Tenths of Entitlement Benefits Go to Elderly, Disabled, or Working Households
February 10, 2012
Some conservative critics of federal social programs, including leading presidential candidates, are sounding an alarm that the United States is rapidly becoming an “entitlement society” in which social programs are undermining the work ethic and creating a large class of Americans who prefer to depend on government benefits rather … -
Senate’s Balanced Budget Amendment Could Force Deep Cuts in Aid to States
December 14, 2011
The Republican-sponsored version of a constitutional balanced budget amendment, which the Senate voted on today, would require enormous federal budget cuts, very likely resulting in dramatic reductions in federal grants to states and localities for services ranging from education to highway maintenance to public safety. The attached … -
Will WIC Turn Away Eligible Low-Income Women and Children Next Year?
September 19, 2011
For each of the last 15 years, Administrations and Congresses of both parties have provided sufficient funding for the WIC nutrition program to serve all eligible low-income pregnant women, infants, and young children who apply. Leaders of the current Congress have reiterated this commitment rhetorically. But there are mounting questions as to … -
Claim Regarding High WIC Administrative Costs Is False
Revised September 19, 2011
The 2012 agriculture appropriations bill that the House approved on June 14 includes large cuts in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) that would force the program to turn away more than 700,000 eligible low-income women and children next year. [1] One of the House Appropriations Committee’s … -
Six Ways that States and School Districts Can Make It Easier for Children in Foster Care to Get Free Meals at School
August 9, 2011
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 has made it easier for school districts to enroll children who are in foster care for free school meals. [1] Children in foster care are now automatically eligible for free meals regardless of their income (a policy known as "categorical eligibility").[2] As a result of … -
A Unique Opportunity to Improve School Meals Applications
April 21, 2011
The school meals programs can play a critical role in supporting the healthy development of children and helping to ensure that low-income school-aged children have access to adequate nutrition. The process of enrolling for free or reduced-price meals and the application form itself are the gateway to these benefits. Typically school … -
Republican Study Committee Bill Would Require Deepest Cuts in Programs for the Poor in U.S. History
April 5, 2011
Legislation unveiled last month by the Republican Study Committee, the powerful caucus that includes 176 House Republican members, would require the most severe cuts in programs for the poor in the nation’s history. Introduced by RSC Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH), Tim Scott (R-SC), and RSC Budget and Spending Task Force Chair … -
Enrolling All Children in a Household for Free School Meals
June 16, 2010
A new federal policy will make it easier for school districts to enroll certain low-income children for free school meals. Under the revised policy, all children in a household are eligible for free school meals if anyone in the household is receiving assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance … -
Podcast: New Ingredients Raising Costs for “WIC” Program
June 15, 2010
Zoë Neuberger, Senior Policy Analyst, discusses the federal food and nutrition program for women, infants and children known as WIC, and the increase in the program’s costs because manufacturers are adding expensive but unproven ingredients to formula and other foods that the program provides.
Duration: 4:09
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WIC Food Package Should Be Based on Science:
June 4, 2010
Several foods offered through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) are now sold in higher-priced versions containing “functional ingredients” that manufacturers claim confer health and developmental benefits. While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ensures that these ingredients … -
The Food Stamp Dependent Care Deduction
March 23, 2010
The Food Stamp Program targets benefits according to need. It does this by limiting eligibility to low-income households and by assessing the ability of individual households to purchase food. Households can deduct certain critical expenses from their income. This results in higher benefits, reflecting the fact that these households have … -
Podcast: Zoë Neuberger Testimony on the Hunger Free Schools Act
March 4, 2010
Senior Policy Analyst, Zoë Neuberger, discusses the Hunger Free Schools Act before the House of Representative Subcommittee on Agriculture, at a hearing titled “Child Nutrition” on Thursday, March 4, 2010.
Duration: 6:06
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Who Benefits From Federal Subsidies for Free and Reduced Price School Meals?
January 29, 2010
In anticipation of Congressional reauthorization of the federal child nutrition programs, some have called for increased federal reimbursement rates for school meals to improve their nutritional quality. [2] Under current rules, however, federal payments for free and reduced price meals are not used solely to underwrite the cost of producing … -
USDA Study Shows States Failing To Connect Many Needy Children to Free School Meals
March 3, 2009
Over the past three years, school districts and the state agencies that run the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp Program) have been implementing a federal requirement designed to provide food assistance to needy children who are eligible for it and eliminate unnecessary paperwork for families and schools.… -
Understanding Errors in the School Meals Programs
Revised February 19, 2008
The Agriculture Department recently published a rigorous study of error in the school lunch and breakfast programs. The results show a troubling degree of error in the programs. As USDA notes, changes to reduce program errors should improve accuracy without impeding program access or increasing paperwork. Moreover, the study could easily be misunderstood by … -
President's Vetoes Could Cause Half a Million Low-Income Pregnant Women, Infants, and Children to be Denied Nutritional Benefits in One of Nation’s Most Effective Programs
Revised December 10, 2007
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides nutritious foods, counseling on healthy eating, and health care referrals to low-income pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children under age five who are at nutritional risk. Unlike other key low-income nutrition programs, such as food stamps or school meals, there … -
How Will the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Affect Food Stamp Program Operations?
October 26, 2006
On June 30, 2004, the President signed into law, the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-265). While the legislation focuses primarily on the child nutrition programs, it does amend the Food Stamp Act and will have some impact on Food Stamp Program operations. State food stamp agencies will now be … -
Implementing Direct Certification — States and School Districts Can Help Low-Income Children Get the Free School Meals for Which They Are Eligible
August 11, 2006
All children who participate in the Food Stamp Program are eligible for free meals at school. School districts and state agencies have long had the option of automatically enrolling such children for free meals through a process called “direct certification,” under which they bypass the standard application process. … -
Budget Process Bill Threatens Federal Nutrition Programs
July 6, 2006
The Senate Budget Committee has approved a bill that would radically alter federal budget procedures and could lead to massive cuts over time in the vast majority of domestic programs, including nutrition programs. The bill may come to the Senate floor this summer. Senator Judd Gregg, Chairman of the Budget Committee, has described the bill as offering “common sense and fiscally … -
School Meals Program Applications Online: Highlights of Ways to Reduce Access Barriers and Links to Available Materials
April 17, 2006
In 2004, Congress reauthorized the school meals programs and enacted numerous changes to program rules regarding the application, enrollment, and eligibility verification processes. As a result of these changes, every school district in the country had to revise its school meals application for the 2005-2006 school year. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has reviewed state … -
Food and Nutrition Programs: Reducing Hunger, Bolstering Nutrition
Revised August 17, 2005
Following the creation and expansion of the domestic food assistance programs in the second half of the 20th century, severe hunger, which had been a significant national problem, has become rare. The food assistance programs were developed in several steps. Concerns about the nutritional status of young men drafted for service in … -
Reducing Paperwork and Connecting Low-Income Children with School Meals
November 16, 2004
In enacting the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, Congress made several changes in the eligibility determination process for free and reduced-price school meals.[1] (The eligibility determination process has two parts: “certification,” in which children are approved to receive meal benefits, and … -
WIC-Only Stores and Competitive Pricing in the WIC Program
May 17, 2004
Over the past decade, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) has successfully leveraged market forces to contain program costs. Food prices have risen by 28 percent over the last ten years while WIC food costs have grown by only 18 percent. If left …
