The county Board of Supervisors authorized the Health Services Agency to receive a $93,130 increase from its last amended contract of $1,872,217 for the federal fiscal year 2001-2002.

According to Phoebe Leung, associate director of HSA, the extra money will mainly be used to offset increased operational costs as well as help the program improve its customer service.

In April, WIC’S main office in Modesto moved from its old Campus Way location to a new site in the West Modesto Community Center on 401 E. Paradise Road. The additional funding will help the agency pay for the higher rent at this new location without dipping into its general fund, Leung said.

Elaine Emery, WIC program manager, explained that funding received for WIC is not adjusted for increased cost of living, so any increases the program does receive are used to cover basic cost needs.

Leung noted that although the program’s funding has never been cut significantly and has pretty much remained steady and consistent, the funding is not an entitlement because the WIC is an appropriation program from Congress and funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We will always welcome more money”, she laughed.

In addition to helping the main WIC office with its relocation costs, the agency has used the funding to purchase more books and new chairs for the Turlock office at 1125 N. Golden State Blvd., according to Emery.

The extra funding has also been used to train and educate its staff to better promote breastfeeding. Part-time staff were hired to present classes on breastfeeding and health, and better videos and educational materials were also purchased.

“There are a lot of material costs associated with the changing curriculum,” said Emery.

One of the biggest recent changes has been the centralization of WIC’s phone system, which was implemented after the main office’s relocation, Emery believes the new system is one of the program’s most notable customer service enhancements.

“It has freed the staff on-site so they don’t have answer the phone,” said Emery.

Prior to the centralization, customers who called the WIC offices would usually get the on-site receptionists, who had to stop their on-site duties to answer the phones. With the new system, all calls now to a central location where only designated staff answer the calls.

The WIC program provides printed checks to its participants who use them to purchase specific foods each month designed to supplement their diets.

Emery emphasized the distinction between the vouchers WIC participants receive and food stamps for low-income individuals.

“The vouchers are considered prescriptions,” she explained. “The foods they pay with the vouchers are very specific and has to be certain brands.”

Participants must also purchase their foods at participating WIC grocers. Local grocers reportedly receive an average monthly revenue of $850,000 from redeemed food vouchers.

Pregnant or postpartum women, infants and children under age 5 who are determined to be at “nutritional risk” are eligible for the WIC program.

Reprinted by permission of the Turlock Journal.