I recently gave 5 reasons WIC is awesome. And I think those are pretty valid reasons to be supportive of the program. But we should also try to be objective, and really try to see if WIC is as awesome as it’s often made out to be. Do the numbers really add up to show that WIC actually makes people more healthy while saving tax dollars?

I read an article titled “Is WIC as good as they say?” and much of the information in this post will come from that article.

The article begins by quoting Former Health and Human Services Secretary Louis Sullivan as saying, “The WIC Program results in significant Medicaid savings that far outweigh the program’s costs by a ratio of 3 to 1…. That is clearly an overwhelming return on a small national investment.” This is a savings ratio I’ve heard before, and may have even referred to in the past. But is it accurate?

First, there’s the issue of WIC participation. WIC is a voluntary program for those who are eligible. That they’re eligible means (theoretically) that they’re nutritionally at risk. But since it’s a voluntary program, that also says something about those who go through the effort of signing up and then doing what’s required of them to continue to receive benefits (especially when you consider how much of a hassle all that can be). It might be that the types of moms who put in all this effort are also the types of moms who treat their children a certain way medically.

In other words, to make the study more meaningful, you would need to compare WIC participants not just with non-WIC participants, but also with a group of moms who wanted to receive WIC, but were not allowed to receive benefits for the sake of the study. That group of people doesn’t exist. So the Medicaid savings that come as a result of the WIC program may have to do more with those moms who than with the program itself.

Second, there have really been very few studies done specifically to determine whether WIC is cost-effective, or even effective at making the target groups more healthy. It’s just assumed that it is. After all, it just makes sense that providing healthy options to low-income families will make them more healthy and therefore reduce the burden of their medical costs. But can we say it definitively? As I’ve already pointed out, many of the studies show there’s a correlation between receiving WIC and being more healthy, but whether it’s a causation is yet to be proven.

In the end, I’m not sure we can point to any particular study as evidence for the effectiveness of WIC. Certain studies suggest it’s beneficial, but because of selection bias, they may not be scientific enough to justify spending billions of dollars a year on the program. Perhaps the best proof we have isn’t by analyzing massive amounts of data on the national level, but by taking a look at how WIC has made children healthy in specific states such as New York.

So, do you think WIC is awesome? What proof would give?

As we’ve seen many times, there are a multitude of opinions and experiences having to do with the WIC program. A couple years back, an anonymous brave cashier shared her perspective with me, and she let me share it on my blog. Needless to say, the post received (and continues to receive) quite a bit of mixed feedback.

Today, I’m bringing you another anonymous checker’s perspective, quite a bit different from the last one. Enjoy!

A lot of moms on the WIC program have faced scrutiny over using their WIC checks.

I’m a cashier in a major supermarket. I’ve been cashiering since 21 and I’m 25 now. I do not have kids but I have nieces and nephews who benefited from the WIC program. I hope to be a mom someday myself.

I feel bad for what the cashiers have put the mommies through while trying to get food to feed their kids. I wish I could apologize for their behavior.

When I process WIC orders, I am polite and friendly to my customers (all my customers in general, really). If they get the wrong item, I apologize and ask them if they would like to pick from the other options available. If they pick something, either I or someone else will go run and get it for them.

I love to chat with the moms while processing the WIC. Sometimes when they bring their children, I wave to them. I love the little dears!

I just want to say to the moms on here that they should NEVER be ashamed to come to the market. Every mom on here is a great mother. My nieces and nephews are thriving very well at their older ages thanks to the WIC programs and I wish the moms and kids well from someone with no kids.

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Comfort and Harmony for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you heard about the Moms Love Mombo nursing pillow? I’ve used nursing pillows before, but nothing like this. The ones I’ve used have technically done the job, but the experience was lacking. If I were still nursing today, I would definitely try this nursing pillow made by Comfort & Harmony.

The Moms Love Mombo nursing pillow is beautifully designed. It has a unique shape that supports your baby, with one side being firm, and the other soft, so that no matter the situation, you and your baby can be comfortable while nursing or lounging around.

There are also several designs to choose from, ranging from bright colors, to fun patterns, to a simple and elegant nude. And you don’t even have to limit yourself to one design! You can pick up a slipcover to change it up a little based on your baby’s mood. :) Check out the mombo nursing pillow selection at Toys R Us or Babies R Us!

Oh, I almost forgot the most unique thing! It’s actually the only nursing pillow with a vibration feature. This could come in really handy sometimes! Many babies love this kind of soothing stimulation, and it could be just the thing to help them rest and fall back asleep during the night.

I’ve liked Comfort & Harmony on Facebook, and I’m following Comfort & Harmony on Twitter, and so should you. Not only is this a company that makes awesome products for moms and babies (be sure to check out their other mombo products as well), but they also offer a lot of useful tips, and start some great conversations with moms. You can tell they’re really passionate about helping moms.

I’m all for any tool that encourages breastfeeding and makes it a more enjoyable experience. The Moms Love Mombo nursing pillow could be just the item that you’ve been looking for!

I complain about WIC too much! So today I’m simply going to name 5 reasons why WIC is awesome, and link to posts where I’ve talked about each issue. It’s not a top 5 list, but rather just 5 random reasons off the top of my head in no particular order. Here goes!

1. WIC helps millions of women, infants, and children.
2. WIC encourages breastfeeding.
3. WIC encourages eating healthy.
4. WIC lowers health care costs.
5. WIC is possibly the most cost-effective government program in existence!

Do you think WIC is awesome? Why or why not?

Photo by Clearly Ambiguous

In an effort to provide a safer, nicer, more friendly environment in this blog to talk about issues related to WIC, I’ve been trying to moderate the discussion going on in the comment section. I’ve only been doing this for a week so far, but it’s tough work!

I mean, it’s not laborious, as it 0nly requires reading and clicking a mouse, but it’s not always a cut and dry process. Some comments obviously cross the line, while others are borderline. Still others are technically okay in themselves, yet are obviously directing the conversation to places it’s not polite to go. So I could use your help!

The only “rule” I’ve given so far is to be nice. But what does that mean? I think I need to spell it out a bit more.

1. No profanity, unless there is obviously and absolutely no vice or mean-spirited tone in the comment whatsoever.
2. No demeaning others. Telling others how horrible or stupid they are (whether explicitly or implied) is not acceptable.
3. Stick to your own story and ideas, rather than telling others how wrong they are in their decisions. As strongly as you feel about some of these issues, realize that these are often grey areas, so we should leave room for a difference of opinion.
4. Be encouraging! I really hope this blog can be a place where we can be encouraged! You’re a good mom! You’re doing your best! And no matter what others say or imply, you have worth, you love your kids, and you would do anything for them!

I may edit comments which break (or severely bend) these rules, and point them to this blog post. I won’t hesitate to delete a comment that breaks these rules if I can’t edit it to conform to the rules quickly. I may also add new rules in the future as needed. What comment rules do you think we should all abide by?

I’ve decided to change the way I moderate comments. I used to approve just about anyone, saying just about anything. I guess when I started out blogging, I was just happy to get a few comments, and I didn’t care as much about the tone or content of the comments. I have pretty thick skin.

But that’s not conducive to the kind of community I want to be a part of now. That kind of comment moderation (or more accurately, lack of moderation) allows trolls and those with a chip on their shoulder to demean others. It allows mean-spirited people to say mean-spirited things, and for them to say those things as often as they like. That’s not the kind of community I want surrounding me and my blog.

I’m not saying I’m going to silence points of view that disagree with me. This blog has always been about having an open discussion about WIC. I still encourage points of view different from my own to comment and guest post. But I think that discussion can (and should) be had with mutual respect and empathy. It’s not okay to bash people who have a different view than your own.

In the past, I’ve edited comments to make them more PG. I’ve probably done it less than a dozen times in all, and most of the time only to take out profanity. But going forward, I’m simply going to delete hurtful comments. We can stick to the issues without making personal attacks.

My hope is that we can all find a safe place here to support one another and even express our frustrations without fear of being attacked. Heck, maybe we can even get to know each other and become friends. But that’s only going to happen if we can agree to be civil with one another, even (and especially) when we disagree.

I make a lot of assumptions about who reads my blog. I’m assuming most of you are women (although I know there are a few men out there, too). I’m assuming most of you are mothers. I’m assuming most of you have young children. And I’m assuming that you’re either currently on WIC or considering applying for WIC in the future. But I really don’t know these things. So who are you, really?

I’d love to get to know you better. Really, I would. In fact, I think it’s strange that I’ve gotten to know so very few people over the course of blogging these last few years. Maybe it’s because of the subject and the stigma associated with WIC. I guess a lot of people want to remain anonymous. Even I like to stay fairly anonymous. Even though I do use my real name (at least part of it), I don’t use pictures of myself or my family, nor do I go into detail about certain areas of my life or the lives of my family members.

But I wish that could change. I wish we could all come out of hiding. Out from behind the masks we wear. I wish we could get to know each other on a much more personal level. A level on which we can share our struggles, not only about WIC, but about life. About raising our kids. About parenthood and family. Because I know behind every visit, behind every comment, there’s a parson who has a story. And that person has worth, because God has given that person worth.

I’m not saying we all need to use our real names. Or that you need to attach your photo to every comment that you make. Only that there’s a community of people here that has a ton in common, and we don’t even know each other. But I think if we each took a minute to introduce ourselves and genuinely tell our stories, this could turn into a really great place of support and encouragement.

I hope you’ll share your story with us. Let’s be friends.

Photo by Vjeran Lisjak

I predicted not long ago that the 2013 sequester will have little effect on how many people WIC can help. I still believe that, and now some data is coming in to back me up.

(By the way, if you don’t know what the sequester is, I explain it a bit in my last post on this topic.)

Much of the data I’m going to cite comes from an article on the impact of the sequester on WIC. Even though much of what will happen is still anyone’s guess (since it’s dependant upon all sorts of factors we don’t know), the article does a good job bringing all of what we do know into one place, along with some best-guess projections about WIC usage and funding.

First, it states, “The WIC funding level recently enacted for the remainder of the current fiscal year, which runs through September 30, will likely be sufficient to serve all eligible applicants.” So no one is losing anything immediately.

Second, it points out that even though $7.018 billion was approved to fund the WIC program for the 2013 fiscal year, the sequester cuts knock this figure down to $6.522 billion – roughly half a billion dollars.

This sounds like a lot (because it is!), but how does this affect who will benefit from WIC? Surely not all eligible people will be able to receive WIC with so much less funding, right? Well, we should also remember that WIC participation has been declining in recent years, so the $6.522 billion budget may actually be enough to completely fund the program.

And rather than decrease the number of participants being served, state and local WIC agencies can do a lot to decrease expenses. Some are willing to make tough sacrifices (like Dubois County in Indiana), while others (like Georgia) are finally cleaning up the mess that’s accumulated over time.

So it’s fairly safe to say that no WIC participants will be turned away in 2013 because of the sequester. And even though the article leaves us wondering about 2014, I still think the same can be said about that year, and the year after. Because our government doesn’t really know how to cut spending, even though some cuts just make sense.

Every once in awhile, I get an email from someone asking me if it’s okay to use material on my blog in their research for some project they’re working on. My response is always the same: ABSOLUTELY!

One of my goals is to raise awareness of the issues having to do with WIC and other government-run programs (especially nutritional assistance programs). So I absolutely encourage anyone who finds my blog to use the information on it, for whatever project they’re working on.

I don’t even mind which position you take. If you think I have the greatest ideas ever, awesome. If you agree with me on some issues but disagree with me on others, cool. If you think I’m a raving lunatic who is completely naive to the real issues, I’d still be honored that you use my blog to raise awareness of the issues.

All I ask is that you give me credit. If you quote me in your blog, link to my article. If you’re writing a paper, cite my blog as a resource. In MLA style, something like this would suffice:

Woes, Lynn. “What Does WIC Cost Tax Payers?” Weblog entry. WIC woes. 6 July 2011. Accessed 8 April 2013 (http://wicwoes.com).

So I guess I’m not giving you permission to steal, but I do give permission to anyone who would like to use my blog for any reason. Quote me on your blog. Quote me in your paper. Print out some of my posts and use them as kindle for the fire. Whatever floats your boat.

I just read a beautiful post written to WIC moms, by a WIC mom. It’s exactly the kind of thing I wish I wrote more on my own blog. We all need a good deal of encouragement. Be encouraged.

The post is titled, “What I would say to the other moms in the WIC office,” and the message Lisa wants you to know is that “you’re a good mom.” Sometimes we don’t feel that way. We feel judged by the cashiers and other grocery store customers. We hear our friends talk down about those on nutritional assistance programs. And even when we don’t hear those things, we frequently condemn ourselves.

“Should I be working harder?”

“Am I setting a bad example for my kids?”

“Am I just another tax burden for hard-working citizens?”

But Lisa wants you to know that you’re a good mom. And I want you to know that you’re a good mom.

Your baby, your toddler–they’re proof of that.

Lisa is much more eloquent than I am. Go read her post. And be encouraged, because whatever the circumstances, I know you’d do anything to make sure your kids are loved.