

McDaniel told lawmakers her department believes concerns about Covid-19 are keeping people from physically visiting grocery stores, which could lead to these vulnerable populations missing out on much-needed items like formula and milk. They went from 67 percent to 53 percent in June.

“To build that would take longer to fill an immediate need,” she added.ĭespite enrollment in the program trending up amid widespread economic hardship, the rate of redemption - that is, people actually using their benefits - has dipped. WIC is an income-restricted program that provides supplemental food assistance to pregnant or postpartum women, infants and children under the age of 5.ĭHHS officials went before the Interim Finance Committee on Wednesday to receive approval for $3.1 million in CARES Act funds to rapidly launch and support the program, which will be run in-house but will involve partnerships with nonprofits such as Three Square in Southern Nevada.Ĭandice McDaniel of DHHS told lawmakers that contracting with a third-party private company like Instacart that already offers home delivery would have been too time intensive because the back-end programs needed to accommodate the transfer of benefits don’t currently exist. The Nevada Department of Health and Human Services plans to launch a grocery delivery service for all participants of the program known as WIC (Women, Infants and Children). All rights reserved.Use in grocery delivery has skyrocketed since the onset of the pandemic, but one group of people has been unable to partake in the convenience: pregnant women and young children who receive benefits from the state’s supplemental nutrition program. Participants will be notified when additional stores are available to accept eWIC at self-checkout.Ĭopyright 2021 WCSC.

