This data collection fulfills states' reporting requirements and describes trends in program participation during the COVID-19 pandemic from July 2021 through September 2022. It is part of an ongoing study series examining child nutrition program operations, repurposed to collect waiver usage and trends in program participation and operations during the pandemic.

The Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 requires federal agencies, like FNS, to give Congress information about payment errors for federal programs, like CACFP. FNS planned this study to estimate payment errors in CACFP child care centers. However, after completing the study, FNS found an error in the method used to estimate nationwide findings from the study data. Because of the error, FNS is not publishing the full study, and will instead present key findings that relate to broad trends instead of specific estimates.

We explored the feasibility of using existing data from state monitoring reviews – a process designed to assess operations and provide real-time technical assistance to family day care homes operating CACFP – to estimate the rate of improper payments in those operations. This study found that flexibility in these reviews and the information they report across states, while beneficial for their main purpose, made the resulting data unusable for estimating a national improper payment rate.

This report, the latest in a series of annual reports on WIC eligibility, presents 2017 national and state estimates of the number of people eligible for WIC benefits and the percents of the eligible population and the US population covered by the program, including estimates by participant category.

The report also provides estimates by region, state, U.S. territory, and race and ethnicity

Estimates prepared from the American Community Survey (ACS) and the decennial Census and used in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) funding formula to determine states' fair shares of WIC food funds.

The WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study 2 (WIC ITFPS-2)/ “Feeding My Baby” Study  captures data on caregivers and their children over the first 6 years of the child’s life after WIC enrollment to address a series of research questions regarding feeding practices, associations between WIC services and those practices, and the health and nutrition outcomes of children receiving WIC. To date, the study has produced three reports: the Intentions to Breastfeed Report (2015); the Infant Year Report (2017); and the Second Year Report (2018). The current report focuses on caregivers’ employment, school, and child care circumstances, as well as the feeding beliefs and practices, dietary intake, and weight status of children from birth through approximately 36 months of age.

Enrollment for the WIC Program in April 2016 totaled 8,815,472.  Of this total, Whites accounted for 5,168,190 (58.63%), Blacks/African Americans 1,829,374 (20.75%), American Indian/Alaskan Natives 906,698 (10.29%), Multiple Race 508,750 (5.77%), Asians 317,604 (3.60%), Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders 69,882 (0.79%).

Enrollment for the WIC Program in April 2014 totaled 9,303,254.  Of this total, Whites accounted for 5,465,188 (58.74%), Blacks or African Americans 1,892,153 (20.34%), American Indian/Alaskan Natives 1,032,651 (11.10%), Multiple Race 506,270 (5.44%), Asians 309,260 (3.32%), Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders 78,229 (0.84%). 

The WIC Participant and Program Characteristics 2012: Food Package Report is a supplement to the WIC Participant and Program Characteristics 2012 biennial report. The Food Package Report describes the content of WIC food packages based on information on the packages or prescriptions issued to WIC participants in April 2012. This report is a new report and should be of interest to researchers at USDA, academics, and others who study or have interest in the WIC program and nutrition.

This 2013 assessment of the family daycare homes (FDCHs) component of CACFP provides a national estimate of the share of the roughly 123,000 participating FDCHs that are approved for an incorrect level of per meal reimbursement, or reimbursement "tier" for their circumstances.