Washington, DC, April 23, 2014 - Agriculture Under Secretary Kevin Concannon today announced the release of nearly $60 million in Fiscal Year 2014 funds to WIC agencies in states, territories, and Indian tribal organizations (ITO) in support of breastfeeding peer counselor programs in USDA’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The WIC Program, which supports 51 percent of the infants born in the U.S., promotes breastfeeding as the best form of nutrition for infants. In Fiscal Year 2012, the when recipients who were breastfeeding outnumbered the women who did not.
“Breastfeeding provides many health, nutritional, economical and emotional benefits to mothers and babies," Concannon said. “These funds will assist states as they work to improve breastfeeding support for mothers that impart long term health benefits to their infants."
The primary goal of WIC is to safeguard the health of infants, young children, and women who are pregnant or postpartum. Research has shown that breastfeeding is the best source of infant nutrition and offers protection against infections and illnesses. Breastfed babies may have reduced health risks such as obesity, asthma, and diabetes later in life. For mothers, breastfeeding is linked to reduced risk of postpartum depression, type-2 diabetes, and certain cancers.
Evidence shows that the use of breastfeeding peer counselors increases breastfeeding initiation, duration, and exclusivity.
The WIC Peer Counseling Program addresses barriers to breastfeeding that WIC mothers face. Peer counselors are recruited and hired from WIC’s target population of low-income women and undergo training to provide mother-to-mother support in group settings and one-to-one counseling through telephone calls or visits in the home, clinic, or hospital.
To prepare staff within the WIC Program to implement and expand breastfeeding peer counseling programs, FNS developed a training system, called “Using Loving Support to Implement Best Practices in Peer Counseling." This curriculum continues to serve as a guide for local programs in designing, building and sustaining peer counseling programs.
WIC state agencies use the grants to continue to implement and administer a peer counseling program that relies on research-based components of the Loving Support Peer Counseling Model. The funds will enable WIC state agencies to build upon and expand their breastfeeding peer counseling implementation plans.
A list of the funds available to each state, territory and ITO is below. The actual amount provided to the agency will be dependent on the submission and approval of an operational plan.
Alabama
Alaska
American Samoa
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Guam
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri $500,000
$214,733
$83,479
$1,056,158
$570,964
$9,316,140
$641,918
$383,612
$159,987
$175,256
$3,355,839
$1,639,443
$82,863
$319,043
$327,153
$1,885,125
$925,804
$404,458
$457,411
$850,763
$804,192
$170,815
$1,034,856
$821,799
$1,590,633
$852,613
$463,279
$896,042 Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Northern Mariana Islands
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Puerto Rico
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virgin Islands
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming $161,157
$271,749
$499,282
$134,667
$1,155,229
$446,098
$3,768,939
$1,725,090
$102,076
$45,000
$1,564,861
$623,875
$817,253
$1,367,859
$1,034,711
$181,989
$830,445
$137,796
$1,125,512
$7,845,003
$499,649
$126,194
$79,361
$1,051,548
$1,400,507
$289,739
$669,882
$112,062
Subtotal For States & Territories
$58,051,911
Acoma-Canoncito-Laguna Hospital, N.M.
Cherokee Nation, Okla
Cheyenne River, S.D.
Chickasaw Nation, Okla
Choctaw Nation, Okla
Citizen Potawatomi, Okla
Eastern Band of Cherokee, N.C.
Eight Northern Indian Pueblo, N.M.
Five Sandoval Indian Pueblo, N.M.
Inter-Tribal Council, Ariz
Inter-Tribal Council, Nev
Inter-Tribal Council, Okla
Isleta Pueblo, N.M.
Miss. Band of Choctaw Indians, Miss
Muscogee Creek Nation, Okla $45,258
$81,440
$45,489
$64,272
$59,191
$48,645
$45,296
$40,782
$43,372
$96,181
$23,500
$46,067
$47,529
$45,489
$55,497 Navajo Tribe, Ariz
Northern Arapaho, Wyo
Omaha Tribe, Neb
Osage Tribe, Okla
Otoe-Missouria, Okla
Pueblo of San Felipe, N.M.
Pueblo of Zuni, N.M.
Rosebud Sioux, S.D.
Santo Domingo, N.M.
Standing Rock Sioux, N.D.
Three Affiliated Tribes, N.D.
Ute Mountain, Colo
Winnebago Tribe, Neb
WCD Enterprises, Okla $116,350
$44,219
$42,564
$51,493
$43,911
$34,008
$46,220
$48,491
$24,124
$45,335
$42,641
$22,359
$34,629
$58,737
Subtotal For ITOs $1,443,089
Each month, WIC provides over 8.6 million low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women, infants, and children up to age five with nutritious, supplemental foods. The program also provides nutrition and breastfeeding education and referrals to health and social services.
More information about the WIC program can be found at https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic.
USDA's Food and Nutrition Service administers 15 nutrition assistance programs. In addition to WIC, these programs include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, National School Lunch Program, and the Summer Food Service Program which together comprise America's nutrition safety net. For more information, visit www.fns.usda.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service
