AUGUST 17 2021
SNAP Benefits Increased by 25%

The Biden administration has revised the nutrition standards of the food stamp program and prompted the largest permanent increase to benefits in the program’s history, a move that will give poor people more power to fill their grocery carts but add billions of dollars to the cost of a program that feeds one in eight Americans.
Child Tax Credit Payments Reduced Child Hunger
The percentage of American families with kids who report not having enough to eat fell dramatically after the first child tax credit payments were distributed last month, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Public Charge Update: OMB Concluded Review of Public Charge ANPRM
Last week, OMB concluded its review of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on public charge, meaning that DHS can now publish the ANPRM for public comment at any time. As a reminder, the issuance of the ANPRM would be the first of three steps in Biden DHS’ regulatory reform process on public charge. The last step, after public comment, would be publication of a Final Rule, incorporating stakeholder comments and hopefully cementing a more responsible regulatory policy on public charge. Keep in mind, until a final rule is issued, DHS will continue to follow the public charge policy in the 1999 Field Guidance. Check here for "Welcome to WIC" flyers in multiple languages designed to reassure immigrant families that WIC is safe and open to them.
Gubernatorial Recall Election to Be Held Sept. 14th

The CA secretary of state certified on July 1st that recall supporters submitted 1,719,900 valid signatures — enough to trigger a recall election. That means:
  • An election will be held on Sept. 14. Voters will receive ballots in the mail beginning on Aug. 16. You can send your ballot back by mail, or vote in person.
  • Voters will be asked two questions: Do they want to recall Governor Newsom, yes or no? And, if more than 50% of voters say “yes,” who should replace him? 
  • Get the facts by reviewing this Misinformation Guide.
Covered California Lends Support for North State Wildfire Survivors
In an effort to help Californians who have been affected by the historic wildfires burning across the state, Covered California announced a special-enrollment period for those living in counties where a state of emergency has been declared. Thousands of people have been displaced and hundreds of businesses and homes have been destroyed by wildfires in Alpine, Butte, Lassen, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama and Trinity counties.
The WIC Worksite Wellness Step It Up Challenge is HOT this summer!

Congratulations to everyone who joined us for the Step It Up Challenge. We had 117 walkers from 29 teams throughout California, who took a total of 25,990,603 steps. Check out our front page for more details on stats and the competition winner for Round 4.
 
Congrats to the Walking Mangos, Red Hot Chili Steppers, Long Beach Walk Stars, and CRP WIC Walkers for Stepping It Up to win prizes for each round. Although they walked all over the world, so did the rest of the teams! WOW. We had some tiny teams of 1 or 2 people who really covered a lot of ground. So many props go out to all of you for making this such a fun exercise. Can’t wait to start the next competition. Sit-ups? Wall sits? Weights? We can do it all! #WICSTRONG
The Sole Sisters from Santa Rosa!
Join Us For Wellness Wednesdays!

Join us tomorrow 8/18 for WIC Wellness Wednesday. CWA will be hosting a live* Wellness Session from 12:30-1:00pm open to WIC staff and community partners. Please log on here for Qigong with Cat, courtesy of Santa Clara County WIC, a relaxing Qigong exercises with our certified instructor, Cat Burmeister.
 
*CWA has decided to host only live Wellness Wednesdays, so please sign up here to host if you or a staff member, or community partner, can share some Wellness with our WIC community. 

More WIC Works Webinars Coming Up!

A friendly reminder that we are one week away from the WIC Works! Webinar “Benefits of Lactation Telehealth” session with Meg Beard from Santa Barbara WIC and Kayellen Young from Riverside University Health System. The 1.5-hour session will begin at 10:00 AM on Monday, August 23rd. This is open to all WIC staff, so please continue to share the news. Please contact Thuy at tdo@calwic.org if you have inquiries about the event or would like to post your questions/comments/feedback for the speakers before the event. We are very excited for this conversation. Hope to see you next week!
CA WIC Agencies Host Hunger Free America

As part of an 8,000-mile cross country journey to expose hunger in the US and advocate for lasting policy changes, Joel Berg, CEO, Hunger Free America, made some stops in CA, meeting with community providers. Santa Barbara County WIC and PHFE WIC were among the organizations on the tour. PHFE WIC hosted a press conference, providing important details about WIC benefits. Santa Barbara WIC participated in a round table discussion with local partners including the Santa Barbara Food Bank and Food Action Network.
COVID messaging resources for health providers from Berkeley Media studies- Breakthrough infections/English; vaccines/EnglishSpanish; messaging strategy; message development.
One Year of WIC During COVID
A new brief from FRAC details key findings about how the USDA waivers made WIC more accessible to participants, what WIC participation looked like throughout the U.S. (California saw an overall increase of nearly 18% between Feb. 2020-Feb. 2021), and recommendations going forward to make sure WIC is the most accessible to families who need it.

67% of Calories Kids and Teens Consume Come From Ultra-Processed Foods
The proportion of total energy that children and adolescents consumed from ultra-processed foods rose nearly 6 percentage points during a recent 20-year period, according to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

CA Hospital Breastfeeding Data Released
The 2019 in-hospital breastfeeding data are now available. California has been able to make huge strides in hospital breastfeeding quality improvements, a critical step on a family’s continuum of care, because of the long-standing commitment of CA Dept. of Public Health, Genetic Disease Screening and Maternal Child and Adolescent Health, to work with hospitals to collect the data, including by race and ethnicity, and make it available for quality improvement. A great way to acknowledge World Breastfeeding Month!
Telecommuting for Cleaner Air
Climate change should be on our radar as we work everyday in WIC to prepare infants, children, and families for a healthy future. The recent report, Climate Change 2021 The Physical Science Basis, includes harsh predictions. Individuals and organizations can take steps to limit carbon emissions. With much thought going into the hybrid work model, this seems like an opportunity to permanently reduce car commuting by employees. 

COVID-19 Vaccines Recommended for Pregnant and Lactating People
Updated recommendations from the CDC, for all people 12 years and older, including people who are pregnant, breastfeeding, trying to get pregnant now, or might become pregnant in the future, to get vaccinated. The body of evidence of the safety of the vaccine, along with the risk of more severe infections continues to expand.


Booster Shots to be Expanded to Most Vaccinated Americans
The Biden administration is reportedly planning to announce that most Americans should receive a COVID-19 booster shot eight months after they have been fully vaccinated, expanding the pool of people who should get the extra doses beyond those with compromised immune systems.

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Evacuation Preparedness
It is unfortunately that time of year when many folks in California are evacuated due to increasingly destructive wildfires. Find out how to get prepared to evacuate and how to stay safe if you need to evacuate during the pandemic.
Utilities Assistance
When families stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer, they reduce the risk of health and safety problems (such as illness, fire, or eviction), especially for more vulnerable family members like infants and the elderly. Also, spending less money on phone service and utilities can free up money for other necessities like food, transportation and medical care. WIC Can Help connect WIC families to financial assistance with utility bills – energy (electricity and natural gas), water and telephone service – as well as saving energy to reduce costs.
Support CWA online!
As a nonprofit membership organization, CWA relies on the contributions of many organizations and individuals to help us achieve our mission. There are many ways to give of your time, talents, or resources to help CWA promote healthy families, strong communities, and bright futures! We appreciate all forms of support and invite you to join us!
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