New York State Department of Family Assistance

Transcription

Hi. Welcome to WIC. WIC stands for Women, Infants and Children I would like you to meet Jane. She is one of our WIC moms. She will tell you about the benefits that WIC has for families like yours. Hi Jane. Hi. Mikey. Hi Lila. You're getting so big. What kind of appointment do you have today? I'll be meeting with Katie today. Okay, can I have your photo ID, please? Sure. I joined WIC about 4 years ago. When I was pregnant with Mikey. It was so much easier to eat healthy because I had WIC foods. After Mikey was born, WIC was there to help me with breastfeeding. The staff at my WIC office were really nice and helpful. WIC is for pregnant women, breastfeeding moms, infants, postpartum women and children up until their fifth birthday. To get WIC benefits, you'll need to show proof of income and that you live in New York State. Children being raised by their dads, grandparents or foster parents can get WIC benefits too. WIC staff provides great support with health nutrition, breastfeeding and parenting. They also check your child's height And weight. How have Mikey's eating habits been? Well, I just can't get him to eat his vegetables. Maybe you can help with that? Yeah, today you will be getting a fruit & vegetable check. Maybe you can try out some new vegetables? And I can even share some recipes. Great. Hi. I'm a nutritionist here at WIC and today, we're going to be talking about picky eaters. Who here has a picky eater at home? I do. Yes, and tell me about your picky eater. What is he or she picky about? Does he like any type of vegetables? Each time you come in, you'll be able to meet with other parents and nutritionists. As you can see, everyone is having a great time here. We all share a lot of good information about things like parenting and feeding our children. The groups are so much fun. I've learned so much from other moms here. WIC has peer counselors who help with breastfeeding and offer you lots of support. Hi Katie. How are you? Hi Jane. How are you? I'm great. Look at the baby! I know. She's getting so big. Oh, she is. She's so beautiful. So what's going on? I'm planning on going back to work soon and I have some questions for you about using a breast pump. Okay, so let's go into my office and we'll talk some more about it. Okay. Sounds good. I'll catch up with you at the store. Did you bring the food card? Of course I did. Great. My husband Miquel and I are going to take you through the grocery store and show you how to use your WIC checks. There are some important things you need to know about your checks and how to use them. Each family member or participant on WIC will receive a set of checks. The participant's name will be at the top of the checks. The foods on each check have been selected for the participant based on his or her unique needs. My nutritionist gave me a great new bean recipe to try. I think I'll buy these dry beans and get the peanut butter for Mikey. Sounds good to me. How about cream style corn? No, we actually can't get that, but we can get whole kernel corn. There are so many foods to choose from so it may take you awhile to become familiar with what foods you can buy with your WIC checks. When can we get baby food for Lila? Well, right now Lila only needs breast milk, but when she is six months old, she'll be able to get things like baby cereal, fruits, meat and vegetables. My nutritionist told me about things to look for in Lila's development to let me know when she's ready for solid foods. It is important to choose a responsible person to be a proxy because WIC checks are valuable. Your proxy can pick up your WIC checks and do your shopping for you. I sometimes shop with my mom who is my proxy, so she knows how to use the WIC checks too. Your nutritionist will talk to you about the different types of milk you can choose especially you can't drink regular milk. WIC can provide you with certain substitutes like soy or lactose free. Oh cheddar cheese! I'm gonna get this instead of the American slices I usually get at the deli. Okay I like that one. Okay here are the eggs. We can get medium or large, in white or brown. Let's get the medium white eggs. You may receive two other types of WIC checks for vegetables and fruit. You can buy fresh, frozen or canned with your vegetable & fruit checks. Mikey loves fruit so I mostly buy fresh that way, we can take the fruit along with us while we're away from home. Oh, Mikey really seems to like this one. Yeah let's get it. There are certain steps you need to follow at the checkout. The checks cannot be used before the 'not good before' or after the 'not good after' date. The purchase amount cannot be more than the 'not to exceed' amount shown on the check. One or all of the monthly checks may be used at the same time. It's important that you tell the cashier that you are using the WIC checks and to group all the foods together that are listed on the checks. The cashier will ring up each check as a separate transaction. The WIC check must be shown to the cashier at the beginning of the transaction. Now these are the checks that we can use to pay the difference with our own money if the cost is higher than the check amount? No, we can only do this with the vegetable & fruit checks. Okay. The 'pay exactly' amount must be written on the check before it is signed. All of this happens in the store at the check out with the cashier. The names of all the family members who are on WIC are listed on the ID card along with the name, address and phone number of your WIC local agency. The vegetable and fruit checks are the only type of checks you can add money to if you go over the 'not to exceed' amount. This means that if you pick out vegetables and fruit that cost more than the 'not to exceed' amount, you can pay the difference with cash, debit, credit or EBT card or any other form of payment that the store accepts. A really nice thing though is you can use coupons, store cards or club cards. Any checks that are lost, stolen or expired should be immediately reported to the WIC agency.If you're WIC ID card is lost or stolen, you must report it immediately to your WIC local agency. A replacement card will be issued with proper ID. Lost WIC checks cannot be replaced, so it's important to keep them somewhere safe. In the summer, you may also receive Farmers Market checks. These may only be used at a Farmers Market that accepts them in your area, not at the grocery store. Let's stop at a Farmers Market on our way home. Okay. It's gonna be $4.75. Okay, here is my Farmer's Market check for $4.00 and I will pay you the additional 75 cents. Thank you very much. Thank you. When you pick up your WIC checks during the summer months, you may also receive Farmers Market checks. These checks can be used from July 1st until November 15th. Your farmers market check may be used to buy locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables at Farmers Markets. These checks are accepted by farmers who display the sign: "We gladly accept New York State Farmers Market Checks." Miquel, I want to pick up some kale for Mikey. Let's see if he'll try it. Marie suggested we try something new and she gave me this great new recipe to try. Maybe Mikey will like it . I hope so. Let's give it a try. Excuse me. How much are these a bunch? They're $2 a bunch ma'am. Miquel, I could have used my WIC vegetable and fruit checks but I used it at the grocery store. Remember dinner time is family time. Eat together. What are those? It's pepper seeds. If we plant the pepper seeds, we can grow our own peppers. Would you like that? WIC has been helping families for over 30 years. We'll find out what your needs are and answer your questions. Our WIC staff can put you in touch with other services that you may need. We can also help you find the nearest food stamp office or food pantry. WIC also has offices all over the country and on military bases throughout the world. So if you move, please let your WIC office know so that the records can be transferred. Just remember, you can only get checks from one WIC office at a time. If you have any questions, please ask WIC staff. Remember we care about you and your family. Thank you for watching and Welcome to WIC!