WIC North Dakota is a program for pregnant and breastfeeding women, infants, and children younger than five years and is available in all its counties. WIC North Dakota offers healthy food for proper growth and development and helps families choose healthier ways of eating.

WIC North Dakota being a federal nutrition program it offers the following:

• Nutrition information, counseling and support
• Breastfeeding information and support
• Nutritious Foods
• Health Screenings

In North Dakota, WIC is a short-term program. Therefore, a participant will eventually at the end of one or more certification periods. A certification period is the length of time a WIC participant is eligible to receive benefits. Depending on whether the individual is pregnant, postpartum, breastfeeding, an infant, or a child, an eligible individual usually receives WIC benefits from 6 months to a year, at which time she/he must reapply.

Sometimes North Dakota WIC agencies do not have enough money to serve everyone who needs WIC or calls to apply. When this happens, agencies must keep a list, called a waiting list, of individuals who want to apply and are likely to be served. WIC agencies then use a special system, called a Priority System, to determine who will get WIC benefits first when more people can be served. The purpose of the priority system is to make sure that WIC North Dakota services and benefits are provided first to participants with the most serious health conditions such as anemia, underweight, history of problems during pregnancy.

Here are some examples of where WIC services are provided in North Dakota:

• County health departments
• Hospitals
• Public housing sites
• Mobile Clinics
• Schools
• Migrant health centers and camps
• Community Centers
• Indian Health Service facilities

Eligibility Requirements

In order to qualify for this benefit program, you must be a resident of the state of North Dakota; a pregnant, breastfeeding and/or postpartum woman; an infant or child up to 5 years of age; and individually determined by a health professional to be at nutrition risk. More details about the program can be found at: www.benefits.gov.

You must also be one of the following:

• Pregnant Woman
• Breastfeeding Woman (up to one year after giving birth)
• New Mother (up to six months after giving birth)
• Parent, guardian or caretaker who has an infant or child younger than 5 years of age.

You must have a nutritional health risk. The WIC Staff will be able to find a risk by checking your height, weight and iron level and having you answer some health and diet questions.

Your annual household income must be within WIC Guidelines (see the table below) which are based on gross income unless you are self-employed. Note: You may have a job and still meet these guidelines.

Household Size	Gross Annual Income
1	$20,665
2	$27,991
3	$35,317
4	$42,643
5	$49,969
6	$57,295
7	$64,621
8	$71,947

For households with more than eight people, add $7,326 per additional person.

A person who participates or has family members who participate in certain other benefit programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), automatically meets the income eligibility requirement.

WIC Application Instructions

If you are planning to apply for WIC benefits in North Dakota then applicants must meet eligibility requirements for categorical, residential, income and nutrition risk. Similar to other WIC programs in the US, you cannot apply WIC North Dakota online. A one on one interview must be arranged. To find out if you may qualify for North Dakota WIC by using the WIC Pre-screening Tool, visit: www.wic.fns.usda.gov.

To apply, set up an appointment at the WIC clinic closest to you. You can find you local clinic here: http://www.ndhealth.gov/wic/WicSites.pdf.

Program Contact Information

For more information on how WIC can help your family, please contact the North Dakota Department of Health toll-free at: 1 (800) 472-2286 , or by mail at:

Division of Children's Special Health Services
600 East Boulevard Avenue, Dept. 301
Bismarck, N.D. 58505-0200

For more information, please visit the North Dakota WIC website at: www.health.state.nd.us/wic/.