The New Jersey WIC is a US federal government sponsored program that provides free nutritious foods, nutrition education, healthcare referrals and breastfeeding support among other services to women, infants and children in the state of New Jersey. The program targets certain categories of women, infants and children, these include low-income:

• Pregnant women or women within 6 weeks after delivery of an infant
• Breastfeeding women up to the infants first birthday
• Postpartum women
• Infants under the age of one
• Children up to five years of age

In order to qualify for the New Jersey WIC program, you need to meet a specified set of eligibility requirements. These eligibility requirements are mainly categorical, income and residential in nature. An additional requirement is that you should be examined by a healthcare professional and proven to be at nutritional risk. This medical examination is provided free of charge at your local New Jersey WIC clinic.

If you meet the basic eligibility requirements for the New Jersey WIC program, you should go ahead and apply. Applying for the program is a fairly easy and convenient process, all you need to do is contact you nearest New Jersey WIC clinic and schedule an appointment for an interview. Upon successful completion of the interview you will start enjoying the benefits of the program.

It should however be noted that the New Jersey WIC benefits can only be used to purchase certain types of foods highlighted on this link: www.state.nj.us/health/fhs/wic/ (WIC of New Jersey list of acceptable foods), and cannot be used to purchase alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, fast foods and pet foods.

Eligibility Requirements

In order to qualify for the New Jersey WIC program, applicants need to meet a set of eligibility requirements. These eligibility requirements are broadly divided into:

New Jersey Categorical WIC Eligibility Requirements:

In order to qualify for the New Jersey WIC program, you must belong to the three categories of Women, Infants and Children. Additionally you need to meet the individual categorical eligibility requirements which are highlighted below:

Women

In order to qualify for the New Jersey WIC program, women need to be:

• Pregnant or within 6 weeks of the delivery of an infant
• Postpartum
• Breastfeeding women up to the infants first birthday

Infants

• Are eligible up to their first birthday

Children

• Are eligible up to their fifth birthdays

Residential Eligibility Requirements

Applicants to the New Jersey WIC program must be residents of the state of New Jersey (proof of residence is required during the interview). Additionally they should be US citizens or legal aliens.

New Jersey WIC Income Eligibility Requirements

Applicants to the New-Jersey WIC program need to meet a specified set of income eligibility requirements. These income eligibility requirements are based on the gross household income and household size and are highlighted on the following link: www.state.nj.us/health/fhs/wic/ (New Jersey WIC-income guidelines).

New Jersey WIC- Proof of Nutritional Risk

Applicants to the New-Jersey WIC program need to meet a specified set of income eligibility requirements. These income eligibility requirements are based on the gross household income and household size and are highlighted on the following link: www.state.nj.us/health/fhs/wic/localagencies (New Jersey WIC-List of Local Offices).

In order to be eligible for the New Jersey WIC programs, applicants need to be examined by a healthcare professional and proven to be at nutritional risk. This medical examination is provided free of charge at your local New Jersey WIC Clinic, available on this link: www.wic.fns.usda.gov/wps/pages/start.jsf.

WIC Application Instructions

Applying for the New Jersey WIC program is a fairly easy process. All you need to do is to contact your local New Jersey clinic and schedule an appointment for an interview. A list of local New Jersey WIC clinics and their respective contact information is available on the following link: www.state.nj.us/health/fhs/wic/localagencies.

Before going for the interview you should remember to carry important documents as specified by the New Jersey WIC program representative. On the day of the interview you will be subjected to a medical examination, the program representative will then go ahead to verify identification, income and other documents. This will be followed by a set of questions aimed at establishing your eligibility to the program.

Upon successful completion of the interview process, you will start enjoying the benefits of the program. To speak to a New Jersey WIC program representative, you can call the following toll free number: 1-866-44 NJ WIC (446-5942).