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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Health officials in Louisville say cuts are coming to a federal program that helps poor families.
Officials told WFPL radio (http://bit.ly/1ba23e2) that participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program For Women, Infants And Children, or WIC, has waned, leading to less federal funding for it.
Louisville Metro Health and Wellness Department's WIC nutrition manager Leanne Pearson said the cutbacks mean the city's three smallest clinics will close. Three larger ones will remain open.
WIC helps provide families that are up to 185 percent of the poverty level with formula, health food and nutrition education.
Pearson said the program, which requires participants to attend four appointments annually at their nearest clinic, currently serves about 13,000 residents.
"At one point we had a high of 16,000_so there is a decline," she said.
But that doesn't mean there's less need. Pearson said participation in the federal food stamp program, known as SNAP, has increased.
"Whereas with SNAP, it's a much easier way to enroll, you don't have to come four times a year," she said. "So, for some individuals that's a choice that they make."
She said officials are looking at options to increase WIC participants in the future, but for now they are shuttering the three smallest clinics by June 30.
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