Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTAL FOOD PROGRAM FOR WOMEN, INFANTS, AND CHILDREN (WIC)

I. RESOURCE SUMMARY

	(Budget Authority in Millions)
Drug Resources by Goal	1996 Actual	1997 Enacted	1998 Request
Goal 3	$14.900	$14.900	$14.900
Total	$14.900	$14.900	$14.900
Drug Resources by Function
Prevention	$14.900	$14.900	$14.900
Total	$14.900	$14.900	$14.900
Drug Resources by Decision Unit
Drugs Assessment and Referral Activities	$14.900	$14.900	$14.900
Total	$14.900	$14.900	$14.900
Drug Resources Personnel Summary
Total FTEs (direct only)	0	0	0
Information
Total Agency Budget	$3,730.0	$3,730.0	$4,008.0
Drug Percentage	0.4%	0.4%	0.4%
(Detail may not add to totals due to rounding.)

II. METHODOLOGY

The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 (P.L. 100-690), enacted November 18, 1988, and the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 1989 (P.L. 101-147), enacted November 9, 1989, defined the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children's (WIC's) role in providing drug abuse prevention information and referral activities.

WIC regulations have required, when appropriate, referrals to alcohol and drug abuse counseling. For many WIC local agencies, it is routine to warn pregnant women about the dangers of drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, and using illegal drugs. Also, many states consider alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use as nutritionally-related risk criteria.&

Drug abuse education for WIC activities is defined as: providing information to women participants concerning the dangers of drug abuse; referring participants who are suspected drug abusers to drug abuse clinics, treatment programs, counselors, or other drug abuse professionals where such services are locally available; and, distribution of drug abuse prevention materials developed by USDA.

Each year approximately 0.4 percent of the total Agency budget is expended by the WIC Program for drug prevention and education, counseling and referral and training services.

III. PROGRAM SUMMARY

Goal 3: Reduce health and social costs to the public of illegal drug use.

Drug abuse education for WIC activities is defined as providing information to participants concerning the dangers of drug abuse; referring participants who are known or suspected drug abusers to drug abuse clinics, treatment programs, counselors, or other drug abuse professionals where such services are locally available; and distributing drug abuse prevention materials developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

USDA develops and produces drug abuse prevention materials for WIC participants and distributes them to state agencies. USDA also appoints drug/alcohol abuse education and prevention experts to the National Advisory Council on Maternal, Infant, and Fetal Nutrition.

WIC local agencies are required to coordinate with local alcohol and drug abuse counseling and treatment services, and to maintain and make available for distribution a list of local resources for drug abuse counseling and treatment.

IV.BUDGET SUMMARY

1997 Base Program

The FY 1997 base program includes $14.9 million for activities which support Goal 3 of the National Drug Control Strategy. This amount consists of drug prevention and education, counseling and referral, and training services.

1998 Request

The total FY 1998 drug control request for Goal 3 activities is $14.9 million, the same as FY 1997 funding for drug prevention and education, counseling and referral, and training.

V. PROGRAM STATISTICS

	1996 Actual	1997 Estimate	1998 Projected
- Number of Participants Serviced	1,648,000	1,683,000	1,636,000

VI. PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS

USDA continues to recommend that WIC state agencies encourage local agencies to screen women for drug and alcohol abuse and refer them, when appropriate, to alcohol and drug abuse treatment programs. WIC local agencies refer an average of 10% of their women participants to drug treatment centers.

Table of Contents
I. Message from the Director
II. Resources to Implement the Strategy
III. Drug Control Funding Tables
IV. Agency Budget Summaries
Appendix