Illinois Gets Money To Continue WIC

Illinois state officials say the Women, Infants and Children program or WIC will continue despite the partial shutdown of the federal government.

The Illinois Department of Human Services said on Friday that it received contingency funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, allowing WIC services to continue through the end of the month.

Brandon Moline oversees the WIC program with the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District. He said on average, more than 4,000 and people in Champaign County rely on the WIC program.

“New clients are welcome to come in and register and enroll, and we will continue to issue vouchers as we normally do," Moline said. "So, people that would enroll for example this week or next would get vouchers for the month of October that they would be able to redeem immediately.”

Moline said if the government shutdown doesn’t end in a month, then food dollars will likely dry up, preventing people from redeeming food vouchers. He said staff furloughs would likely follow.

Statewide, there are about 280,000 people participating in the WIC program.