NY WIC Retention Promotion Study: Keep, Reconnect, Thrive

The goal of this study was to identify barriers to retention and to develop, implement, and evaluate strategies aimed at improving retention in WIC beyond one year of age for eligible infants. To identify WIC retention barriers, 21 focus groups were conducted with WIC staff, coordinators, and vendors throughout New York State. A total of 284 focus group participants contributed to discussions about retention barriers, current strategies used to retain WIC participants, and suggestions for increasing WIC participation beyond one year. One of the strategies implemented as part of the project was the developing a picture-based foods card highlighting the variety of choices available through WIC with category tabs for easy navigation while shopping.