Texting for Retention Program

The Colorado WIC Program identified retention of children older than one year of age as a significant problem throughout the State. WIC loses nearly 50 percent of infants enrolled before they turn 2 years old. The Texting for Retention Program (TFRP) aimed to decrease some of the barriers to child retention, specifically remembering to schedule and attend appointments, and also the availability of simple information about the benefits of WIC participation for children over age one. The TFRP introduced a number of texting interventions that aimed to improve child retention in Colorado’s WIC program. The texting innovations specifically address some of the primary barriers to retention for children over the age of one by sending reminders to schedule and attend appointments and by delivering simple information about the benefits of WIC participation to targeted WIC participants.