Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 14, 1994 TAG: 9411140035
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Each year, Virginia returns to the U.S. Department of Agriculture thousands of dollars it receives for a supplemental food program for women, infants and children, but cannot spend.
And each year, the USDA urges the state to increase participation in the program - called WIC - instead of turning back money to the federal government.
Public health administrators have wondered how this happens, when resources are lacking and WIC funding is bound by spending restrictions. Eighty percent must be used for food. Only 20 percent may be used for administrative purposes - salaries, staffing, promotion and advertisement.
The Alleghany Health District - which covers Vinton and Salem and the counties of Roanoke, Botetourt, Craig and Alleghany - reaches just 60 percent of district residents eligible for WIC; the Roanoke city Health Department, 50 percent of eligible city residents.
"We don't have enough staff to increase the caseload, but we need to increase the caseload to keep the money," said Judy Garrett, public health nutritionist for the Alleghany Health District. "It's easy for the USDA to sit up there and make these guidelines, but they really don't see the reality."
So, the Alleghany Health District, with the Roanoke Health Department, pooled frustrations and pursued solutions. They found good potential in grant money the USDA has set aside for nutrition service, including community outreach.
The agencies wrote a joint grant proposal for a mobile clinic.
"We want to go out and reach the people instead of expecting them to come to us," Garrett said. "There are a lot of barriers for our clients, like homelessness. Normally, if you don't have a home or food, you don't have a way to get somewhere to get it. What we're trying to do is reach out to people who need our service, especially in rural areas, where a lot of participants have problems with transportation."
The mobile clinic would integrate WIC services with other health services that WIC participants might receive, including immunizations and screenings.
Lisa McCoy, nutritional supervisor for the Roanoke Health Department, calls it "one-stop shopping."
"We do a lot of things now to make it accessible - going to public housing developments, recertifying mothers and infants at hospitals," McCoy said. "This is just another step in that direction.
"One of the problems we find is a lack of transportation to come in and pick up checks or keep appointments. Our hope with the mobile clinic is we can go to them and make it more accessible."
The proposal requests a 35- to 40-foot vehicle, fully equipped as a clinic. The estimated cost is $170,000.
The grant proposal was one of 25 selected and submitted by the state Department of Health to the USDA. The 25 - totaling $2.4 million in requested funds - include five mobile clinic proposals, one from the New River area.
The USDA will decide by the end of the month how much Virginia will get in grant funding and which proposals will receive that funding.
WIC, administered by the state health department, is intended to help improve the health of women during pregnancy and improve the food habits and general health of women, infants and children. The program does so through nutrition and health education, health services and specially selected foods.
Eligible families are those whose income meets state WIC guidelines. A family of four with an annual income of $27,380 would qualify for the program.
"We had a problem reaching people who were working and didn't realize they could benefit or were eligible for WIC," said Yvonne Gilpin, nutritionist supervisor for the Richmond Health Department.
Since January, the department has taken its WIC program to the streets via mobile clinic.
"People think that if they're not at the level of welfare, then they don't qualify,'' Gilpin said. "It's good for someone who is working but has problems making ends meet. It might help to at least have food on the table."
Gilpin said it is too soon to tell if the mobile clinic has increased WIC participation in Richmond.
"The best thing we've been able to do is pick up some new people and re-enroll people who left the program," she said.
Garrett is hoping for the same - and more. She has some concerns, should the grant be approved. One concern is for staffing; another for continued funding beyond the first year.
"It's real hard to explain to [the federal government] all of the problems that we have," Garrett said. "We're trying to do the best we can. But we really need this."
by CNB