Government shutdown threatens food aid for Arizona moms and kids

Two-year-old Gia was 13 days old when doctors diagnosed her with Hirschsprung’s disease, a condition that affects the large intestine. She needed specialized formula. But as the girl’s mom, Esparanza, recalled, her husband’s sales job barely covered rent.

So when they qualified for the federal Women, Infants, and Children program, they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

WIC provides formula and foods such as milk, juice, cheese, eggs, bread, beans, cereal and peanut butter, plus up to $26 per month per child and $52 for mothers. For Gia, the program meant a supply of much-needed probiotic yogurt.

“Without it, I don’t know,” said Esparanza, who asked that her full name not be used. “But we know that we have to do what we have to do to provide for our kids.”

Nearly 153,000 of Arizona’s low-income mothers and their young children rely on WIC for monthly food assistance, nutrition education and breast feeding support.

The government shutdown has put the program in limbo.

Congressional funding ended Sept. 30. In Arizona, leftover funds will run out by the end of October, according to Gov. Katie Hobbs’ office.

“The Governor’s Office is actively exploring state funding options, as we understand the impact on newborns and maternal nutrition. But if Congress doesn’t fix this, and we can’t cover the gap, the program will pause indefinitely,” Liliana Soto, the governor’s press secretary, told Cronkite News on Tuesday.

Advocates for low-income Americans fear that many states won’t be able to keep the program going.

“In the short term, there is enough funding. But what happens in the future, we don’t know,” said Kate Scully, deputy director for WIC at the Food Research and Action Center, a nonprofit organization that helps people facing poverty-related hunger.

With anxiety and political pressure mounting, the White House on Tuesday floated the idea of using tariff revenue to cover the cost of WIC during the shutdown. Congress would still have to approve that.

For now, all Arizona WIC clinics are open and participants can use their benefits at any authorized store.

“We would like to stress that WIC is open and here for you and your children,” the Arizona Department of Health Services said in a statement. “AZDHS is continuing to monitor and understand the impacts of the federal government shutdown, and will provide updates as the issue evolves.”

The federal government spent about $7.2 billion on WIC in fiscal 2024, which ended Sept. 30. The program reached roughly 6.7 million participants each month – including an estimated 41% of all infants nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees WIC.

Nationwide, a $150 million USDA contingency fund is keeping WIC alive. But that will probably only last another week or two, Scully said. After that, states could tap into their general funds. But that may not be possible. In some states, shifting millions of dollars into WIC would require approval by legislatures that don’t meet year-round.

January Contreras, who led AZDHS as interim director in 2008 and 2009 and served in the Biden administration as a top official at the Department of Health and Human Services, said federal lawmakers should step up and reauthorize WIC funding.

“We can’t allow moms and babies to go hungry,” she said.

Now executive director of Children’s Action Alliance – a nonprofit that advocates for child welfare in Arizona – Contreras said the Arizona Food Bank Network, local food drives and donations would be lifelines if WIC is frozen.

“We’re going to have to be the safety net if it doesn’t exist through our government offices,” she said.

In some previous shutdowns, the USDA reimbursed states that spent their own funds to keep WIC running. Funds can last a bit longer depending on enrollment fluctuations and how much the states set aside; they can carry over up to 3% of federal allocations from the prior year.

“Every state is different,” Scully said. “Some might have more, some might have less.”

Once the funding runs out, states will face painful choices – between pausing new enrollments, prioritizing certain age groups or cutting off aid.

WIC was created in 1972 to address malnutrition among pregnant women, infants and young children. The USDA disburses funds to states using a formula that takes into account population, the number of eligible participants and income levels.

In Arizona, AZDHS oversees the program, with funds flowing to county health departments and federally qualified health centers.

At the Pima County Health Department – which runs four WIC clinics that serve 11,500 beneficiaries a month – Assistant Director Jennifer Chancay said she’s not sure how long the county can continue operating during a shutdown.

The department is waiting to hear from the governor’s office as to whether the state will provide funds, she said, adding, “The state and county are looking at contingency plans.”

Other states are also scrambling.

Colorado’s health department says it will soon need more than $7.5 million in emergency funding from the state to keep WIC running.

In Washington state, health officials have warned that when federal funds run out in a week or two, they will likely have to suspend the program.

Esparanza’s WIC benefits lapsed a week before the shutdown began. She’s concerned that she won’t be able to renew until it ends.

Meanwhile, Gia contracted E. coli from yogurt they found on a clearance sale. The latest round of hospital bills has put a further pinch on the family budget.

“We have to be (smart) with electricity to try and figure out how to pay it,” Esparanza said. WIC, she said, “was the only help we had.”

Tens of thousands of current WIC recipients are facing uncertainty, among them Taelor Keyonnie-Begay, 30, who relies on WIC benefits administered by the Navajo Nation.

She has used WIC since 2021 for her two daughters, first Hailee, 6, and then Phoebe, 2.

They live in Dilkon, a small Navajo County community 40 miles northeast of Winslow, in a multigenerational household with her husband’s parents, while also taking care of livestock.

The winters are especially tough “since it’s so rural out here,” she said. “The fruits and veggies might not be the freshest, but it’s still going to be more expensive.”

According to census data, 35.5% of people on the Navajo Reservation, which includes parts of Colorado and New Mexico, live in poverty. That’s nearly three times the national average.

Keyonnie-Begay, a teacher, said she sees it in the classroom.

“Working at the school, it puts it in perspective for me,” she said, “some kids are just in a bad situation.”

For more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.