KEY TAKEAWAYS: More than 100,000 Louisiana residents who may qualify for WIC are not enrolled in the federal nutrition program. An audit found Louisiana left $111.6 million in WIC funding unused from 2021 through 2024. Louisiana WIC enrollment increased to 106,088 participants in July, up from 103,655 in May. The state is deploying mobile teams, electronic benefits and direct outreach to increase participation and improve access.   More than 100,000 Louisiana residents who may qualify for the state’s Women, Infants and Children program are not enrolled, a gap state health officials are now trying to close through expanded outreach and easier access to benefits. Those benefits allow low-income pregnant women, new mothers and young children to purchase nutritious foods while also providing access to nutrition counseling, breastfeeding support and other health services. A subsequent Legislative Auditor review found the problem went beyond low enrollment. From 2021 through 2024, Louisiana failed to use $111.6 million while more than half of its clinics failed to meet monthly outreach requirements in 2025. The auditor also found nearly one-quarter of calls placed to clinics during the review went unanswered. Although WIC is entirely federally funded, the auditor noted that increasing participation could have broader taxpayer benefits by reducing health care costs associated with poor maternal and childhood nutrition. USDA estimates cited by the auditor suggest every dollar spent on prenatal WIC can save between $1.77 and $3.13 in health care costs shortly after birth. State health officials say the participation gap translates directly into families missing out on basic nutritional support. “It’s a baby who has access to formula. It’s a kid that has access to eggs and fish and cereals. It’s a mom that’s able to put nutritious food on the table,” Health Secretary Bruce Greenstein told a legislative committee Monday. “That’s the number that we really care about.” The Department of Health says participation has since been climbing, but a sizable gap remains. As of July 31, Louisiana WIC served 106,088 people, while the department estimated 207,707 Medicaid members fell into a WIC-eligible category. That amounts to a 51.1% coverage rate under the department’s measure. Greenstein and other health officials detailed a series of changes Monday designed to make the program easier to access and less dependent on families traveling to traditional clinics. Among the most visible is the state’s shift to electronic benefit issuance. Participants can use an electronic benefits card at checkout, while the MyWIC system allows them to view benefit balances or manage appointments. The change also reduces the need for participants to visit a clinic simply to have additional benefits loaded onto their accounts. Sharnet Nixon, who owns a food bank in the historically underserved Baton Rouge neighborhood Scotlandville, praised the move, saying it brings WIC more in line with how families already use other assistance programs. “We are years ahead,” Nixon said. “When they come in for their SNAP, they swipe the card, so we are all on the same system for the process.” Greenstein also praised the technological shift, saying modernization had long been lacking within WIC. He said the department has completely reorganized the program “for the purpose of making WIC more accessible, and easier for the people on the program to use it.” That effort increasingly means taking WIC outside of government offices, such as the Department’s Mobile WIC program. The mobile program sends teams into communities to hold pop-up enrollment events at places where potential participants already spend time. The department has allocated nine mobile WIC teams across Orleans, Jefferson, East Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Calcasieu and Caddo parishes — areas that together account for an estimated 45,319 Medicaid recipients who may qualify but are not participating. The department plans 27 positions for the effort, including nine nutrition educators and 18 health educators. The state has also begun trying to find eligible families instead of waiting for them to apply. WIC staff have directly contacted 11,288 Medicaid members identified as potentially eligible. Of those, 4,576 were reached and 1,548 scheduled appointments, according to the department. Early numbers show participation increasing. Enrollment reached 106,088 in July, up from 103,655 in May. Caddo Parish posted the largest percentage increase among the six parishes targeted for mobile outreach, rising 5.1% between May and July, while Calcasieu increased 3.8% and Lafayette 3.1%. Health officials say the next phase will expand mobile teams statewide, restructure contracts with outside clinics and use enrollment data to concentrate resources in communities with the largest gaps. ...read more read less