The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded University of Minnesota Extension three grants totaling nearly $13 million to help strengthen the WIC workforce in communities across the U.S.
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children — also known as WIC — serves 6.8 million Americans a year and is widely regarded as one of the most effective public health initiatives in the nation. However, the program struggles to reach many families in need: currently, only about half of all WIC-eligible parents, infants and children are enrolled.
According to the National WIC Workforce Strategy developed by the University of Minnesota Extension Department of Family, Health and Wellbeing (FHW) in 2024, some of the major challenges at the 50-year-old program include low wages, high turnover of new staff, large caseloads, lack of mobility within the organization, lagging recruitment, and an aging workforce. These findings informed the federal government’s new five-year plan for WIC workforce improvements nationwide, backed by a $29 million investment from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
“I’m thrilled about this opportunity to further the work we’re doing to influence how WIC does its work in every county in the country,” says Patricia Olson, associate dean and head of the UMN Extension Department of Family, Health and Wellbeing. “As natural partners on food security issues, UMN Extension and WIC are in a position to support truly systemic change for workers and, most importantly, the women and children served by WIC.”
Mary Marczak, director of programs and systems in FHW, said her team’s formative research in developing the new strategy included conversations and site visits with agencies, organizations and WIC workers across states, American Indian tribal organizations and U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico.
“WIC is the most studied food program in the country. There is an incredible amount of data that shows it improves health outcomes,” she says. “But we quickly realized that there was essentially no information about the people who make WIC possible: the administrators, managers, and most importantly frontline staff who work directly to support the health of our nation’s infants and children.”
Extension’s research found that WIC must update its practices around cultural competency, professional development, peer coaching and more to improve staffing, recruitment and retention and ultimately expand the reach of its programming. Many of these ideas for solutions came from current WIC employees, who had discovered innovative ways to better serve participants despite existing organizational barriers.
“We knew they had developed many of their own solutions, and we wanted to give voice to the people already working in local communities every day,” Marczak said.
Currently, the FHW team is hiring three new staff members who will work together to coordinate activities across teams, manage communications with internal and external stakeholders, and support project evaluation and reporting for the WIC Workforce Initiative.
The three major grants for Extension include projects that will be active through 2029.
USDA WIC Workforce Initiative
Award: $6.86 million
Extension will conduct a job study to research the work performed at every layer of WIC delivery. The new staffing model will identify specialized roles and recommend consistent job titles and responsibilities for all WIC positions, plus the experiences, skills and competencies needed to succeed in each role. Extension will also collaborate with WIC leaders and supervisors to develop skills and monitor the impact of staffing change efforts.
WIC Technical Assistance and Peer Coaching
Award: $5 million
Extension faculty and staff will develop and implement a national training model that supports both current and future WIC professionals through the creation of the WIC Technical Assistance and Peer Coaching (TA-PC) Center. This work aims to retain a highly trained, culturally responsive WIC workforce attuned to the diverse needs of the families it serves.
WIC Professional Opportunities for Paraprofessional Staff
Award: $1 million
In partnership with the U of M School of Public Health, Extension will address the shortage of nutrition-trained paraprofessionals in the WIC program who can provide culturally tailored nutrition education. The project aims to increase the recruitment and retention of paraprofessionals by creating a career and training pathway that is attractive for diverse employees from communities served by WIC.
Learn more about the USDA’s National WIC Workforce Strategy and Extension’s nutrition education programs.