Wyoming’s WIC Program Helps Thousands of Families

June 27, 2024

Free nutritious foods and education, breastfeeding support and healthcare referrals are offered to thousands of families across the state by the Wyoming WIC Program, operated by the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH).

The Wyoming WIC Program features free, easy-to-use benefit cards participants can take to local stores to get nutritious foods at no cost. Some WIC families also are eligible for infant formula benefits. WIC is aimed at helping women who are pregnant or new moms, infants and children up to age 5.

Tina Fearneyhough, WIC program manager with WDH, said “We know WIC services can significantly improve participant health while also helping people feed their families during a key period of child development.”

Fearneyhough described ongoing efforts to modernize and help make the program even more readily available for participating families. “We now offer virtual appointments to our WIC participants if needed or requested and have developed consistent digital resources our staff can use to help WIC families,” she said. “Later this year we will offer new cards with enhanced, user-friendly technology and we think participants will like the upgrade.”

Wyoming WIC serves families with incomes up to 185 percent of the federal poverty income guidelines. Qualifying income guidelines for WIC have been updated effective July 1:

1 person family -$27,861/year or $2,322/month

2 person family -$37,814/year or $3,152/month

3 person family -$47,767/year or $3,981/month

4 person family -$57,720/year or $4,810/month

5 person family -$67,673/year or $5,640/month

Families already using SNAP, TANF or Wyoming Medicaid benefits also qualify for WIC.

“Our income guidelines are adjusted each year. Our new guidelines may help a few more families to be eligible for WIC benefits,” Fearneyhough said.

Wyoming residents can apply for WIC benefits at https://health.wyo.gov/publichealth/wic/apply-for-wic/. WIC is not just for moms; all caregivers of young children are welcome to apply, including dads, foster parents, guardians, grandparents and step-parents.

WIC is officially known as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children Program, and is a joint federal and state government effort under the USDA.

WIC clinics are located throughout the state and can be found by using the “Clinic Locator” online at https://health.wyo.gov/publichealth/wic/wic-clinic-locator/ or by calling 1-888-996-9378.

Wyoming resident Cody Woolard – @rednecklown – posts footage of the flora and fauna near his home. He’s posted clips of bears, snakes, elk and coyotes, but by far the scariest thing he’s shared is a clip of a moving fault line.

Unfortunately, the original was deleted, but Knightbear49 posted a copy on r/TikTokCringe.

A fault line is moving in Wyoming
byu/Knightbear49 inTikTokCringe

What in the Sunnydale Hellmouth is going on there? And why did he film it instead of running away like Usain Bolt on a downhill slope?

Reddit had many, many thoughts.

Well time to add that to the list of sentences that trigger my fight or flight response.
GooglyOldBread

Welp, it’s been nice knowing y’all.
GaySpaceCrow

Naw you just have a tremor infestation.
Nickblove

Wow this is crazy to actually see.
NoIntern4400

Learn to swim, see you down in South Dakota Bay.
StaticLynx

And why are you walking down a fault line?
No-Juice-458

THANKS, OBAMA.
GraemeKnows

This is super fascinating, thanks to the cameraman for sharing!
nominalverticle

Be cool if the neighbor’s pool suddenly was in your back yard after a good shaking…. I’ll let myself out.
TotallyNotABotAccount

That’s how you die in movies.
GrilledAvocad0

Well shit. Guess 2012 is happening 12 years late!
PupperPetterBean

Man he buried the lede here. I was wondering if he got pranked by someone digging a trench until he showed the road.
QueryCrook

EroticSouls added to our nightmares.

Does this mean the Yellowstone super volcano is finally going to blow and put an end to all our suffering?

READ MORE

Just watching this terrifying climb is enough to give you nightmares

Source r/TikTokCringe Image Screengrab

The Wyoming Area School Board during a lengthy meeting Tuesday approved a final budget for the upcoming school year that included a tax hike of 6.5% — an increase many frustrated residents in the audience said they simply could not afford.

The 6.5% tax increase is lower than the 7.2% that was initially proposed back in May.

Board President Michael Supey after the meeting declined to comment on why the board decided to vote on a lower increase, saying only that they tried to do what was best for taxpayers.

The district raised taxes 5.5% last year.

The 6.5% tax increase for the 2024-2025 school year reflects a millage rate of 21.0533 in Luzerne County and 105.4852 for Wyoming County. A mill is a $1 tax for every $1,000 of assessed property value.

For example, based on the budget presentation prepared by Business Consultant Tom Melone, a homeowner in Luzerne County with a property valued at $150,000 would pay about $193 dollars more in taxes.

By contrast, a homeowner in Wyoming County with a property valued at $35,000 would see an increase of about $318.

The difference in the millage rates for each county was concerning for residents and many questioned the accuracy of the assessed property values for Wyoming County.

District Superintendent Jon Pollard said that while Luzerne County recently underwent a re-assessment, he believed that Wyoming County had not had one in a while and was possibly operating on much older numbers.

“That might be part of the reason there is such a disparity,” Pollard said.

According to a 2022 report from the Pennsylvania Economy League, Wyoming County last underwent a property value reassessment in 1988 while Luzerne County conducted one in 2009.

The budget itself called for expenditures of $47,783,389 against of revenue of $46,537,231 resulting in a shortfall of about $1.2 million.

The budget did not take any additional state funding into account as it is unclear how much the district will be awarded because the final state budget has yet to be approved. The deadline for that approval is June 30.

Even if Wyoming Area received the $871,727 in funding Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed budget called for, there would still be a small deficit that would have to be made up by the fund balance.

Reasons for the Tax Increase

Melone during his presentation offered several reasons for the tax increase, including declining property values and cyber/charter school costs, both of which are issues that have plagued the district in recent years.

Cyber/charter school tuition for the 2023-2024 school year is projected to be $2,409,095, which was a substantial increase from the amount of $2,019,492 form the year before.

Wyoming Area has seen continued increases in Cyber/charter school expenditures since 2016-2017. In the school year following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the amount nearly doubled.

Many residents then wondered why the school district was not doing more to encourage children to come back to school in person or, at the very least, encourage them to use Wyoming Area’s cyber school program instead of a competitor.

Pollard did tell parents at the meeting that he was currently working on a plan to better market the school’s cyber program, which he hopes to bring to the board sometime in July.

As far as property values were concerned, Melone explained that they have been steadily declining in both Luzerne and Wyoming County since 2015-2016, with Luzerne County expected to see a small increase by the end of this year.

Additionally, Melone noted the cost of salaries and benefits have also increased.

Residents Speak Out

The seats were packed with concerned residents at Tuesday’s meeting and for nearly two hours, the board heard from homeowners who vehemently opposed the tax increase.

“I’m lucky; I have a good job and I can pay the tax increase,” Mike Brogan, of Falls, told the board. “But at what point does it stop?”

“I watched the presentation and I understand the expenses, but everyone in this room has expenses,” said Mary Portelli, of Pittston.

She urged the board to make furthers cuts to expenditures and questioned why the district was spending so much on healthcare for employees instead of looking for another carrier.

“This is an unmitigated disaster,” said David Chaump, a resident from Pittston. “The faces in front of you, we’re strapped. We can’t afford any more in tax.”