Rhode Island State Department of Health WIC CIAO Project

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RI DOH) aims to implement a comprehensive WIC outreach project, which includes leveraging Rhode Island Health Equity Zones, employing a statewide social services platform called Unite Us, and using community health workers.

The project seeks to increase WIC awareness, participation, and retention in counties with a higher percentage of children living in poverty, diverse populations, and new immigrants, compared to the state average.

RI DOH will use data from the Unite Us platform to identify eligible WIC participants and community members will be trained as health workers and provide qualitative data for the project. Two separate WIC Advisory Groups will also inform the project’s direction.

After the end of the project, the Rhode Island Department of Health will post the blueprint on its site and disseminate it to other WIC State agencies.