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The Teton County Health Department is now on the front end of helping low-income mothers and young children connect to a federal program for healthy foods, health and nutrition screening and education, breastfeeding support and healthcare referrals.
WIC currently serves 119 people in Teton County, according to Stephanie Sandoval, senior administrator for the state’s Public Health Division.
Previously, Teton County residents would interface with the Wyoming Department of Health to access the Woman, Infants and Children (WIC) program, which has been available in Teton County since its inception in the 1970s. But after some issues renting space in town, the state has handed over local leadership to the county for program stability, according to Teton County Health Director Travis Riddell.
“Since we have space and we’re able to flex some staff into that position,” he said, “we were able to make that work.”
County employee Alejandra Hernandez now staffs the program, offering bilingual services, helping people understand if they qualify and navigate the system.
The move allows the county to retain one employee who was previously part of the Community Health Outreach Worker program, which lost funding ahead-of-schedule earlier this year in a wave of federal funding cuts.
In late 2024, the state WIC administrators reached out to the Teton County Health Department to ask if the county could host the program, she said in an email.
Wyoming WIC works with several county governments to ensure the program’s implementation.
“We are pleased [Teton County was] interested in offering WIC services,” Sandoval said.
The state’s WIC office was most recently in a rental building on Vine Street, Riddell said. Before then, Sandoval said WIC has historically found a home inside the Teton County Health Department on Pearl Avenue.
Not much is slated to change with the program, which requires applicants qualify by income and household size. Services will still be provided in-person and virtually, in both Spanish and English.
In Teton County, Smiths and Albertson’s accept WIC vouchers.
In addition to qualifying pregnant mothers and those with young kids, the program helps feed kids who are under 5.
“That is a particularly important time to have adequate nutrition in terms of long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes in kids,” Riddell said. “There was some effort to get it going, but we’re happy to do it.”
