Nevada WIC program offices to close due to federal shutdown, officials say

Offices for Nevada’s nutrition assistance program for women and children are expected to close this week due to the ongoing federal government shutdown, and a program tribal and rural communities rely on will be suspended, officials said.

The Nevada Women, Infants and Children program’s offices will close Friday, but food benefits will continue to be available to current participants, according to Elizabeth Ray, spokesperson for the governor’s office.

“The state is seeking funds to ensure there is no disruption to benefits, but without additional funding all WIC services will be impacted,” Ray said in a Wednesday statement.

Nevada’s WIC offices provide nutrition education and counseling, breastfeeding education, health screenings, prenatal care, family planning and family support services, according to Ray. While the shutdown continues, families will be able to continue to use their EBT cards at authorized grocery stores and retailers to purchase approved food items, Ray said.

A separate nutrition assistance program for tribal communities will be suspended starting Thursday.

The WIC program for the Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada, which represents the state’s 28 tribal nations, will be suspended after running out of contingency funding.

“Our team is deeply saddened by this interruption and the impact it will have on families, especially those living in rural and tribal communities where food access is already limited,” program director Blanca Plascencia-Reyna said in the statement. “We remain hopeful that funding will be restored quickly so we can resume serving our communities.”

The program serves more than 530 tribal and non-tribal families across the state, providing them with nutritious foods, breastfeeding support and nutrition education, according to Plascencia-Reyna.

No WIC benefits will be available or issued through the Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada. Its WIC offices will be closed, and its staff will not be available to provide assistance, according to the council. All existing participant appointments will be rescheduled once the federal government resumes its operations.

How to stay informed

The council encouraged participants to stay informed through the WIC Shopper app, the program’s social media page and its office line at 775-398-4960. It also is working to make food pantries and other resources available to rural areas and was directing families to Nevada’s WIC program, Plascencia-Reyna said.

Nevada WIC will provide updates to participants through the WICShopper app, the NevadaWIC.org website as well as alerts through text messages.

Tribal leaders in Nevada expressed concerns about the long-term effects the program’s pause will have.

Cathi Tuni, chairwoman of the Paiute-Shoshone Tribe of the Fallon Reservation and Colony, which is about an hour outside of Reno, said the program’s pause will have an impact on families who are already seeing an increase in prices.

She is not sure when families in her tribe received their last supplement with the program, whether it was on Friday or a month ago. How long the shutdown continues will determine the effect the program’s pause will have, she said.

“If they have enough to get by 60 days and the shutdown is resolved maybe next week or in another 20 days, they should be safe,” Tuni said.

Brian Mason, tribal chairman of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian reservation, said the number of families on the reservation who rely on nutrition assistance varies throughout the year. Because his tribe is self-governing, he isn’t sure how much it relies on the Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada’s WIC program.

“We’re fortunate in that we have cash on hand, and we’re not totally reliant on the government’s budget,” he said.

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.