It Was Actually Pretty Easy: COVID-19 Compliance Cost Reductions in the WIC Program

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Barnes, Carolyn; Petry, Sarah
• 署名单位: Duke University
• 刊物名称: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-3352
• DOI: 10.1111/puar.13423
• 发表日期: 2021
• 页码: 1147-1156
• 关键词: administrative burden; PARTICIPATION; HEALTH; state; ENCOUNTERS; barriers; rates; CHILDREN; guide

摘要

In recent years, scholars have examined the barriers to accessing public assistance benefits. Research identifies learning, compliance, and psychological costs as deterring program use. Compliance costs reflect the burdens of following program rules, which may entail providing documentation, responding to discretionary demands of bureaucrats, or attending appointments to maintain benefits. Studies identify one element of compliance costs-quarterly appointments-as a barrier to continued WIC participation. This article draws on 44 in-depth qualitative interviews with participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). We examine how WIC participants perceive the reduction of compliance costs following the implementation of remote appointments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. WIC participants report satisfaction with remote appointments and a reduction in the compliance costs of accessing and maintaining benefits. We conclude by recommending longer term changes to policy and practices to increase access and continuity in WIC receipt. Evidence for Practice Most WIC participants reported positive experiences with remote appointments. WIC participants viewed remote appointments as more convenient and faster than pre-pandemic in-person appointments. Remote appointments alleviated WIC participants' safety concerns about in-person visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. We recommend and highlight long-term changes to WIC policy that enable continued remote appointments to increase access to and maintenance of WIC receipt.