Overview
The Department of Public Health (DPH) provides only English-language versions of the personalized, printed shopper’s list generated from Eos for participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), even when English is not their native language. (Each time benefits are issued, reissued, or updated, Eos generates a shopper’s list that is designed specifically for the participant and/or their family. For example, baby formula can appear on the shopper’s list for a participant with an infant, and a family with older children may be authorized to purchase fat-free or 1% milk.)
Additionally, DPH only provides the Massachusetts WIC Approved Food Guide, which contains photographs and descriptions of food that program participants are allowed to purchase using their WIC benefits, in English and Spanish. During the audit period, text-only versions of this guide were available only in Chinese and Portuguese. According to DPH officials, the text-only version has recently been made available in Arabic, French, Khmer, and Vietnamese.
As a result of the above issues, many program participants who are not fluent in English may not be able to use the available information to effectively identify WIC-approved foods. For example, according to data available from the US Census Bureau’s 2017 American Community Survey, French and Russian are among the 10 most widely spoken languages in Massachusetts, but shoppers’ lists and the food guide are not available in those languages.
Authoritative Guidance
According to the Massachusetts State Agency Plan of Program Operation and Administration for the WIC Program for Federal Fiscal Year 2017, WIC participants whose English is not sufficient to obtain access to services must be served in their native language. Additionally, the plan instructs Massachusetts’s WIC to “translate materials into the languages used by . . . participants.”
Reasons for Issue
DPH indicated that it did not have the technology to translate the shoppers’ lists. Additionally, the agency said that building the functionality into the Eos system to provide for such translations would be cost-prohibitive.
DPH management said that they encouraged WIC participants to use a smartphone application called WICShopper, which was designed by a third party and is currently available for use in more than 25 states. The application allows participants to track their benefit balances and provides pictures of their authorized food items to assist them in shopping in approved locations. According to DPH officials, the application is only available in Arabic, Burmese, English, Nepali, Somali, and Spanish.
Recommendations
- DPH should assess the resources needed to provide translated versions of shoppers’ lists to WIC participants, attempt to acquire these resources, and then provide the shoppers’ lists in the appropriate languages.
- DPH should continue to identify the languages that are most commonly spoken by WIC participants and publish the Massachusetts WIC Approved Food Guide in additional languages as needed.
Auditee’s Response
DPH disagrees with the finding that "DPH does not ensure certain information about the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children is available to participants in their native languages.” DPH has utilized its resources to make materials available in the languages most commonly spoken by non-English speaking Women, Infant and Children (WIC) participants. Although Russian is one of the 10 most widely spoken languages in Massachusetts it is not common among WIC participants. Of current WIC enrollees only .2% of households report Russian as their preferred written language. DPH is committed to working with all participants and utilizes interpreters to communicate when needed by participants.
Auditor’s Reply
As noted above, during our audit period DPH did not ensure that certain information about the WIC program was available to participants in their native languages. It only provided English-language versions of the personalized, printed shoppers’ lists; only provided the Massachusetts WIC Approved Food Guide in English and Spanish; and had text-only versions of this guide in only Chinese and Portuguese. In their response, DPH officials indicated that the text-only version of the Massachusetts WIC Approved Food Guide has recently been made available in Arabic, French, Khmer, and Vietnamese. Although we acknowledge that DPH continues to make efforts to provide this guide in other languages, in the Office of the State Auditor’s (OSA’s) opinion, DPH needs to fully comply with the Massachusetts State Agency Plan of Program Operation and Administration for the WIC Program and develop the ability to serve all program participants in their native languages, regardless of the percentage of program participants who may speak a certain language. For example, DPH has not made non-English versions of the personalized, printed shopper’s list generated from Eos available to non-English-speaking WIC participants. Further, although DPH may make interpreters available to assist non-English-speaking participants during the application process, these interpreters are not available to WIC participants when they may need them during their participation in the program.
| Date published: | September 9, 2019 |
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