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  • Office of the State Auditor

The Massachusetts WIC Website Does Not List All WIC Provider Locations or Identify All Wheelchair-Accessible Provider Locations.

Audit calls on the Department of Public Health to include all provider locations on its website and identify locations that are wheelchair accessible.
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Overview

DPH’s WIC website lists only 80 of the 120 WIC provider locations. In addition, although the website indicates that 30 of those 80 locations are wheelchair accessible, during our site visits we identified 11 more locations that were wheelchair accessible even though they were not listed that way online. By not making sure this information is accurate and complete, DPH may be inhibiting people from applying for WIC benefits.

Authoritative Guidance

DPH is charged with administering WIC benefits to all eligible Massachusetts residents, some of whom might have physical disabilities. It cannot effectively deliver this service to all those who need it if it does not make them aware of all service locations, including those that are accessible.

Reasons for Website Inaccuracies

DPH officials acknowledged that the WIC website is not up to date but said that this situation was being corrected. Officials at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) and DPH said that the information was lost in 2017, when the Massachusetts government began transferring all of its websites to a new system to optimize them for viewing on tablets or smartphones as well as desktop computers. DPH lacks policies and procedures that require the information on its website to be periodically reviewed and updated as necessary to ensure that it is complete and accurate.

Recommendations

  1. DPH should update its WIC website to include all WIC provider locations and identify all provider locations that are wheelchair accessible.
  2. DPH should develop policies and procedures to ensure that WIC provider information is updated on the website as it changes.
  3. DPH should implement controls to ensure that the provider location information on the WIC website is periodically reviewed for accuracy.

Auditee’s Response

DPH acknowledges that at the time of the audit, the Massachusetts WIC website did not list all WIC provider locations or identify all wheelchair accessible provider locations. The website has since been updated and all 116 sites are represented. The web support staff corrected the site profiles so that all of the handicapped icons are now visible. DPH has a health communication policy and website controls. This summer, additional training will be provided to program staff including WIC. DPH is committed to ensuring our website is accurate and up to date.

Date published: September 9, 2019

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