Miami Dade County WIC, FL

The Florida Department of Health Miami-Dade WIC Program has the largest WIC participation in Florida, serving roughly 64,000 participants per month. Even so, there has been a significant decline in participants over the past five years. Miami-Dade County WIC’s administrative data show that participation decreases after children turn one and continues to steadily decline after age two. Reasons for participants dropping off early include concerns related to citizenship/residency requirements and lack of knowledge of important aspects of WIC such as shopping with WIC benefits and eligibility requirements.

Meet the Miami-Dade County HPRIL Team

Eriko Robinson Program Director

Carla Sabugo Grant Project Manager

Carol Crisafi Project Coordinator

To address their retention and recruitment challenges, the Miami-Dade County WIC Program implemented an integrated media marketing strategy that digitally targeted participants and potential participants with display ads, posts and videos using precise geographical location (geo-location) technology and customized messaging for their target population. The overall goal was to enhance the image of WIC benefits and address barriers to continued participation. Miami-Dade County WIC worked with Foundry 360, a national media company that also runs the National WIC Association’s Recruitment and Retention Campaign.

The target audience for this intervention included mothers and family members who were receiving WIC benefits at the time and potentially eligible mothers/family members of children aged 1-3 years of age. Messages were culturally and socially relevant to current barriers to participation. Additionally, the tool provided brand awareness, specifically to promote WIC services, eligibility, and benefits after infancy. Social media posts, YouTube videos, and other advertisements were consistently updated and strategically deployed based on performance rates according to Google analytics.

To evaluate the effectiveness of this integrated media marketing strategy in achieving their project goals, Miami-Dade County WIC utilized a quasi-experimental design. Two of their clinics received the intervention, while eleven of their clinics served as control sites. The outcome evaluation answered the question, “Did the integrated media marketing strategy contribute to improved retention, participation, and enrollment rates of children in the intervention sites as compared to the control sites?”

To learn more about Miami-Dade WIC’s HPRIL project, please contact Eriko Robinson at Eriko.robinson@flhealth.gov.