TEXAS — The government shutdown has ended, but the lag time for Texans who depend on federal nutrition assistance to get that help is expected to be ongoing. Inside one of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) clinics, officials said they expect the surge to continue.

“I’ve actually been with the WIC program for 25 years,” said Maggie Saldana.

Saldana said that in those 25 years, working in the Special Supplement Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, she’s seen things fluctuate.

“Years back, our participation was a little bit higher. Then, it started decreasing. Recently we’ve seen an increase where it’s starting to inch up again,” she said.

She attributes the uptick to politics in Washington.

“In the last month, we have seen an increase in the number of calls of people trying to participate in the program because of the government shutdown,” she said.

The longest government shutdown in history may be over, but during the shutdown, curiosity grew about who might qualify for WIC. Loss of paychecks, along with the steady rise in food prices over the past few years, are also bringing more folks in.

“We have gotten some questions like ‘I’ve been furloughed’, so they’re attempting to get on the program. They want to know, ‘How can I get on WIC,’” she said.

WIC provides free healthy food and nutrition information for caregivers of children under 5, as well as breastfeeding support for pregnant and new moms.

“If you’re participating in Medicaid, SNAP or TANF, then you automatically qualify income-wise,” Saldana said.

Income guidelines require a family income at or below 185% of the U.S. poverty level. For a three-person household, for instance, that equates to just over $47,000 a year.

“We go by the income that they’ve received in the last 30 days. If there’s no income coming into the household, then we will look at how have you been surviving in the last 30 days. They can bring in bank statements,” she said.

Grateful is one word Saldana used when describing how recipients feel when they get that bit of relief knowing they will provide food for their families. She explains that with persistent inflation and the rise in food costs, she expects them to stay busy.

“Our participation at this time is approximately about…I think last month it was 36,000,” she said.