The WIC program provides food, education and other resources to 18,000 at-risk pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women, infants and children up to age 5 in Rhode Island. (Photo by Galina Zhigalova/Getty image)
Amid uncertainty over the availability of federal funding for food benefits for new moms and young children, Rhode Island is the latest state to tap into its own coffers to keep the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program afloat.
Gov. Dan McKee announced Friday that $600,000 in state funds will be used to ensure the benefit program, typically funded by federal dollars, remains available through November despite the government shutdown…