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WV WIC Eligible Population Methodology, 2024 Estimate of Eligible Mothers 1. Determine the percentage of each WV county population that is below 185% of the Federal Poverty Level. Current percentages were taken from the 2018-2022 American Community Survey estimates provided online by the Census Bureau (Table S1701: Poverty Status in the Past 12 Months). 2. Determine the number of births among WV residents in each county that were paid for by Medicaid. Yearly numbers are extracted from the birth certificate data collected by the WV Health Statistics Center. 3. Determine the number of births among WV residents in each county that have an unknown payer. Yearly numbers are extracted from the birth certificate data collected by the WV Health Statistics Center. 4. Multiply #1 and #3 for each county to get the remaining eligible births with an unknown payer. 5. Add the results of #2 and #4 for each county. This is the number of mothers that are WIC eligible. Estimate of Eligible Infants and Children Ages 0-4 1. Determine the percentage of each WV county population that is below 185% of the Federal Poverty Level. Current percentages were taken from the 2018-2022 American Community Survey estimates provided online by the Census Bureau (Table S1701: Poverty Status in the Past 12 Months). 2. Determine the estimated population of WV infants and children less than 5 years of age in each county. Current population estimates of WV residents by county and age groups are available yearly from the Census Bureau (cc-est2022-agesex-54). Please note that this methodology changed in 2023 due to NCHS no longer providing single year of age bridged-race population estimates by county.) 3. Multiply #1 and #2 for the age group in each county. This is the number of infants and children aged less than 5 in each county that are WIC eligible.