The state Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children is transitioning to an Electronic Benefits Transfer system, replacing the paper food checks used at grocery stores with a swipe card similar to a credit or debit card, the state Department of Public Health announced Tuesday.

The new system, called “eWIC,” allows families to continue to receive the same foods, nutrition education and support, the health department said in a news release.

The WIC program is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture and administered in Connecticut by the state health department.

All participants routinely are seen by trained WIC nutrition professionals who provide prescribed nutritious foods, information on healthy eating and breastfeeding support and referrals to other health care and social service agencies in the state, the health department said.

“The eWIC system will lead to an improved WIC shopping experience for participants and vendors,” Public Health Commissioner Dr. Raul Pino said. “We expect that it will help remove the stigma associated with check use at the retailers, allow families to have more flexibility in the items they purchase when they need them and also reduce errors in choosing non-WIC approved foods.”

The new system also will benefit retailers by improving WIC processing and customer service, he said.

“eWIC will help clarify which food items are approved for purchase and increase retailer efficiency by reducing the amount of time that is spent on a WIC sale,” he said.

Staff members from the department's WIC program have been working for several months with local WIC agencies to educate participants and train vendors on the new system, the health department said.

The eWIC pilot phase began in February in WIC offices and grocery stores in East Hartford, Hartford, Meriden and Middletown.

In April, the rollout phase will begin throughout the remaining Connecticut WIC local agencies and will be completed by June.

The Connecticut WIC program serves 52,561 participants at 23 full-time WIC locations. Families can shop at nearly 700 WIC-authorized grocery stores and pharmacies.

The WIC mission is to safeguard the health of low-income pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women, infants and children up to age five who are at nutritional risk by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, nutrition education, breastfeeding promotion and support, and referrals to health care and social services.

The WIC program increases food security for low-income families. It also increases local availability and access to fruits, vegetables, low-fat milk, whole-grain bread and other healthy foods for all residents.

Participation in the program improves pregnancy outcomes (fewer pre-term births, low birth weight deliveries and infant deaths), reduces hospitalization and Medicaid costs and helps ensure a child’s developmental readiness to enter kindergarten, the health department said.

For information, visit www.ct.gov/dph/wic or call (860) 509-8084.