OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — State health department officials in Oklahoma and Arkansas say their Women, Infants and Children program has not been affected by the federal budget battle that has partially shut down government.
The federally funded WIC program provides food and health support to low-income women and children up to age 5.
Oklahoma State Department of Health spokeswoman Leslea Bennett-Webb says the state has enough funds to fully continue the program for up to about two weeks.
Arkansas Department of Health spokesman Ed Barham says Arkansas officials reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to continue funding the program through the end of October.
Bennett-Webb says Oklahoma averages about 90,000 WIC clients per month while Barham says Arkansas had nearly 88,000 during August and called that a "typical" number of clients.