Despite the efforts of Democrats to extend it, federal funding runs out today for the TANF Emergency Contingency Fund (ECF), which was a $5 billion appropriation in the Recovery Act that has been used in a variety of ways to help low-income families. One very important use of the ECF dollars has been to finance transitional jobs and...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHSS) announced Thursday (Sept. 30) that it was awarding nearly $49 million to help 48 States and the District of Columbia plan for the establishment of health insurance Exchanges, including almost $1 million to Wisconsin. The grants will assist states in the planning needed to develop...
On Thursday, September 23, 2010, the National Juvenile Justice Network (NJJN) and its partners hosted a webinar on the costs and benefits of change within the juvenile justice system. The webinar, entitled “Finding Opportunities for Reform in Difficult Fiscal Times”, was presented by Annie Balck of NJJN with Beth Colgan of Columbia...
As you have probably heard, the Census Bureau released 2009 data yesterday on a wide range of issues, including income, poverty and health insurance. Wisconsin’s child poverty rate jumped from 13.4% in 2008 to 16.7% in 2009 – catching up a bit to the national rate, which increased to 20.0% last year. About 214,000 Wisconsin children...
Two Wisconsin communities, Waukesha and the Greater Green Bay Area were honored last week as being among the best communities in the U.S. for young people in 2010. The “100 Best Communities for Young People” is a list prepared annually by America’s Promise Alliance and ING for extraordinary community-wide efforts to improve the...
If you get the Sunday New York Times or read it online, you may have seen this September 26 headline: “Job Loss Looms as Part of Stimulus Act Expires.” The article concerns a portion of the Recovery Act funding that has been used to help low income families in a variety of ways, including providing funding to initiate or expand...
A number of very significant health insurance protections for families and children take effect today, on the six-month anniversary of the health care reform act. That law, known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), includes the following reforms, which will curb some of the worst excesses of the insurance...
Poverty and income figures for 2009 that were released yesterday by the U.S. Census Bureau provide additional evidence of the economic pain that the Great Recession has inflicted on families across the nation. In some respects, such as median household income, that toll has been even heavier in Wisconsin, yet Wisconsin continues to be a...
For those following the issue of whether the two male juvenile facilities can be consolidated, there is a pretty clear statement in the Department of Corrections budget submission anticipating that consolidation will occur during the next biennium. The proposal includes an increase in the daily rate charged to counties for JCI...
As of now, 237 jurisdictions have requested and received extensions to implement regulations that comply with the requirement of the Adam Walsh Act or the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Extensions have been granted through July, 2011, and as of now only three states (Delaware, Florida, and Ohio) have...
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