According to the recently released 2016 report on preschool nationwide, Wisconsin is ranked 4th in the nation for the percentage of 4-year-olds in state-funded Pre-Kindergarten programs in the 2015-16 school year. Wisconsin, through its Four-Year-Old Kindergarten Program and its Head Start State Supplement program, enrolled 51,551...
Wisconsin has made significant headway in keeping children safe from firearms, but progress has stalled in recent years. Between 1999 and 2009, the number of children killed with guns dropped by more than a third, but since 2010 the number of children killed each year has stayed fairly level
First, the good news. The Joint Committee on Finance unanimously approved the Governor’s proposal for a $3.9 million increase for home visiting in each year of the biennium. The support for home visiting is encouraging. Now, the bad news. Two critical proposals to improve child care were rejected. The implications are serious. No...
Per the Coalition for Juvenile Justice: House Passes HR 1809 to Reform and Reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. Today, in the U.S. House of Representatives, a bipartisan bill that would reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, and enhance the focus on prevention, was passed by voice...
The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has released a video Play is the Way! to emphasize the importance of play in early learning and development. The short video, starring Sheila Briggs, Assistant State Superintendent, describes how young children learn and develop through interaction and play. Here is the link again Play is the...
Enactment of the House health care plan, known as the American Health Care Act (AHCA), would affect most Wisconsinites. But even if it is not enacted, actions taken by Congress and President Trump imperil the subsidized Marketplace insurance plans that provide health care coverage to about 240,000 Wisconsinites. Over the long term, the...
Find your county below to see trends in the rates of uninsured kids and adults, the percentage of people using Medicaid, and the impacts of the Affordable Care Act. Adams County Ashland County Barron County Bayfield County Brown County Buffalo County Burnett County Calumet County Chippewa County Clark County Columbia County Crawford...
The decline of family child care was a topic recently when the Joint Finance Committee members discussed issues with the Department of Children and Families (DCF) on March 29, 2017. Senator Sheila Harsdorf was concerned about the sharp decline of family child care. She has heard from her constituents that the decline may be due to the...
Trends in Adult and Juvenile Detention The Wisconsin Department of Corrections Office of Detention Facilities released their annual report for 2016. The report shows data relating to the population of Wisconsinites in secure facilities. As has been highlighted by previous reports, arrest rates are down throughout Wisconsin and have been...
The Packer great, Ahman Green, says in his USA Today column that home visiting can help parents and children live better, healthier, more self-sufficient lives. The article, Green: Renew, expand funding for home visit programs, was published in USA Today on April 29, 2017. Green says, “This research-backed investment will help ensure...
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