The Department of Health Services (DHS) estimates that lifting the cap on Family Care (and IRIS) and allowing the program to expand into additional counties will cost $80 million in state GPR funding in the current biennium. As we noted in a previous blog post, the bill to lift the cap has no appropriation because the intent of DHS and...
More Discouraging News Regarding Special Committee RecommendationsIn a blog post last week, Sara Eskrich noted that the Legislative Council met on January 18 and recommended only 3 of the 11 bill drafts developed by the Special Committee on Infant Mortality. That same day, the Legislative Council also considered four bills developed by...
Wisconsin barely missed receiving a $50 million federal Race to the Top- Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) grant in a competitive process in December 2011. Wisconsin ranked 11 among the 37 states that applied; the top 9 were funded. If there is a 2nd round, Wisconsin could be in good shape To see the scores and ranks by state, go to:...
As counties have developed more community-based programs and more cost-effective strategies for working with youthful offenders, we have seen a steady decline in the number of youth placed in secure confinement. Yet, another round of reductions to funding for juvenile justice programs, if approved, will hit counties hard as the...
By Forsaking Federal Funds, State Must Halt Effort to Develop “Real Time" Eligibility System It was widely publicized last week that Governor Walker decided to put a halt to the state’s implementation of health care reform, including health insurance exchanges, and to stop drawing down federal funds from the $37.6 million Early...
Some of you will have followed the scandal that reached national notoriety in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania – where judges were ordering youth held in secure confinement in a private facility and money was being funneled back to them by the facility operators. Finally, at least some aspects of that have come to some closure with the...
This month, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a possible rule change for undocumented spouses and children of U.S. citizens who are eligible for legal permanent resident (LPR) status. Under current regulations, those seeking LPR status must leave the United States in order to file for a visa. Many of those...
Certification of a Deficit Would Allow State to End or Modify BadgerCare Eligibility for 53,000 AdultsGovernor Walker and many Republican legislators have said repeatedly that the biennial budget bill brought the state budget into balance. I agree with that assessment. However, the Department of Health Services (DHS) sent a letter to...
Black Infant Mortality Rate Declines, But Remains Nearly Three Times the White RateFollowing up on yesterday’s blog post about the proposals of the Special Committee on Infant Mortality, it’s timely to note that today the Department of Health Services issued its annual report on “Wisconsin Births and Infant Deaths” (for 2010). The...
Yesterday, the Joint Legislative Council met to hear the recommendations of a number of special committees. As we discussed in Tuesday’s blog post, the Special Committee on Infant Mortality put forth particularly important legislative recommendations, which we strongly support. Unfortunately, the majority of these proposals were not...
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