As the Division of Juvenile Corrections (DJC) begins the process of closing two juvenile correctional institutions (JCI) - Ethan Allen School for Boys and Southern Oaks School for Girls - and consolidating all functions at one facility – Lincoln Hills School for Boys and, on the same property the Copper Lake School for Girls – we will...
DHS Increases BadgerCare Basic Premiums and Freezes Enrollment
Basic's Problems Highlight Importance of Health Care Reform ActThe Department of Health Services (DHS) announced Friday that it has frozen enrollment for the BadgerCare Basic program, effective on March 18th. The Basic plan was created by DHS to be a non-subsidized option for coverage of childless adults on the waiting list for the...
Effects of the Budget Bills on Working Families
Wisconsin Council on Children and Families has released a two-page summary that describes the negative impact the state budget would have on working families. With cuts to education, health care, mass transportation, and important anti-poverty initiatives, the budget repair bill and the biennial budget proposal hits middle- and...
Medicaid Power Shift Would Minimize Public Input and Legislative Role
The budget documents released last Tuesday talk in broad terms about how the Walker Administration wants to change BadgerCare Plus and Medicaid to cut costs by about $500 million in the 2011-13 biennium; however, those summary documents provide no specifics. But if someone were to study the 1,345-page bill, surely they would find the...
Moving Forward in Implementing Evidence-Based Practices
As momentum continues to grow around implementing best practices, evidence-based practices, research-based practices -- OK, so pick the term you want to use – the point is how do we use the body of research about what works to improve practice in the juvenile justice world? And, how do we transition our systems from what we now do to...
Ethan Allen School and Southern Oaks Schools to Close
The Governor’s budget introduced today includes the closing of two juvenile correctional institutions, Southern Oaks School (Union Grove; girls) and Ethan Allen School (Wales; boys), and moving those youth to one consolidated juvenile correctional institution, Lincoln Hills School (Irma). As everyone is aware, the population at the...
The Coalition for Juvenile Justice Calls for More Strategic use of Federal JJ Funds
The Coalition for Juvenile Justice, a network of state’s advisory groups, has responded to President Obama’s budget which consolidates Title II and JABG funds into a new bucket called Juvenile Justice System Incentive Grants. While supporting the positives of the incentive grant approach – and there are some – CJJ suggests using that...
Deadline Looms for Debt Restructuring Option in Budget Repair Bill
Without a Deal Early This Week, Window Will Close for $165 Million Short-term Savings As a recent Wisconsin Budge Project Blog post noted, one of the relatively easy ways to close the projected $137 million budget shortfall in the 2010-11 fiscal year is to restructure some state debt. That maneuver, which is part of Governor Walker’s...
The Obama Budget and Juvenile Justice Funding – II
While Congress struggles with continuing resolutions and cuts related to the current fiscal year’s budget, as mentioned in a blog posting last week, the Obama FY 2012 budget proposal reduces and alters funding for some of the traditional Formula and JABG juvenile justice grants. Until some basic questions get answered about how funds...
A Study in Contrasts: Federal Proposals for Child Care and Head Start
1. House proposed big cuts: On February 11 House leadership released the FY 2011 Continuing Resolution/appropriations bill they are bringing to the floor. The House bill would cut Head Start by $1.083 billion (from FY 2010) and the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) by $39 million. The Head Start and child care cuts would...
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