The National Juvenile Justice Network has released a new policy platform document on Youth Reentry/Aftercare - providing policy makers and advocates some basic guidelines and ideas to work toward when youth are placed in residential or correctional facilities. One of the things we do know about almost all youth who are placed in a...
The IRS has announced a change that makes it harder for tax preparers to offer refund anticipation loans to income tax filers. The newest Wisconsin Budget Project blog post explains why this is a welcome development.
Recent news about the decline in the number of youth placed in Juvenile Correctional Institutions in Wisconsin (see Where Have all the Children Gone?) is mirrored by the continuing decline in the number of youth held in one of the 17 juvenile detention facilities in the state. As recently as the first half of 2008 there were, on...
A law enacted in Puerto Rico last year is likely to complicate the process of verifying citizenship status and identity for people who have Puerto Rican birth certificates and are applying for public benefits. However, the WI Dept. of Health Services (DHS) has made changes that will mitigate the potential negative effects for Puerto...
The immigration debate has once again sparked discussion by some on the extreme right of the 14th amendment to the US Constitution. The 14th Amendment, adopted after the Civil War and the emancipation of the slaves, restated a fundamental principal of American civil rights that had been temporarily erased by the Supreme Court's "Dred...
Wisconsin's unemployment rate, though still high, is slowly dropping. What could be bad about that? Today's post at the Wisconsin Budget Project blog manages to find the dark cloud around the silver lining, and explains why lower state unemployment rates can result in fewer weeks of unemployment benefits available for out-of-work...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced last week that Wisconsin will be one of 7 states piloting a new initiative called Get Covered. Get in the Game. The pilot effort will bring together coaches, schools and communities to educate families with children who are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP about the immediate...
As soon as Congress finishes off work on a few last-minute items, your Representative and our Senators will be on recess – through September 13. If a member of Congress is holding a town hall/open meeting in your area, go and ask them about what they can do to make sure that the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act...
The U.S. Senate voted 61 to 39 Thursday to pass a deficit-neutral bill that provides funding to states for Medicaid relief and education. The House plans to take up the bill, H.R. 1586, next week, probably on Tuesday, August 10. Although House passage seems likely, it is by no means assured.A WCCF report issued Thursday examines the...
The National Juvenile Justice Network has just released The Real Costs and Benefits of Change: Finding Opportunities for Reform During Difficult Fiscal Times, a compilation of reform efforts and strategies that make sense both in terms of producing better outcomes for youth and communities and saving money. Reform efforts such as Youth...
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