In response to input from advocates and others around the country, the SMART office (it’s an acronym for an office created following approval of the Adam Walsh Act!) had modified its guidelines to permit states discretion to exempt information concerning sex offenders required to register on the basis of juvenile delinquency adjudications from public web-site postings. So, although registration requirements remain pretty much the same, this at least appears to allow Wisconsin some discretion on whether to include some youthful offenders on a registry that is then open to the public. We continue to express our concern that blanket decisions about making youthful offenders names available to the public serve neither to protect the public nor to assist youthful offenders in becoming positive, contributing members of our communities. So, we urge the Department of Corrections to propose rules and procedures that take advantage of this new-found flexibility and resist a one-size-fits-all registration/disclosure system for youthful sex offenders.
Wisconsin Leaders Call on Congress to Protect Medicaid
As Congressional leadership proposes up to $2.3 trillion in cuts to the federal Medicaid program, more than 100 Wisconsin organizations—representing county leaders, direct service providers, health care providers, advocates, and many others in every county across the...