As we hope to gear up to raise the age of adult court jurisdiction to 18 in Wisconsin, this issue is attracting national attention as well. A recent item by CNN.com, titled States Rethink ‘Adult Time for Adult Crime’ highlights progress in Illinois and Connecticut as well as discussions going on in New York and North Carolina. Too often it is a tragic incident that finally garners the attention of the public, just as here in Wisconsin the recent arrest of a 13 year-old for allegedly killing his father has raised concerns about Wisconsin’s laws related to original court jurisdiction.
TANF at 25: Failing to Meet the Needs of WI Families
On August 22 of this year, the law creating the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program (TANF) turns 25 years old, and that’s not a cause for celebration. At the national level and here in Wisconsin, TANF is serving only a small fraction of the families who are...