Should Madison Be in Charge of Welfare?

Written By: Travis Buhler  |  Posted: Thursday, April 14th, 2011

        On April 6th, The Eau Claire County Board of Supervisors accepted a measure stating their opposition to the Governor's proposal to centralize the administration and distribution of certain major welfare programs in Madison instead of at the county level.  The programs include Family Care and the Caretaker Supplement, Medicaid, Badger Care, and Food Share.  Under the current state budget bill being proposed, these programs would be based in Madison instead of the county's Department of Human Services (DHS).

        The County Board cited several inefficiencies with current state-run programs including the failure of the Madison based Enrollment Services Center (ESC) to process 4,000 cases within a year which may result in federal fines.  They also pointed out that the ESC has an error rate that is over twice as high as the county's error rate.

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