Feds Issue 2011 Poverty Level

The federal government recently released the 2011 Federal Poverty Income Guidelines, better known as the "federal poverty level." Wisconsin uses the guidelines to determine eligibility for a number of public assistance programs, such as BadgerCare Plus and child care subsidies (Wisconsin Shares). See the new guidelines on the WCCF website: Tables for Annual, Monthly and Hourly Earnings at Various Percentages of the Poverty Level.

The new guidelines are 0.6 percent higher than the ones used in 2010, which were the same as the guidelines for 2009.

WCCF has posted updated tables, which we prepare each year, showing the federal poverty level for different sized families and translating the annual poverty level figures into monthly and hourly amounts.

Jon Peacock

4K is a Hot Topic

Sen. Glenn Grothman set off quite a bit of media coverage with his suggestion that the state stop funding 4-year-old Kindergarten (4K). A Jan. 16 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel fact-check piece on Sen. Grothman’s claims about 4K rendered a verdict of FALSE. And a Jan. 21 editorial by the Wisconsin State Journal on school reform also includes a 4K discussion.

Voter ID Bill: Not Needed, Bad for Democracy

People often say that, in a democracy, decisions are made by a majority of the people. Of course, that is not true. Decisions are made by a majority of those who make themselves heard and who vote - a very different thing.

~Walter H. Judd (MN Republican Congressman, 1943-1963)

In the November election, 52 percent of eligible Wisconsin voters cast ballots. We pride ourselves on the fact that our turnout is actually higher than in 44 other states, but this fundamental right of democracy is only exercised by a fraction of eligible state voters. Senate Bill 6, currently before the State Legislature, seeks to suppress that number further by essentially disenfranchising those without a driver’s license or state ID card with the voter’s current address. Such a change disproportionately affects the elderly, people with disabilities, low-income people, and people of color in Wisconsin.

Current state law provides that when voters register, they provide proof of their identity with a driver’s license, state ID, or last four digits of their social security number as well as proof of their home address. If these are not available to the prospective voter, they may vote by provisional ballot only.

Following the most recent presidential election, Wisconsin’s Attorney General investigated allegations of voter fraud in the state. Only a handful of suspicious votes were found out of the three million ballots cast. Clearly, there is no evidence to suggest that a change in the current law is needed - particularly a change that imposes unnecessary barriers to participation in our democracy.

By throwing up road blocks for some groups of Wisconsinites, SB 6 will narrow who is eligible to make decisions about the direction of our state in the future.

New Juvenile Sex Offender Registration Guidelines Announced Related to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act

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.

What Do We Lose If Health Care Is Reformed?

The House of Representatives has scheduled a vote Wednesday to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the federal health care reform law passed last February. Although no one expects the House bill to be approved by the Senate or signed by the President, the vote this week marks the beginning of a new stage in the long assault on the ACA. Even though repeal is extremely unlikely during the next two years, it might be a possibility after that, and in the meantime the House might have the leverage to force significant changes in the health care reform law.

This blog post examines aspects of the ACA that have already taken effect and that would be lost if the House bill were enacted. According to a post Tuesday by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), repeal “would make it harder for many Americans to get insurance, harder for families and seniors with coverage to afford the care they need, and harder for small businesses to provide insurance for their employees.” This post also examines the effect of repeal on the federal deficit.

We’re Back!! Scared Straight Rises Again – hopefully briefly

Tonight (January 13) the A&E Network begins it’s broadcasting of a seven-part series titled “Beyond Scared Straight” – supposedly a look inside “new” Scared Straight programs – but, at least based on their initial promotional videos looks an awful lot like the old Scared Straight.  The producer of the series apparently does not trust the multiple research efforts that have demonstrated at best no impact, and more often a negative impact, on youthful offenders and at-risk youth – but, then again he admits to having never read it.  The reality is that Scared Straight appeals to an audience that neither understands nor wants to take the time to do the hard work of learning what works with youth – seeking instead some kind of quick-fix solution that makes for good television but poor practice.  Hopefully, this version will not spawn the replication of similar programs elsewhere – one would think that the research has put a stake in the heart of Scared Straight, but apparently not.

California – the latest state to propose structural changes to financing juvenile justice

In his recently released state budget proposal, Governor Jerry Brown has proposed eliminating the state’s juvenile correctional institutions, instead reserving state capacity only for the most serious and violent felony youth and transferring funds and responsibility for less serious offenders to the local level.  This is at least one step ahead of the Arizona Governor’s proposal (that was rejected by the legislature) in which Governor Brewer simply proposed closing the state’s institutions and saving the money for something else – not sending resources to the local level.  While questions remain about funding aftercare services for those youth who do return from a state institution and the capacity/ability of counties to absorb and adequately ”gear up” for dealing with more youth locally, in some ways this approach represents an example of structural changes that have the potential to encourage more cost-effective local efforts.  Whether this significant a change can be pulled off in a state as big and complex as California, we’ll see!

If you hang around long enough, you’ll see it all – conservatives tout justice reform!!

While the efforts of advocates and justice professionals to promote community-based programs for offenders often fell to the conservative mantra of being “tough on crime”, apparently some conservatives have finally felt the sting of the high costs of incarceration in their pocketbook – to the point of suggesting that the drive to build and fill prisons as the way to control crime maybe isn’t the right way after all.  Who, you might ask, has awaken to this realization after taking a nap for 20+ years – none other than Newt Gingrich.  In an article in the Washington Post, Mr. Gingrich has apparently discovered a national movement to promote proven prison reforms that both protect the community and reduce costs.  It would be nice if Mr. Gingrich wasn’t just focused on the fiscal aspects of this – since incarcerating offenders needlessly has powerful impacts on families and children that are not captured in the “cost” – but, maybe we should take this awakening as an opportunity to build bridges with those that formerly bashed any kind of correctional reform initiatives.  One might be suspicious that his awakening is also tied to efforts to privatize prisons and further undercut public employee unions – but wouldn’t it be interesting if this was the beginning of finding some common ground?  I guess time will tell.

When is ‘Life Without Parole’ for a young offender considered Cruel and Unusual Punishment?

On yesterday, Wednesday, January 5, 2011, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin heard oral arguments on whether sentencing an individual to life in prison without the possibility of parole for a crime committed at the age of 14 violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. You can view/listen to a recording of the oral arguments on Wisconsin Eye or a quick overview as covered by WLUK/Green Bay.

Arguing against the State’s position that such sentences should be retained in the interest of retribution, defense counsel Bryan Stevenson, from the Equal Justice Initiative,  relied on the United States Supreme Court decisions in Roper v. Simmons, which abolished the death penalty for juveniles*, and Graham v. Florida, in which the court abolished life sentences without the possibility of parole for juveniles (below age 18) convicted of non-homicides. Pointing to scientific studies on adolescent brain development, Stevenson argued that such sentences are inconsistent with our understanding of juvenile psychological development as well as a juvenile’s rehabilitative potential. His position can be summarized in a statement he made on rebuttal: “…[B]ased on what we know and understand about children and child status, to say to any child of 14 that you are fit only to die in prison is cruel…”

There are a number of states that have statutes permitting a juvenile to be sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole after a number of years, ranging from 10 to 40 years. The question is whether Wisconsin will become one of them.

DHS Reports that BadgerCare Basic is Serving More than 5,000 and Financially Solvent

Members of the Joint Finance Committee received a short DHS report today on the BadgerCare Plus Basic program, which was launched in July 2010 to make a low-cost, unsubsidized health care plan available to childless adults on the waiting list for the BadgerCare Plus Core Plan. DHS reported that as of December 14, 2009, BadgerCare Plus Basic was serving 5,066 people and was financially solvent.