MILWAUKEE – Governor Jim Doyle today announced a budget proposal to streamline services for children and families to ensure that all Wisconsin children grow up safe, healthy, and with the support of strong families. The Governor’s proposal will merge child welfare, child support, child care services and the W-2 program into a single, unified agency – the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families.
“I am committed to ensuring that children and families have access to the services they need to get off to the best start they can in life,” Governor Doyle said. “Right now, Wisconsin has a cabinet level department devoted to prisoners, but not one devoted exclusively to children and their families. By streamlining these services, we will ensure that children are getting the support they need and enable families to easily navigate the services that are available.”
The Department of Children and Families will be Wisconsin’s first cabinet agency devoted exclusively to helping and protecting kids and families of the state.
The new Department of Children and Families will unify services currently divided between the Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS) and the Department of Workforce Development (DWD). The merger will improve coordination of these services, reduce duplication, and build further accountability in government for the welfare of children and families.
The merger will allow DHFS to focus specifically on making health care more affordable and accessible and promoting the health of all the people of Wisconsin. DWD will be able to focus on job training and strengthening the state’s workforce.
The Governor’s proposal is the most recent step in a process the state began three years ago. In 2004, Wisconsin was chosen by the National Governor’s Association to develop strategies to improve services for families and promote collaboration among the state, local agencies and organizations that deliver them. Through this initiative, DHFS and DWD worked with counties around the state to promote service integration of child welfare and W-2 at the local level.
