Graham Kilmer
MKE County

Board Almost Blocks Juvenile Justice Funding

A majority of supervisors voted to hold on a $42 million contract without appearing to know what the impact would be.

By - Feb 2nd, 2023 03:58 pm
Milwaukee County Courthouse. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

Milwaukee County Courthouse. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

During the Milwaukee County Board’s meeting Thursday, it appeared a majority of the board members voted without knowing the impact of what they were voting on.

A majority of supervisors voted to hold back $42 million in funding for the county’s juvenile justice system. And only after it was explained to them what their vote would do did they change their votes and approve the funding for the county’s Children Youth and Family Services (CYFS) Division.

Each year, the division receives funding from the state to operate a juvenile justice system. The 2023 funding is approximately $42.3 million. The division will use it to run the Vel R. Phillips Juvenile Justice Center; prevention programs designed to keep youth out of the justice system; a “targeted monitoring” program that allows youth to avoid incarceration after a conviction; and to pay back the state when judges sentence Milwaukee youth to the state juvenile prisons in Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake.

The funding, called Community Youth and Family Aids, is provided to the county via a contract, and given its size, the contract must go before the board. It represents 40% of the division’s budget in 2023. The division is part of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and is also responsible for a number of services and programs for children and young adults with developmental, mental health and physical disabilities.

The state notifies the county each year of the contract prior to the budget process so the county can build it into the budget. The programs and services the contract will fund were presented to the board as part of the body’s annual budget deliberations in October 2022.

The contract was referred to two committees during the board’s January meeting schedule, but only one of them had the legal authority to take action: the powerful Finance Committee. The contract was also referred to the board’s Health, Equity, Human Needs and Strategic Planning Committee but only as an informational report. That committee did not hear the item in January.

A week before the full board meeting, Clare O’Brien, DHHS budget and policy director, offered a brief explanation of the contract to the board’s Finance Committee. No supervisors on the committee asked questions about the money or the contract, and it was unanimously approved.

During the full board meeting Thursday, Sup. Peter Burgelis, who sits on the Finance Committee, made a motion to hold the contract back for another meeting cycle — thereby delaying the funding for the division until the beginning of April. “Although that referral is for informational purposes only,” Burgelis said, “I think it’s appropriate that that committee consider a $42 million contract and weigh in on it before I would feel comfortable voting to confirm this.”

Without deliberation, the supervisors voted on Burgelis’ motion and nine others joined him in voting for it. Supervisors Ryan Clancy, Priscilla E. Coggs-Jones, Patti Logsdon, Felesia Martin, Juan Miguel Martinez, Steven Shea, Sequanna Taylor, Sheldon Wasserman and Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson.

Supervisors Deanna Alexander, Willie Johnson, Jr., Shawn Rolland, Tony Staskunas, Liz Sumner and Steve Taylor voted against Burgelis’ motion.

Shortly after the vote, Alexander asked that the tally for the vote be read back to the supervisors. Only a supervisor who votes on the majority side of an item can motion for reconsideration. After the tally was re-read, Rolland went over to Martin and asked if she would call the item for consideration again. Martin made the motion.

This time, before the supervisors voted, Rolland took the floor and pleaded with his colleagues to approve the contract. As chair of the health and equity committee, he said he was comfortable hearing the informational report during the next board cycle. “But sending it back to committee delays this contract with the state for $42 million. That would be a huge, huge mistake.” he said. “We should not do that.”

Nicholson asked Corporation Counsel Margaret Daun to “share, from a legal perspective, any implications.”

“Without the contract, there’s going to be a funding shortfall,” Daun said. “This is basically the entirety of funding for our Youth and Family Services Program. So, yeah, there wouldn’t be money to run Youth and Family Services.”

Upon hearing this, Burgelis made a motion to approve the item, and the board unanimously approved the contract

Reached for comment after the meeting, Rolland said, “All’s well that ends well.”

Not immediately approving the contract would likely have caused county officials to find other temporary sources. “As long as the contract was approved this year, then DHHS could still draw down the funding amount, but this funding would come from other County entities until the contract was approved,” Kelly Pethke, interim CYFS administrator, told Urban Milwaukee after the meeting.

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Categories: Health, MKE County

One thought on “MKE County: Board Almost Blocks Juvenile Justice Funding”

  1. BigRed81 says:

    Part time County Supervisors don’t have enough time to study every Budget item in depth. Historically, County Supervisors were full time employees with benefits. It’s past time to restore fulltime schedule.

    State law made it part time in 2016.
    Former Gov. Walker colluded with then County Exec., Chris Abele, to increase executive power while weakening the County Board. Note: Walker was County Exec. prior to Abele. They got a binding Referendum on the Ballot. Worded in a twisted manner, leading some voters to support it.

    Milkaukee’s Budget has squeezed by lack of receiving Shared Revenue due. Another legacy of Walker’s abuse of power.

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