Legislature acts to strengthen families

By Barbara Sella

	Related articles: from Oct. 27, 2006 issue: • State referenda draw spirited discussions     Marriage, death penalty, spark mixed reactions • Stewardship: A Way of Life --     Faithful Citizenship 2006 (Sixth in a Series)     One man, one woman, one union: Questions     and answers on Wisconsin's constitutional     amendment to define marriage • Find more election resources on our Links page.

If the current debate over the marriage amendment in Wisconsin has highlighted anything it's the importance of the family, not just for the individuals who constitute it but also for society as a whole.

At the close of the 2006 legislative session, a bi-partisan proposal was signed into law as 2005 Wisconsin Act 467. This new law directs the Joint Legislative Council (JLC) to create a special committee each biennium in order to study ways of strengthening Wisconsin's families.

The Joint Legislative Council was originally created in 1947 to set up study committees composed of legislators and knowledgeable citizens to examine major issues and problems related to state government.

The JLC's staff, which by law is "strictly non-partisan," conducts research, offers legal expertise, and drafts any proposals for new legislation coming out of the study committees. Committee members hear hours of public testimony from government leaders, experts in the field, and concerned citizens.

The Special Committee on Strengthening Wisconsin's Families formed by Act 467 has chosen to begin its work by focusing on the state's most fragile families. Specifically, it is studying the Wisconsin Works (W-2) Program and the child welfare system to determine how to improve collaboration between the two systems in order to support, strengthen, and, in some cases, reunify families.

The W-2 program exists to assist custodial parents of dependent children to find work and support their families. Persons eligible for W-2 may not have financial resources over $2,500 (car and home excepted), and their gross income must be at or below 115% of the federal poverty level (FPL).

These income limits include the income of a co-parent or spouse. For a family of four, 115% FPL means an income of $1,917 a month or $23,004 a year. Recipients of W-2 benefits may receive them for up to 60 months.

The child welfare system assists children who need protective services (CHIPS). These may include abandoned, abused, and neglected children, or those in need of special care. In the gravest circumstances children are removed from their homes and either placed with relatives (kinship care) or sent into foster care.

In 2005, 7,624 children were removed from their homes. Of these, about 20% went to live with relatives and the other 80% went into foster care.

Although the committee is expected to submit its findings and proposals sometime early next year, its work will be far from over. Act 467 gives the committee six years to address a broad range of issues.

Some of these include: identifying the qualities of successful families and recommending legislation to support these qualities; identifying and supporting private initiatives that strengthen families; delivering state funds to families, rather than to individuals; changing tax codes to support and encourage the formation of families; and addressing health care needs of families.

It is too early to tell how the committee will focus its work. Nor is it possible to predict what policy proposals it will recommend. But the fact that legislators seem prepared to take such a comprehensive look at families bodes well for the common good.

To receive notices of future hearings and to follow the committee's work, go to www.legis.state.wi.us/lc and click on 2005-06 Legislative Council Interim.

(Sella is associate director for education and social concerns of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, the civil arm of the state's five diocesan bishops.)