Monday, March 24, 2014

Call To Action! Help Milwaukee's Foster Children!

For those who were unaware or might have forgotten, I had worked for the child welfare system in Milwaukee County from 1995 to 2001.  At the time, the system was struggling because Republicans like  Tommy Thompson, Alberta Darling, Margaret Farrow and Scott Walker thought it perfectly fine to short change the system.

It wasn't fine and when they were caught out in their lies and malfeasance, they chose to cover it up by taking over the system themselves.  Despite spending extra tens of millions of dollars each year, the system hasn't really improved.

Last summer, I wrote about how it was about to get much, much worse:
Sadly, it appears that things are about to get much worse. 

I have received an email pointing out that the state, in an effort to recruit more employees, have lowered the standards required for the job.  Where it once required the employee to have at least a Bachelor's Degree in social work or other related fields, the bar has been substantially dropped. 

The application to work for the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare (BMCW) is more concerned if the applicant has a driver's license than the appropriate education and experience.  In fact, you don't even need to be a college graduate anymore to be hired, which should scare the heck out of anyone who cares about children.

I have also been informed that the BMCW has about 50 openings at this time.  The lowering of requirements and credentials is no doubt a move to fill these positions with warm bodies, whether they are qualified or not, and to do so on the cheap.
The good news is now is your time to call them out on their failure and put pressure on them to do the right thing.

The Partnership Council, their steering committee if you will, is holding a community meeting this Friday, March 28th.  The meeting will be from 12 noon to 2 pm and will be held at 635 N. 26 St.

If you are available, please come to the meeting and tell the Council that the children deserve to have workers with the appropriate training and education.  If they claim that they can't find such workers, remind them that they need to look at they way they treat their workers and to pay them an adequate salary.

Abused and neglected children have already suffered more than they ever should have.  They don't need to have their lives made worse because corporate politicians don't want to spare a few bucks to ensure they are receiving good services and qualified workers.

1 comment:

  1. Several years ago, those entry level Bachelor degreed case managers were given a $10,000/yr raise, which wasn't even enough to keep them in those positions. Money isn't the problem. Expecting 22-25 year olds to be able to do this kind of work is asking to much. The responsibilities should be taken on by more mature, skilled, & experienced social workers.

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