February 2, 2018

 
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The Week in Review

Return of the Rodriguez Recap

Hello, I’m State Representative Jessie Rodriguez.

Welcome back to the Rodriguez Recap!

Over the last several months, I’ve been working with my colleagues on the Speaker’s Task Force to see how we can improve foster care in Wisconsin.

This week, the bill I introduced as part of the Foster Forward package made it through the committee process and is ready to be voted on by the full Assembly.

This legislation does three things:

First, it allows schools to be notified of upcoming foster care hearings and allows them to provide written testimony for the students in foster care.

Second, the school district and the school will both be notified when a student is placed in foster care.

Lastly, the students’ academic records will be sent over to the new school within a day. This helps students transition to their new school right away.

Overall, our goal is to improve foster care in our state and this package of bills is a step in the right direction!

Keep an eye out for the next Rodriguez Recap, and have a great weekend!


Moving Foster Care Forward

This week, the Family Law Committee came together for two public meetings to discuss several bills including two from the Foster Forward Agenda.

On Tuesday, we heard from authors, Rep. Terry Katsma and Sen. Luther Olsen, urging committee members to support legislation that will increase funding for the expansion of the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) program. CASAs are volunteers appointed by judges to work with foster children or to assist families that are at risk of losing their children. Children that are paired with a CASA are more likely to do well academically and at-risk families working with CASAs are less likely to have a child placed in the foster care system.

The increased funding will support the expansion of the CASA program allowing volunteers to reach more counties throughout the state.

As a cosponsor of this legislation, I’m proud to have helped push it through committee and I look forward to its passage before we end the legislative session.

 


Wear Red for Women

Today, is Wear Red Day to raise awareness for heart disease in women. According to the American Heart Association, heart disease is the number one killer of women.

Wear Red Day is not only an opportunity to raise awareness but also to understand the warning signs of heart disease. The symptoms of heart disease are different for women and men and warning signs are not the same for all women.

For more information about Wear Red Day or heart disease, visit GoRedForWomen.org.


 

 
     

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Email: Rep.Rodriguez@legis.wi.gov