More Troubling News Surfaces for Wisconsin Shares

Many of you may recall that we began 2009 with news that rampant fraud had been uncovered within the Wisconsin Shares subsidized child care program.  It seems only fitting that we end 2009 with news that certain child care centers funded under Wisconsin Shares have been linked to drug rings and crime bosses.

This week, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel provided more insight into its longtime investigation of Wisconsin Shares, including connections between child day care centers and drug dealers.  The newspaper has identified at least 16 day care facilities with connections to drug operations, particularly in the city of Milwaukee.  These facilities combined have collected more than $8.5 million in taxpayer-funded subsidies since 2006. 

A police officer who was interviewed by the paper said that in 25 percent of the drug cases he deals with, the offender's wife or girlfriend is a day care provider.  One such provider the paper mentioned received nearly $40,000 of the $50,000 she was on pace to collect from the state by the end of this year.  She gave her live-in boyfriend, a convicted drug dealer, $10,000 to buy 2 kilos of cocaine in 2007.  Fortunately, he bought the drug from an undercover police officer.

In another incident, police conducted a search in 2004 of a day care center that had been linked to a drug operation.  By the end of the search, they had found $42,000 worth of marijuana, a Glock .40 caliber handgun, a bulletproof vest, and at least $200,000 worth of jewelry.  Additionally, the owner of the day care facility drove a BMW X5 SUV.

Perhaps the worst incident reported was that of an 8-year-old held at gunpoint.  As the young girl was napping on the floor, a gunman burst into the day care center, pulled her up, and pointed the gun at her while demanding money.  He then grabbed a purse and ran out the door.  According to the paper, police believed that incident was drug-related.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also mentioned that Wisconsin has been ranked as the 41st worst state in the country for oversight of child care centers, according to a report by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies.  I would say this is too generous.  Given the evidence of fraud, abuse, drugs, and gun violence reported at our state's day care centers, we should be ranked much lower.  As the paper bluntly pointed out, too many "crooked child care providers and drug dealers are capitalizing on the lax supervision."

Legislative Audit Bureau Completes Second Phase of Wisconsin Shares Audit

Coincidentally, the latest Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article on Wisconsin Shares was published just before the release of the final report completed by the Legislative Audit Bureau.  On Thursday, the bureau unveiled the findings compiled from the second phase of its year-long audit of the Wisconsin Shares program.  As I had expected, the results are extremely disturbing.

The audit found that more than 600 child care centers were overdue for inspections by state regulators this past year.  This is in addition to 184 licensed and 20 certified child care facilities that were overdue for criminal background checks as of June 30, 2009.  A total of 317 individuals participating in Wisconsin Shares are guilty of past criminal offenses that require further investigation.  According to the audit, there were at least eight instances in which felons and other individuals with records of child abuse and neglect were either employed by or living in child day care facilities. 

Upon sharing this information with the Department of Children and Families, agency officials told the audit bureau they "believed that no children have been harmed."

For licensing specialists in charge of regulating child care facilities, The National Association for the Education of Young Children recommends a limit of 75 caseloads per specialist.  The audit revealed that on average a licensing specialist had 94 to 120 cases in 2009.

The audit also revealed that Kenosha County is not immune to the abuses of Wisconsin Shares.  In June 1995, a resident of a certified child care facility was convicted of felony battery.  Kenosha County conducted a criminal background check on that same resident in November 2008 when they applied for certification to open a day care center, but took no further action except for approving the license.  The audit bureau notified Kenosha County of the day care provider's criminal record, after which the county revoked the provider's certification.  From January until October, 2009, however, that provider had collected nearly $23,000 in subsidies under Wisconsin Shares.

Before the audit was completed, however, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported last spring that another provider in Kenosha County had collected more than $85,000 in improper subsidy payments.  The paper reported that after staking out the child care center for five days, they observed that no children ever showed up.  Yet, records indicated that the provider billed the state anyway under Wisconsin Shares.  The paper then notified Kenosha County about the discrepancy.  However, the county's Division of Workforce Development could not take action in shutting down the provider's facility because the children supposedly in her care were from Racine County, and is therefore outside of Kenosha County's jurisdiction.

Out of a random sample of 100 facilities with attendance record citations, 42 percent of those licensed and 82 percent of those certified had not been assessed for payment errors.  In other words, these facilities were cited for falsely reporting the number of children enrolled but were still compensated (and overpaid) by the taxpayers.  The audit also indicated that over the past five years nearly 2,000 licensed child care facilities were sanctioned by DCF for "serious or persistent violations of child care rules."  Three out of the four licensed facilities that were issued 16 or more sanctions for rules violations were still operating as of November 2009.

Overall, the year-long, dual-phased audit helped shed a very bright light on years of abuse and fraud that has cost the taxpayers millions of dollars.  More than $20 million was misspent on Wisconsin Shares in 2009 alone.  In tracking the latest updates on Wisconsin Shares throughout the past year, it has become apparent to me that a lot of people have not been doing their jobs, and they put the lives of innocent children at risk.  I commend both the Legislative Audit Bureau and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on a commendable job in bringing the problems of Wisconsin Shares to the surface.  It is my hope that in the new year, my colleagues on the Joint Legislative Audit Committee and I will work together in drafting stronger legislation that will plug the holes in Wisconsin Shares and put better accountability measures in place. 

Legislature Convenes for Extraordinary Session

On Wednesday, the Legislature convened for an Extraordinary Session intended to pass stronger measures to combat drunken driving in Wisconsin.  By a vote of 93-1, the Assembly passed a package of proposals, Senate Bill 66, intended to strengthen penalties imposed upon drunk drivers beginning July 1, 2010.  One of the measures changes a first offense for drunken driving from a traffic offense to a misdemeanor if there is a child under the age of 16 in the vehicle.  Another proposal makes a fourth offense of drunken driving a felony.  Current law states that a fifth offense is a felony.

SB 66 also requires the installation of ignition interlock devices in vehicles driven by most drunken driving offenders.

To pay for these tougher penalties, the Legislature approved an increase in fees paid by all convicted criminals from $20 to $163.  Drunken drivers who wish to have their licenses reinstated after a suspension or revocation will be charged $200, as opposed to the current fee of $60.  It is my hope that these measures will help make our roads safer by discouraging excessive drunken driving in our state.  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all and your families and friends a very joyous and blessed Christmas.  I hope this Christmas brings you many special memories shared with your loved ones and positive reflections of the past year.  From there, I hope you all have a Happy New Year, and I will look forward to following up with you in my next issue of Capitol Insight on January 15, 2010.