Another casualty of the County budget?
Joining Forces for Families (JFF) – if you’ve ever worked in or with people from low-income neighborhoods, you can probably rattle off the names of several of these social workers. These workers help families keep it together in times of crisis, scrounge for scraps to help people pay their rent and other necessities and generally are a huge piece of gum holding the community together when it seems that everything around them are falling apart. Plus, they are one of the few places you can just walk in the door and get some help. And, they probably save the county money in the long run.
That’s why its unthinkable, that once again, JFF is slated to lose two county social worker positions in the proposed 2010 Dane County, as submitted by the Dane County Department of Human Services. Currently, there are only 13 workers, there used to be 16, if this proposal is successful, there will only be 11. That’s a 15% reduction, and overall a 31% reduction from when there were 16. Last year, a JFF community social work position was eliminated and transferred to Child Protective Services.
County Executive Kathleen Falk will submit her budget at the beginning of October, 2010. The County Board will adopt the 2011 County budget by Thanksgiving. Both County Executive Falk and the County Board have the ability to restore these positions.
So, you guessed it, we really need you to contact Falk and County Board Supervisors and ask them to reinstate the JFF Community Social Worker positions. In particular, you might want to contact Health and Human Needs Committee members including Chair Shelia Stubbs, and your local County Board Supervisor and make sure to include your address so they know they represent you!
If you’ve never heard of them, you should check out an office near you! I’m sure they could use some support!
* Allied (Cherokee & Toki) 273-6342
* Badger / Magnolia (Cherokee & Jefferson) 261-9764
* Broadway / Lakepoint (Sennett) 224-3624
* Darbo / Worthington (O’Keefe) 246-2967
* DeForest 846-9603
* Fitchburg 273-6953
* Middleton / Cross Plains / West side of Madison 273-6623
* Monona / Oregon / Belleville / McFarland 835-4188
* Mount Horeb / Wisconsin Heights 795-2103
* Southdale (Sennett) 273-6676
* Southwest Madison 273-6622
* Stoughton / Cambridge / Deerfield 873-2180
* Sun Prairie / Marshall 825-3225
* Truax (Sherman) 240-2045
* Vera Court (Blackhawk) 241-4849
* Verona 848-2108
* Waunakee / Dane 849-9093
* Whitehorse / Sennett 240-2045
This award winning program has been around for 17 years, and is one of the largest community based human services initiatives in the nation with over 250 professionals from various agencies. It’s truly something our community should be proud of! And it needs your help today! Please contact the following:
County Executive Kathleen Falk: Falk@co.dane.wi.us
County Board Supervisors: county_board_recipients@co.dane.wi.us
