Tuesday, December 30, 2014

A Sad Day In Milwaukee County

Today was a very sad day for Milwaukee but most people are not aware of it.

Thanks to Boss Abele and his agenda of austerity, several Milwaukee County employees who serve our community's most vulnerable citizens, were laid off. Milwaukee County no longer has Community Support Programming for the mentally ill because Abele privatized it.

But the layoffs aren't the worst part. Some of the private agency workers don't have a degree in the human service field. And many of the clients haven't even heard from, much less met with, their new private sector workers. They will be now without medication, support or supervision for who knows how long.

And we are paying more for this decrease in services.

County Executive Chris Abele and Meg Kissinger might call this a success and much needed reform. I call it an abomination and a disservice to our vulnerable citizens and to the taxpayers.

2 comments:

  1. This is very true, and the recipients of services are harmed by the change in case manager. One recipient I spoke to had the same service provider for 5 years, and felt comfortable and supported in the relationship. Taking that upheaval has been hard for him, and has made an impact on his mental health.

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  2. Not to mention a change in psychiatrist, clinic location, needing to learn a new route and enter unfamiliar terratory those most vulnerable will lose the trust they developed over the years working with their social work case manager. Educational requirements are different in the private sector. Clients who were in a county run clinic had either a bachelor's or master's degree. The county says this change will not harm the client's, but imagine yourself and the providers you have and how you would feel in their situtation. I can only imagine the increase in cost when numerous client's decompensate requiring lengthy and or frequent hosputalizations due to the decrease /change in services. This is a tragic disservice to our most vulnerable citizens.

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