Days are numbered

The support and kind words from my colleagues are a double edge sword as they make me realize just how much they appreciate the work I do and make me remember that my days with them are numbered. I will really miss them and am really sad to have to leave but can only look forward to where my life will bring me next.

My colleagues met this morning to discuss how they can provide the same level of services with one less person. It amazes me to see their dedication to our clients. I'm sure other departments are struggling to find ways to continue to meet the challenging and never ending needs of population that continues to grow as the economy worsens even as they lose staff members.

I hope that my colleagues who are also being laid off with the loss of state funding find a new position that they truly enjoy.

State budget plan zeros out legal services

Click on the title of this post to read an article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about the loss of state funding for legal services in Wisconsin.

One step at a time

Thursday morning work was full of laughter and smiles as we all commented on each other's St. Patrick's Day outfits of green (I wore "My lucky socks"). It was a really good reminder, after Wednesday's very depressing staff meeting on the future of our firm, to live each day as it's own. I can't control what happens tomorrow but I can control what I do for my client's today.

State and Federal Budgets for Legal Services Corporation

As budget bills sweep through our nation to deal with the lower revenues and years of spending beyond our means, I can't help but fear how my clients and potential clients will fare. My state's budget bill cut out all LSC funding. We are likely to see cuts at the federal level and there is uncertainty as to whether some of our grants will be renewed.

Besides the obvious fact that I may be unemployed soon, what I fear most are the effects these proposed budgets will have on my clients. We already do not have resources to help all the people that need help. This drastic of cuts will mean even more facing our challenging legal system alone, many of whom have additional barriers to our legal system such as disabilities or limited English skills.

Additionally, our state budget bills makes drastic cuts to public benefits, benefits that almost all of our clients greatly depend on to help them put food on the table or pay for a roof over there heads.

I realize that cuts will have to me made and we all will have to sacrifice. But I hope our representatives don't focus most of the cuts on those who can afford it least. And I hope that those of us with more will do our best to fill the gap through charity contributions of time and money.

Quality ranking determines state funding of day-cares

An article in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel titled "Day-care providers to be paid based on quality under Doyle plan" caught my eye. It explains Governor Doyle's plan to create a ranking system based on quality of care that will determine how much state funding day-cares get. The ranking would be based on "the education level of the staff, the learning environment in the center as well as business practices, and the health and well-being of children."

I have two issues with this concept.

1. True quality of care can't be measured objectively. Educational level of staff does not necessary equate with quality care-givers. And things like the health and well-being of children can't be measured. Plus a certain type of learning environment with one set of children may not be appropriate at all for a different set of children.

2. This type of plan allows rich day-cares to get richer and poor day-cares to get poorer. If we cut funding significantly to a day-care that can't hire teachers with a master's degree, how can we expect them to find the money to find teachers with more education. We will be seeing this same thing in schools that are not meeting the goals of No Child Left Behind. Eventually funding will get cut, and the schools will only get worse.

Instead let's deal with the real issue here: fraud. Instead of focusing on quality and spending money to do so in such a poor economy, we need to just focus on enforcing the expectations that come with state funding of day-cares. And let parents set expecations of quality by choosing where they send their children.