The Financial Assistance Division is responsible for determination of eligibility and monitoring of public assistance benefits. The high unemployment rates in our area continue to be reflected in the growing assistance caseload. Medical Assistance (including BadgerCare and Nursing Home Assistance), FoodShare (formerly known as Food Stamps), Wisconsin Shares (child care assistance), and W-2 are the largest of the public assistance programs. Medical Assistance continues to be the most costly program administered by the Financial Assistance Division. In 2005, 3,439 children in 1,875 families received assistance in paying for child care needed because of the parent’s employment, employment and schooling, or participation in an employment search program through the Wisconsin Shares program.
Other Programs
The Emergency Assistance Program helps families facing a housing emergency caused by fire, flood, homelessness, impending homelessness, and homelessness or impending homelessness caused by domestic abuse. Under the Emergency Assistance Program, eligible families may receive a payment per family member to help the family secure or maintain a residence.
Most families receiving Emergency Assistance apply due to impending homelessness, i.e., they have received an eviction notice. 275 families received $128,749 to stop evictions. In 2006, as the program rules were changed to allow a family to receive an emergency payment once every 12 months as opposed to once every 36 months.
The Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program provides payments for heating oil or natural gas to families and individuals.
The Caretaker Supplement program provides assistance for the minor children of disabled parents.
Welfare Fraud
With the large amounts of money involved in public assistance programs, it is very important to have a process to prevent and detect welfare fraud in cooperation with the Racine County Sheriffs Department.