At their inception, child welfare systems were designed to deal with cases of abuse and neglect. However, they also dealt with broader policy issues related to children and families’ socioeconomic status, recognizing that front-end prevention might head-off abuse. Unfortunately, the sheer volume of cases has forced systems to focus their efforts at the back end of the child welfare spectrum. Mandated reporting laws and increased drug use by caregivers, among other reasons, have caused the number of reports of abuse and neglect to swell. Currently, almost one million children are reported to be abused or neglected in the United States each year. By almost anyone’s standards, running a compassionate, yet effective, child welfare/child protective services system is difficult--for everyone from line staff to top administrators. Daily, child welfare workers make decisions that determine whether children stay at home or are removed from their families. They bear the burden of knowing that a wrong decision could harm the child or, at worst, cost the child his/her life. Administrators must ensure that all children are being served and protected while operating within budgets that, frequently, are inadequate. Always under public scrutiny, they must manage the system in a way that complies with federal and state mandates. The community, too, shoulders a burden in the child welfare system. Children’s court judges, commissioners, attorneys and others work to legally protect children and ensure permanence in a timely manner; foster parents care for children removed from their homes; community agencies provide services to children and their families. Adult family members often face multiple issues. They may have been victims of abuse or they may suffer from drug or alcohol addictions; in either situation, it is difficult to parent appropriately. But, finally, the system exists for the children, whose safety and future prospects are at risk. Milwaukee’s system was not unlike most other urban systems; it struggled to deal with the changing landscape of child welfare under significant budgetary and resource constraints. Finally, the state assumed responsibility for Milwaukee County’s child welfare system, making it the only state-run system in Wisconsin. According to a Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare (BMCW) document: Our mission is to promote the best interest of children by supporting and encouraging families’ efforts to resolve problems, which threaten the safety of their children. We will remove children from their homes only when they are not safe. When children cannot be reunited with their families, we will provide suitable alternatives in permanent, stable and nurturing homes. Wisconsin has made a significant investment in the reform effort, not only fiscally, but also in system design. It remains to be seen if the new system will operate in a manner consistent with the stated mission and the expectations of the community. Most importantly, will the new system effectively protect Milwaukee’s most vulnerable children?

The Wisconsin Council on Children and Families was approached by community members, and funded locally, to undertake a qualitative project that would give a voice to the people who work in or with the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare. This report focuses on those persons -- their experiences and beliefs, conveyed in their own words through a hotline, interviews, focus groups, and surveys during the past six months. Reform of the Milwaukee system creates a unique opportunity to implement innovative approaches to child welfare...and to make the necessary adjustments before problems become institutionalized. The goal of this project is not to declare whether the new child welfare system is a "success," or whether the state is doing a "good job" or "bad job"; it is to report the experiences of people who are touched by the system. We anticipate that their comments will be respected, valued, and used by Bureau administrators as they nurture those initiatives that are working, improve those that are not, and continually strive to improve the well-being of abused and neglected children in Milwaukee County. The Council would like to thank all project participants for their time and commitment to children and families.