WISCONSIN
DRW Attorney Jeff Spitzer-Resnick is quoted in this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article explaining how the criminal charges against an Appleton special education teacher are connected to Wisconsin’s lack of laws on seclusion and restraint use in school.
Click here to view the article on the Journal Sentinel website.
Today Disability Rights Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities issued a joint statement on the revised budget repair bill which has now passed both the Senate and Assembly.
On March 9 Senate Republicans passed a new version of the budget repair bill 18-1 without any Democrats present to vote. Republicans removed enough fiscal elements of the original bill to bypass the requirement for a quorum. Senator Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center was the only “no” vote. The Assembly passed the bill the follwoing day – March 10 – by a margin of 53-42 (1 not voting). The Assembly vote was mostly party line with 4 Republicans (Representatives Kaufert, Nerison, Spanbauer, Tranel) voting “no”.
DRW, along with other advocacy groups, has mounted efforts to oppose the budget repair bill provisions giving the Department of Health Services broad authority to make sweeping changes to Medicaid with little public input. See the Capital Times article below which includes quote from DRW’s Public Policy Coordinator, Lisa Pugh.
DRW Executive Director Lynn Breedlove, along with representatives from the Wisconsin Nurses Association and Citizen Action of Wisconsin, wrote a letter to the editor of the Beloit Daily News discussing the legacy of retiring Wisconsin State Senator Judy Robson.
DRW Attorney Jeff Spitzer-Resnick comments in the Appleton Post-Crescent about the lack of Wisconsin laws on seclusion and restraint, in a case which DRW has referred to a contracted attorney.
View the full article by clicking on the following link:
DRW Managing Attorney Jeff Spitzer-Resnick was quoted in this front page Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article about the power of Wisconsin’s teachers’ unions. View the full article by clicking on the following link:
DRW Rice Lake Office Director, Genie Hedlund, recently succeeded in winning an Open Enrollment appeal to the Department of Public Instruction. When the Rice Lake School District sought an injunction to stop DRW’s client from transferring schools, Genie Hedlund succeeded in court by getting the judge to agree to allow DPI’s decision to stand. In fact, due to the frivolous way in which the school district obtained a temporary restraining order to stop the DPI decision from going into effect, the judge agreed to allow DRW to seek attorney’s fees in the case. The case was reported in the Rice Lake Chronotype.
http://www.chronotype.com/main.asp?SectionID=25&subsectionID=84&articleID=20365
Over 35 people attended the DRW Board’s Listening Session at Racine’s Festival Hall on September 24, 2010. Click the following link for media coverage of the event: Racine Journal-Times website
The Business section of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published a profile of DRW’s Milwaukee Office Director, Barbara Beckert, with mention of DRW’s overall work and recent work re: the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex. Click here for the full article.
Advocacy group’s report slams Mental Health Complex
By Steve Schultze and Meg Kissinger of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: May 15, 2010
Patients at Milwaukee County’s Mental Health Complex are not kept safe from sexual predators, and comments by administrators and staff claiming otherwise reveal a disturbing indifference, says a watchdog group that has reviewed patient files.
Of 17 patients whose records were reviewed, 10 had improper sexual contact with other patients and five were sexually assaulted at the complex during the last half of 2009, according to a blistering report compiled by Disability Rights Wisconsin.
Click to read the full article on the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel website.
Other stories on this topic:
May 21 Shepherd Express: Patients Aren’t Safe at Mental Health Complex.
May 19 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article: Unsafe staffing levels hurt Mental Health Complex.
May 17 editorial on the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel website.
May 14 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article about MMHC’s attorney fees.
May 12 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article: Advocates Seek Reform at MMHC.
May 11 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Editorial on Mixed Gender Acute Care Units at MMHC.
May 8 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Article: MMHC Administrator Defends Sex Crime Risk.
March 26 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel website: Agency to Investigate Abuse Allegations at MCMHC.
