Ever wonder why your request for adaptive technology was denied by rehab
because of a "lack of funding" while it seems that the agency was
spending money other things?  As the story below suggests, the issue may
not be a lack of money but how that money was used effectively.  The
agency's resources could be wasted or mis-managed.  Wisconsin's Republican
governor Tommy Tompson has been celebrated as a near genius for his welfare
reform initiatives.  Perhaps the mess at the Rehabilitation Department
demonstrates his human service management skills.

kelly




 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Agency that aids disabled mismanaged, audit shows
By STEVEN WALTERS
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: Oct. 12, 2000

Fast Facts


  Some of the highlights of an audit into the state Division of Vocational
Rehabilitation:

17% fewer disabled were rehabilitated by the programs between 1995 and 1999.

Spending on programs increased 18% during that same period.

Payments were made directly to some of the disabled without receipts or
other proof that the money went to buy specific aids that had been approved.

In some cases, tax money was used to buy office furniture, vehicles or
specialized items that should have been paid for by the disabled person's
employer.

Source: Legislative Audit Bureau



Madison - Documenting critical lapses in oversight, an audit Thursday
verified widespread mismanagement in the state program that provides
vocational counseling, training and support to disabled residents.

Overall, state Auditor Jan Mueller found, 17% fewer disabled people were
rehabilitated by state Department of Workforce Development programs between
1995 and 1999, although spending on programs increased 18% during that period.

The report continued disclosures that began last summer, when state
officials shifted funds to keep the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation
from running out of money. Over the protests of the disabled and their
relatives, officials in August cut off new services and started waiting
lists for help.

The report, by the Legislative Audit Bureau, detailed financial problems,
including questionable or uncontrolled spending and other problems such as:

$4,774 to send someone with a learning disability and seventh-grade reading
skills to police science classes, despite an evaluation that said that
person would not be able to write police reports.
$50,000 spent on five years of tuition for a deaf student who wanted to
attend college, despite a warning that the individual did not have academic
skills. The money sent the deaf person to an out-of-state college and to an
in-state university, although the student dropped out of both.
$34,173 spent between 1991 and 1998 trying to train someone who was
mentally ill, and also abused alcohol and drugs, to become a vocational
rehabilitation counselor. The individual entered detoxification programs
four times while receiving help and was finally dropped after being jailed
for theft.
Payments made directly to some of the disabled without receipts or other
proof that the money went to buy specific aids that had been approved.
Cutting existing services to the disabled in the spring, despite public
promises that no reductions would occur because of funding problems.
Anticipating the critical audit, Workforce Development officials Thursday
listed 19 people who will serve on a new task force charged with
recommending ways to fix that division of the agency. The task force will
meet in November.

When repaired, the program will become "this country's premier vocational
rehabilitation program," promised Workforce Secretary Jennifer Reinert, who
took over the agency last month. Problems disclosed Thursday occurred while
Linda Stewart, who left the agency in August, ran the department.

The number of disabled who get job training, counseling, skill assessments,
tuition, specialized equipment and other aid has fallen from 23,000 in
August to about 16,000 now, an official said. About 3,900 others are now on
waiting lists.

Responding to the audit, legislators called for new managers of vocational
rehabilitation programs, or moving them from the Workforce Department to
the state Health and Family Services Department.

State Sen. Judy Robson (D-Beloit) said she will push to move the programs
to another state department when the Legislature passes the 2001-'03 budget
next year.

"It doesn't look like it can be salvaged over there" at Workforce
Development, said Robson, whose committee held a public hearing on problems
in the agency.

"I am shocked and dismayed that they have treated the disabled so
shabbily," she added. "It certainly is not a priority for the governor."

Sen. Gary George (D-Madison), in a statement, also blamed Thompson.

"The fact that DVR programs have been closed to new participants since
August because of a projected financial shortfall is a prime example of the
failure of management and an indictment of the Thompson administration,"
George said.

Gov. Tommy G. Thompson was out of the Capitol on Thursday and not available
for comment. A spokesman for the governor also could not be reached for
comment Thursday.

Rep. Carol Kelso (R-Green Bay) said: "It is astounding that a $66 million
program was run without such (financial) fundamentals."

Sen. Peggy Rosenzweig (R-Wauwatosa) said the greatest harm results from the
waiting list for services, since those on the list will have to wait even
longer for help. Reinert hopes to start fixing the program by November,
Rosenzweig added.

Linda Vegoe, chairwoman of the Wisconsin Rehabilitation Council, blamed a
new, $8 million program that lets state officials contract with other
governments or organizations for services for the agency's woes. That new
program cut the amount vocational counselors can spend on direct help for
the disabled by $8 million, she said. The council advises the state on job
training programs for disabled people and is composed of a majority of
disabled residents.

But Bruce Borden, a Madison-area activist for the disabled and a
quadriplegic since a diving accident 19 years ago, said DVR was swamped
last year, when he and thousands of others sought help.

"Now, a large percentage of high-cost, high-need (disabled) are hitting
their doors," Borden said. "It's costing them more to help me with a computer."

There have been successes, the audit noted.

For example, someone who had abused alcohol and had bulimia received
$37,479 in services over a six-year period but earned a graduate degree and
became a $45,000-a-year physician's assistant. And, a blind person received
$61,219 in services, and got a job as a computer program analyst that pays
$15 per hour.

But the audit also found these problems in the Division of Vocational
Rehabilitation:

Fewer successes
The number of disabled people who were rehabilitated, which means they met
training goals and held jobs for at least 90 days, dropped from 5,042 in
1994-'95 to 4,155 four years later. At the same time, total spending on the
programs grew in the same period from $30.4 million to $35.6 million.

Spending varied
Spending varied widely among the agency's regional districts - from an
average of $859 per disabled client in Oshkosh to $601 per person in
Milwaukee's Northeast District.

Caseloads varied
Caseloads also varied widely among regional districts - from 142 clients
per counselor in the Madison East District to 83 clients for each counselor
in Fond du Lac.

Counselors underpaid
Despite two pay raises approved by the Legislature in recent years,
vocational counselors that work with the disabled are still paid less than
their peers in other Midwest states.

Questionable spending
In some cases, tax money was used to buy office furniture, vehicles or
specialized items that should have been paid for by the disabled person's
employer.

For example, state officials first said a quadriplegic who had earned
bachelor's and master's degrees, and had been hired as a public
schoolteacher, should have had the employer buy a specialized van. Tax
funds of $35,360 were used to buy and equip it. The disabled teacher
contributed $11,500.

Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Oct. 13, 2000.


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