MILWAUKEE – Last week Chief Judge Pamela Pepper of the United States Federal Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin approved ending the consent decree in Jeanine B. v. Evers and Department of Children and Families.
“I am proud of the progress that the Department of Children and Families and Milwaukee Child Protective Services have shown under the Jeanine B. settlement agreement,” said Supervisor Patti Logsdon. “Children in foster care in Milwaukee County are better served than they were when this lawsuit was filed thanks to the work of the department and its partner organizations.”
The Jeanine B. lawsuit was first filed in 1993 and alleged that the foster care system in Milwaukee County failed to comply with its duties to children in its care under the United States Constitution and certain federal statutes. The State Legislature transferred responsibility for child welfare services in Milwaukee County to the state in 1998.
A settlement agreement was reached in 2002 and required the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families (DCF) to implement numerous reforms to Milwaukee County’s foster care system. DCF has met, and been released from, all but one of the final performance measures included in the agreement.
DCF acknowledged that the agreement facilitated substantial improvement of the child welfare services provided to Milwaukee County’s children and families, and remains committed to providing Milwaukee County children and families the best possible child welfare services.
Supervisor Logsdon is a member of the Milwaukee Child Welfare Partnership Council, which recommends policies and plans for the improvement of the child welfare system in Milwaukee County.
