PWM19660119• PUBLIC WELFARE COMMITTEE - CITY OF MUSKEGO
MINUTES OF MEETING HELD JANUARY 19, 1966.
• The meeting was called to order at 3:50 P.M. by Acting Chairman
De Angelis. Those present were Mayor Gottfried, Alderman
Hudziak and Mr. Raymond Herrman of the Public Welfare Department
(Waukesha County Group). Minutes of the previous meeting
• were approved.
The first order of business was the introduction of Mr. Herrman
to the Committee. Acting Chairman De Angelis requested that
Mr. Herrman start the meeting by relating the basic functions
and responsibilities of the Waukesha County Welfare Group. Mr.
Herrman advised the Committee that when any individual applies
for assistance from the Group, his background is first required
and investigated and he is then requested to return in several
days. The Agency Group first attempts to receive help for the
applicant olsewhere. Should the individual be granted
assistance, a formal application is signed and agreed to. When
the individual signs an agreement, he agrees to repay for all
assistance that is given to him by the Group.
The Waukesha County Group consists of a membership of twenty
four municipalities and the individuals working within the
Group are all employees of said municipalities. A contractual
agreement exists between the Waukesha County Group and these
municipalities who have contributed $25,000.00 to what is known
as the Revolving Fund. With this money the Group can pay their
bills as they are created. The Waukesha County Welfare Group
consists of five employees who are two case workers, two clerks
and Mr. Herrman. Mrs. Pfieffer is the case worker for the City
of Muskego.
Assistance is granted on the basis of need; however, there are
other agencies that grant assistance to people who may fall into
other categories. Such an agency is the "County Welfare Agency"
which handles such cases which may fall into categories for
"Old Age Assistance", Blind and Disabled Aged", and A.D.0 (Aid
to Dependent Children). It may be interesting to note that
some day in the future the Medicare Program will absorb the
medical assistance portion of the Waukesha County Group.
Relief is primarily the responsibility of each municipality
• by Statutes. Aid is granted to employable people as well as
the unemployable)to broken homes (this constitutes one-third
of the total cases), incarcerated persons whose families are
dependent upon them, illness and injuries (another one-third
• of the total case. The average time that assistance is
granted to the unemployed is about A weeks, a little longer
for illness and injuries with the longest period being those
with broken home situations.
The Group deals with approximately 70 to 75 cases in one month -
most of these cases being very short termed. Approximately
20 to 30 of these cases leave during the monthly processing. Aid
is granted in the form of food, shelter, utilities, medical
expense and clothing. They do not take care of the individuals
other expenses but may pay towards the rent of an employed
. person who needs temporary assistance. Once an employable
individual is granted assistance, he is given a period of two
weeks to find a job. If a job is not found at the end of this
time, he is given a job with the County Park and Planning
Agency at the rate of $1.50 per hour.
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An agreement exists between the County Park and Planning
Agency and the Waukesha County Group to hire these people,
and the Park and Planning Commission reimburses the Waukesha
County Group 25 per cent of the wages paid. The assigned
hours for the beneficiary of this type of assistance is
just enough to meet his budget requirements as determined
by the Welfare Group. This arrangement is found most sat-
isfactory because it gives the individual the opportunity
to earn money - money that he can call his own and which
he will not have to repay, while what is given as aid is a
debt and.must be repaid i at all possible. Repayment of
aid is usually made withKne year, but settlements may go
back as much as 10 years. Settlements filed against estates
have been dated as far back as into the 1930fs. (Waukesha
County Welfare Group was activated in 1932 by a group of
Waukesha Officials.) Muskegots relief cases are five per
cent of the work load of the Agency.
Muskego had 54 relief cases and 50 service cases in the year
of 1965. Residential expenses totaled $9,817.35 and non-
residential expenses came to $2,206.61, with administrational
costs totaling $1,943.72. The total of these expenses
came to $13,967.68 - of this, medical expense was $5,952.57.
The yyy collected nonresidential fees of $1,960.49 with refunds
of 852.43 which brought the net cost of the City of Muskego
to 11,154.76 for the year of 1965.
The Committee extended their sincere gratitude to Mr. Herrman
for attending the Public Welfare Meeting.
Report of one new welfare case received and placed on file.
There being no further business, Alderman Hudziak moved to
adjourn as seconded by Alderman De Angelis. The meeting
adjourned at 5:15 P.M.
PD/je
Respectfully submitted,
Paul Mt D. .a. Secty.
PUBLIC WELFARE COMMITTEE