Walker Announces Expansion Of Family Care Program

Gov. Scott Walker has announced an expansion of Wisconsin’s Family Care program at an assisted care company in Green Bay.

Family Care is a program run by the state Department of Health Services that’s designed to let elderly and disabled people stay in their homes instead of going to a state-subsidized nursing home. While it has been around since 1998, it doesn’t serve the entire state.

Now, however, it will now be accessible in seven more counties in northeast Wisconsin – a region that Walker says has been underserved.

“There’s just over 1,500 people on waiting list who are eligible – people who are eligible for services who are on waiting list; 984 of them are right here in northeastern Wisconsin,” he said. “Just about two-thirds of the numbers are right here in the northeast.”

The expansion covers Brown and Door counties, as well as Kewaunee, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto, and Shawano.

Walker says it’s in the recipients’ and the taxpayers’ best interests to help them stay home.

“We can save, over the next 10 years, $34.7 million,” said Walker. “More importantly, we can open the door towards insuring that more people are able to stay in their own home on their own terms, in a way that’s not only financially feasible for the taxpayers but, most importantly, in a way that gives people an option that’s best for them, their families, caregivers, and others.”

The expansion still needs to be approved by the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee. If it goes through, four counties – including Dane County – still won’t have the Family Care option.