The Social Development Commission, or SDC, is trying to secure grant funding, track reimbursements and launch a website after reopening in December.
SDC had a long history of providing programs and services for low-income residents in Milwaukee County before it stopped services and laid off employees in late April.
In December, SDC restarted work on the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, or VITA, program and its career services, child care and housing programs.
Here are some takeaways from Thursday’s meeting at SDC’s main office, 1730 W. North Ave.:
1. Progress on records, funding applications
Staff gained access to SDC’s financial record system in December as they worked to meet a deadline for block grant funding.
“I have to say thank you to the staff,” said Commissioner Jorge Franco, interim CEO of SDC and the chair of the board.“It was around-the-clock hours here.”
As Milwaukee County’s community action agency, SDC is eligible for Community Services Block Grant funding.
SDC provided the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families with an updated 2025 block grant application on Dec. 23, after the department said its initial application submitted in the fall was not acceptable.
On Thursday, the board reviewed and voted to approve sending additional information to Department of Children and Families, including plans for board elections, more financial information on cash flow and potential funding sources.
SDC is seeking up to $1.18 million in potential reimbursements for past work, Franco said, and still has to submit invoices from April.
2. Audit committee is restored
The commissioners voted to reestablish an audit committee, which the SDC board had voted to remove in 2022.
The committee will provide an opportunity for board members, the public and staff of government agencies to learn about SDC’s finances and program performance indicators on a monthly basis.
3. A new website is in progress
SDC is currently creating a new website to post meeting notices and other information, which is expected to be operational by the next board meeting, Franco said.
The agency’s existing email system and website continues to be inaccessible because Caspian Technologies, SDC’s information technology services provider, cut off the agency’s access after it failed to pay for its services.
William Sulton, SDC’s attorney, said SDC is still working on a plan for the office phone system.
4. Board considers changes to Social Development Foundation
The board also discussed pulling in more private funding through the Social Development Foundation and changing the structure of its Board of Directors, but commissioners took no action.
“This body needs to have oversight over that foundation,” Franco said.
Franco said he thinks the SDC board should oversee the foundation instead of having a separate board to avoid the two boards developing different goals.
Commissioner Jackie Q. Carter asked to review the foundation’s bylaws.
“It seems like good accounting and fiscal responsibility to have some separation though, that we wouldn’t be fully over both, that there would be some other representation on the foundation that is not on the board,” Carter said.
Here’s more on the SDC
Community leader Walter Lanier joins the Social Development Commission board
Former SDC employees still waiting to be paid
SDC is back in business but full recovery remains uncertain
SDC reopening: Here’s what you need to know
SDC plans to reopen in December, focusing on key programs
How the Social Development Commission failed its Milwaukee residents
Why did the Social Development Commission fail? Here are takeaways from our investigation
Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.
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