The Social Development Commission has hit another major roadblock in restoring its poverty-fighting services in Milwaukee.
The state Department of Children and Families notified SDC leadership in a meeting last week that it does not approve of the agency’s quality improvement plan and also intends to de-designate SDC as a community action agency.
A letter of intent sent to the SDC Board of Commissioners by Connie Chesnik, a DCF administrator, said that despite continuous technical assistance to SDC in the 11 months since the organization closed its doors and laid off staff, SDC has not addressed serious concerns about its fiscal health and financial reporting, board size and representation, and plans to staff the agency.
“SDC has not provided a realistic plan to resume services in Milwaukee County and has been unable to demonstrate how it will come into compliance with other state and federal requirements,” Chesnik wrote.
The letter also noted SDC has not submitted its 2023 single audit report or provided DCF with any verified sources of funding from community partners.
As the only organization designated as a community action agency in Milwaukee County, SDC offers programs to address poverty at the local level and is eligible for block grant funding on a reimbursement basis from DCF to support those programs.
SDC leaders have said the agency is counting on receiving block grant funding and getting reimbursements for 2024 to pay employees who are owed wages and resume services.
“I think they have made the wrong decision, but the good news is that there’s still time to reverse course,” said William Sulton, SDC’s attorney.
A public hearing will be held before DCF makes a final decision on SDC’s community action status. Attendees can weigh in on SDC’s future at that hearing, which will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 4 at the Milwaukee State Office Building, 819 N. 6th St., in conference rooms 40 and 45 on the first floor.
Written comments can be emailed to DCF by April 3 at dcf.csbg@wisconsin.gov.
Jackie Q. Carter, an SDC commissioner who was present for the meeting with DCF, said the department has a responsibility to ensure services continue in Milwaukee County.
“It’s not about SDC, and it’s not about DCF, it’s really about the community and that’s just the bottom line,” Carter said.
Here are updates from Thursday’s SDC board meeting:
Meeting schedule posted
SDC relaunched its website, cr-sdc.org, with a landing page of meeting information for the year.
SDC’s website, which included information on programs and upcoming meetings, was shut down shortly after SDC paused operations last year.
Full board meetings are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month except August at the SDC main office, 1730 W. North Ave. The audit committee meets at 4:30 p.m. and the executive committee meets at 5 p.m.
Debate on agenda revisions
Jorge Franco, chair of the Board of Commissioners and interim CEO of SDC, said an item on the agenda on SD Properties Inc. had been added after the meeting notice was shared publicly. The change was recommended by Sulton, the agency’s legal counsel, who was not in attendance.
Commissioner Walter Lanier said he did not think the board could take action on any items added to the agenda without public notice.
Franco asked him to cite a specific passage of the Wisconsin Open Meetings Law.
“Whatever the legislation requires is what we’ll do, no doubt,” Franco said.
The board voted to proceed with the meeting agenda with the clarification that it would hold off on the additional action item if it found legal guidance suggesting the board avoid it.
SD Properties appointment tabled
The board members debated and decided to postpone taking a vote on appointing Commissioner Lucero Ayala to the SD Properties board.
The board for SD Properties, which is a separate entity that owns and manages SDC’s buildings, includes commissioners Pam Fendt, Vincent Bobot, Carter and Franco.
Board members look to clarify past meeting minutes
After some discussion on the approval and accuracy of past meeting minutes, the board voted unanimously to have Sulton review all 2024 meeting minutes.
“I know we were in a time of challenge and crisis, but I saw some meetings where minutes were not approved,” said Lanier, who joined the board in December.
Fendt, who was appointed to the board in February, pointed to minutes from a past meeting in November that said Barbara Toles, the former chair of the SDC board, called a meeting to order. Toles resigned as chair of SDC’s board in late October.
Here’s more on the SDC:
Here’s an update on what’s going on at the Social Development Commission
Here’s how to get free tax help in Milwaukee
‘We just want our money’: Former SDC employees still wait to be paid
Four takeaways from the Social Development Commission’s latest board meeting
Community leader Walter Lanier joins the Social Development Commission board
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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