The Social Development Commission, or SDC, is receiving mixed signals from the state and federal government on its future as a community action agency.
This designation allows SDC to receive a federal block grant that supports anti-poverty work, including millions that had been allocated to the agency before its abrupt shutdown in April 2024. SDC can still exist and can operate with other public and private funding.
In a letter to SDC on Friday, Nov. 21, Wisconsin Department of Children and Families Secretary Jeff Pertl said the department believes SDC status as a Wisconsin community action agency ended as of Nov. 18.
The Department of Children and Families has pursued ending SDC’s designation as a community action agency since the spring. The process was put on hold when the Office of Community Services, housed within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, accepted SDC’s request to review the state’s decision.
After receiving all necessary documentation from the state, the office has 90 days to complete the review, otherwise the state’s decision is upheld, according to federal law.
A Sept. 29 email from Verna Best, a program operations branch chief within the Office of Community Services, to the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, obtained through an open records request, said the 90-day review window started on Aug. 19 and would end on Nov. 17. On that date, the state’s decision would become final in the absence of follow-up from the office, according to the email.
The email also said that the office had drafted a response and that it was being cleared for release.
However, the government entered a shutdown that lasted for 43 days within that time period.
On Tuesday, Nov. 25, a spokesperson of the U.S. Administration for Children and Families, also a part of the Department of Health and Human Services, contradicted Pertl’s letter to SDC which said that the review period had ended.
“The findings were originally scheduled to come out by November 17th but were delayed due to the Democrat-led shutdown,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the Office of Community Services has completed its review of the state’s decision to de-designate SDC and plans to release its findings in early December.
SDC questions letter
At a planning session on Tuesday, Nov. 25, Jorge Franco, SDC’s interim CEO and board chair, said the organization is asking for clarification from federal authorities regarding the state’s plans and the timeline for a final decision.
“Under the fiduciary duty that we commissioners have to SDC, there has to be an effective evaluation of the things that are factors here, including our discussions with HHS, which conflict with what was said in that letter,” he said.
He questioned the last few paragraphs of the letter, in which Pertl writes that “DCF confirmed with OCS this week that its decision became final effective November 18” but does not detail how this information was confirmed.
“We can’t just rely on hearsay,” Franco said.
Franco and board question shutdown’s impact on deadline
Franco and others question the Nov. 17 deadline, especially given the government shutdown during the review.
“I think what we’re contesting is with the shutdown happening, within that 90 days, is 90 days really 90 days?” Commissioner Pam Fendt said during Tuesday’s meeting.
Commissioner Spencer Coggs asked for the board members to be updated as soon as possible.
“If it takes an emergency meeting after we get the information, I would advocate for it,” Coggs said.
State moves forward with UMOS
The Department of Children and Families, in consultation with Milwaukee County, selected UMOS to serve as an interim provider to quickly resume block grant-funded services, according to Gina Paige, communications director for the Department of Children and Families.
UMOS is a community action agency located at 2701 S. Chase Ave. on Milwaukee’s South Side that serves families and migrant farmworkers statewide.
“UMOS has been serving Milwaukee County families for 60 years and is well-positioned to meet community needs given their successful and established child development, social services, and workforce development programs,” Paige said.
The department has contracted with UMOS to provide housing, food and physical and mental health services to eligible families with block grant funding from fiscal year 2025, Paige said.
These services are expected to be available by January 2026, and some could start in two weeks, she added.
Franco said contracting UMOS would be a mistake because it does not have the cultural competency and isn’t close enough to Milwaukee’s North Side to serve the African American community.
“It slaps the African American community in the face to leave such a large population without effective access to services,” he said. “And I love UMOS. … But this is a square peg in a round hole, a solution of desperation.”
UMOS did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.
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.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
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