Wisconsin. Division of Economic Support

The Dottie Moore case is a 1980 federal lawsuit in which the State of Wisconsin and Milwaukee County were sued for failure to timely terminate AFDC when child support collections exceeded the AFDC benefit amount and failure to timely redirect child support collections which were assigned to the state while the individual received AFDC. A stipulated judgment was reached in 1982, in 1990 Legal Action of Wisconsin filed a motion for contempt alleging that the state and Milwaukee County had failed to meet the stipulated judgment.

In July 1989, the Dept. of Health and Social Services' Bureau of Economic Assistance (WIHV86-A1508) was merged with bureaus performing all the other income maintenance functions (Bureaus of Child Support, Systems Support, Management and Operations, the Office of Welfare Reform, etc.) to become the Division of Economic Support. Under 1995 Wisconsin Act 27, the division was transferred to the newly created Dept. of Workforce Development (WIHV96-A859) effective July 1, 1996. In 2001 the division merged with the Division of Workforce Excellence to become the Division of Workforce Solutions (WIHV03-A997). In Wisconsin State Archives' database entries, the above form of agency name is used for all appropriate records dating 1989-2001.

The division is responsible for all support programs and benefits paid to children, families, and individuals in temporary need and implements welfare reform programs. It supervises county administration of federal and state public assistance programs, including AFDC, Relief to Needy Indian Persons, Vietnamese and Cuban Refugee Relief, food stamps, and eligibility determination for Medical Assistance, and has responsibility for weatherization, energy assistance, child support, homeless shelters, surplus food distribution, and employment and training programs.