Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

Contact: Heidi Kafura
608/264-6811

MADISON—A federal government Y2K assessment team has given high marks to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) for it’s W-2, child care, and child support payment systems.

In an assessment study, conducted in July, the Y2K assessment team from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) noted that the Department has been proactive in planning for the year 2000 and that the state’s child care program, W-2 program and child support enforcement programs are Y2K ready.

The Y2K assessment report added that the DWD has set a positive example for the other departments and counties to follow.  The report said, "DWD has been extremely effective and successful with its year 2000 effort. DWD could possibly be considered a model department, which may be used as an example for demonstrating to other departments nationwide how to put together a detailed and successful Y2K effort…Overall, it is the opinion of the assessment team that the DWD Year 2000 effort is a best practice."

"The Department of Workforce Development has made a major commitment to assuring we will deliver top-notch services to the citizens and employers of Wisconsin through and beyond the year 2000," said DWD Secretary Linda Stewart.   "We are working aggressively to ensure that our systems will be operational for our business partners and the individuals who rely on them."

DWD systems provide critical services to the citizens of Wisconsin.   Wisconsin’s child support enforcement system maintains the financial accounts for all payers and payees.  Wisconsin processes over $850 million in support-related payments annually and approximately 169,000 Wisconsin families rely on the system to process payments monthly.

The ACF reported that the system which supports W-2 and child care is alsoY2K ready.  The system distributes over $144 million to child care providers

serving 17,000 families and 30,000 children, and $36 million to 7,900 families who receive W-2 cash payments. The system also determines Medicaid eligibility for 150,000 families.

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