Referred to committee on Labor and Employment.
State of Wisconsin
Department of Administration
Madison
March 6, 1998
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
With this letter, I am forwarding to you the Bureau of Justice Information Systems (BJIS) Second Annual Report. S.13.172(2) directs BJIS to report annually on its activities, and this report is submitted in fulfillment of that requirement.
The report describes the efforts of BJIS on behalf of two inter-related missions: automating the district attorneys state-wide (DA Net) and coordinating inter-agency justice information sharing (IJIS). Both efforts are in full swing and will soon bear the fruits of considerable effort.
The installation of a DA Net computer in each county was completed this year successfully as was the design and testing of local area network (LAN) to allow attorneys to communicate with the county network. Three counties now have pilot LAN's and more are to come this year. This year also saw the development by BJIS, with the help of district attorneys state-wide, of a needs assessment for a case management system (CMS). A case management system for DA's is a crucial step to increasing productivity, public safety, and decision making. The capture and analysis of data by DA's will also be a crucial step in moving Wisconsin toward a comprehensive sharing of justice information across agencies.
The goal of the IJIS project is to give frontline justice officials and the public quicker access to information needed for public safety. BJIS has led a number of efforts this past year to bring justice agencies together to clarify their information systems and information needs. A number of partnerships have already been forged among justice agencies as a -result of this work. BJIS this year has worked hard to build relationships between justice agencies, document the current technology environment, and begin the initial planning for an inter-agency information system.
This is new ground. But with the support of the legislature, BJIS can help improve public safety and bring efficiency to government by working to improve both the communication between agencies and by providing the basic infrastructure needed to be effective.
Sincerely,
MARK D. BUGHER
Secretary, DOA
Referred to committee on Judiciary.
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Department of Workforce Development
Madison
March 13, 1998
To the Honorable, the Assembly:
In accordance with Public Law 97-300, Part A, Section 104 (b)(13) of the Job Training Partnership Act (JPTA), the Annual Reports of Wisconsin's JTPA Service Delivery Areas have been submitted. They are hereby transmitted to you for your review.
If you have any questions concerning these reports or need additional information, please feel free to contact me or my staff.
Sincerely,
JUNE SUHLING
Division Administrator, DWD
Referred to committee on Labor and Employment.
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Department of Health and Family Services
Madison
March 13, 1998
To the Honorable, the Assembly:
Enclosed is the report from the Department of Health and Family Services entitled, "Study of the Development of Standardized forms to be Used by Managed Care Providers in the Medicaid Program."
The report was required to be submitted by December 31, 1996. We regret the delay in submission. However, during 1996 and 1997 the Medicaid HMO Managed Care program was expanded from five counties to a statewide initiative. We believe this report more accurately incorporates the potential impact of standardized forms on a statewide managed care program, including the eight new HMOs that have recently joined the program.
If you have any questions about this report, please contact Angela Dombrowicki, Chief of the Managed Care Section of the Bureau of Health Care Financing, at 266-1935.
Referred to committee on Health.
Sincerely,
JOE LEEAN
Secretary, DHFS
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Southeast Wisconsin
Professional Baseball Park District
Milwaukee
March 19, 1998
RE: February 1998 Monthly Progress Report
To the Honorable, the Assembly:
Enclosed please find your copy of the February 1998 Miller Park Monthly Progress Report. If you have any questions or comments on this months report, please feel free to contact me.
Thank you in advance for your consideration and input on the Miller Park project.
Very truly yours,
Michael R. Duckett, P.E., R.L.S.
Executive Director
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State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
March 23, 1998
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
We have completed a review of the Department of Public Instruction's administration of the Wisconsin Student Assessment System's Knowledge and Concepts Examinations, as directed by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. The tests measure the achievement of fourth-, eighth-, and tenth-grade students enrolled in Wisconsin's 426 school districts in five subject areas: reading, mathematics, science, social studies, and language arts, including writing.
Although the underlying cause of problems encountered with the testing process in the 1996-97 school year was a change in testing contractors, the Department's management of the program did little to mitigate the effects of this change. In particular, the Department's lack of specificity about its expectations of the new contractor contributed to delays in the availability of score reports and concerns about their content. Tardiness by the contractor also contributed to the problems encountered. However, problems with comparability of test results to prior years could not have been avoided.
Although the contractor did not meet expectations in 1996-97, the Department renewed its contract for $1.5 million, which is an increase of $250,000 over the 1996-97 contract when the costs associated with a one-time study are excluded. The Department, however, has taken steps to improve the process during the current school year. As a result, the testing process proceeded smoothly, and score reports have been available with minor delays.
The Department has requested and received permission from the Governor to negotiate successive one-year renewals of the current contract through 2001-02, in order to ensure program continuity. Such continuity may be difficult to achieve, however, given continually changing program and policy goals. For example, tenth graders will no longer be subject to the Knowledge and Concepts Examinations process after the implementation of a high school graduation test beginning in 2000-01.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation of the Department of Public Instruction in completing this review. The Department's response is the appendix.
Respectfully submitted,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
