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Appendices to the report include descriptions of each of the prevention programs administered by state agencies. We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by the many state and local staff and representatives of community-based organizations who assisted us during the course of this evaluation. Responses from the Department of Health and Family Services and the Department of Public Instruction, the two agencies to whom we have directed recommendations, are Attachments VI and VII, respectively.
Respectfully submitted,
Dale Cattanach
State Auditor
__________________
State of Wisconsin
State Public Defender
Madison
September 19, 1996
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
This letter constitutes the report of the State Public Defender (SPD) evaluating the cost-effectiveness of the use of the 12 FTE two-year paralegal project positions provided for in the 1995-97 biennial budget (
1995 Wisconsin Act 27).
To assist in evaluating the cost-effectiveness of the positions, the agency has been soliciting feedback from the paralegals' supervisors on a monthly basis. As indicated in the SPD's Budget Forecasting Report, the agency's experience with the paralegals has yielded primarily positive results. The paralegals have enabled the agency to improve the quality of legal service provided and have demonstrated the potential for increasing the volume of cases handled.
However, the ability of the paralegals to facilitate an increased caseload is limited by licensing restrictions on tasks that they may perform. For example, paralegals may not represent clients in court proceedings, even for routine or uncontested hearings. Because the vast majority of an assistant state public defender's work time is spent in court, a paralegal's work is unable to equate 100% of the statutory attorney caseload.
Agencywide, paralegals currently enable attorneys to handle additional cases approximating, on average, 25% of an attorney caseload. At this rate, the annual savings from caseload generated by use of the paralegals is approximately $364,400. The annual cost of the 12 project positions, including salaries ($328,700), fringe benefits ($108,800) and supplies ($49,200), is approximately $486,700. Consequently, the paralegals currently result in a net annual cost to the agency of approximately $122,300.
The agency believes the paralegal project is still evolving, however, and that the paralegals may increase in efficiency and cost-effectiveness as they become more familiar with the SPD's legal practice and the field supervisors and attorneys become more skilled in their use of paralegals. Therefore, the agency has requested in its 1997-99 biennial budget proposal that the 12 paralegal project positions be continued for another two years at 50% of the statutory attorney caseload. Based on the agency's study of the project thus far, this caseload figure appears to be a more reasonable expectation of what the paralegals may achieve. If the goal is actually met, the agency's use of the paralegals would result in a net annual savings of approximately $242,100 (assuming the cost figure remains constant).
Thank you for your support of the paralegal project and the agency.
Very truly yours,
Sally Mayne Pederson
Legal Counsel, SPD
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Investment Board
Madison
September 20, 1996
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
Section
25.17(14r) of the Statutes, as created by
1995 Wisconsin Act 274, requires that the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) submit a report to the Joint Committee on Audit, Joint Committee on Finance, and Chief Clerks of each House summarizing any change in the Board's investment policies, upon adoption of the change.
On September 12, 1996, the Board of Trustees approved a change to the investment guidelines for our domestic equities portfolios. The change is highlighted on the attached copy of the guidelines.
Our domestic equity investments are managed in three portfolios:
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The LARGE-CAP portfolio primarily invests in stocks with market capitalization of at least %5.0 billion. Up to 20% of the portfolio value may be invested in stocks with a market capitalization of between $1.0 and $5.0 billion.
•
The MID-CAP portfolio primarily invests in stocks with market capitalization between $1.0 and $5.0 billion. Up to 50% of the value of the portfolio may be invested in stocks with market capitalization over $5.0 billion.
•
The SMALL-CAP portfolio primarily invests in stocks with market capitalization of less than $1.0 billion. Up to 10% of the value of the portfolio may be invested in stocks with a market capitalization between $1.0 billion to $5.0 billion.
Guideline Change
The change in the guidelines delegates authority to the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) to approve variations from these market capitalization limits, up to a maximum of 5% of the asset value for each portfolio. For example, with the approval of the CIO, the portion of the LARGE-CAP portfolio invested in stocks between $1.0 billion and $5.0 billion could be increased from the current 20% to up to 25% of the value of the portfolio.
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The purpose of this change is to allow for some modest amount of additional flexibility in managing the portfolios. The flexibility is needed because our investment strategies periodically cross the capitalization limits for each portfolio. As the overall market moves up and down, the definition of "large" or "small" might be expected to move commensurately. Even in a stable market, individual stocks will move back and forth across the market cap limits.
With this guideline change the overall emphasis of each portfolio will be retained and the additional flexibility will be under the oversight of the CIO.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about this item.
Sincerely,
Patricia Lipton
Executive Director, SWIB
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Department of Health and Family Services
Madison
September 30, 1996
To the Honorable, the Assembly:
The attached report is submitted in accordance with s.
49.45(2)(a)21 of the Wis. Stats., which directs the Department of Health and Family Services to report annually on Wisconsin Medicaid recipient access to obstetric and pediatric services.
This report makes the following observations:
•
Wisconsin Medicaid exceeds federal standards for provider participation. The latest Medicaid state plan amendment regarding obstetric and pediatric services was approved, without modification, by the federal Health Care Financing Administration.
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More than 90 percent of the primary care providers across the state are available to serve Medicaid recipients.
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Wisconsin offers a number of innovative programs aimed at improving access to primary care services. These include HealthCheck, prenatal care coordination and the Vaccines for Children Program.
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The statewide managed care expansion effort will soon cover virtually all AFDC and Healthy Start recipients across the state. Managed care has demonstrated its excellence in assuring access to and the provision of pediatric and obstetric care.
•
Wisconsin Medicaid offers a number of reimbursement incentives to promote pediatric and obstetric care in underserved areas (e.g., the Health Personnel Shortage Area incentive program).
Access to pediatric and obstetric care for Medicaid recipients will continue as a priority of the Department of Health and Family Services.
Sincerely,
JOE Leean
Secretary, DHFS
