Author: Wisconsin Watch

People of color in Wisconsin have higher incarceration rates than whites, which means many jobs and opportunities remain out of reach for them. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Janie Ocejo put her social work education and bilingual, bicultural background to work by supporting Madison’s Hispanic folks through positions at various community organizations. But a series of bad decisions landed Ocejo in prison. While there, she expected to find work once she was released. After all, she had a college education, work experience, strong interview skills and had even previously been on hiring teams. However, rebuilding her life...

The envelope looked like any other that arrived in the mail, but Jared Cain said he felt violated after looking inside. He saw a ticket for breaking the curfew Milwaukee adopted to regulate protests after a May 25 murder in Minneapolis seen around the world: When police officer Derek Chauvin knelt for more than 9 minutes on the neck of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man. Cain did not interact with Milwaukee police during local protests the night of May 31 and early morning June 1, but police cited a video he streamed on Facebook as proof that he...

Some regional nonprofits administering the $322 million emergency rental assistance program created by Governor Tony Evers may be unintentionally discouraging non-U.S. citizens from applying, even though immigration status holds no bearing on eligibility for the federally financed program. At least eight of the 14 organizations administering the Wisconsin Emergency Rental Assistance (WERA) program ask applicants to share their Social Security numbers through pre-screening forms, a review has found. In some cases, applicants are asked to submit the Social Security numbers of every member of their household. The eight agencies administer aid to 35 of Wisconsin’s 68 WERA-eligible counties. Meanwhile,...