Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley: Announces $67 million eliminated in birth costs to support fathers
Research conducted by the UW-Madison Institute for Research on Poverty supports ending birth cost recovery
MILWAUKEE – County Executive David Crowley is announcing that his administration has eliminated $67 million in birth costs owed to the State of Wisconsin for more than 32,000 fathers on Milwaukee County child support cases. According to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Institute for Research on Poverty, eliminating this financial burden on fathers through an outdated practice put place in the 1970s gives fathers more money to support themselves and their families.
Birth Cost Recovery (BCR) is the process where child support agencies seek court orders that require fathers to repay a portion of childbirth costs paid for by the state Medicaid program. The agency can then keep 15 percent of any monies received from these orders. BCR is not child support; it recoups Medicaid expenses by collecting funds from the new family during the early stages of the child’s life.
Discontinuing Birth Cost Recovery after the birth of a child was included in County Executive Crowley’s 2024 Budget through an amendment by 14th District County Supervisor Caroline Gómez-Tom. The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors approved the amendment, and it was backed by the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Child Support Services (CSS). County Executive Crowley approved the 2024 Budget in November 2023. CSS stopped requesting birth costs in its family law cases on the day the 2024 Budget passed, November 9, 2023. Following that action, State of Wisconsin approval was needed to eliminate birth costs since the monies are owed to the state and federal government for Medicaid reimbursement. The State of Wisconsin Department of Children and Families (DCF) ran a program eliminating state-owed birth costs on Milwaukee County cases in late July.
“I remain deeply committed to addressing race and health equity in Milwaukee County. To accomplish that, we need to invest in families and support parents. Eliminating birth costs will give fathers more resources to support themselves and their children, and that’s what matters to me,” said County Executive Crowley. “The positive impact of ending this practice far outweighs any negative implications. We will continue doing everything we can to support families, children, and the future of Milwaukee County.”
“I’m incredibly pleased that we were able to work together to remove a significant financial burden from fathers in Milwaukee County, officially ending an antiquated practice dating back to the 1970s,” said County Supervisor Gomez-Tom. “We want to do everything we can to support families in our community. The end of birth cost recovery stops a practice that disproportionately affected families of color and is an investment in equity.”
Research by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Institute for Research on Poverty indicates the BCR policy affects a significant proportion of Wisconsin’s most vulnerable families—unmarried women, fathers, infants—but most often, minority families in poverty.
“DHHS strives to give kids and families the best start in life, through prevention and intervention. Now that Child Support Services is part of DHHS, it helps us widen the net and bridge the gap to offer more options to ensure kids in our community have the support they need,” said Shakita LaGrant-McClain, DHHS Executive Director. “Together, we are supporting children and families. Together, creating healthy communities.”
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