Walworth County considers outsourcing Birth to 3 therapists amid budget pressures

Walworth County Health and Human Services Board members discussed a proposal June 18 to convert four county-employed Birth to 3 therapists to contract employees as part of the department's 2026 budget planning, an option officials say would reduce levy dependence and address staffing vulnerability.

The proposal matters because Birth to 3 is a statutorily required early-intervention program for infants and toddlers with developmental delays; the HHS administrator told the board the county currently contributes about $990,000 in levy to the program, including a required maintenance-of-effort match of about $458,000 and a state grant of roughly $194,000, while program revenue runs near $240,000.

During the meeting four therapists who work in Walworth County's Birth to 3 program urged the board to keep the staff as county employees and described potential service impacts if they were moved to contracted employment. Carlene Liberto, one of two speech-language pathologists in the program, said the team has "dedicated our careers and time to the children and families of…