Committee approves five state‑funded positions for Aging and Disability Resource Center

Milwaukee County’s Committee on Personnel voted 4-0 to recommend that the county board approve creation of five additional positions for the Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC), the county agency that helps older adults and adults with disabilities access long‑term care and related services.

Rebecca Schmidt, director of the ADRC, told the committee that the request is driven by a sharp increase in demand: the ADRC received more than 68,000 calls last year, about 10,000 more than the year before, and the program is running behind on options-counseling referrals. "We saw over 68,000 calls last year to the ADRC," Schmidt said. She described two new advanced options‑counselor positions intended to form an expedited team for complex cases and additional call‑center and bilingual staffing to reduce wait times.

Schmidt told the committee the total cost of the five positions is $431,000 and that the funding comes from the State of Wisconsin’s General Purpose Revenue (GPR) contract for the ADRC. She said the state has asked ADRCs to "stay on track" with spending and that the current county contract runs through the end of calendar year 2025. The department reported a significant underspend last year that required de‑obligation of funds, and said the state is urging counties to utilize awarded funds.

Supervisors asked for details about duties and bilingual needs. Schmidt said two positions would be "advanced" options counselors to handle expedited, complex cases (for example, hospital discharges requiring long‑term care enrollment), one position would be an ADRC professional in the call center to reduce wait times, and an elder benefit specialist position would handle benefit appeals and enrollments; the bilingual hires would prioritize Spanish and Hmong. She said ADRC staff work closely with hospital social workers and with community outreach partners, and noted that the ADRC has dedicated space in the new COGS building for in‑person services.

Supervisor Martin moved to recommend adoption. The motion passed with a recorded tally of four ayes and zero noes; named ayes included Supervisor Johnson Jr. and Supervisor Wasserman. The committee record shows the recommendation will be forwarded to the full county board for final action.

Schmidt also mentioned a prior ARPA‑funded pilot program that provided one‑time payments for home‑based supports; she said the county continues advocacy with the state for similar programs and that ADRC leadership can provide supervisors with language‑use and demographic reports to guide outreach and hiring.

The committee did not attach conditions or amendments to the recommendation; the county board must approve the request to create the positions and authorize related budget adjustments.