The Richland County economic support unit reported operational performance and program statistics to the Community and Health Services Standing Committee, saying the office exceeded call-center targets and state timeliness benchmarks in 2024.

Manager Brianna Turret explained the county participates in an eight-county consortium; Richland workers handled 31,892 of the consortium's calls in 2024, exceeding the county's target share (worked to be 8.9%) and hitting 10.6% of total calls. The consortium as a whole processed over one million "tasks" (the unit's measure of work) and Richland's share was about 18,000 tasks.

Turret said the state's timeliness benchmark for keyed applications (within 30 days) is 95%; the consortium hit 98.2% and Richland individually achieved 99.2%, with a June month showing 100% timely processing.

Program counts included an average of 1,189 FoodShare cases in Richland County in 2024, which the presentation said brought nearly $4 million in FoodShare benefits to the local economy. Medicaid coverage figures cited 5,477 Richland residents receiving Medicaid in 2023 with $44 million paid on their behalf (most recent state numbers available). The unit also reported 38 families using Wisconsin Shares childcare subsidy for 70 children and said that, while the county had seven licensed daycare facilities, there were no county-certified daycare providers listed in 2024; staff will prioritize outreach to recruit certified providers.

The presentation covered fraud referrals handled by Dane County (contracted fraud unit) and overpayment recoveries. Turret said the state unwinding of COVID-era policy changes concluded in June and the unit has returned to normal processing rules.

There was no committee vote; managers said outreach and certification work will continue and those staffing and recruitment needs will feed into upcoming budget conversations.