Disabilities

As federal health officials push states to invest in the home health workforce, Wisconsin’s efforts to train and connect care workers are being celebrated as a model for other states. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced on Tuesday new guidance for states on how to create a registry of qualified home health care…

Kenneth Farmer spent a lot of time in the courtroom as a public defender and prosecutor. But Farmer’s first experience with a jury trial took place when he was just 19 years old, when he served as a witness at his brother’s commitment proceeding. His brother suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. Farmer’s recent book — titled…

People with mobility challenges will have easier access to state parks and forests as the Department of Natural Resources launches an outdoor wheelchair program throughout Wisconsin. Later this month the DNR will introduce its second motorized all-terrain outdoor wheelchair at Point Beach State Forest. A non-motorized all-terrain outdoor wheelchair is also coming to Kettle Moraine…

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and state health officials hope to certify 10,000 new workers in the next three years who can provide health care and assistance in the home. Wisconsin will need an additional 20,000 home care workers by next year, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Direct health care staff assist…

With about half of Wisconsin’s new special education teachers leaving the field after just a few years on the job, the Department of Public Instruction is launching a program to attract and retain instructors. The Special Education Induction Program will provide coaching and mentorship sessions to 300 first- or second-year special education teachers beginning this…

Shelley Peel moved into Apple Creek Place in Appleton nine months ago. Apple Creek Place advertises itself as a facility with 22 beds and care options tailored to those who are physically disabled and those with dementia or Alzheimer’s. But Peel said that’s not her experience. Peel, 61, said she’s lucky if she can get…

When Chamomile Harrison returned to the hospital for another oncology appointment, she noticed the change immediately. The workers taking her blood for tests were maskless. So were the workers who connected her to machines for an MRI. Harrison’s doctor was maskless, as well, until she asked him to put one on. The hospital had rescinded…

An event in Green Bay Wednesday highlighted efforts around the state to help Wisconsinites with disabilities find jobs. Four interns at Aurora BayCare Medical Center graduated from the state’s Project SEARCH Program. They were among the 200 high school and college-age people statewide to participate in the 2022-23 program. Wisconsin’s Project SEARCH program launched in…

As an advocacy specialist at Disability Rights Wisconsin, Joanne Juhnke regularly finds herself on the phone with parents concerned about their children’s treatment at school. Most complaints concern public schools, which enroll the majority of students. State funding for special education has shrunk, forcing districts to struggle to provide services, and disparate treatment of students…

An Ashland County family may receive nearly $19 million after a jury ordered a Duluth-based health system to pay for staff’s failure to diagnose a severe infection that left their child with permanent brain damage. Last week, a Bayfield County jury found Duluth-based Essentia Health was 100 percent responsible for its employees’ negligence in treating…