News from Wisconsin Family Ties

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date:  December 3, 2018 Contact: Hugh Davis, Executive Director – (608) 267-6866; hugh@wifamilyties.org “Extraordinary Session” Attacks Democratic Norms, Threatens Wellbeing of Children and Families Madison, WI – The peaceful transfer of power is...

Joanne Juhnke, policy director of Wisconsin Family Ties, a nonprofit organization, said at a news conference before the hearing, “If Wisconsin could arrest and suspend its way to school safety, we’d have been there a long time ago.”...

Joanne Juhnke is the policy director of Wisconsin Family Ties. The organization held a news conference before the hearing to criticize the bill. "Make no mistake. [This] is a stunning example of proposing to more of the same thing and expecting a different result....

Through the final budget, lawmakers approved $39 million to eliminate a waiting list that Walker's administration said in May included nearly 2,500 children. Mental health advocates have said the measure should help many families. “Up to a quarter of the kids on the...

Debra Ramacher and her husband have been unable to find paid caregivers since June 2015 for their daughter Maya, 20, and their son Michael, 19, both of whom have cerebral palsy, epilepsy and other significant disabilities. The family lives in New Richmond, about 45...

"That list, while it's based on important research ... ends up with an unfortunate emphasis because there's already such a tendency to point the finger at the parents and say this must be something you did, and parents feel so isolated and overwhelmed and such...

“I think it’s not fair to blame the trauma-informed care approach,” responded Joanne Juhnke, policy director at Wisconsin Family Ties, a Madison-based mental health advocacy group that helped train staff at the two facilities in Irma. “The trauma-informed care...

The mental health system across the state is a daunting bureaucracy and parents often feel overwhelmed and alone when seeking care for their children, said Hugh Davis, father of four children with mental health needs and director of Wisconsin Family Ties, a nonprofit...

Other ways people can help are to learn more about mental health issues, which will help eliminate preconceptions about those who struggle with them, said Hugh Davis, executive director of Wisconsin Family Ties, a statewide, family-run nonprofit organization for...

With a new budget cycle ahead, there is hope for renewed progress. "I'm hoping that again we'll be able to move forward and I hope that we didn't lose momentum," said Joanne Juhnke, policy director for Wisconsin Family Ties, which offers peer support for families with...

Anna Moffit, a parent peer specialist for Wisconsin Family Ties and the parent of a son with autism, said she thinks “Madison, like other districts, overuses restraint and seclusion, which has a disproportionate impact on students with disabilities and...