Welcome to the Planning Council

Welcome to the Planning Council for Health and Human Services. Our mission statement is "To advance community health and human services through planning, evaluation, and research."

If you are looking for best practices...
If you need to know which of your programs are producing good outcomes...
If you need help making sense of data...
If you need help in building a coalition and convening stakeholders...

The Planning Council can help you connect the dots. We bring stakeholders together to address community issues and solve problems. We look to see if best practices are being employed. We help service providers learn which programs are producing good outcomes for their clients and which need improvement. We make sense of data and information. In essence, we "connect the dots" when it comes to health and human services. The Planning Council serves primarily counties in Southeastern Wisconsin.

Our new address: 1243 N. 10th St. Suite #200, Milwaukee WI, 53205 simple map or detailed map with directions.

Here are some of our most recent reports, articles, and activities:

In the News

	Report Wins Clarion Award The Planning Council for Health and Human Services, Inc., prepared a report for 2-1-1 @ IMPACT that analyzed five years of call data and included information from callers and community leaders about the significance of the service. 2-1-1 @ IMPACT is a 24-hour central access point for callers who need assistance with family, health, and social services. The report, Realizing Milwaukee's Potential: 2003-2007 Report to the Community, was selected as a winner of a Clarion Award for excellence in communications. Click here to read the award announcement.

	Planning Council to Move to Boiler Building at The Brewery Download or View a map and directions HERE .pdf format. Published July 30 2009 Download or View the Press Release HERE .pdf format. The Planning Council for Health and Human Services, Inc. announced today that we will be moving its offices to the historic Boiler Building at 1243 North 10th Street at The Brewery and will take occupancy in the early fall. We will be moving to the 2nd floor of the historically renovated building, which sits at the corner of 10th and McKinley and is adjacent to Zilber Park in the northwest corner of The Brewery Project. Please download the Press Release for more details. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article about the Planning Council's move. Business Journal of Milwaukee article about the Planning Council's move.

	The Safety of Children in Foster Care To read an editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on keeping children safe in foster care, posted July 24, 2009, click on the following link: http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/51616007.html. To read an August 2 response to the editorial above, click on the following link (http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/52220327.html) and scroll to the heading "CHILD CARE". The response was written by the Planning Council's Executive Director, Kathleen Pritchard.

Recently Released

	Inventory of Free and Community Clinics Providing Medical and Dental Services in Milwaukee County Published October 2009 Download or View it HERE .pdf format. Note: This document is quite large (3.1 MB; 238 pages) and may take some time to download. The Planning Council developed an inventory of free and community clinics in Milwaukee County for a Work Team that consisted of members from the Milwaukee Free Clinic Collaborative and the Milwaukee Health Care Partnership. The inventory identifies gaps in the delivery system so that plans and strategies can be developed for adding capacity for under-and uninsured residents of Milwaukee County over the next five years. The inventory includes 25 medical clinics, 6 family planning clinics, 4 STD and HIV/AIDS clinics, and 8 dental clinics. For each type of clinic grouping, data is presented at three levels: 1) summary information aggregated across the clinics; 2) aggregate information across clinics by survey questions; and 3) individual profiles of clinics, including contact information and descriptions. Also included in the inventory is a summary of themes identified by clinic representatives, recommendations for sustaining the inventory, tools and suggestions for tool refinements, maps identifying clinic locations, and a list of other potential free and community clinics. To learn more about Milwaukee's Free Clinic Collaborative, visit http://www.breadofhealingclinic.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=64&Itemid=59. For more information about the Milwaukee Health Care Partnership, click on the following link: http://www.froedtert.com/pdf/MilwaukeeHealthCarePartnership.pdf.

	Starting Point of Ozaukee's "Parents who Host Lose the Most" Media Campaign: Findings from the 2009 Parent Survey Published August 2009 Download or View it HERE .pdf format. In the spring of 2007, Starting Point of Ozaukee launched "Parents who Host Lose the Most: Don't be a party to teenage drinking", a public awareness campaign to inform the community about the consequences of providing alcohol to underage youth. This report presents findings from the "Parents who Host Lose the Most" parent awareness survey conducted by the Planning Council and Starting Point during the spring of 2009 in Ozaukee County. The report focuses on survey respondents' perceptions of issues related to underage alcohol use, sources of exposure to the "Parents who Host Lose the Most" campaign, perceptions of the usefulness of campaign messages, and knowledge about and perceptions of underage drinking laws in Wisconsin. To learn more about Starting Point of Ozaukee, visit www.ozaukeecouncil.org. The "Parents who Host Lose the Most" public awareness campaign was developed by the Ohio-based Drug Free Action Alliance. For more information, visit www.drugfreeactionalliance.org.

	Key Substance Abuse Indicators Published July 2009 Download or View it HERE .pdf format. Note: Updated on September 1, 2009 This report was prepared for the Alliance of Wisconsin Youth Southeastern Regional Center. The Alliance works to prevent alcohol, tobacco, and other drug abuse and build the capacity of prevention coalitions in Southeastern Wisconsin. This report provides general information about substance use among youth and provides an analysis of information on the consequences of substance abuse in the Southeastern Region and its comprising counties. The report highlights indicators of substance abuse, examines the cross-system impact and burden that results from substance use, and shares information that could lead to focused community planning for substance abuse prevention. Click on the link above to access the report. To learn more about demographic and substance abuse data in Southeastern Wisconsin, go to the "Reports" page of this website and click on the report titled "Southeastern Wisconsin Demographic Profiles Report." The report was prepared for the Alliance in July of 2008.

	Planning Council 2008 Annual Report Published July 2009 Download or View it HERE .pdf format.

	Directory of Anti-Violence Efforts in Milwaukee County Published June 2009 Download or View it HERE .pdf format. A directory of anti-violence efforts was originally created in 2005. Based on demand, the directory was updated in 2006 and has been updated and expanded in 2009 with support from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation's Fitch Research Fund. The directory includes descriptions and contact information for anti-violence efforts in Milwaukee County, a list of efforts by category, and a sample of twelve evidence-based practices in violence prevention. The directory is intended to encourage communication, coordination, and collaboration among people working to prevent or reduce violence. Click on the link above to access the directory. If you know of any anti-violence efforts that should be included in this directory, or if information in the directory changes, please contact Lonna Kruse by emailing antiviolence@planningcouncil.org or calling (414) 224-0404, extension 33. If you would like printed copies of the directory, they are available for $8.00. To order, please contact Lonna Kruse.

	A Community Conversation About the Safety of Children in Foster Care Published May 2009 Download or View it HERE .pdf format. Note: This document is quite large (1.32 MB) and may take some time to download. This study, which was commissioned by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation's Bright Futures Milwaukee Fund in memory of long-time child advocate James R. Ryan, was undertaken to engage the community in a discussion about the safety of children in foster care. The report provides information on the current status of children in foster care in Milwaukee, identifies best practices for keeping foster children safe, and recommends strategies for enhancing the safety of children in foster care in Milwaukee County. Clink here for more detailed information about best and evidence-based practices that enhance the safety of children in foster care. Click here for more detailed information about what key informants had to say. Click here for more detailed information about what caseworkers had to say. Click here for more detailed information about what biological mothers had to say. Coming soon: detailed information about what foster parents had to say. To see pictures from the event at which the report was released and discussed, click here. Click on the following link to view an article about the foster care study written by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel staff http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/46266767.html. The following link is an article about the study written by LaToya Dennis of Milwaukee Public Radio http://www.wuwm.com/programs/news/view_news.php?articleid=4613. To read an editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on keeping children safe in foster care, posted July 24, 2009, click on the following link: http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/51616007.html. To read an August 2 response to the editorial above, click on the following link (http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/52220327.html) and scroll to the heading "CHILD CARE". The response was written by the Planning Council's Executive Director, Kathleen Pritchard. Click on the following link to view some facts about foster care.

	Office of the Milwaukee Ombudsman for Child Welfare 2008 Annual Report Published April 2009 Download or View it HERE .pdf format. The Office of the Milwaukee Ombudsman for Child Welfare (Ombudsman Office) has released its 2008 Annual Report. The Ombudsman Office is a neutral, independent office that reviews case-specific concerns regarding the safety, permanence, and well-being of children and families involved with the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare (Bureau). The Ombudsman Office responds to citizen concerns regarding specific action or inaction of the Bureau to learn whether or not policy, procedure, law, and practice standards were followed in its decision-making. The report identifies key areas for improvement, associated recommendations, and details on all contacts made to the Ombudsman Office in 2008. Click on the link above to access the full report or click on the following link to view the Executive Summary. For more information about the Ombudsman Office, go to http://ombudsmanmilw.org/default.htm.

	Agency to study Milwaukee County foster care Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 15, 2009 http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/37680404.html http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/37680404.html - printer friendly pdf The safety of children in Milwaukee County's foster care system is the focus of a study being conducted by the Planning Council for Health and Human Services Inc.