Message from Governor Doyle

I am pleased to welcome you to the new Department of Children and Families' website.

As Governor of this great state, I've worked hard to put Wisconsin kids first. I want this state to be a place where our kids can grow up knowing that their highest ambitions are never out of reach.

We know that the early years of a child's life have a lasting impact. Excellent day care and early childhood education can mean better overall development, a smaller chance of being held back in school or dropping out, and lower special education costs.

When I became Governor, I unveiled a KidsFirst agenda - a comprehensive strategy to ensure that every kid gets off to the best start in life.

Since that day, we've worked hard to make sure that kids are safe, healthy, and have strong families and the tools they need to succeed.

We expanded 4-year-old kindergarten across the state.

We strengthened our foster care system, to better support our foster parents and recruit more quality caretakers.

We expanded the school breakfast program across the state so that more kids start off the day with a nutritious meal.

We've made child care expenses tax deductible in Wisconsin to help families afford high quality child care.

We launched BadgerCare Plus, ensuring that every child in this state has access to health insurance.

And now, through the new Department of Children and Families we are changing the way state government serves our kids and our families - making sure that when government is involved in the lives of our citizens that it is meaningful and effective.

Launched on July 1st of this year, the Department of Children and Families is Wisconsin's first state agency focused exclusively on promoting the safety, economic and social well-being of kids and families of the state.

The new Department brings together key programs that serve children and families - such as child welfare, child support, child care and Wisconsin Works (W-2) - to ensure that everyone gets the support they need to succeed.

As I've said many times, the single most important thing we can do today to ensure a strong, successful future for Wisconsin is to invest in our kids early - because what we do now will determine exactly what kind of state Wisconsin will be 10, 20 even 50 years from now.

Every child deserves our support and encouragement. Too many children in our state face difficult challenges at far too young an age. We have incredible services in this state that can help families and the Department of Children and Families will work to ensure that high quality services are easily accessible to all families when they need them most.

Today, with the new Department, we are taking one more step towards ensuring that every child gets the best start they can in life.

Thank you for visiting the Department of Children and Families website.

Governor Jim Doyle