Budget '25: Children and Families Analysis

Gov. Evers declared 2025 to be the “Year of the Kid,” which puts a spotlight on the Department of Children and Families (DCF). The agency is responsible for child protective services, foster care, daycare licensing, Head Start, and child support.

The current budget appropriated $3 billion (All Funds) to DCF, of which $977 million comes from GPR. Evers wants to bump that up to $4 billion (All Funds). Most of that increase would be through GPR, which he wants to increase up to $1.5 billion.

DCF’s programs are hot political issues right now. Democrats lost their minds when President Trump recommended funding cuts to the Head Start program. That program was created 60 years ago to position underprivileged children under the age of five for success when they start school. Studies have shown it has no long-term impact on educational outcomes. In other words, it is an abject failure. It’s basically just free daycare, which might help explain why Democrats are so committed to it.

Daycare also falls under DCF’s purview. It regulates the industry within Wisconsin and disperses various aid packages to providers. The federal government flooded states with daycare funding as part of the Covid relief packages, which are now expired. Evers and others want tax taxpayers to pick up the slack.

Gov. Evers loves to describe his policies as “pro-kid,” which is code for “anti-family.” Evers wants to make childcare more affordable for families, because that enables both parents to work, which means more tax revenue. A true pro-kid policy would be one that enables one parent to stay at home with the kids. Evers’ vision for the state involves children either at daycare, early childhood education, or in public schools, spending as little time with their families as possible. The MacIver Institute believes that it doesn’t take a village to raise a child, it takes a family. And good families will do anything they can to protect their children from the government.

Gov. Evers wants the state to play a major role in expanding child care capacity and subsidizing the industry. His plan would spend about $552 million over the biennium to increase capacity and fund improvements. He wants to provide another $890 million in direct subsidies. The legislature should reject these initiatives.

Evers also wants to transfer about $12.5 million from GPR to support Head Start. Again, the legislature should provide nothing.