Kimberly Njoroge (from left), Terese Caro, Jackie Q. Carter, Barbara Toles and Donna Brown- Martin discuss plans for the Social Development Commission at a board meeting in September 2024. (Photo by Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
By Meredith Melland
and Edgar Mendez
This story was originally published by Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, where you can find other stories reporting on fifteen city neighborhoods in Milwaukee. Visit milwaukeenns.org.
Two former board members of the Social Development Commission are reflecting on their experiences on the board, criticisms of the board’s oversight and their hopes for the agency’s future.
The commission, also known as the SDC, has been Milwaukee’s anti-poverty agency for over 60 years.
It abruptly stopped providing social services and laid off employees in April 2024.
After a year of the board trying to restore programs and funding, SDC now could lose key grant funding if the state decides to rescind its community action designation, and its North Avenue buildings are at risk of foreclosure.
“We are not going to be scapegoats for the collapse of SDC under any circumstances,” said Barbara Toles, the former chair of the board.
Toles was elected to represent the commission’s second district and took over as the board’s chair last May, after the previous chair, Elmer Moore Jr., resigned. She stepped down in October.
“I want it to be clear that there was not a sign that would have brought concern to the board,” said Terese Caro, a former SDC commissioner.
Appointed by the governor’s office, Caro previously served as the board’s treasurer and left when her term ended in October.
On SDC entering crisis
Toles and Caro said mismanagement by SDC’s leadership team caused the agency’s collapse.
“Had they been transparent with us and informed us of the financial situation, the board then could have made some decisions that possibly could have prevented the shutdown of SDC,” Toles said.
The board learned of SDC’s financial problems at the eleventh hour, Caro said.
“When people are not coming forth and sharing things that are going on, that have transpired, how is the board supposed to know that?” Caro asked.
On paying employees
Toles said that the board worked diligently during the aftermath of SDC’s closure to try to create solutions, including to pay employees.
“There was a lot of work put into trying to put things in place to bring SDC back, to pay the staff that did the work, which was a priority of the board,” Caro said.
In the fall, SDC paid $51,000 to employees for owed April paychecks, with most of the amount coming from a contribution to Unite WI.
SDC sent checks to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development in September to pay employees,but the amount was not enough to cover both missed pay periods.
Barbara Toles, former chair of the Social Development Commission’s Board of Commissioners, speaks at a board meeting in September. (Photo by Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
On SDC’s future and oversight
Caro said an independent party that is not connected with SDC and that has authority regardless of who’s leading SDC should conduct a review of all programs.
“Now, then I believe that everything would be disclosed to the board,” Caro said. “Then, if things went south … by all means, you can blame the board. Now, you cannot.”
The state is currently auditing SDC, and SDC is working with an auditing firm to complete its yearly audits for 2023 and 2024.
“We never had issues with audits,” Toles said. “They came back clean.”
Toles said she is disappointed that the state is considering removing SDC’s community action status.
“Hopefully, we can save some semblance of SDC to the point where the people in our community will be able to receive the services again that they desperately need,” she said.
Concerns raised
The state, Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee all appoint commissioners to the SDC board (and have provided funding in the past), but do not have a formal role in regulating the agency.
When asked whether the city should play a more active role in the oversight of SDC, Milwaukee Ald. Sharlen Moore said that responsibility fell to SDC’s board.
“You have to have a good board that serves as an oversight to ask some of the tough questions and when they are not answered, having the appropriate protocols in place to find out answers,” Moore said.
“The city did its part, what it was designed to do. An agency that’s receiving so much contractual and governmental support should have a strong board and strong leadership in place.”
Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.