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The following program is a PBS Wisconsin production.

Frederica Freyberg:

Accelerated snowmelt and heavy rains propel historic crests anticipated along the Mississippi River. The flooding danger across Wisconsin precipitates a state of emergency from Governor Tony Evers.

I’m Frederica Freyberg. Tonight on “Here & Now,” the National Weather Service discusses what to expect with impending major flooding. State Attorney General Josh Kaul details outcomes of a new way survivors report clergy abuse and a western Wisconsin agency illustrates the failings of childcare funding. It’s Here & Now for April 21.

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Funding for “Here & Now” is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:

Flood warnings in Wisconsin, especially along the Mississippi River have forecasters looking at record high water. In La Crosse, the Mississippi is expected to rise to a crest of nearly 16 feet by Monday evening. Flood stage is 12 feet. The National Weather Service describes this as major flooding likely to involve extensive inundation of roads, structures, and/or significant evacuation efforts. With this flooding forecast, the city fire department is asking residents to prepare along the Mississippi, the La Crosse and Black Rivers. Sand is being given out for filling sandbags and residents are being told to make an emergency plan. The governor’s state of emergency activates the Wisconsin National Guard with the state patrol recommending against travel in high water areas. Here to detail the threat, Mike Welvaert from the National Weather Service, who joins us from Chanhassen, Minnesota. Mike, thanks a lot for being here.

Mike Welvaert:

It’s my pleasure.

Frederica Freyberg:

So what’s the latest along the Mississippi River for Wisconsin cities and towns right now?

Mike Welvaert:

All the snow that we had this winter rapidly melted when we had those warm temperatures a week or so ago and then, of course, we’ve added a bunch of rain on top of that now. So all that water is working its way through the tributaries and down into the main stem of the Mississippi River and that water is progressing its way downstream. The river is close to cresting up here in the Twin Cities area over the next few days and will be sending that downstream along the Minnesota-Wisconsin border down to the La Crosse area by the middle of next week.

Frederica Freyberg:

That’s what’s going to be happening over the weekend is that the river will be rising farther toward that crest in the La Crosse and other towns and cities along the Wisconsin border there?

Mike Welvaert:

Yes, that’s correct.

Frederica Freyberg:

What will the flooding look like for homeowners and travelers and business owners?

Mike Welvaert:

Well, this flooding that we’re expecting this year, you know, the Mississippi does experience flooding many years, but this year in particular, the water levels are quite a bit higher than we usually see. As a matter of fact, it’s looking right now like we’re going to see crests somewhere near what happened in 2001, maybe 1969, some of the really big flood years that we had. So it’s looking like a top two or a top three crest along the Mississippi River through that area.

Frederica Freyberg:

How dangerous is this, then?

Mike Welvaert:

It’s pretty dangerous. If you’re going to be near the river or you have any kind of activities that take you near the river, be sure to heed and follow any directions regarding closures, what local officials might be saying as far as whether you should go into those areas or not. It may not look like a big deal, but with that much water, it is really moving at a pretty good clip. It could sweep you off your feet and you could be downstream before you know it. The other thing is you don’t know what kind of debris are in the water. Right now, we’re seeing a lot of reports of large trees and things like that coming downriver. In addition to, unfortunately, people’s docks and other types of debris that have floated away from them, so there’s a lot of debris in the water, and if you were to get caught in any of that, it could be very dangerous.

Frederica Freyberg:

The National Weather Service, as we mentioned, suggests that this kind of flooding involves extensive inundation of roads and structures but also potentially significant evacuation efforts. Is that something that was seen with these kinds of river levels previously?

Mike Welvaert:

Yeah. In the past where we’ve had these higher-level floods like this, there are some low areas along the river, all up and down the Mississippi and on both sides of the river where low areas tend to flood out first. And the folks that live in those areas are probably aware of that but is the time to be taking those precautions if you haven’t already because with water levels this high, we haven’t seen this in over 20 years at least, for many of these locations. So you need to take those preparations and get those done sooner rather than later. If you’re in an area that happens to get stranded, so you’ll be locked out, you should probably have a plan to know what you can do if you are isolated due to high water. Consider evacuations if they’re ordered by your local officials.

Frederica Freyberg:

So the entire state of Wisconsin is under a state of emergency for flooding. What other areas are of greatest concern?

Mike Welvaert:

Right now, the worst of the flooding is really expected along the Mississippi River itself. However, with all the recent snow and rain events that we’ve had, a lot of the rivers are running quite high at the moment. I know the Wisconsin River has been quite high for several weeks now. I know there’s been some significant flooding around the Portage area, working its way down the Wisconsin River. So anywhere we see any additional precipitation over the coming weeks, we need to pay attention. Ground is pretty wet. Any rainfall is going to add to a flood risk.

Frederica Freyberg:

What kind of additional precipitation might you be forecasting?

Mike Welvaert:

Right now, thankfully, it’s looking like we’re going to see maybe some light precipitation over the next — well, today and into tomorrow, perhaps, before this storm system we’re currently looking at pulls out of the area. But beyond that, we’re not looking at anything real significant for at least seven or eight days, so that’s good. We need the time to allow this water to work its way through the system.

Frederica Freyberg:

I read on the National Weather Service website that we should expect flooding to last several weeks, and so rivers don’t crest and then recede quickly. How does that work itself out?

Mike Welvaert:

The smaller tributary rivers, they only have a smaller geographic area that contributes to water going up and down in a river. So smaller tributaries, they go up and they go down anywhere from six-eight hours to maybe perhaps a day or two. But the larger rivers main stem rivers, like the Mississippi or the Wisconsin, they’re draining a very, very large geographic area. All the water from all of those smaller tributaries, as it moves its way into the large river, all that water has to progress and work its way downstream so it takes a while for that. And that’s why we’re looking at the Mississippi to staying active for quite some time. That water is draining all the way from northern Minnesota and western Minnesota. So there’s a lot of water coming, and actually, northern Wisconsin as well, coming down the St. Croix. All of those are big contributors this year.

Frederica Freyberg:

Mike Welvaert from the National Weather Service, thanks very much.

Mike Welvaert:

My pleasure.

Frederica Freyberg:

In criminal justice news, the Walworth County district attorney this week charged 92-year-old defrocked former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick with sexual assault. The criminal complaint says McCarrick repeatedly sexually abused the victim in the 1970s. The charges stem from a 1977 incident at a Geneva Lake residence. McCarrick also has charges pending in another state and in 2019, Pope Francis defrocked McCarrick for sexually abusing minors and adults. McCarrick is the only U.S. Catholic cardinal ever to be criminally charged with child sex crimes. The Wisconsin charges are the result of a report made to the attorney general’s Clergy and Faith Leader Abuse Initiative. That tip line and online reporting systems started nearly two years ago, and to date has completed 248 reports of abuse. Attorney General Josh Kaul joins us now. Thanks very much for being here.

Josh Kaul:

Thanks for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

So how meaningful are Wisconsin charges against one of the most prominent religious leaders in the Catholic church?

Josh Kaul:

I think it’s an example of the importance of the work that we’re doing. We have asked survivors across the state of Wisconsin to make reports if there’s information that they have certainly involving abuse of which they were victims, but also if anybody has information about institutional response to abuse. And one of the things that’s been so encouraging is that over 200 people have reached out and made reports. That shows me that what we’ve set up through the tip line is a trusted safe place for people to report, and that’s going to lead to accountability in a variety of ways. There are now three cases that have been criminally charged. One of which has resulted in a conviction, but we also want to make sure that we’re connecting victims with services and that we’re providing as full an accounting as possible through our review here.

Frederica Freyberg:

The McCarrick charges were made after a report to this clergy abuse hotline, showing how people are reporting after decades of not telling anyone. What have survivors told your victim services specialists about what prompted them to report?

Josh Kaul:

I think for a lot of survivors, having a safe and trusted place is part of what’s caused them to report. As you said, there are people who, for decades, have not previously reported abuse and there are other people who did report that abuse to trusted people, sometimes church officials, sometimes to law enforcement, and didn’t get the kind of response that they should have. I think — I hope the people have seen how committed we are to conducting a full and thorough review and the number of reports we’ve received and some of the results that we’ve gotten from those reports I think shows how committed we are to this.

Frederica Freyberg:

For those who didn’t report ever until now, what have they said about living in silence all those years?

Josh Kaul:

One of the things we wanted to make sure we were doing through this process is to have a victim centric approach. We knew going in that some of these cases would involve incidents that happened decades ago and would be outside the statute of limitations or even cases where the perpetrator has passed away, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t do important work on behalf survivors. And one of the things we’ve heard is that the process of talking with a victim services specialist who is trained in working with survivors, that that has been a huge benefit to the survivors who have had the opportunity to report and we’ve heard some really compelling stories about how much that’s meant to people in the recovery process.

Frederica Freyberg:

So you have had one conviction in Waushara County and yet the effort is still valuable?

Josh Kaul:

Absolutely. We continue to encourage people to make reports if they have information but we also are continuing to review cases that have been reported to us. We have multi-disciplinary teams that consist of a prosecutor, an investigator and a victim advocate and they’re reviewing each and every report that we receive and figuring out what follow-up can happen and is appropriate and then pursuing that follow-up. That process is going to continue as long as we continue to receive information.

Frederica Freyberg:

Can it be hard to make charges in these cases, particularly the ones that are decades old?

Josh Kaul:

Absolutely. In any case that goes back that far, you’ve got to consider statute of limitations issues and also you’ve got to recognize the fact that witnesses who may have been around may have moved to a different state or even out of the country. That can make it more difficult. It’s always better to investigate and prosecute cases soon after the incidents have happened, but that doesn’t mean that there’s not a lot of value in conducting this review and we’re going to continue pursuing cases as long as we keep getting information.

Frederica Freyberg:

Going all the way back to the beginning, why did you start the Clergy and Faith Leaders Abuse Initiative?

Josh Kaul:

One of my priorities as attorney general has been to strengthen Wisconsin’s response to sexual assault. It’s a crime that historically has had very low percentage of reports made and I don’t think our systemic response has been as strong as it should have been over the decades. We want to fix that. One of the things we’ve done is prioritized cases where perhaps they should have been investigated or prosecuted previously but weren’t and so we’ve worked to ensure there’s never another backlog of untested sexual assault kits that we’ve prosecuted some cases that DNA results were found through the backlog. And likewise with clergy and faith leaders abuse, we know there are cases that weren’t pursued that should have been so we want to make sure we’re getting justice for as many survivors as possible.

Frederica Freyberg:

On another important matter, the U.S. Supreme Court had under consideration the case of whether to block or allow the abortion pill. Why did you sign on to protect its use when, as it stands now, abortion is illegal in Wisconsin?

Josh Kaul:

There are a couple reasons. First, we need to do everything we can to protect reproductive freedom in the state of Wisconsin and we’re pursuing efforts on multiple fronts to restore access to safe and legal abortion. But mifepristone is not only used in abortions, it’s also used in miscarriage management. We don’t want to take any options away from women that are legally valid in the state of Wisconsin if we can protect them. So protecting access to mifepristone helps there, but also we are also advocating in court that the abortion ban is not enforceable and if we win that case, we want to make sure that access to care is as widely available as possible and winning this case would help with that.

Frederica Freyberg:

Do you feel as though you have a good case in the overturning the current abortion law?

Josh Kaul:

I feel really good about our case. There were a series of laws that were passed following Roe v. Wade that regulate lawful abortion. They are fundamentally inconsistent with the idea of the broad 1849 ban and I’m very optimistic that the courts will find that the 1849 law was impliedly repealed which would mean it’s not enforceable and that we go back to basically where we were prior Roe v. Wade being overturned.

Frederica Freyberg:

Josh Kaul, thanks very much.

Josh Kaul:

Thanks for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

In lieu of an invitation to speak to the budget writers of the Joint Finance Committee, state superintendent of public instruction Jill Underly presented her education budget priorities to a panel of students at Mount Horeb High School who then presented her with questions from the student perspective.

Ayden Green:

On the topic of mental health, I can say from our school that there’s very few resources available. Essentially what it consists of here is call this phone number if you’re having suicidal thoughts or talk to one of two people in the office. And actually, in fact, one of the people on this — sitting here with me was telling me a little story about how they were having a mental health crisis and they went to one of the counselors and they were told to come back when they had an appointment. So pretty dysfunctional, and so I’m very curious to see how this $235 million, I guess, mental health grant is going to help to build those services.

Jill Underly:

We’re not only short staffed in mental health, it’s just problems are also more difficult, and take more time and so the budget ask is requesting a base amount for every school district of $100,000, plus an additional $100 per student. So you’d have $200,000 to hire additional staff, possibly bring in contractors in mental health. I know that there are a number of them particularly in this area.

Natalie Broderick:

During the summer, I work with the summer school programs here at Mount Horeb and I help students in both math and reading and other subjects that are struggling and I would say there’s a good portion of students that are special education in those classes that need the help during the summer and there’s maybe one paraprofessional per two to three students. So I’ve ended up helping out a lot of these students trying to help them learn during the summer, while I do my best, I’m not a trained professional and these students need more access and support in order to unlock their potential. So I’d like to ask how do you plan on allocating the budget so that special education programs are prioritized and paraprofessional pathways are made easier?

Jill Underly:

So right now, Wisconsin reimburses, as I shared earlier, on special education costs at 30%, roughly. The budget that we’re proposing at the department would increase that amount to 45% and then 60%. So I believe the size of your school district, it would be closer to $2 million in additional reimbursement. So that funding could go towards hiring additional staff, it could go towards training, it could go towards raising salaries. Not just in special education, but in all programs, because as I said, that funding is being transferred from other programs in order to meet that. So, really, what you’ve illustrated is that schools need that spendable revenue.

Frederica Freyberg:

As the state budget is being hammered out, another area of need has to do with childcare, because across Wisconsin, parents are struggling to afford childcare with the average cost of infant care topping $12,000 a year. At the same time, childcare providers are struggling to keep their doors open due to a shortage of staff, because retaining early learning teachers with more pay only makes the care more expensive for already strapped parents. What a mess, and one that impacts our economy already short on workers. The business model of childcare is broken. That’s according to our next guest, Renee Ernsting, director of the Childcare Partnership Program which represents counties in western Wisconsin. Renee, thanks very much for being here.

Renee Ernsting:

Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:

How critical is the shortage of childcare teachers in western Wisconsin?

Renee Ernsting:

It is incredibly — I’ve never seen it quite as bad as it is. I’ve worked in childcare in this agency for 20 years, and we regularly report — we do surveys and report that data on what we’re seeing in the area and last December, we did a capacity survey. And we had people that were hiring in the past 12 months had hired 600 times, yet they still had 300 teaching positions open, and it’s just so incredibly difficult to fill these positions, the low wages, the no benefits, those kind of problems. We just can’t keep a teacher in some of these classrooms and that leads us to the childcare deserts that we’re seeing because we have enough buildings, perhaps, in western Wisconsin for childcare. We don’t have the teachers in those classrooms, and that’s the shortage that we’re seeing.

Frederica Freyberg:

So to that, the lack of teachers leaves mile-long kind of wait lists, I understand, for some parents seeking childcare. Is that the case there?

Renee Ernsting:

We have wait lists that start when you are just thinking about having a child. We’re recommending people start to call and get on wait lists before they’re even pregnant, and that’s something that’s really been happening probably for the past three years, almost, in our area. Right now, like I said, we surveyed back in December, and we had 4,000 children in our 10 counties on wait lists.

Frederica Freyberg:

Wow.

Renee Ernsting:

It’s just really a tough situation.

Frederica Freyberg:

You spoke — go ahead.

Renee Ernsting:

Go ahead.

Frederica Freyberg:

You spoke to the wages for childcare teachers. Across the state, the average is like $11 to $13 an hour, but meanwhile, providers don’t dare pay more because they would have to pass that along to the parents. Is that right?

Renee Ernsting:

That’s the exact issue with the broken business model. It’s already unaffordable for families and it’s just too difficult to raise rates because you know you’re not going to be able to keep — those families are not going to be able to sustain that kind of bill. Yeah. We have a program right now that we’re helping people that have fallen behind. We could have given out over $97,000 in a very short period of time. We had so many people applying for that kind of assistance.

Frederica Freyberg:

Meanwhile in May, federal money that was credited with keeping some 3,000 childcare businesses open is being reduced. What then?

Renee Ernsting:

Well, we’re really concerned about that. We have people reporting that their prices for childcare will go up between 20% and 40%. I’m very concerned that parents will not be able to afford that. It will come down to, and what we’re hearing from a lot of families that we’re talking to, is that one of the people will not be working anymore, and we already have a workforce crisis in every other industry. I’m talking to employers on a regular basis in workforce development agencies and things like that, so that is a real wall to hit here in western Wisconsin, where we will just not have workers if moms or dads are staying home to care for children.

Frederica Freyberg:

Meanwhile, on the ground in daycare businesses, there’s kind of a major turnover of teachers all the time. Is that right?

Renee Ernsting:

That is the situation and that is the other piece of this that’s very scary to me as an early childhood professional. The amount of transitions that happen in children’s lives, that’s enough, just going to childcare and transitioning to kindergarten and those types of things. We don’t need transitions of teachers on a daily, weekly, monthly basis. That is so hard on the child, and so hard on the family. So we’re very concerned about the mental health ramifications of all of these transitions.

Frederica Freyberg:

Another thing of interest that I’ve learned while looking at this issue was that 4K opportunities in public schools really ended up being injurious to the preschool population and those businesses. How so?

Renee Ernsting:

Right and I hate to say that because I’m a supporter of 4K, but what really happened prior to the pandemic when 4K really started to open up in all of the communities, those 4K families then go to the school district instead of going to childcare, and that’s that business model that’s broken, unfortunately, because you’re not making any money with infant and toddler care. The ratios, which I don’t want changed, are 4:1. And so four infants to one adult. So you’re sustaining your business but you’re not making any money. You’re really looking at the amount of money that’s coming in on four-year-olds or three or four-year-olds because you can have over 20 of them per teacher. And so that’s really the situation, is that it was kind of an unintended consequence, in my opinion.

Frederica Freyberg:

So the state is launching a grant program that partners with businesses whose employees need childcare. How important is that as some kind of a fix here?

Renee Ernsting:

I feel that it’s incredibly important, and it’s based on not just helping the family and helping the employer get the employee to be able to stay and retain them and be productive. That’s the first piece of it. But the other piece of it is that program, it’s called Partner Up, and it pays what’s called the true cost of care instead of market rate. So you mentioned market rate earlier as about a thousand dollars a month for an infant. True cost of care is closer to $1,800 in my area. And so the Partner Up program puts the business buying the slot and then some grant money together along with, in this new round of Partner Up, some of the family paying for the care and the three of them then can afford the cost of care instead of the market rate.

Frederica Freyberg:

Meanwhile, with about half a minute left, what message do you have for state budget writers when it comes to helping the childcare crisis in Wisconsin?

Renee Ernsting:

I think that I’d like to say that this market is not going to fix itself. It is not one of those markets where we can just charge more. And so really looking at some sustainable help that will really help not just the economy in the sense of the childcare businesses, but the actual businesses out there that are just trying to retain and attract new workers. And so, please, look into the Partner Up program and the funding, increased funding would be super support to western Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. Renee Ernsting, thanks very much.

Renee Ernsting:

Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:

Next week on our program, Zac Schultz reports on the ever-oppressive impact of the opioid crisis, where despite all the resources being deployed to tackle the health emergency, people struggling with addiction and drug abuse are still dying at higher rates from overdoses than ever before.

For more on this and other issues facing Wisconsin, visit our website at PBSwisconsin.org, and then click on the news tab. That’s our program for tonight. I’m Frederica Freyberg. Have a good weekend.

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Funding for “Here & Now” is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.