State Of Wisconsin Department Of Health Services

The State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services, doing business as Office of Legal Counsel, is a U.S. state government entity operating as a prime recipient of federal grants and a prime contractor on federal service delivery contracts. Wisconsin DHS does not compete for federal work; it receives non-competitive, statutory formula awards and task orders from federal agencies that designate the state as the implementing entity for public health, nutrition assistance, Medicaid, and social services programs.

Wisconsin DHS receives the vast majority of its federal funding through Medicaid and nutrition assistance formula grants. The top funding sources by award count span the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (275 awards across SNAP, WIC, and food distribution programs), the Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (120 awards including $18.879 billion in Medicaid entitlement block grants for FY 2026), the CDC (115 awards), and the Administration for Community Living (110 awards for aging and disability services). Combined federal obligations exceed $211 billion, though this figure reflects large mandatory entitlement programs rather than competitive contracting; only $586.6 million represents combined potential value of task orders and project-specific awards. The agency serves 74 distinct federal customer agencies, but concentration is driven by statutory distribution of Social Security Administration death records processing ($2.588 billion ceiling value), SNAP administrative costs ($62.265 million), WIC food and administrative expenses ($69.636 million and $36.614 million respectively), and Medicaid block grants. CDC contract work focuses on vital statistics data processing and management ($4.2 million IDC), tobacco inspection services ($5.8 million IDC), and emerging infectious disease surveillance and lab capacity.

Wisconsin DHS holds two primary indefinite delivery contracts: a $5.8 million single-award IDC with the FDA for the Wisconsin Tobacco Inspection Program (ultimate completion May 2030, with two task orders issued September 2025 and May 2026), and a $4.2 million single-award CDC contract for National Center for Health Statistics Vital Statistics Cooperative Program support through April 2027. Recent delivery order awards include a $1.199 million FDA task order for tobacco inspection (May 2026), a $431,436 CDC task order for vital statistics data processing (January 2026), and a $189,180 National Cancer Institute task order for SEER program registries and data management (September 2024). Wisconsin DHS also places task orders under five subordinate agreements with the Social Security Administration and other partners for enumeration at birth, electronic death records processing, and related data services.

Grant work dominates the portfolio. Wisconsin DHS administers formula grants supporting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) operations exceeding $46 million annually, the WIC Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children totaling over $175 million in combined food and administrative funding (FY 2026), and the Medicaid entitlement block grant of $18.879 billion (FY 2026). Additional major formula grants include the Substance Abuse Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant ($76.647 million), the Block Grants for Community Mental Health Services ($35.288 million), the Social Services Block Grant ($67.712 million), and cooperative agreements for aging services under the Older Americans Act Title III programs (nutrition, supportive services, family caregiver support, and ombudsman services collectively exceeding $68 million). Targeted project grants include the Rural Health Transformation Program ($814.680 million cooperative agreement for rural workforce, technology, and care coordination through October 2030), the Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant ($27.861 million for Title V maternal and child health initiatives), and lead testing in child care facilities ($1.093 million EPA project grant). Wisconsin DHS distributes portions of formula grants to 72 counties, tribal governments, nonprofit organizations, and community-based providers across the state for local implementation. Sub-recipients in nutrition and social services include county health departments, food banks (Hunger Task Force, Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin), workforce development boards, and community action agencies. Mental health and substance abuse block grant sub-recipients include county behavioral health departments, NAMI Wisconsin, Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin, federally recognized tribes (Oneida Nation, Ho-Chunk Nation, Forest County Potawatomi, Bad River Band), and specialized providers such as The Benedict Center and Meta House. Early intervention and maternal health sub-recipients include Milwaukee County, Dane County, Habitat for Humanity chapters, and the University of Wisconsin System.

Recent activity has declined modestly—13 awards in 2026 (partial year), 67 in 2025, compared to 75–79 annually in 2022–2024. Eighty-four awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, representing a combined potential value of $2.4 million in recompete exposure, though the largest entitlements (Medicaid, SNAP, WIC) renew automatically under statutory formulas rather than recompeting. Wisconsin DHS operates as a single-award recipient on most federal vehicles; its role is implementing state-level administration and passing funds to local partners rather than competing as a prime contractor. The agency's federal portfolio reflects its statutory role as Wisconsin's designated state agency for health, nutrition assistance, Medicaid, early intervention, aging, and disability services. Two subcontract awards appear in the source—technical assistance sub-awards from the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors related to mental health transformation initiatives (January 2024 and January 2025).