REEDSBURG, Wis. -- Since the flooding of June 2008, Columbia and Sauk counties have set up a Long Term Recovery Committee that has caseworkers working one on one with families to help them get back to normal. Now that committee is hoping for some state funds to be released to make sure they can keep doing that work.

Joanne and Rudy Brandt had seven feet of water in their Reedsburg home last June. They pumped out the water with help from their church, and stripped it down to studs.

"Its been empty, we couldn't decide whether we wanted to redo it or not, then we had decided and all of a sudden we got this phone call," said Joanne Brandt. "Then Ron was assigned our caseworker and its been great."

The Brandt's caseworker helped organize volunteers to re-do their basement, but other flood victims might not be so lucky.

"I was on a telephone call this morning and we're looking at possibly about a month and I have no more funding for caseworkers," said Jeff Jelinek, director of Sauk County Emergency Management.

Jelinek is trying to help 500 families in Sauk and Columbia counties through the recovery process with seven caseworkers, and he's wondering why a federal Social Services Block Grant for flood relief has been sitting with the state Department of Health Services since January.

"Its over a year gone, but there's still a tremendous amount of families in the state really in need of monies," said Jelinke. "These $15.9 million has been sitting there for 8 months and nothing is going on with it and we just can't wait any longer.

DHS said Monday a plan for distributing the money should be approved this week, and money should get to programs by the end of the month.

"There was a lot of work on the front end to find the right places and then to make sure that it was in the right hands, and it takes time," said Seth Boffeli, a spokesman for DHS. "I think the bottom line is the funding is available, and its going to be out there and available for the people that need it."

"A lot of the work thats going into this is helping people rebuild their homes, it's not usually work that we do here which is why we wanted to get the experts who do it involved in the process," said Boffeli.

Its none too soon for flood victims.

"I think its very important, I'm sure there are people out there that need the help yet," said Brandt.

Counties and disaster workers, including those in Sauk county, were consulted on how to use the funds back in May. The state said that consultation with experts in part led to the delay.

DHS said half of the $15.9 million will go to the Wisconsin Volunteer Organization Active in Disasters or VOAD to help with caseworker funding. The other half will go to help 211 and county staff positions that help deal with flooding relief, and some will be kept in reserve in case other needs arise.