Wisconsin Legislature: Ch. DCF 120 TOC

Chapter DCF 120

EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE

DCF 120.01 Purpose.

DCF 120.02 Applicability.

DCF 120.03 Definitions.

DCF 120.04 Application.

DCF 120.05 Nonfinancial eligibility.

DCF 120.06 Financial eligibility.

DCF 120.07 Payment amounts.

DCF 120.08 Eligibility determination and payment procedures.

DCF 120.085 Overpayments.

DCF 120.09 Social services.

DCF 120.10 Review of agency decisions.

Note: Chapter DWD 16 was renumbered to chapter DCF 120 under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 1., Stats., Register November 2008 No. 635.

DCF 120.01 Purpose. This chapter implements s. 49.138, Stats., which directs the department to administer a program of emergency assistance for persons who are in need due to fire, flood, natural disaster, homelessness, impending homelessness, or energy crisis and who meet the eligibility criteria under this chapter.

History: Cr. Register, October, 1999, No. 526, eff. 11-1-99; am. Register, January, 2001, No. 541, eff. 2-1-01.

DCF 120.02 Applicability. This chapter applies to all applicants for emergency assistance, all recipients of emergency assistance, and all county and tribal economic support agencies and W-2 agencies administering the emergency assistance program under s. 49.138, Stats.

History: Cr. Register, October, 1999, No. 526, eff. 11-1-99.

DCF 120.03 Definitions. In this chapter:

(1m) “Client error” means an error caused by an individual who is a member of an emergency assistance group reporting incorrect information or failing to report information due to a misunderstanding or mistake that results in an overpayment of emergency assistance.

(1p) “Destitution” means extreme want of resources or of the means of subsistence.

(2) “Emergency assistance” means the program under s. 49.138, Stats., for emergency assistance to families with needy children in cases of fire, flood, natural disaster, homelessness, impending homelessness, or energy crisis.

(3) “Emergency assistance group” or “group” means family as referred to in s. 49.138, Stats., and includes one or more dependent children as defined by s. 49.141 (1) (c), Stats., and a qualified caretaker relative with whom the child is living or was living at the time the emergency occurred.

(4) “Emergency shelter facility” means any facility, the primary purpose of which is to provide temporary or transitional shelter for the homeless in general or specific populations of the homeless.

(4m) “Intentional program violation” has the meaning given in s. 49.001 (3m), Stats.

(5) “Migrant worker” has the meaning given in s. 103.90 (5), Stats.

(5m) “Misrepresentation” includes an intentional program violation and a client error.

(6) “Needy person” means a person who meets the eligibility criteria in ss. DCF 120.05 and 120.06.

(6m) “Poverty line” means the poverty line as defined and revised annually under 42 USC 9902 (2).

(7) “Qualified caretaker relative” means a caretaker of a child whose relationship to the caretaker or the caretaker’s spouse is one of the following: son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, stepson, stepdaughter, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother or half sister, nephew, niece, uncle, aunt, first cousin or grand, great-grand or great-great grand son, daughter, nephew, or niece. A qualified caretaker relative continues to be a qualified relative even when the relationship is terminated by death or divorce.

(8) “W-2 Agency” or “agency” means an entity that is administering the Wisconsin works program as a contractor under s. 49.143, Stats.

History: Cr. Register, October, 1999, No. 526, eff. 11-1-99; am. (2), Register, January, 2001, No. 541, eff. 2-1-01; correction in (6) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 7., Stats., Register November 2008 No. 635; CR 09-059: cr. (6m) Register December 2009 No. 648, eff. 1-1-10; CR 23-073: cr. (1m), (4m), (5m) Register September 2024 No. 825, eff. 10-1-24; renum. (1) to (1p) under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 1., Stats., Register September 2024 No. 824

DCF 120.04 Application. Application for emergency assistance shall be made on a form prescribed by the department. Upon receipt of a completed application, the agency shall verify that the emergency was due to fire, flood, natural disaster, homelessness, impending homelessness, or an energy crisis. An agency shall consider the application complete if the application includes a legible name; address, if available; reason for the emergency; signature by the applicant or the applicant’s representative and has been completed to the best of the applicant’s or representative’s ability.

Note: An application form for emergency assistance may be obtained from a county or tribal economic support agency or a Wisconsin Works (W–2) agency. Contact information for Wisconsin works agencies may be found at https://dcf.wisconsin.gov/w2/parents/locator .

History: Cr. Register, October, 1999, No. 526, eff. 11-1-99; am. Register, January, 2001, No. 541, eff. 2-1-01; CR 06-044: am. Register November 2006 No. 611, eff. 12-1-06; CR 23-073: am. Register September 2024 No. 824, eff. 10-1-24.

DCF 120.05 Nonfinancial eligibility.

(1) Criteria. The emergency assistance group shall meet all of the following nonfinancial eligibility criteria:

(a) The group members shall live in Wisconsin and intend to reside in Wisconsin, except a migrant worker is not required to meet the requirement as to intent to reside in Wisconsin. A never-married child under age 18 is a Wisconsin resident when he or she is under the legal custody of the department or an agency, regardless of the state in which he or she is living. Wisconsin residence shall not be lost when a dependent child or caretaker relative is temporarily absent from Wisconsin for the purpose of visiting, hospitalization, or education.

(b) The group members are citizens or qualifying aliens as defined in s. DCF 101.09 (2) (c).

(c) The child for whom assistance is requested is or, within 6 months prior to the month of application for emergency assistance, was living with a qualified caretaker relative in a place of residence maintained as the caretaker relative’s own home and is anticipated to live with the qualified caretaker relative in the month following the application date.

(d) Assistance is needed to avoid destitution of the child or to provide a living arrangement for the child in a home.

(e) The child’s destitution or need for living arrangements did not result from the child or a qualified caretaker relative refusing without good cause to accept employment or training for employment.

(em) An individual under 18 years of age is ineligible to be a qualified caretaker relative unless:

1. The individual is or has ever been married.

2. The individual has no parent, legal guardian, or other appropriate adult relative who would meet applicable criteria to act as the individual’s legal guardian who is living or whose whereabouts are known.

3. No living parent, legal guardian, or other appropriate adult relative who would meet applicable criteria to act as the individual’s legal guardian allows the individual to live in the home of the parent, guardian, or relative.

4. The individual or the child for whom assistance is requested is being or has been subjected to serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation in the residence of the individual’s own parent or legal guardian.

5. Substantial evidence exists of an act or failure to act that presents an imminent or serious harm if the individual and the minor child lived in the same residence with the individual’s own parent or legal guardian.

6. The W-2 agency otherwise determines that it is in the best interest of the individual’s child to waive the general prohibition on assistance to unmarried caretakers who are under 18 years of age.

(f) As determined by the agency, the group’s need has resulted from an emergency due to one or more of the following causes:

1. Fire.

2. Flood.

3. A natural disaster such as a tornado, earthquake, electrical storm, windstorm, hail, sleet, a mud or rock slide, or a natural explosion such as lightning striking an object that then explodes.

4. Homelessness as determined under sub. (2). The cause of the homelessness need not be the result of a natural disaster.

5. Impending homelessness as determined under sub. (3).

6. An energy crisis, as determined under sub. (4).

(2) Eligibility due to homelessness. An emergency assistance group shall be considered homeless for purposes of determining nonfinancial eligibility under sub. (1) if the group needs emergency assistance to obtain a permanent living accommodation and if any of the following conditions apply:

(a) The group lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.

(b) The group has a current residence that is a shelter designed for temporary accommodation such as a motel, hotel, or emergency shelter facility.

(c) The group has already left its current housing because it is uninhabitable as determined by the local building inspector, the local health department, or other appropriate local authority.

(d) The group is living in a place that is not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation.

(e) A member of the group was subject to domestic abuse as defined under s. 968.075 (1) (a), Stats.

(3) Eligibility due to impending homelessness. An emergency assistance group shall be considered to be facing impending homelessness for purposes of determining nonfinancial eligibility under sub. (1) if any of the following apply:

(a) The emergency assistance group is experiencing a financial crisis that makes it very difficult to make a rent payment, mortgage payment, or property tax payment and the group has been notified that it will be required to leave its current housing if it does not make that payment immediately. The W-2 agency shall verify the following:

1. The emergency assistance group is experiencing a financial crisis due to reasons that are either beyond the control of an adult member of the group or that constitute good cause as determined by the W-2 agency.

2. The financial crisis was caused by one or more of the following:

a. Loss of employment that does not include voluntarily leaving appropriate employment without good cause.

b. Substantial loss of wages due to illness or injury of a group member, domestic violence, lack of child care, a transportation breakdown, or a reduction of work hours by an employer.

c. Loss of income due to a second parent leaving the group.