• A rule defining the substantial change in circumstances under which adoptive or proposed adoptive parents may request that an agreement made under sub. (4) be amended to increase the amount of adoption assistance for maintenance. The definition shall include all of the following:
• Situations in which a child who was defined as a child with special needs based solely on being at high risk of developing moderate or intensive difficulty−of−care problems has developed those problems.
• Situations in which a child’s difficulty−of−care problems have increased from the moderate level to the intensive level as set forth in the department’s schedule of difficulty−of−care levels promulgated by rule.
• Rules establishing requirements for submitting a request under sub. (4) (b), criteria for determining the amount of the increase in adoption assistance for maintenance that the department shall offer if there has been a substantial change in circumstances and if there has been no substantiated report of abuse or neglect of the child by the adoptive or proposed adoptive parents, and the procedure to appeal the decision of the department regarding the request.
• Rules establishing the criteria for determining the amount of the decrease in adoption assistance for maintenance that the department shall offer under sub. (4) (bm) if a substantial change in circumstances no longer exists and the procedure to appeal the decision of the department regarding the decrease. The criteria shall provide that the amount of the decrease offered by the department under sub. (4) (bm) may not result in an amount of adoption assistance for maintenance that is less than the initial amount of adoption assistance for maintenance provided for the child under sub. (3) (a) 1., 2. or 3.
• A rule regarding when a child must be photolisted with the adoption information exchange under s. 48.55, Stats., in order to be eligible for adoption assistance. The rule may not require photolisting under any circumstances in which photolisting is not required by federal statutes, regulations or guidelines as a prerequisite for the state to receive federal matching funds for adoption assistance. • Rules governing the provision of adoption assistance for the care of a child after the child attains 18 years of age.
Section 227.11 (2) (a) (intro.), Stats., expressly confers rule-making authority on each department to promulgate rules interpreting the provisions of any statute enforced or administered by the department. Summary of the Proposed Rule
Facilitating Public Adoptions
The proposed rules specify the process for approving prospective adoptive parents for a public adoption. The rules define “public adoption” as “the adoption of a child under the guardianship of the department, a county department, or a tribal child welfare department in this state if the adoption is under the laws of this state.” Under ss. 48.427 and 48.43 (5), Stats., a court my appoint a guardian of a child following the death or termination of the rights of the child’s parents. Under the proposed rules, the department will hold periodic informational meeting on public adoptions for prospective adoptive parents. Attendees receive a screening form to complete and submit to continue with the approval process. The department reviews the completed screening forms to determine if a home study of the prospective adoptive parents is likely to be approved and if the prospective adoptive parents would be a suitable match for the type of children who are legally free for public adoption or are at legal risk.
Eligible prospective adoptive parents may apply for a home study. Public adoption agencies use the home study process to determine if an applicant’s home is suitable for placement of a child for the purpose of a public adoption. The proposed rules incorporate the home study requirements in s. 48.88, Stats., as affected by 2015 Wisconsin Act 378 and provide the requirements that apply specifically to a home study for the purpose of public adoption. Prospective adoptive parents whose home study is approved may register with the adoption information exchange to search for a child to adopt. The adoption information exchange includes a web-based photolisting of children who are legally free for public adoption and may include children who are at legal risk under specified conditions. A matching service attempts to match the children with the prospective adoptive parents by providing information about registered prospective adoptive parents to public adoption agencies with photolisted children. A public adoption agency or placing agency determines if placement with specific prospective adoptive parents whose home study has been approved is in the best interest of the child for the purpose of the recommendation to the court.
The proposed rules clarify that comparable provision in the current ss. DCF 51.04 to 51.08 apply to the approval of prospective adoptive parents of children under the guardianship of a public adoption agency whether or not the children have special needs that qualify them for adoption assistance. Adoption Assistance
Adoption assistance may be provided to adoptive or proposed adoptive parents of a child with special needs or at high risk of developing a special need when the department determines such assistance is necessary to assure the child’s adoption. Adoption assistance may include monthly payments by the department; medical assistance under Title XIX of the Social Security Act of 1935, as amended; or reimbursement of nonrecurring adoption expenses as allowed by law.
Under the current rules, the child must have at least one of 4 special needs. The proposed rules include these same special needs in s. DCF 50.09 (1) (b). In general terms, the special needs include that the child is 10 years of age or older, the child is a member of a sibling group of 3 or more children that must be placed together, the child belongs to a minority race, and the child has a certain level of needs or characteristics that increase the difficulty of caring for the child. The proposed rules add to the potential special needs that “the child is an Indian child as defined in s. 48.02 (8g), Stats.”
The proposed rules also update and clarify the rules on eligibility, the application process, the methods for determining the amount of adoption assistance, the adoption assistance agreement, amendments to the agreement to adjust the payment amount, notification and review requirements of the child and parental status, overpayment collection, and reviews and appeals.
The proposed rules make substantive changes to the timeframes allowed for reviews and appeals. The proposed rules provide that, before an adoption is finalized, proposed adoptive parents may request a review by the division administrator or may appeal to the division of hearings and appeals within 10 days after the department notice of eligibility or payment amount. After an adoption is finalized, the proposed rules shorten the time allowed for adoptive parents to request an appeal related to eligibility or payment amount based on extenuating circumstances from 3 years to 90 days. The time allowed for the adoptive parents to request an appeal related to an amendment to adjust the payment amount is shortened from 60 days to 30 days. The time allowed for the adoptive parents to request an appeal based on the department’s failure to provide the adoption assistance in the adoption assistance agreement is shortened from one year to 30 days.
DCF 51, Preadoption Training
Changes in 2015 Wisconsin Act 379 that affect the preadoption training requirements in s. 48.84, Stats., are based on recommendations by the Joint Legislative Council Study Committee on Adoption Disruption and Dissolution. As a result of Act 379, the proposed rules increase the required training for first-time adoptive parents from 18 to 25 hours. At least 6 of the hours must be delivered in person, either individually or in a group, and at least 6 hours of training must be appropriate to the specific needs of the child to be adopted. The proposed rules add the issues of “trauma issues related to adoption” and “sexual abuse” to the list of required topics that the training must cover as required in s. 48.84, Stats., as affected by 2015 Wisconsin Act 379. Under the proposed rules, training using books or periodicals may not exceed 5 hours of the required hours of preadoption training. The proposed rules also repeal the requirement in the current rules that an adoption agency provide a 2-hour orientation to prospective adoptive parents. It is not necessary to require an orientation in rule because adoption agencies provide this orientation to prospective adoptive parents when they inform the prospective adoptive parents of the services the agency can provide for them.
The proposed rules also provide that the entity that provides the required preadoption training shall refer adoptive parents with postadoption needs to resources appropriate to the specific needs of the family or offer to provide at least 6 hours of training if the entity has sufficient expertise with the family’s specific needs.
The preadoption training requirements in ch. DCF 51 no longer apply to adoptive or proposed adoptive parents of a child adopted in another country. 2015 Wisconsin Act 380 repealed the provision in s. 48.97 (1), 2013 Stats., that required department approval for recognition in Wisconsin of an adoption of a child from another country by a resident of this state when the adoption was finalized in the child’s country. The department had required that adoptive or proposed adoptive parents of a child from another country complete the training requirements in s. 48.84, Stats., before receiving department approval. Under federal law, these adoptive parents are required to complete 10 hours of training. DCF 42 Renumbered to be DCF 49
In addition, ch. DCF 42, State Adoption Information Center, is renumbered as ch. DCF 49 to make it easier for the public to find all of the department’s rules related to adoption. The current ch. DCF 49, Juvenile Worker Intake Training, is obsolete and will be repealed. Ch. DCF 82 is the current juvenile worker intake training rule.
Summary of Factual Data and Analytical Methodologies
Summary of Related Federal Law
Adoption Assistance
The adoption assistance program is authorized under 42 USC 673 and Title IV-E of the Social Security Act. The program provides matching funds to states to facilitate the timely placement of children whose special needs or circumstances would otherwise make it difficult to place with adoptive families. Title IX authorizes Medicaid eligibility for children eligible under Title IV-E. Under 45 CFR 1356.40 (f), the state Title IV-B/IV-E agency is required to actively seek ways to promote the adoption assistance program, including notifying prospective adoptive parents about the availability of adoption assistance for the adoption of a child with special needs. Federal regulations at 45 CFR 1356.40 (b) (1) require that the adoption assistance agreement be signed and in effect at the time of, or prior to, the final decree of adoption. However, if the adoptive parents feel they wrongly have been denied benefits on behalf of an adoptive child, they have the right to a fair hearing. Required Training for Foster Parents
42 USC 673 requires foster parents to be prepared adequately with appropriate knowledge and skills before a child is placed in their foster home and requires that the preparation be continued as necessary after the placement of the child. Under s. 48.833, Stats., a child is placed for adoption in a licensed foster home prior to adoption. Required Training for Prospective Adoptive Parents in an Intercountry Adoptions
In intercountry adoptions, Department of State regulations at 22 CFR Part 96 require prospective adoptive parents to use a primary adoption services provider that is an accredited agency or approved person under the regulations and is responsible for ensuring that adoption services comply with the regulations. Under 22 CFR 96.48, the accredited agency or approved person is required to provide prospective adoptive parents with at least 10 hours of training on issues related to intercountry adoptions before they travel to adopt a child or a child is placed with the prospective adoptive parents for adoption. The agency or person can exempt prospective adoptive parents from all or part of the training if the department or person determines that the prospective adoptive parents have received adequate prior training or have prior experience as parents of children adopted from abroad. The Department of State regulations have applied to all adoptions of a foreign child by a U.S. citizen since July 14, 2014, when The Intercountry Adoption Universal Accreditation Act of 2012 (UAA) went into effect. The UAA assures families pursuing an intercountry adoption that regardless of the country from which they intend to adopt, the adoption services provider will need to comply with the same ethical standards of practice and conduct. From July 1, 2008, to July 13, 2014, the Department of State regulations only applied to adoption services provided for a U.S. prospective adoptive parent if the child resided in a country that was a party to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. The Hague Convention is a multilateral treaty that entered into force in the U.S. on July 1, 2008.
Proposed changes to the Department of State rules on intercountry adoptions were published in the Federal Register on September 8, 2016. On April 4, 2017, the Department of State withdrew the proposed rules and announced that it will be drafting new rules that are expected to be published later this year.
In addition, regulations promulgated by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services provide that prospective adoptive parents who intend to bring a foreign child to the U.S. for adoption must complete any preadoption training required by their state of residence before the child’s immigration petition will be approved. 8 CFR 204.305 Comparison to Adjacent States
Minnesota. The special needs for which adoption assistance may be available include the child meets the disability criteria for SSI eligibility, the child has another documented disability, the child is a member of a sibling group being adopted at the same time, the child is in an adoptive placement in the home of a parent who previously adopted a sibling for whom they received adoption assistance, or the child is an at-risk child.
Illinois. The special needs for which adoption assistance may be available include the child has a disability, is one year of age or older, is a member of a sibling group, or is being adopted by adoptive parents who previously adopted a sibling of the child for whom they receive adoption assistance.
Iowa. The special needs for which adoption assistance may be available include the child is age eight or older and Caucasian, the child is age two or older and is a member of a minority race or ethnic group, the child is a member of a sibling group of 3 or more, the child has a medically diagnosed disability.
Michigan. The special needs for which adoption assistance may be available include the child is age 3 and older, has documented higher medical or mental health needs, is eligible for SSI, or is being adopted by relatives or with siblings.
Effect on Small Businesses
The proposed rule may affect small businesses as defined in s. 227.114 (1), Stats., including private adoption agencies and entities authorized to provide preadoption training under s. 48.84 (1), Stats. The effect of the rules will be minimal. Analysis Used to Determine Effect on Small Businesses
The proposed rules incorporate statutory changes and minor updates and provide needed clarification of the requirements in the rules.
2015 Wisconsin Act 379 increases the hours of required training for prospective adoptive parents, which may increase costs for adoption agencies. Department Contact
