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 due to changing agency responsibilities over time and is being repealed. Chapter 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 Adoption
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.
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 rules 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
SECTION 1. Chapter DCF 49 and DCF 49 Appendix A are repealed.
SECTION 2. Chapter DCF 42 is renumbered to be ch. DCF 49.
SECTION 3. Chapters DCF 50 and 51 are repealed and recreated to read:
FACILITATING PUBLIC ADOPTIONS AND ADOPTION ASSISTANCE
DCF 50.01 Authority and purpose. (1) Facilitating public adoptions. Sections DCF 50.02 to 50.08 are promulgated under the authority of ss. 48.48 (1), (2), and (8); 48.55 (2); 48.88 (2); and 227.11 (2), Stats., to facilitate public adoptions by doing all of the following: (a) Establishing criteria and procedures for determining if prospective adoptive parents are qualified to adopt a child who is under the guardianship of a public adoption agency in this state.
(b) Connecting children who are legally free for public adoption and children who are at legal risk with qualified prospective adoptive parents through a state adoption information exchange.
(2) Adoption assistance. Sections DCF 50.02 and 50.09 to 50.17 are promulgated under the authority of s. 48.975, Stats., to specify criteria and procedures necessary to implement the adoption assistance program, under which the department makes payments to adoptive or proposed adoptive parents of an eligible child with special needs when the department determines such assistance is necessary to assure the child’s adoption. DCF 50.02 Definitions. In this chapter:
(1) “Adoption” means a process provided by law to establish the legal relationship of parent and child between persons who do not have that relationship by birth, with the same mutual rights, obligations, and legal consequences that exist between the child and the child’s biological parents.
(2) “Adoption agency” means a public or private adoption agency that is licensed to accept guardianship and to place children under its guardianship for adoption, to license and maintain foster homes for the purpose of placing children for adoption, or both.
(3) “Adoption assistance” means payments by the department to the adoptive or proposed adoptive parents of a child that are designed to assist in the cost of care of that child after an agreement under s. 48.975 (4), Stats., has been signed and the child has been placed for adoption with the adoptive or proposed adoptive parents. “Adoption assistance” may include monthly payments by the department under s. 48.975 (3) (a), Stats.; medical assistance under Title XIX of the Social Security Act of 1935, as amended, as provided under s. 48.975 (3) (b), Stats.; or reimbursement of nonrecurring adoption expenses as provided under s. 48.975 (3) (c), Stats. (4) “Adoption information exchange” means a department program created to facilitate the adoption of children who are legally free for public adoption by promoting public adoptions and connecting children who are legally free for public adoption and children who are at legal risk with qualified prospective adoptive parents.
(5) “Bureau director” means the director of the division’s bureau of permanence and out-of-home care.
(6) “Child” means a person under 18 years of age.
Note: An adoptee who is 18 years of age or over, but under 21 years of age, may be eligible for adoption assistance under s. DCF 50.15 (3).
(7) “County department” means a county department of social services under s. 46.22, Stats.; a county department of human services under s. 46.23, Stats.; or, in a county having a population of 750,000 or more, the department. (8) “Department” means the department of children and families.
(9) “Division” means the department’s division of safety and permanence.
(10) “Division of hearings and appeals” means the division of hearings and appeals in the department of administration.
(11) “Final substantiated finding” means all of the following:
(a) A final determination made after January 1, 2015, that a person has abused or neglected a child under s. 48.981 (3) (c) 5m., Stats., and s. DCF 40.04 if the final determination has not been reversed or modified on appeal. (b) A determination made before January 1, 2015, that a person has abused or neglected a child under s. 48.981 (3) (c) 4., 2011 Stats., if the determination has not been reversed or modified on appeal.
