Chapter 48

48.546(3)(c) (c) Provide a multidisciplinary screen as described in s. 48.547 (3) for program participants.

48.546(3)(d) (d) Provide a holistic and trauma-informed approach to the treatment of program participants and provide those participants with services that may be needed, as determined by the county or Indian tribe under the program.

48.546(3)(e) (e) Integrate all services provided to program participants by state and local government agencies and other organizations. The county or Indian tribe shall require regular communication among a participant’s treatment providers, other service providers, the court and court personnel, and any person designated under the program to monitor the participant’s compliance with his or her obligations under the program and under the court’s order.

48.546(4) (4) A county or Indian tribe that receives a grant under this section shall create an oversight committee to advise the county or Indian tribe in developing, implementing, administering, and evaluating its program.

48.546(5) (5) A county or Indian tribe that receives a grant under this section shall submit data requested by the department to the department each quarter. The department may request any data regarding a program funded under this section that is necessary to evaluate the program and prepare the reports under subs. (6) and (7).

48.546(6) (6) The department shall, annually, analyze the data submitted under sub. (5) for the previous year and prepare a progress report that evaluates the effectiveness of the program. The department shall make the report available to the public.

48.546(7) (7) The department shall, every 5 years, prepare a comprehensive report that analyzes the data submitted under sub. (5) for the previous 5 years, and shall submit the report to the legislature under s. 13.172 (2).

48.546(8) (8) A county or Indian tribe may, together with one or more counties or Indian tribes, jointly apply for and receive a grant under this section. A joint application shall include a written agreement specifying the role of each county or Indian tribe in developing, administering, and evaluating the program. The oversight committee established under sub. (4) shall include a representative from each county and Indian tribe operating a joint program.

48.546(9) (9) The department shall assist a county or Indian tribe receiving a grant under this section in obtaining funding from other sources for its program.

48.546 History History: 2017 a. 202, 261.

48.547 48.547 Alcohol and other drug abuse program.

48.547(1) (1) Legislative findings and purpose. The legislature finds that the use and abuse of alcohol and other drugs by children and the expectant mothers of unborn children is a state responsibility of statewide dimension. The legislature recognizes that there is a lack of adequate procedures to screen, assess and treat children and the expectant mothers of unborn children for alcohol and other drug abuse. To reduce the incidence of alcohol and other drug abuse by children and the expectant mothers of unborn children, the legislature deems it necessary to experiment with solutions to the problems of the use and abuse of alcohol and other drugs by children and the expectant mothers of unborn children by establishing a juvenile and expectant mother alcohol and other drug abuse program in a limited number of counties. The purpose of the program is to develop intake and court procedures that screen, assess and give new dispositional alternatives for children and expectant mothers with needs and problems related to the use of alcohol beverages, controlled substances or controlled substance analogs who come within the jurisdiction of a court assigned to exercise jurisdiction under this chapter and ch. 938 in the counties selected by the department.

48.547(2) (2) Department responsibilities. Within the availability of funding under s. 20.437 (1) (mb) that is available for the program, the department shall select counties to participate in the program. Unless a county department of human services has been established under s. 46.23 in the county that is seeking to implement a program, the application submitted to the department shall be a joint application by the county department that provides social services and the county department established under s. 51.42 or 51.437. The department shall select counties in accordance with the request for proposal procedures established by the department. The department shall give a preference to county applications that include a plan for case management.

48.547(3) (3) Multidisciplinary screen. The department shall provide a multidisciplinary screen for the program. The screen shall be used by an intake worker to determine whether or not a child or an expectant mother of an unborn child is in need of an alcohol or other drug abuse assessment. The screen shall also include indicators that screen children and expectant mothers for:

48.547(3)(a) (a) Family dysfunction.

48.547(3)(b) (b) School, truancy or work problems.

48.547(3)(c) (c) Mental health problems.

48.547(3)(d) (d) Delinquent or criminal behavior patterns.

48.547(4) (4) Assessment criteria. The department shall provide uniform alcohol and other drug abuse assessment criteria to be used in the pilot program under ss. 48.245 (2) (a) 3. and 48.295 (1). An approved treatment facility that assesses a person under s. 48.245 (2) (a) 3. or 48.295 (1) may not also provide the person with treatment unless the department permits the approved treatment facility to do both in accordance with the criteria established by rule by the department.

48.547 History History: 1987 a. 339; 1989 a. 31; 1993 a. 213; 1995 a. 77, 448; 1997 a. 292; 2007 a. 20.

48.548 48.548 Multidisciplinary screen and assessment criteria. The department shall make the multidisciplinary screen developed under s. 48.547 (3) and the assessment criteria developed under s. 48.547 (4) available to all counties.

48.548 History History: 1987 a. 339.

48.55 48.55 State adoption information exchange and state adoption center.

48.55(1) (1) The department shall establish a state adoption information exchange for the purpose of finding adoptive homes for children with special needs who do not have permanent homes and a state adoption center for the purposes of increasing public knowledge of adoption and promoting to adolescents and pregnant women the availability of adoption services. From the appropriation under s. 20.437 (1) (dg), the department may provide not more than $171,300 in each fiscal year as grants to individuals and private agencies to provide adoption information exchange services and to operate the state adoption center.

48.55(2) (2) The department shall promulgate rules governing the adoption information exchange and rules specifying the functions of the state adoption center. The rules specifying the functions of the state adoption center shall include all of the following:

48.55(2)(a) (a) Training persons who provide counseling to adolescents including school counselors, county or department employees providing child welfare services under s. 48.56 or 48.561 and employees of a clinic providing family planning services, as defined in s. 253.07 (1) (b).

48.55(2)(b) (b) Seeking persons to undergo training.

48.55(2)(c) (c) Operating a toll-free telephone number to provide information and referral services.

48.55(2)(d) (d) Distributing pamphlets which provide information on the availability of adoption services.

48.55(2)(e) (e) Promoting adoption through the communications media.

48.55 History History: 1983 a. 27; 1995 a. 266; 1997 a. 35; 1999 a. 9 ss. 1135 to 1139; 2001 a. 16; 2007 a. 20.

48.55 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also chs. DCF 49, 50, and 51, Wis. adm. code.

subch. XII of ch. 48 SUBCHAPTER XII

CHILD WELFARE SERVICES

48.56 48.56 Child welfare services in counties having populations of less than 750,000.

48.56(1) (1) Each county having a population of less than 750,000 shall provide child welfare services through its county department.

48.56(2) (2) Each county department shall employ personnel who devote all or part of their time to child welfare services. Whenever possible, these personnel shall be social workers certified under subch. I of ch. 457.

48.56(3) (3) This section shall not apply to those counties which had child welfare services administered by the staff of the juvenile court prior to January 1, 1955.

48.56 History History: 1975 c. 307; 1977 c. 271; 1985 a. 176; 1991 a. 160; 1997 a. 27; 2013 a. 20; 2023 a. 55.

48.561 48.561 Child welfare services in a county having a population of 750,000 or more.

48.561(1) (1) The department shall provide child welfare services in a county having a population of 750,000 or more.

48.561(2) (2) The department shall employ personnel in a county having a population of 750,000 or more who devote all of their time directly or indirectly to child welfare services. Whenever possible, these personnel shall be social workers certified under subch. I of ch. 457.

48.561(3) (3) 

48.561(3)(a) (a) A county having a population of 750,000 or more shall contribute $58,893,500 in each state fiscal year for the provision of child welfare services in that county by the department. That contribution shall be made as follows:

48.561(3)(a)1. 1. Through a reduction of $37,209,200 from the amounts distributed to that county under ss. 46.40 (2) and 48.563 (2) in each state fiscal year.

48.561(3)(a)2. 2. Through a reduction of $1,583,000 from the amount distributed to that county under s. 46.40 (2m) (a) in each state fiscal year.

48.561(3)(a)3. 3. Through a deduction of $20,101,300 from any state payment due that county under s. 79.02 (1), as provided in par. (b).

48.561(3)(b) (b) The department of administration shall collect the amount specified in par. (a) 3. from a county having a population of 750,000 or more by deducting all or part of that amount from any state payment due that county under s. 79.02 (1). The department of administration shall notify the department of revenue, by September 15 of each year, of the amount to be deducted from the state payments due under s. 79.02 (1). The department of administration shall credit all amounts collected under this paragraph to the appropriation account under s. 20.437 (1) (kw) and shall notify the county from which those amounts are collected of that collection. The department may not expend any moneys from the appropriation account under s. 20.437 (1) (cx) for providing services to children and families under s. 48.48 (17) until the amounts in the appropriation account under s. 20.437 (1) (kw) are exhausted.

48.561 History History: 1997 a. 27, 237; 1999 a. 9; 2001 a. 16; 2007 a. 20; 2011 a. 32; 2013 a. 20; 2021 a. 1; 2023 a. 55.

48.562 48.562 Milwaukee child welfare partnership council.

48.562(1) (1) The Milwaukee child welfare partnership council shall do all of the following:

48.562(1)(ag) (ag) Hold at least one public hearing each year at which the council shall encourage public participation and solicit public input regarding the child welfare system in Milwaukee County.

48.562(1)(am) (am) Recommend policies and plans for the improvement of the child welfare system in Milwaukee County and submit its recommendations with respect to those policies and plans to the department under par. (dm).

48.562(1)(b) (b) Recommend measures for evaluating the effectiveness of the child welfare system in Milwaukee County, including outcome measures, and submit its recommendations with respect to those measures to the department under par. (dm).

48.562(1)(c) (c) Recommend funding priorities for the child welfare system in Milwaukee County and submit its recommendations with respect to those funding priorities to the department under par. (dm).

48.562(1)(d) (d) Identify innovative public and private funding opportunities for the child welfare system in Milwaukee County and submit its recommendations with respect to those funding opportunities to the department under par. (dm).

48.562(1)(dm) (dm) Annually, submit a report of its recommendations under pars. (am) to (d) to the department, which within 60 days after receiving the report shall prepare a response to those recommendations and transmit the report, together with its response, to the governor and to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature under s. 13.172 (3).

48.562(1)(e) (e) Advise the department in planning, and providing technical assistance and capacity building to support, a neighborhood-based system for the delivery of child welfare services in Milwaukee County.

48.562(2m) (2m) Any restructuring of the subunit of the department responsible for administering child welfare services in a county having a population of 750,000 or more shall not affect the duties and responsibilities of the Milwaukee child welfare partnership council specified in sub. (1).

48.562 History History: 1995 a. 303; 1997 a. 27; 2007 a. 20 s. 799; Stats. 2007 s. 48.562; 2009 a. 337; 2015 a. 55.

48.563 48.563 Children and family aids funding.

48.563(1) (1) Distribution limits.

48.563(1)(a) (a) Within the limits of available federal funds and of the appropriations under s. 20.437 (1) (b), (cx), (km), and (o), the department shall distribute funds for children and family services to county departments as provided in subs. (2), (4), and (7m) and s. 48.986.

48.563(1)(b) (b) Notwithstanding s. 48.568, if the department receives any federal moneys under 42 USC 670 to 679a in reimbursement of moneys allocated under par. (a) for the provision of foster care, the department shall distribute those federal moneys for services and projects to assist children and families.

48.563(1)(c) (c) The Milwaukee County department of social services shall report to the department in a manner specified by the department on all children under the supervision of the Milwaukee County department of social services who are placed in foster homes and whose foster parents receive funding for child care from the amounts distributed under par. (a) so that the department may claim federal foster care and adoption assistance reimbursement under 42 USC 670 to 679a for the amounts expended by the Milwaukee County department of social services for the provision of child care for those children. Notwithstanding s. 48.568, if the department receives any federal moneys under 42 USC 670 to 679a in reimbursement of the amounts expended by the Milwaukee County department of social services for the provision of child care for children in foster care in 1996 and 1997, the department shall distribute those federal moneys to the Milwaukee County department of social services for the provision of child care for children in foster care.

48.563(1)(d) (d) If the department receives from the department of health services under s. 46.40 (1) (d) any federal moneys under 42 USC 1396 to 1396v in reimbursement of the cost of preventing out-of-home placements of children, the department shall use those moneys as the first source of moneys used to meet the amount of the allocation under sub. (2) that is budgeted from federal funds.

48.563(2) (2) County allocation. For children and family services under s. 48.569 (1) (d), the department shall distribute not more than $101,154,200 in fiscal year 2021-22 and $101,162,800 in fiscal year 2022-23. In fiscal year 2023-24, the department shall distribute $101,551,400. In fiscal year 2024-25, the department shall distribute $101,939,600.

48.563(4) (4) Postreunification services. If a demonstration project authorized under 42 USC 1320a-9 reduces the cost of providing out-of-home care for children in a county having a population of 750,000 or more, from the appropriations under s. 20.437 (1) (cx) and (mb) the department may distribute the amount by which that cost is reduced by that demonstration project in each fiscal year to county departments for services for children and families to prevent the reentry of children into out-of-home care.

48.563(7m) (7m) Use by county of children and family aids funds to pay private attorneys for certain proceedings. Upon application by a county department under s. 46.215, 46.22, or 46.23 to the department for permission to use funds allocated to that county department under sub. (2) to employ private counsel for the purposes specified in this subsection and a determination by the department that use of funds for those purposes does not affect any federal grants or federal funding allocated under this section, the department and the county department shall execute a contract authorizing the county department to expend, as agreed upon in the contract, funds allocated to that county department under sub. (2) to permit the county department to employ private counsel to represent the interests of the state or county in proceedings under this chapter relating to child abuse or neglect, unborn child abuse, termination of parental rights, and the Indian Child Welfare Act, 25 USC 1901 to 1963.

48.563 History History: 2007 a. 20 ss. 1097, 1098, 1102, 1103, 1287, 9121 (6) (a); 2009 a. 28, 94; 2011 a. 32; 2013 a. 20; 2015 a. 55, 172; 2017 a. 59; 2019 a. 9; 2021 a. 58; 2023 a. 19.

48.565 48.565 Carry-over of children and family aids funds.

48.565(1) (1) Funds allocated by the department under s. 48.569 (1) (d) but not spent or encumbered by counties by December 31 of each year lapse to the general fund on the succeeding January 1 unless carried forward to the next calendar year under s. 20.437 (1) (b) or as follows:

48.565(1)(a) (a) At the request of a county, the department shall carry forward to the next calendar year up to 3 percent of the total amount allocated to the county under s. 48.569 (1) (d) for a calendar year.

48.565(1)(b) (b) At the request of a county, the department shall carry forward to the next calendar year up to 10 percent of the total amount allocated to the county under s. 48.569 (1) (d) for a calendar year if the department agrees that an emergency or other circumstance that was unforeseen when the original allocation to the county was made necessitates the carryover.

48.565(2) (2) 

48.565(2)(a) (a) The department may bill a county or deduct from a county’s allocation under s. 48.563 (2) for the costs of implementing and operating the statewide automated child welfare information system established under s. 48.47 (7g). All moneys received by the department under this paragraph shall be credited to the appropriation account under s. 20.437 (1) (j).

48.565(2)(b) (b) A county may not use any moneys distributed under s. 48.563 (2) to supplant any other moneys expended by the county for services and projects to assist children and families in a base year determined by the department.

48.565(7) (7) The amount of funds carried forward from the preceding calendar year at the request of a county under sub. (1) (a) or (b) does not affect the determination of that county’s share of the funding allocated under s. 48.563 (2) for a calendar year.

48.565(8) (8) A county shall use funds carried forward under this section for services provided to children and families and not for the county’s general administrative costs.

48.565 History History: 2007 a. 20 ss. 1106 to 1109, 1288; 2009 a. 94; 2011 a. 32; 2015 a. 172.

48.568 48.568 Allocation of federal funds for children and family aids and child welfare. Subject to s. 48.563 (1) (b) and (c), if the department receives unanticipated federal foster care and adoption assistance payments under 42 USC 670 to 679a and it proposes to allocate the unanticipated funds so that an allocation limit in s. 48.563 is exceeded, the department shall submit a plan for the proposed allocation to the secretary of administration. If the secretary of administration approves the plan, he or she shall submit it to the joint committee on finance. If the cochairpersons of the committee do not notify the secretary of administration that the committee has scheduled a meeting for the purpose of reviewing the plan within 14 working days after the date of his or her submittal, the department may implement the plan, notwithstanding any allocation limits under s. 48.563. If within 14 working days after the date of the submittal by the secretary of administration the cochairpersons of the committee notify him or her that the committee has scheduled a meeting for the purpose of reviewing the plan, the department may implement the plan, notwithstanding s. 48.563, only with the approval of the committee.

48.568 History History: 2007 a. 20.

48.569 48.569 Distribution of children and family aids funds to counties.

48.569(1) (1) 

48.569(1)(am) (am) The department shall reimburse each county from the appropriations under s. 20.437 (1) (b), (cx), (km), and (o) for children and family services as approved by the department under ss. 46.22 (1) (b) 2. f. and (e) 3. b.

48.569(1)(d) (d) From the appropriations under s. 20.437 (1) (b), (cx), (km), and (o), the department shall distribute the funding for children and family services, including funding for foster care of a child on whose behalf aid is received under s. 48.645 to county departments as provided under s. 48.563. County matching funds are required for the distribution under s. 48.563 (2). Each county’s required match for the distribution under s. 48.563 (2) shall be specified in a schedule established annually by the department. Matching funds may be from county tax levies, federal and state revenue sharing funds, or private donations to the county that meet the requirements specified in sub. (1m). If the county match is less than the amount required to generate the full amount of state and federal funds distributed for this period, the decrease in the amount of state and federal funds equals the difference between the required and the actual amount of county matching funds.

48.569(1)(dc) (dc) The department shall prorate the amount allocated to any county department under par. (d) to reflect actual federal funds available.

48.569(1)(f) (f)

48.569(1)(f)1. 1. If any state matching funds allocated under par. (d) to match county funds are not claimed, the funds shall be redistributed for the purposes the department designates.