Chapter 48

48.77 48.77 Injunction against violations. In addition to the penalties provided in s. 48.76, the circuit courts shall have jurisdiction to prevent and restrain by injunction violations of s. 48.60, 48.62, 48.625, 48.63 or 48.65. It shall be the duty of the district attorneys, upon request of the department, to institute action for such injunction under ch. 813.

48.77 History History: Sup. Ct. Order, 67 Wis. 2d 585, 773 (1975); 1977 c. 418 s. 929 (18); 1979 c. 300.

subch. XVII of ch. 48 SUBCHAPTER XVII

GENERAL PROVISIONS ON RECORDS

48.78 48.78 Confidentiality of records.

48.78(1) (1) Definition. In this section, unless otherwise qualified, “agency” means the department, a county department, a licensed child welfare agency, or a licensed child care center.

48.78(2) (2) Confidentiality; exceptions.

48.78(2)(a) (a) No agency may make available for inspection or disclose the contents of any record kept or information received about an individual who is or was in its care or legal custody, except as provided under sub. (2m) or s. 48.371, 48.38 (5) (b) or (d) or (5m) (d), 48.396 (3) (bm) or (c) 1r., 48.432, 48.433, 48.48 (17) (bm), 48.57 (2m), 48.66 (6), 48.93, 48.981 (7), 938.396 (2m) (c) 1r., 938.51, or 938.78 or by order of the court.

48.78(2)(ag) (ag) Paragraph (a) does not prohibit an agency from making available for inspection or disclosing the contents of a record, upon the request of the parent, guardian, or legal custodian of the child who is the subject of the record or upon the request of the child, if 14 years of age or over, to the parent, guardian, legal custodian, or child, unless the agency determines that inspection of the record by the child, parent, guardian, or legal custodian would result in imminent danger to anyone.

48.78(2)(aj) (aj) Paragraph (a) does not prohibit an agency from making available for inspection or disclosing the contents of a record, upon the request of a parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a child expectant mother of an unborn child who is the subject of the record, upon the request of an expectant mother of an unborn child who is the subject of the record, if 14 years of age or over, or upon the request of an unborn child’s guardian ad litem, to the parent, guardian, legal custodian, expectant mother, or unborn child’s guardian ad litem, unless the agency determines that inspection of the record by the parent, guardian, legal custodian, expectant mother, or unborn child’s guardian ad litem would result in imminent danger to anyone.

48.78(2)(am) (am) Paragraph (a) does not prohibit an agency from making available for inspection or disclosing the contents of a record, upon the written permission of the parent, guardian, or legal custodian of the child who is the subject of the record or upon the written permission of the child, if 14 years of age or over, to the person named in the permission if the parent, guardian, legal custodian, or child specifically identifies the record in the written permission, unless the agency determines that inspection of the record by the person named in the permission would result in imminent danger to anyone.

48.78(2)(ap) (ap) Paragraph (a) does not prohibit an agency from making available for inspection or disclosing the contents of a record, upon the written permission of the parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a child expectant mother of an unborn child who is the subject of the record, or of an expectant mother of an unborn child who is the subject of the record, if 14 years of age or over, and of the unborn child’s guardian ad litem, to the person named in the permission if the parent, guardian, legal custodian, or expectant mother, and unborn child’s guardian ad litem, specifically identify the record in the written permission, unless the agency determines that inspection of the record by the person named in the permission would result in imminent danger to anyone.

48.78(2)(b) (b) Paragraph (a) does not apply to the confidential exchange of information between an agency and another social welfare agency, a law enforcement agency, a health care provider, as defined in s. 146.81 (1) (a) to (p), a public school, or a private school regarding an individual in the care or legal custody of the agency. A social welfare agency that obtains information under this paragraph shall keep the information confidential as required under this section and s. 938.78. A law enforcement agency that obtains information under this paragraph shall keep the information confidential as required under ss. 48.396 (1) and 938.396 (1) (a). A health care provider that obtains information under this paragraph shall keep the information confidential as provided under s. 146.82. A public school that obtains information under this paragraph shall keep the information confidential as required under s. 118.125, and a private school that obtains information under this paragraph shall keep the information confidential in the same manner as is required of a public school under s. 118.125. Paragraph (a) does not apply to the confidential exchange of information between an agency and officials of a tribal school regarding an individual in the care or legal custody of the agency if the agency determines that enforceable protections are provided by a tribal school policy or tribal law that requires tribal school officials to keep the information confidential in a manner at least as stringent as is required of a public school official under s. 118.125.

48.78(2)(c) (c) Paragraph (a) does not prohibit the department or a county department from using in the media a picture or description of a child in the guardianship of the department or a county department for the purpose of finding adoptive parents for that child.

48.78(2)(d) (d) Paragraph (a) does not prohibit the department of health services or a county department from disclosing information about an individual formerly in the legal custody or under the supervision of that department under s. 48.34 (4m), 1993 stats., or formerly under the supervision of that department or county department under s. 48.34 (4n), 1993 stats., to the department of corrections, if the individual is at the time of disclosure any of the following:

48.78(2)(d)1. 1. The subject of a presentence investigation under s. 972.15.

48.78(2)(d)2. 2. Under sentence to the Wisconsin state prisons under s. 973.15.

48.78(2)(d)4. 4. On probation to the department of corrections under s. 973.09.

48.78(2)(d)5. 5. On parole under s. 302.11 or ch. 304 or on extended supervision under s. 302.113 or 302.114.

48.78(2)(e) (e) Notwithstanding par. (a), an agency shall, upon request, disclose information to authorized representatives of the department of corrections, the department of health services, the department of justice, or a district attorney for use in the prosecution of any proceeding or any evaluation conducted under ch. 980, if the information involves or relates to an individual who is the subject of the proceeding or evaluation. The court in which the proceeding under ch. 980 is pending may issue any protective orders that it determines are appropriate concerning information made available or disclosed under this paragraph. Any representative of the department of corrections, the department of health services, the department of justice, or a district attorney may disclose information obtained under this paragraph for any purpose consistent with any proceeding under ch. 980.

48.78(2)(g) (g) Paragraph (a) does not prohibit an agency from disclosing information about an individual in its care or legal custody on the written request of the department of safety and professional services or of any interested examining board or affiliated credentialing board in that department for use in any investigation or proceeding relating to any alleged misconduct by any person who is credentialed or who is seeking credentialing under ch. 448, 455 or 457. Unless authorized by an order of the court, the department of safety and professional services and any examining board or affiliated credentialing board in that department shall keep confidential any information obtained under this paragraph and may not disclose the name of or any other identifying information about the individual who is the subject of the information disclosed, except to the extent that redisclosure of that information is necessary for the conduct of the investigation or proceeding for which that information was obtained.

48.78(2)(h) (h) Paragraph (a) does not prohibit the department, a county department, or a licensed child welfare agency from entering the content of any record kept or information received by the department, county department, or licensed child welfare agency into the statewide automated child welfare information system established under s. 48.47 (7g) or the department from transferring any information maintained in that system to the court under s. 48.396 (3) (bm). If the department transfers that information to the court, the court and the director of state courts may allow access to that information as provided in s. 48.396 (3) (c) 2.

48.78(2)(i) (i) Paragraph (a) does not prohibit an agency from disclosing information to a relative of a child placed outside of his or her home only to the extent necessary to facilitate the establishment of a relationship between the child and the relative or a placement of the child with the relative or from disclosing information under s. 48.21 (5) (e), 48.355 (2) (cm), or 48.357 (2v) (d). In this paragraph, “relative” includes a relative whose relationship is derived through a parent of the child whose parental rights are terminated.

48.78(2)(j) (j) Paragraph (a) does not prohibit an agency from disclosing information to any public or private agency in this state or any other state that is investigating a person for purposes of licensing the person to operate a foster home or placing a child for adoption in the home of the person.

48.78(2)(k) (k) Paragraph (a) does not prohibit the department of children and families from providing to the department of revenue, upon request, information concerning a recipient of payments under s. 48.57 (3m) or (3n) or aid under s. 48.645, including information contained in the electronic records of the department of children and families, solely for the purposes of administering state taxes, including verifying a claim for a state tax refund or a refundable state tax credit, and collecting debts owed to the department of revenue. Any information obtained by the department of revenue under this paragraph is subject to the confidentiality provisions specified in s. 71.78.

48.78(2)(L) (L)

48.78(2)(L)1. 1. In this paragraph, “qualified independent researcher” means a faculty member of a university who satisfies all of the following:

48.78(2)(L)1.a. a. The faculty member has an approved protocol from an institutional review board for human subjects research to work with data containing personal information for the purposes of evaluating the program under s. 119.23.

48.78(2)(L)1.b. b. The faculty member has received from the state and properly managed data containing personal information for the purposes of evaluating the program under s. 119.23 before July 14, 2015.

48.78(2)(L)2. 2. Notwithstanding par. (a), the department shall permit a qualified independent researcher to have access to any database maintained by the department for the purpose of cross-matching information contained in any such database with a database that both is in the possession of the qualified independent researcher and contains information regarding pupils participating in the program under s. 119.23. The department may charge a fee to the qualified independent researcher for the information that does not exceed the cost incurred by the department to provide the information.

48.78(2m) (2m) Release of information when child is missing.

48.78(2m)(a) (a) If an agency that has responsibility for the placement, care, or supervision of a child, as determined by the department under par. (d), determines that the child is missing, the agency shall do all of the following:

48.78(2m)(a)1. 1. Within 8 hours after making that determination, report that determination to a local law enforcement agency for entry of that information into the national crime information databases, as defined in 28 USC 534 (f) (3) (A).

48.78(2m)(a)2. 2. Within 24 hours after making that determination, report that determination to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

48.78(2m)(a)3. 3. Share information about a missing child reported under subds. 1. and 2. with law enforcement agencies, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and other agencies that are involved in efforts to locate the missing child.

48.78(2m)(b) (b) An agency that has responsibility for the placement, care, or supervision of a child may photograph the child and maintain the photograph in the statewide automated child welfare information system. A report under par. (a) 1. or 2. shall be accompanied by a recent photograph of the missing child, if available.

48.78(2m)(c) (c) If permitted under s. 48.47 (7g), an agency may use the statewide automated child welfare information system to provide electronic information to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children under par. (a) 2. or 3.

48.78(2m)(d) (d) The department shall provide guidance to agencies as to the scope of the children to whom this subsection applies. Notwithstanding s. 227.10 (1), that guidance need not be promulgated as rules.

48.78(2m)(e) (e) The department of children and families and the department of health services may promulgate rules to implement this subsection.

48.78 History History: 1979 c. 34; 1981 c. 359; 1983 a. 471 s. 7; 1985 a. 29 s. 3202 (23); 1985 a. 176, 292, 332; 1987 a. 332; 1989 a. 31, 107, 336; 1991 a. 17, 39; 1993 a. 16, 92, 95, 218, 227, 377, 385, 395, 479, 491; 1995 a. 27 ss. 2610 to 2614p, 9126 (19); 1995 a. 77, 230, 352; 1997 a. 205, 207, 283, 292; 2001 a. 38, 69, 104, 109; 2005 a. 25, 293, 344, 406, 434; 2007 a. 20 ss. 1364, 9121 (6) (a); 2009 a. 79, 185, 302, 338; 2011 a. 32, 260, 270; 2013 a. 20, 170, 334; 2015 a. 55, 368; 2017 a. 257.

48.78 Annotation The juvenile court must make a threshold relevancy determination by an in camera review when confronted with: 1) a discovery request under s. 48.293 (2); 2) an inspection request of juvenile records under ss. 48.396 (2) and 938.396 (2); or 3) an inspection request of agency records under sub. (2) (a) and s. 938.78 (2) (a). The test for permissible discovery is whether the information sought appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. Courtney F. v. Ramiro M.C., 2004 WI App 36, 269 Wis. 2d 709, 676 N.W.2d 545, 03-3018.

subch. XVIII of ch. 48 SUBCHAPTER XVIII

COMMUNITY SERVICES

48.79 48.79 Powers of the department. The department has authority and power:

48.79(4) (4) To assist communities in setting up recreational commissions and to assist them in extending and broadening recreational programs so as to reach all children.

48.79(5) (5) To assist in extending the local child care programs so as to reach all homes needing such help.

48.79(6) (6) To assist in recruiting and training voluntary leaders for youth-serving organizations.

48.79(7) (7) To assist localities in securing needed specialized services such as medical, psychiatric, psychological and social work services when existing agencies are not able to supply them.

48.79(8) (8) To assist localities in making surveys of needs and available resources.

48.79(9) (9) To assist in appraising the achievement of local programs.

48.79(10) (10) To serve in a general consultative capacity, acting as a clearing house, developing materials, arranging conferences and participating in public addresses and radio programs.

48.79 History History: 1989 a. 31, 107; 1995 a. 27, 77.

48.80 48.80 Municipalities may sponsor activities.

48.80(1) (1) Any municipality is hereby authorized and empowered to sponsor the establishment and operation of any committee, agency or council for the purpose of coordinating and supplementing the activities of public and private agencies devoted in whole or in part to the welfare of youth therein. Any municipality may appropriate, raise and expend funds for the purpose of establishing and of providing an executive staff to such committees, agencies or councils; may levy taxes and appropriate money for recreation and welfare projects; and may also receive and expend moneys from the state or federal government or private persons for such purposes.

48.80(2) (2) No provision of this section shall be construed as vesting in any youth committee, council or agency any power, duty or function enjoined by law upon any municipal officer, board or department or as vesting in such committee, council or agency any supervisory or other authority over such officer, board or department.

48.80(3) (3) In this section municipality means a county, city, village or town.

subch. XIX of ch. 48 SUBCHAPTER XIX

ADOPTION OF MINORS; GUARDIANSHIP

48.81 48.81 Who may be adopted. Any child who is present in this state at the time the petition for adoption is filed may be adopted if any of the following criteria are met:

48.81(1) (1) Both of the child’s parents are deceased.

48.81(2) (2) The parental rights of both of the child’s parents with respect to the child have been terminated under subch. VIII or in another state or a foreign jurisdiction.

48.81(3) (3) The parental rights of one of the child’s parents with respect to the child have been terminated under subch. VIII or in another state or a foreign jurisdiction and the child’s other parent is deceased.

48.81(4) (4) The person filing the petition for adoption is the spouse of the child’s parent with whom the child and the child’s parent reside and either of the following applies:

48.81(4)(a) (a) The child’s other parent is deceased.

48.81(4)(b) (b) The parental rights of the child’s other parent with respect to the child have been terminated under subch. VIII or in another state or a foreign jurisdiction.

48.81(5) (5) Section 48.839 (3) (b) applies.

48.81(6) (6) The child is being adopted under s. 48.97 (3).

48.81 History History: 1987 a. 383; 1989 a. 161; 1997 a. 104; 2015 a. 380.

48.81 Note NOTE: 1997 Wis. Act 104, which affected this section, contains explanatory notes.

48.81 Annotation Under this section, the nonmarital partner of a child’s biological parent is not eligible to adopt the child because the nonmarital partner is not the biological parent’s spouse. That legislative limit on eligibility to adopt a child does not violate the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. A.M.B. v. Circuit Court, 2024 WI 18, 411 Wis. 2d 389, 5 N.W.3d 238, 22-1334.

48.82 48.82 Who may adopt.

48.82(1) (1) The following persons are eligible to adopt a minor if they are residents of this state:

48.82(1)(a) (a) A husband and wife jointly, or either the husband or wife if the other spouse is a parent of the minor.

48.82(1)(b) (b) An unmarried adult.

48.82(3) (3) When practicable and if requested by the birth parent, the adoptive parents shall be of the same religious faith as the birth parents of the person to be adopted.

48.82(4) (4) No person may be denied the benefits of this subchapter because of a religious belief in the use of spiritual means through prayer for healing.

48.82(5) (5) Although otherwise qualified, no person shall be denied the benefits of this section because the person is deaf, blind or has other physical handicaps.

48.82(6) (6) No otherwise qualified person may be denied the benefits of this subchapter because of his or her race, color, ancestry or national origin.

48.82 History History: 1981 c. 359 s. 16; 1983 a. 350; 1989 a. 161; 1991 a. 316.

48.82 Annotation Standing to object to adoption proceedings turns on the right to petition for adoption; grandparents excluded from petitioning under s. 48.90 (1) (a) had no standing to object to the adoption of their grandchildren. L.P. v. B.G., 177 Wis. 2d 424, 501 N.W.2d 908 (Ct. App. 1993).

48.825 48.825 Advertising related to adoption.

48.825(1) (1) In this section:

48.825(1)(a) (a) “Advertise” means to communicate by any public medium that originates within this state, including by newspaper, periodical, telephone book listing, outdoor advertising sign, radio, or television, or by any computerized communication system, including by electronic mail, Internet site, Internet account, or any similar medium of communication provided via the Internet.

48.825(1)(b) (b) “Another jurisdiction” means a state of the United States other than Wisconsin, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States or an Indian tribe.

48.825(1)(c) (c) “Internet account” means an account created within a bounded system established by an Internet-based service that requires a user to input or store access information in an electronic device in order to view, create, use, or edit the user’s account information, profile, display, communications, or stored data.

48.825(2) (2) Except as provided in sub. (3), no person may do any of the following:

48.825(2)(a) (a) Advertise for the purpose of finding a child to adopt or to otherwise take into permanent physical custody.

48.825(2)(b) (b) Advertise that the person will find an adoptive home or any other permanent physical placement for a child or arrange for or assist in the adoption, adoptive placement, or any other permanent physical placement of a child.

48.825(2)(c) (c) Advertise that the person will place a child for adoption or in any other permanent physical placement.