Wisconsin Legislature: DCF 57.04(32m)

(8) “Child neglect” has the meaning given in s. 48.02 (12g), Stats.

(9) “Corporation-operated group home” means a home for which the licensee is a non-profit or proprietary corporation that operates one or more group homes.

(9m) “County department” or “county” means a county department of social services under s. 46.215 or 46.22, Stats.; a county department of human services under s. 46.23, Stats.; or a county department under s. 51.42 or 51.437, Stats.

(10) “Custodial parent” means a resident whose child resides in the group home with the resident.

(11) “Department” means the department of children and families.

(12) “Emergency” means serious medical incidents, fire, tornadoes, flooding, and loss of services to the group home such as electricity, heat, water or telephone, or threats to the premises or its occupants.

(13) “EPSDT” means early and periodic screening, diagnosis and treatment of persons under s. DHS 107.22.

(13m) “Family interaction plan” means a plan developed by a placing agency to promote a resident’s interaction with members of the resident’s family and includes interaction by face-to-face contact; telephone calls; letters; emails; and attendance at routine activities, such as counseling sessions, medical appointments, school events, and faith-related activities.

(14) “Family-operated group home” means a home for which the licensee is one or more individuals who operate not more than one group home.

(15) “Fit and qualified” means displaying the capacity to successfully nurture and care for children and shall not include a history of a civil action, criminal conviction or administrative rule violation that substantially relates to the care of a child; a history of exercising unsound judgment or abuse of alcohol or drugs.

Note: For help in determining whether a civil action, criminal conviction, or administrative rule violation substantially relates to the care of children, consult s. DCF 12.06.

(16) “Group home” means a facility operated by a person licensed by the department pursuant to s. 48.625, Stats., to provide 24-hour care for 5 to 8 residents.

(17) “Group home manager” means a person who is responsible for the day-to-day operations of a group home.

(18) “Guardian” means a person or agency appointed by a court to have the duties and authority of guardianship as described under s. 48.023, Stats.

(19) “HealthCheck provider” means a provider certified under ch. DHS 105, to provide EPSDT health assessment and evaluation services.

(20) “Household member” means any person who resides, or is expected to reside, at the group home, who is not a resident of the group home and who has or may have direct contact with group home residents, whether or not related to the licensee.

(21) “House rules” means a summary of the group home’s standards related to resident conduct, responsibilities, expectations, and daily activities.

(22) “Law enforcement agency” has the meaning given in s. 165.83 (1) (b), Stats.

(23) “Legal custodian” means a person, other than a parent or guardian, or an agency to whom legal custody of a child has been transferred by a court, but does not include a person who has only physical custody of a child.

(24) “Legal custody” has the meaning given in s. 48.02 (12), Stats.

(25) “Licensee” means a person licensed by the department pursuant to s. 48.66, Stats., to operate a group home.

(25m) “Normalcy” means a resident’s ability to easily engage in healthy and age or developmentally appropriate activities that promote his or her well-being, such as participation in social, scholastic, and enrichment activities.

(26) “Parent” has the meaning specified in s. 48.02 (13), Stats., or in s. 938.02 (13), Stats.

(27) “Permanency plan” means the plan required under s. 48.38 (2), Stats., that is designed to ensure that a child placed in a group home is safely reunified with the child’s family whenever appropriate, or that the child quickly attains a safe placement in a home providing long-term stability.

(28) “Physical custody” means actual custody of the person in the absence of a court order granting legal custody to the physical custodian.

(29) “Physician” has the meaning given in s. 448.01 (5), Stats.

(30) “Placing agency” means an agency that is licensed under s. 48.60, Stats., and ch. DCF 54, to place children into adoptive homes, foster homes or group homes, to accept guardianship of children or to license foster homes, a county department with powers and duties as defined under s. 48.57, Stats., the department, the Wisconsin department of corrections or any other authorized placement authority.

(31) “Premises” means the physical plant of the group home, the tract of land on which the group home is situated and any other building or structure on that land.

(32) “Program director” means a person that is either on staff or under contract with the group home to provide program oversight and case management for residents of the group home.

(32m) “Reasonable and prudent parent standard” means a standard for use in making decisions concerning a resident’s participation in age or developmentally appropriate extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and social activities that is characterized by careful and sensible parental decisions that maintain the health, safety, best interests, and cultural, religious, and tribal values of the resident while at the same time encouraging the emotional and developmental growth of the resident.

(33) “Relief help” means an individual that is used by the licensee on an irregular and infrequent basis for brief periods of time to provide care for residents.

Note: An individual regularly scheduled to replace a resident care staff on days off or for prolonged periods is considered a resident care staff.

(34) “Resident” means a child who is admitted to and resides in a group home.

(35) “Resident care staff” means an individual employed by a licensee to be the usual and primary caregiver of residents.

(36) “Resident rights” means the rights specified in s. 51.61, Stats., and ch. DHS 94, of a resident who receives a service for alcohol or drug abuse, a mental illness, or a developmental disability or for residents not receiving those services, rights and grievance procedures that are comparable to those found in s. 51.61, Stats., and ch. DHS 94.

(37) “Respite care” means maintenance and care of a child with emotional, behavioral, cognitive, physical, or other condition including being at risk of abuse or neglect, placed in a group home for a period of 15 consecutive days or less.

Note: Respite care can be used to relieve a parent or other care provider from the demands of ongoing care when a child is at risk of abuse or neglect or in other crisis situations or both.

(37m) “RPPS decision maker” means an individual who has successfully completed training on the application of the reasonable and prudent parent standard and makes reasonable and prudent parenting decisions under s. DCF 57.245.

(38) “Serious juvenile offender” means a person to whom the court has given the disposition specified in s. 938.34 (4h), Stats.

(39) “Sponsoring agency” means a child welfare agency licensed to place children in group homes, a county agency specified in s. 48.56 (1), Stats., or the department; which enters into a written contract with the licensee.

(40) “Staff member” means a group home director or manager, resident care staff, or relief help.

(41) “Supervision” means guidance of the behavior and activities of a resident by a staff member who is within sight or sound of a resident.

(42) “Treatment plan” means a written plan of services to meet the specific treatment goals and care needs of a resident.

(43) “Universal precautions” means measures taken to prevent transmission of infection from contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials as recommended by the U.S. public health service’s centers for disease control and adopted by the U.S. occupational safety and health administration (OSHA) as 29 CFR 1910.1030.

(44) “Volunteer” means an individual who provides services to a group home but is not paid for those services.

Note: This definition does not mean that a volunteer cannot be reimbursed for expenses.

(45) “Wisconsin public purchaser” means a county department, the department, or the Wisconsin department of corrections.

History: CR 04-067: cr. Register September 2005 No. 597, eff. 1-1-06; corrections in (2), (11), (13), (19), (30) and (36) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 6. and 7., Stats., Register November 2008 No. 635; correction in (8) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 7., Stats., Register May 2010 No. 653; EmR1106: emerg. cr. (9m), eff. 9-16-11; CR 11-026: cr. (9m), (45) Register December 2011 No. 672, eff. 1-1-12; EmR1414: emerg. r. and recr. (6), (34), eff. 8-1-14; CR 14-054: r. and recr. (6), (34) Register April 2015 No. 712, eff. 5-1-15; correction in (2) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 6., 7., Stats., Register September 2016 No. 729; EmR1633: emerg. renum. (1) to (1m), cr. (1), (13m), (32m), (37m), eff. 11-18-16; CR 16-051: renum. (1) to (1m), cr. (1), (13m), (32m), (37m) Register July 2017 No. 739, eff. 8-1-17.

DCF 57.045 Inspections, records, and requests for information.

(1) Inspection of premises. The department may visit and inspect a group home and shall be given unrestricted access to the premises. During this inspection, a licensee shall provide all of the following:

(a) Any documentation of group home operations requested by the department.

(b) Any resident records requested by the department.

(2) Documentation of staffing.

(a) A licensee shall maintain the following records:

1. Written schedules of staff coverage that document the specific resident care staff that worked each shift to meet the applicable staff-to-resident ratio in s. DCF 57.21 (2) or 57.36 (5).

2. Staff payroll records.

(b) A licensee shall retain records under par. (a) for 5 years.

(3) Requests for information. A licensee shall promptly respond to requests for information from the department, a placing agency, or any other governmental agency with statutory authority to see the information.

(4) Current and accurate. A licensee shall ensure that information that the licensee or group home staff submits to or shares with the department, a placing agency, or any other governmental agency is current and accurate.

History: EmR1106: emerg. cr., eff. 9-16-11; CR 11-026: cr. Register December 2011 No. 672, eff. 1-1-12.

DCF 57.05 Group home program and policies.

(1) Program statement. Each group home shall have a written program statement that shall include all of the following:

(a) A description of the group home’s purpose and philosophy.

(b) A description of the services available through or provided by the group home.

Note: Types of resident population refers to a description of the population served by the group home, for example whether the group home serves children with developmental disabilities; emotional or behavioral disorders; alcohol, drug or other substance abuse problems; juvenile delinquents; correctional aftercare placements; custodial parents; expectant mothers; respite care; children under 6 years of age; or children who are transitioning to independence.

(d) A description of the daily activities available to residents.

(e) A description of house rules for expected resident conduct.

(f) A non-discrimination statement that indicates that the group home does not discriminate against a resident because of race or cultural identification, sex, sexual orientation, age, color, creed, ancestry, national origin, disability, political affiliations, or religious beliefs.

(2) Policies and procedures. In addition to the emergency planning and personnel policies and procedures required under ss. DCF 57.06 and 57.17, a group home shall have written policies and procedures that include all of the following:

(a) Criteria for levels of supervision of on-premise and off-premise activities of residents.

(b) Confidentiality of resident records.

(d) Prohibiting from the premises any person whose behavior gives reasonable concern for the safety of residents.

(e) The use of universal precautions.

(f) Behavior intervention.

(g) Suicide prevention.

(h) Serious incident reporting requirements.

(i) Notifying the appropriate local law enforcement agency if a resident leaves the group home without permission or fails to return to the group home after an approved leave.

(j) Resident access to confidential family planning services.

(k) House rules that shall include all of the following:

1. A description of acceptable and unacceptable resident conduct.

2. Curfew requirements.

3. A description of the consequences for violations of house rules.

4. Procedures related to a resident’s absence from the group home without permission.

(L) Prohibiting smoking on the group home premises and in vehicles used to transport residents.

(m) For group homes that serve custodial parents, policies on visitation between a child of a resident and that child’s non-custodial parent.

(n) Prohibiting the use of resident labor as a substitute for employment of a sufficient number of competent persons to operate and maintain the group home.

(o) A workable plan for contacting the licensee or a staff member when necessary.