AB43,,2318231848.57 (3n) (h) A county department or, in a county having a population of 750,000 or more, the department may recover an overpayment made under par. (am) from a long-term kinship care relative provider who continues to receive payments under par. (am) by reducing the amount of the long-term kinship care relative’s provider’s monthly payment. The department may by rule specify other methods for recovering overpayments made under par. (am). A county department that recovers an overpayment under this paragraph due to the efforts of its officers and employees may retain a portion of the amount recovered, as provided by the department by rule.

AB43,,2320232048.57 (3n) (i) (intro.) The department shall promulgate rules to implement this subsection. Those rules shall include rules all of the following:

AB43,,232123211. Rules governing the provision of long-term kinship care payments for the care and maintenance of a child after the child attains 18 years of age.

AB43,,2323232348.57 (3n) (i) 2. Rules governing the provision of payments for exceptional circumstances to enable siblings or a minor parent and minor children to reside together and for initial clothing allowances for children residing in a home of a long-term kinship care provider who is receiving a monthly rate under par. (am).

AB43,,2325232548.57 (3p) (h) 3. (intro.) The director of the county department, the person designated by the governing body of an Indian tribe or, in a county having a population of 750,000 or more, the person designated by the secretary shall review the denial of payments or the prohibition on employment or being an adult resident to determine if the conviction record on which the denial or prohibition is based includes any arrests, convictions, or penalties that are likely to adversely affect the child or the ability of the kinship care relative provider to care for the child. In reviewing the denial or prohibition, the director of the county department, the person designated by the governing body of the Indian tribe or the person designated by the secretary shall consider all of the following factors:

AB43,,2327232748.57 (3p) (h) 3. b. The nature of the violation or penalty and how that violation or penalty affects the ability of the kinship care relative provider to care for the child.

AB43,,2329232948.57 (3p) (h) 4. If the director of the county department, the person designated by the governing body of the Indian tribe or, in a county having a population of 750,000 or more, the person designated by the secretary determines that the conviction record on which the denial of payments or the prohibition on employment or being an adult resident is based does not include any arrests, convictions, or penalties that are likely to adversely affect the child or the ability of the kinship care relative provider to care for the child, the director of the county department, the person designated by the governing body of the Indian tribe, or the person designated by the secretary may approve the making of payments under sub. (3m) or may permit a person receiving payments under sub. (3m) to employ a person in a position in which that person would have regular contact with the child for whom payments are being made or permit a person to be an adult resident.

AB43,,2331233148.60 (2) (a) A relative or like-kin, guardian, or person delegated care and custody of a child under s. 48.979 who provides care and maintenance for such children.

AB43,,2333233348.62 (2) A relative or like-kin, a guardian of a child, or a person delegated care and custody of a child under s. 48.979 who provides care and maintenance for the child is not required to obtain the license specified in this section. The department, county department, or licensed child welfare agency as provided in s. 48.75 may issue a license to operate a foster home to a relative or like-kin who has no duty of support under s. 49.90 (1) (a) and who requests a license to operate a foster home for a specific child who is either placed by court order or who is the subject of a voluntary placement agreement under s. 48.63. The department, a county department, or a licensed child welfare agency may, at the request of a guardian appointed under s. 48.977, 48.978, or 48.9795, ch. 54, 2017 stats., or ch. 880, 2003 stats., license the guardian’s home as a foster home for the guardian’s minor ward who is living in the home and who is placed in the home by court order. Relatives and like-kin with no duty of support and guardians appointed under s. 48.977, 48.978, or 48.9795, ch. 54, 2017 stats., or ch. 880, 2003 stats., who are licensed to operate foster homes are subject to the department’s licensing rules.

AB43,,2335233548.62 (4) Monthly payments in foster care shall be provided according to the rates specified in this subsection. Beginning on January 1, 2022, the rates are $300 for care and maintenance provided for a child of any age by a foster home that is certified to provide level one care, as defined in the rules promulgated under sub. (8) (a) and 2024, for care and maintenance provided by a foster home that is certified to provide care at a any level of care that is higher than level one care, $420 $441 for a child under 5 years of age; $460 $483 for a child 5 to 11 years of age; $522 $548 for a child 12 to 14 years of age; and $545 $572 for a child 15 years of age or over. In addition to these grants for basic maintenance, the department, county department, or licensed child welfare agency shall make supplemental payments for foster care to a foster home that is receiving an age-related rate under this subsection that are commensurate with the level of care that the foster home is certified to provide and the needs of the child who is placed in the foster home according to the rules promulgated by the department under sub. (8) (c).

AB43,,2337233748.623 (1) Eligibility. (intro.) A county department or, as provided in sub. (3) (a), an Indian tribe or the department shall provide monthly subsidized guardianship payments in the amount specified in sub. (3) (b) to a guardian of a child under s. 48.977 (2) or under a substantially similar tribal law if the county department, Indian tribe, or department determines that the conditions specified in pars. (a) to (d) have been met. A county department or, as provided in sub. (3) (a), a tribe or the department shall also provide those payments for the care of a sibling of such a child, regardless of whether the sibling meets the conditions specified in par. (a), if the county department, Indian tribe, or department and the guardian agree on the appropriateness of placing the sibling in the home of the guardian. A guardian of a child under s. 48.977 (2) or under a substantially similar tribal law is eligible for monthly subsidized guardianship payments under this subsection if the county department, Indian tribe, or the department, whichever will be providing those payments, determines that all of the following apply:

AB43,,2339233948.623 (1) (b) 3. The guardian is licensed as the child’s foster parent and the guardian and all adults residing in the guardian’s home meet the requirements specified in s. 48.685 or, for a guardianship of a child ordered by a tribal court in which the background investigation is conducted by the Indian tribe, all adults residing in the guardian’s home meet either the requirements specified in s. 48.685 or the background check requirements for foster parent licensing under 42 USC 671 (a) (20).

AB43,,2341234148.623 (1) (c) An order under s. 48.345, 48.357, 48.363, 48.365, 938.345, 938.357, 938.363, or 938.365 or a tribal court under a substantially similar tribal law placing the child, or continuing the placement of the child, outside of the child’s home has been terminated, or any proceeding in which the child has been adjudged to be in need of protection or services specified in s. 48.977 (2) (a) has been dismissed, as provided in s. 48.977 (3r) (a).

AB43,,2343234348.623 (2) Subsidized guardianship agreement. (intro.) Before a county department, an Indian tribe, or the department may approve the provision of subsidized guardianship payments under sub. (1) to a proposed guardian, the county department, Indian tribe, or department shall negotiate and enter into a written, binding subsidized guardianship agreement with the proposed guardian and provide the proposed guardian with a copy of the agreement. A subsidized guardianship agreement or an amended subsidized guardianship agreement may also name a prospective successor guardian of the child to assume the duty and authority of guardianship on the death or incapacity of the guardian. A successor guardian is eligible for monthly subsidized guardianship payments under this section only if the successor guardian is named as a prospective successor guardian of the child in a subsidized guardianship agreement or amended subsidized guardianship agreement that was entered into before the death or incapacity of the guardian, the conditions specified in sub. (6) (bm) are met, and the court appoints the successor guardian to assume the duty and authority of guardianship as provided in s. 48.977 (5m). A subsidized guardianship agreement shall specify all of the following: