Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to ss. 48.685 (1) (ag), (2) (d), (4), (5), (6) (b) and (c) and 50.065 (1) (ag), (d) and (f), (2) (d), (4), (5) and (6) (b) and (c), Stats., as repealed and recreated by 1999 Wis. Act 9, and ss. 227.11 (2) (a) and 227.24 (4), Stats., the Department of Health and Family Services will hold a public hearing to consider the proposed repeal and recreation of ch. HFS 12, Wis. Adm. Code, relating to caregiver background checks, and emergency rules published on February 13, 2000 on the same subject.
Hearing Information
April 13, 2000   Room 751
Thursday   State Office Building
from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.   1 W. Wilson St.
  MADISON WI
The hearing site is fully accessible to people with disabilities.
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Health & Family Services
Since October 1, 1998, the Department has been implementing ss. 48.685 and 50.065, Stats., effective on that date, that require use of uniform procedures to check the backgrounds of persons who apply to the Department for regulatory approval, to a county social services or human services department that licenses foster homes for children and carries out adoption home studies, to a private child-placing agency that does the same or to a school board that contracts for day care programs, to provide care or treatment to persons who need that care or treatment, or who apply to a regulated entity to be hired or contracted with to provide services to the entity's clients or who propose to reside as a non-client at the entity. The statutes direct the regulatory agencies and regulated entities to bar persons, temporarily or permanently, depending on the conviction or finding, who have in their backgrounds a specified conviction or finding substantially related to the care of clients, from operating a service provider organization, providing care or treatment to persons who need that care or treatment or from otherwise having contact with the clients of a service provider.
To implement the new Caregiver Law, the Department on October 1, 1998, published administrative rules, ch. HFS 12, Wis. Adm. Code, by emergency order. The October 1998 emergency rules were modified in December 1998 and February 1999 by emergency order, and were replaced by permanent rules effective July 1, 1999. On September 12, 1999, the Department issued another emergency order again modifying ch. HFS 12, but only the Crimes List and not the text of the chapter. The number of specified crimes was reduced to 79, with 6 of them, all taken from ss. 48.685 and 50.065, Stats., being crimes that permanently barred persons for all programs. The change to the ch. HFS 12 Crimes List was made at that time because the 1999-2001 Budget Bill, subsequently passed by the Legislature as 1999 Wisconsin Act 9, was expected to provide for a more modest list of crimes than the one that was appended to ch. HFS 12 before September 12, 1999. The more modest crimes list published by an emergency rulemaking order on September 12, 1999 reflected the Legislature's intent that some persons who under the previous rules would lose their jobs effective October 1, 1999, were able to keep their jobs.
The 1999-2001 Biennial Budget Act, 1999 Wisconsin Act 9, made several changes to ss. 48.685 and 50.065, Stats., the Caregiver Law. These changes were effective on October 29, 1999. The Department's current rules, effective July 1, 1999, as amended on September 16, 1999, have been in large part made obsolete by those statutory changes. Consequently, the Department through this order is repealing and recreating ch. HFS 12 to bring its rules for operation of the Caregiver Law into conformity with the revised statutes. This was done by emergency order effective February 13, 2000 to remove public confusion resulting from continued reliance on administrative rules, that have been widely relied upon by the public for understanding the operation of the Caregiver Law, that are now in conflict with current statutes.
These proposed rules are the same as the emergency rules. Therefore, they minimize repetition of ss. 48.685 and 50.065, Stats., and are designed to supplement those statutes by providing guidance on:
  Sanctions associated with the acts committed under the Caregiver Law;
  Determining whether an offense is substantially related to client care;
  Reporting responsibilities; and
  The conduct of rehabilitation review.
Contact Person
To find out more about the hearing or to request a copy of the rules, write, phone or e-mail:
Larry Hartzke
Office of Legal Counsel
Department of Health and Family Services
P. O. Box 7850
Madison, WI 53707-7850
(608) 267-2943 or,
if you are hearing impaired,
(608) 266-3683 (TDD)
If you are hearing or visually impaired, do not speak English, or have other personal circumstances which might make communication at the hearing difficult and if you, therefore, require an interpreter, or a non-English, large print or taped version of the hearing document, contact the person at the address or phone number above. A person requesting a non-English or sign language interpreter should make that request at least 10 days before the hearing. With less than 10 days notice, an interpreter may not be available.
Written comments on the proposed rules received at the above address no later than April 21, 2000 will receive the same consideration as testimony presented at the hearing.
Fiscal Estimate
Because this order simply implements changes to chs. 48 and 50, Stats., in Act 9, the order, by itself, does not affect the expenditures or revenues of state government or local governments. Any changes to workload, revenues and expenditures were accounted for in Act 9.
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
These rules apply to the following “agencies:" the Department, county social services and human services departments that license foster homes for children or carry out adoption home studies, child-placing agencies that do the same, and school boards that contract for a day care program. These rules also apply to the following licensed, certified, registered or approved “entities:"
  emergency mental health service programs;
  mental health day treatment services for children;
  community mental health programs
  developmental disability programs;
  community support programs;
  certified community alcohol and other drug abuse (AODA) prevention and treatment programs;
  family day care centers for children;
  group day care centers for children;
  day camps for children;
  foster homes and treatment foster homes for children;
  group homes for children;
  shelter care facilities for children;
  child-placing agencies;
  ambulance service providers;
  3-4 bed adult family homes certified or licensed by the Department;
  residential care apartment complexes (formerly called assisted living facilities);
  community-based residential facilities (CBRFs);
  nursing homes and facilities for the developmentally disabled;
  hospice programs;
  home health agencies, including those that provide personal care services;
  rural medical centers; and
  hospitals.
  child-caring institutions;
  county-certified family day care providers; and
  day care providers contracted through local school boards.
Many of the entities are small businesses as “small businesses" is defined in s. 227.114 (1) (a), Stats. This includes about 1/3 of the community mental health and AODA programs; nearly all the 2,665 family day care centers; nearly 1/3 of the 2,269 group day care centers; 12 of the 80 private child-placing agencies; most of the 2,800 foster homes and 10% of the 140 group homes; 25 of 450 ambulance service providers; 7 of 45 residential care apartment complexes; 600 of 1,120 CBRFs; 96 of 472 nursing homes; most of the hospice programs; and 115 of 191 home health agencies.
The revised rules minimize repetition of ss. 48.685 and 50.065, Stats., and are designed to supplement those statutes by providing guidance on:
  Sanctions associated with the acts committed under the Caregiver Law;
  Determining whether an offense is substantially related to client care;
  Reporting responsibilities; and
  The conduct of rehabilitation review.
The requirements found in the rules are either taken from the statutes that the rules implement, ss. 48.685 and 50.065, Stats., as created by 1997 Wis. Act 27 and amended by 1997 Wis. Act 237 and 1999 Wis. Act 9, or those statutes direct the Department to specify the requirements.
No new professional skills are necessary for entities to comply with ch. HFS 12.
Notice of Hearings
Health & Family Services
(Health, Chs. HFS 110-)
Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to ss. 254.71 (6) and 254.74 (1), Stats., the Department of Health and Family Services will hold public hearings to consider the repeal and recreation of Ch. HFS 196, Wis. Adm. Code, relating to restaurants. The hearings are being held in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection which is promulgating a rule for retail food establishments that includes the same Appendix A, Wisconsin Food Code, as is being proposed as an appendix to ch. HFS 196.
Hearing Information
April 25, 2000   Eau Claire Health Department
Tuesday   Room G 30-31
9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.   720 Second Avenue
  EAU CLAIRE WI
April 27, 2000   Appleton Public Library
Thursday   Lower Level
9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.   125 N. Oneida St.
  APPLETON WI
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