Rule-making notices
Notice of Hearing
Notice is hereby given that pursuant to ss.
227.16 (1),
227.17 and
227.18, Stats., the Department of Health and Family Services will hold a public hearing to consider the proposed revision of ch.
HFS 50, relating to adoption assistance and the use of the state adoption information exchange to find adoptive families for children.
Hearing Information
The public hearing will be held:
August 12, 2002 1 West Wilson Street
Tuesday Room 550 A
10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Madison, WI
The hearing site is fully accessible to people with disabilities.
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Health and Family Services
The proposed rulemaking order amends several provisions of ch.
HFS 50 rules for facilitating the adoption of children with special needs to do the following: (1) establish exceptions to an adoption agency's photo listing requirements; (2) replace terms “photo listing book" or “book" to allow for alternative methods of photo listing, such as the Internet; (3) authorize the department to biannually notify adoptive parents of the family's post-placement responsibilities and remove the requirement that the department annually re-certify an adoptive family's need for continuing adoption assistance; (4) include an express time requirement within which an adoptive family must notify the department of changes in circumstances; (5) allow adoption assistance under the interstate compact when federally required; (6) include an express requirement that a child must be available for adoption in order to be eligible for adoption assistance; (7) require that only documented factors be used as a basis of determining that a child is at high risk of developing a moderate or intensive level of special needs; (8) require that the documentation evidencing a mother's drug or alcohol use or other inappropriate pre-natal care be documented in a medical or hospital record; (9) for clarification purposes, replace the term “registration" with “photo listing"; and (10) eliminate the need for an adoption agency to register or photo list a child when an adoption agency is not actively seeking an adoptive placement for the child.
Contact Person
To find out more about the hearing or to request a copy of the proposed rules, write, phone or e-mail:
Jill Duerst
Bureau of Programs and Policies
P.O. Box 8916
Madison, WI 53708-8916
(608) 266-1142 or, if you are hearing impaired, (608) 266-7376 (TTY)
If you are hearing or visually impaired, do not speak English, or have circumstances that might make communication at a 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 given above at least 10 days before the hearing. With less than 10 days notice, an interpreter may not be available.
Written comments must be received by mail or e-mail at the above address no later than 5:00 p.m. on August 19, 2002. The written comments will be given the same consideration as testimony presented at a hearing.
Fiscal Estimate
Except for the requirements that only documented factors be used as a basis of determining whether a child is at high risk of developing a moderate or intensive level of special needs, none of the proposed revisions have a fiscal affect.
Under the proposed changes to s.
HFS 50.01 (4) (j), children will no longer be presumptively eligible. Eligibility will be determined based on documented need. If a child is determined not to be eligible at the time of adoption they can apply again within three years of the date of adoption or when the adoptive family first became aware of adoption assistance if circumstances change that would make the child eligible. Children currently receiving adoption assistance or classified as a “child at high risk" of developing special needs will not be affected. Their eligibility for adoption assistance will remain in place. Therefore, we do not anticipate an immediate impact.
The department proposes to repeal s.
HFS 50.01 (4) (j) 1., and amend s.
HFS 50.01 (4) (j) 5., to require that the documented evidence of a birth mother's use of harmful drugs or alcohol or other practice of inappropriate pre-natal care that could later result in the child developing special needs be documented in a medical or hospital record.
These changes should result in a cost savings in payments to adoptive families for non-recurring adoption expenses. Approximately 130 children annually meet the current “child at high risk" definition under the criteria specified in s.
HFS 50.01 (4) (j) 1., and
5. The adoptive families for these children are eligible for reimbursement for up to $2,000 of certain non-recurring adoption related expenses. By repealing s.
HFS 50.01 (4) (j) 1., and making the documentation requirements for s.
HFS 50.01 (4) (j) 5., more specific, there will be fewer children who meet the “child at high risk" definition. However, the decrease in the number of children meeting the definition as a result of these changes is uncertain and, therefore, the cost savings for non-recurring adoption expenses cannot be determined.
The above anticipated cost savings is in addition to any potential cost savings due to fewer children on medical assistance and fewer families having the ability to request adoption assistance amendments. The amount of adoption assistance and medical assistance savings cannot be determined at this time. There is currently insufficient data and experience regarding the percentage of at risk agreements that are later amended to include monthly adoption assistance payments and medical assistance. The law permitting adoptive families to request a “child at high risk" adoption assistance agreement went into effect on January 1, 1999. It has taken time to implement the process and the adoptive family must wait at least 12 months post adoption finalization before requesting an amendment.
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
The provisions in the proposed order will not affect small businesses.
Notice of Hearing
Health and Family Services
(Community Services, Chs.
HFS 30—)
[
CR 99-09]
Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to s.
46.295 (6), Stats., the Department of Health and Family Services will hold a public hearing to consider the repeal and recreation of ch.
HFS 77, Wis. Adm. Code, relating to criteria and procedures for reimbursement of interpreting services for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Hearing Information
The public hearings will be held:
August 12, 2002 Room 550A
Monday 1 West Wilson St.
From 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. MADISON, WI
The hearing site is fully accessible to people with disabilities. Sign language interpreters and real time captioning will be available at the hearing.
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Health and Family Services
This order updates the Department's rules for operating a program established under s.
46.295, Stats., that reimburses interpreters for the provision of interpreting services for persons who are deaf, deafblind or hard of hearing. The Department proposes to update the rules for three reasons:
1. To change how interpreters are scheduled. Chapter
HFS 77 currently states that the Department will schedule interpreting services for an individual or organization authorized to receive interpreting services funded by the Department. However, although the Department continues to fund interpreting services and maintain lists of qualified interpreters, it no longer directly schedules interpreters. Requests for interpreting services are received and reviewed by the Department's 6 region-based Coordinators of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services to ensure that the circumstances for which services are requested meet the requirements of the program statute and ch.
HFS 77. If qualified, the Department provides the individual or organization requesting the service with a list of certified and verified interpreters. The individual or organization is subsequently responsible for scheduling the interpreter.
2. To use the Wisconsin Interpreting and Transliterating Assessment (WITA) as a method of verifying interpreters. Interpreters verified through WITA will qualify for Department reimbursement for interpreting services provided under ch.
HFS 77. Chapter
HFS 77 is also being revised to include real-time captioning services.
3. To conform with changes in the generally accepted preferred terminology for referring to people with hearing problems and to the services required to support their access to needed communication.
The current rules refer throughout to “hearing impaired persons" and “interpreter services," terms also used, but undefined, in s.
46.295, Stats. These terms are replaced in the proposed rules by the terms “deaf, deafblind or hard of hearing persons" and “interpreting services;" terms preferred by the deaf and hard of hearing communities.
The Department previously held hearings on similar proposed rules in 1999. However, over the past year, the Department has made a variety of changes to those initial proposed rules. Consequently, the Department wants to receive public comments on the proposed rules before transmitting final proposed rules to the legislature.
Contact Person
To find out more about the hearings or to request a copy of the proposed rules, write, email or phone:
Alice M. Sykora
Human Services Program Coordinator
Bureau for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
One West Wilson Street, B275
Madison, WI 53707-7851
TTY: 608-266-3168 (for non-TTY users, dial “711" for relay service and give the operator the telephone number)
Fax: 608-266-3256
If you are visually impaired or do not speak English and if you, therefore, require a non-English interpreter at a hearing or a non-English, large print or taped version of the hearing document, contact the person at the address or phone number shown above. Persons requesting a non-English interpreter should contact the person at the address or phone number given above at least 10 days before the hearing. With less than 10 days notice, a non-English interpreter may not be available.
