Rule-Making Notices
Notice of Hearings
Children and Families
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to ss.
48.62 (1) (a) and
(8) (a),
48.67 (intro.) and
(4), and
227.11 (2) (a), Stats., the Department of Children and Families proposes to hold 3 public hearings to consider emergency rules and proposed permanent rules revising Chapters
DCF 56 and
58, relating to foster care and kinship care.
Hearing Information
March 17, 2010
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MADISON
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Wednesday
1:30 p.m.
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GEF 1 Building
201 E. Washington Avenue
Room D203
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March 31, 2010
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MILWAUKEE
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Wednesday
1:30 p.m.
|
Bureau of Milwaukee Child
Welfare, Region 3
2745 S. 13th Street, AV Room
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April 8, 2010
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STEVENS POINT
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Thursday
1:30 p.m.
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Portage County Health and
Human Services
817 Whiting Avenue
Room 103-104, Lower Level
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If you have special needs or circumstances regarding communication or accessibility at a hearing, please call (608) 267-9403 at least 10 days prior to the hearing date. Accommodations such as ASL interpreters, English translators, or materials in audio format will be made available on request to the fullest extent possible.
Copies of Proposed Rules
A copy of the proposed rules is available at
http://adminrules.wisconsin.gov. This site allows you to view documents associated with this rule's promulgation, register to receive email notification whenever the Department posts new information about this rulemaking order, and submit comments and view comments by others during the public comment period. You may receive a paper copy of the rule or fiscal estimate by contacting:
Elaine Pridgen, Office of Legal Counsel
Department of Children and Families
201 E. Washington Avenue
Madison, WI 53707
Phone: (608) 267-9403
Appearances at Hearing and Submittal of Written Comments
Interested persons are invited to appear at the hearing and will be afforded the opportunity to make an oral presentation of their positions. Persons making oral presentations are requested to submit their facts, views, and suggested rewording in writing. Written comments on the proposed rules received at the above address, email, or through the
http://adminrules.wisconsin.gov web site no later than April 9, 2010, will be given the same consideration as testimony presented at the hearing.
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Children and Families
Statutory authority
Statutes interpreted
Related statute or rule
NA
Explanation of agency authority
Section
48.62 (1) (a), Stats., provides that any person who receives, with or without transfer of legal custody, 4 or fewer children or, if necessary to enable a sibling group to remain together, 6 or fewer children or, if the department promulgates rules permitting a different number of children, the number of children permitted under those rules, to provide care and maintenance for those children shall obtain a license to operate a foster home from the department, a county department or a licensed child welfare agency as provided in s.
48.75, Stats.
Section
48.62 (8) (a), Stats., as created by
2009 Wisconsin Act 28, provides that the department shall promulgate rules relating to foster homes providing levels of care that a licensed foster home is certified to provide. Those levels of care shall be based on the level of knowledge, skill, training, experience, and other qualifications that are required of the licensee, the level of responsibilities that are expected of the licensee, the needs of the children who are placed with the licensee, and any other requirements relating to the ability of the licensee to provide for those needs that the department may promulgate by rule.
Section
48.67 (intro.), Stats., provides that the department shall promulgate rules establishing minimum requirements for the issuance of licenses to, and establishing standards for the operation of, child welfare agencies, day care centers, foster homes, treatment foster homes, group homes, shelter care facilities, and county departments. Those rules shall be designed to protect and promote the health, safety, and welfare of the children in the care of all licensees.
Section
48.67 (4), Stats., as created by
2009 Wisconsin Act 28, provides that the department shall promulgate rules that require that all foster parents successfully complete training in the care and support needs of children who are placed in foster care that has been approved by the department. The department shall promulgate rules prescribing the training that is required under this subsection and shall monitor compliance with this subsection according to those rules.
Summary of the rule
Licensing of Court-Ordered Kinship Care Relatives to Operate Foster Homes and Limits on Kinship Care Payments
2009 Wisconsin Act 28 assumes that kinship care relatives who are providing care and maintenance for a child who is placed in the kinship care relative's home under an order of the court assigned to exercise jurisdiction under the Children's Code and the Juvenile Justice Code (juvenile court) will apply for a license to operate a foster home in 2010. Licensing these relatives as foster parents will enable the Department to claim an additional $6,524,300 federal reimbursement under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act for 2010. Act 28 appropriates this $6.5 million to be expended in 2011.
New applicants. Sections
48.57 (3m) (ap) and
(3n) (ap), as created by
2009 Wisconsin Act 71, and this rule provide the specifics on licensing new court-ordered kinship care applicants as foster parents. These provisions apply to kinship care relatives who apply after January 1, 2010, or who have an application pending on that date.
As a condition of eligibility, a court-ordered kinship care relative who applies to the county department or the department for kinship care payments must apply for a license to operate a foster home. With certain limits, applicants will receive kinship care payments during the foster care licensure process. A county department or, in Milwaukee County, the Department, may make kinship care payments to a kinship care relative who is providing care and maintenance for a child who is placed in the home of the kinship care relative under a juvenile court order for no more than 60 days after the date on which the county department or the Department received the completed application of the kinship care relative for a license to operate a foster home or, if the application is approved or denied within those 60 days, until the date on which the application is approved or denied.
If the application is not approved or denied within those 60 days for any reason other than an act or omission of the kinship care relative, the county department or the Department may make kinship care payments for 4 months after the date on which the county department or the Department received the completed application or, if the application is approved or denied within those 4 months, until the date on which the application is approved or denied.
Notwithstanding that an application of a kinship care relative for a foster home license is denied, the county department or the Department may make kinship care payments to the kinship care relative for as long as the kinship care relative continues to meet the conditions for eligibility for those payments if the county department or the Department submits to the juvenile court information relating to the background investigation required when a kinship care relative applies for kinship care payments, an assessment of the safety of the kinship care relative's home and the ability of the kinship care relative to care for the child, and a recommendation that the child remain in the home of the kinship care relative, and the juvenile court, after considering that information, assessment, and recommendation, orders the child to remain in the kinship care relative's home.
Current kinship care providers. A non-statutory provision of
2009 Wisconsin Act 71 at Section 26 and this rule provide the specifics on the transition of current kinship care and long-term kinship care providers to be foster care providers. The non-statutory provision applies to a child who already is in kinship care on the date before the effective date of January 1, 2010. A court-ordered kinship care relative or long-term kinship care relative shall apply for a license to operate a foster home prior to or at the time of the reassessment or review of eligibility in calendar year 2010. The kinship care relative or long-term kinship care relative shall obtain a license to operate a foster home by no later than 6 months after the date of their first reassessment or review of eligibility following January 1, 2010.
If the kinship care relative or long-term kinship care relative refuses to obtain a license to operate a foster home or is unable to meet the minimum requirements for the issuance of a license, the agency that prepared the child's permanency plan shall make a recommendation regarding the continuing necessity for and safety and appropriateness of the placement at the next permanency plan review or permanency plan hearing. The court or panel conducting the review or hearing shall make the determination. If the court or panel determines that the placement continues to be necessary, safe, and appropriate, the child may remain in the placement and the kinship care relative or long-term kinship care relative may continue to receive kinship care payments.
Levels of Care
Section
48.62 (8), Stats., as created by
2008 Wisconsin Act 28, provides that the Department shall promulgate rules to provide levels of care that a foster home is certified to provide, establish a standardized assessment tool to assess the needs of a child and determine the level of care that is required, and provide monthly rates of reimbursement for foster care 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.
The Department is implementing the rules on levels of care in two phases. This rule amends the base foster care licensing code and creates a process for certification of foster homes at Level One and Level 2. A future rulemaking order will create the requirements for foster homes with certification levels above Level 2, establish the customized assessment tool, and provide the process to determine monthly rates of reimbursement above the basic maintenance payment under levels of care.
Requirements for Level One Certification. The rule provides that a licensing agency may grant a Level One certification only to a foster home with a child-specific license. A “child-specific license" is a license that is issued to a relative of a child or an individual who has a previous existing relationship with the child or the child's family.
A foster parent who operates a foster home with a Level One certification shall receive a minimum of 6 hours of pre-placement training within 6 months after the date of initial licensure.
The basic maintenance payment is $215 before January 1, 2011, and $220 beginning January 1, 2011, for care and maintenance provided for a child of any age by a foster home that is certified to provide level one care.
Requirements for Level 2 Certification. An individual who applies for a license to operate a foster home with a Level 2 certification must submit at least 3 favorable reference letters written by persons unrelated to the applicant.
Level 2 requires the same amount of pre-placement training as Level One, which is a minimum of 6 hours. A foster parent must complete the pre-placement training before or after initial licensure but prior to the placement of any child in the home, except if the foster parent has a child-specific license, the training must be completed within 6 months after the date of initial licensure.
A foster parent who operates a foster home with a Level 2 certification must also complete a minimum of 30 hours of initial licensing training during the initial licensing period and complete 10 hours of ongoing training in each 12-month period of licensure subsequent to the initial licensing period.
The basic maintenance payment for care and maintenance provided by a foster home with a Level 2 certification is the age-related payment established by s.
48.62 (4), Stats.
Waiver of Non-Safety Requirements for Relatives
42 USC 671(a)(10) provides that a state must establish and maintain standards for foster family homes that are reasonably in accord with recommended standards of national organizations concerned with these standards, including standards related to admission policies, safety, sanitation, and protection of civil rights. The state must apply those standards equally to all foster family homes, unless a waiver of a standard has been granted with respect to a particular relative foster family home. A waiver of a standard may be made only on a case-by-case basis and applied only to non-safety related standards in relative foster family homes for specific children in care. States must determine which of their foster care licensing standards are not safety related.
This rule provides that the licensing agency may grant waivers of the following non-safety standards in ch.
DCF 56 when licensing a relative foster home:
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Documents that an applicant must submit when applying for a license:
○ Applicant's employment history for 5 years prior to application.
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Licensee qualification requirements:
○ An applicant for an initial license or a foster parent applying for renewal of a license shall furnish proof to the licensing agency of having homeowner's or renter's liability insurance. A licensing agency shall have on file verification that each foster parent licensed by that agency has insurance coverage, or shall have on file documentation that the foster parent has been granted a waiver, or has been issued a license for a period not to exceed 90 days to allow the foster parent to obtain necessary documentation to request a waiver.
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Requirements for the physical environment:
