Specifically, under current law, if an order of the juvenile court places a child
outside of his or her home, the order must include a finding as to whether the county
department of human services or social services (county department), DHFS, in a
county having a population of 500,000 or more, or the agency primarily responsible
for providing services under a juvenile court order (agency) has made reasonable
efforts to prevent the removal of the child from the home or, if applicable, to make
it possible for the child to return to his or her home.
This bill requires an agency, if a child is placed outside of his or her home, to
have made reasonable efforts to prevent the removal of the child from the home,
while assuring that the health and safety of the child are the paramount concerns, or,
if applicable, to make reasonable efforts to make it possible for the child to return
safely to his or her home. The bill also permits an agency, at the same time as the
agency is making those reasonable efforts, to work with an agency authorized to
place the child for adoption in making reasonable efforts to place the child for
adoption, with a guardian or in some other alternative permanent placement.
The bill also specifies certain circumstances under which an agency is not
required to make those reasonable efforts. Specifically, an agency is not required to
make those reasonable efforts with respect to a parent if the juvenile court finds that
the parent has subjected his or her child to aggravated circumstances, which include
abandonment, torture, chronic abuse and sexual abuse; that the parent has
committed first-degree intentional or reckless homicide, felony murder or
2nd-degree intentional homicide and that the victim of that homicide or felony
murder is a child of the parent; that the parent has committed battery, first-degree
or 2nd-degree sexual assault, sexual assault of a child, repeated sexual assault of a
child or child abuse and that violation has resulted in great bodily harm or
substantial bodily harm to a child of the parent; or that the parental rights of the
parent to another child have been involuntarily terminated. If a juvenile court
determines that an agency is not required to make those reasonable efforts, the
juvenile court must hold a hearing within 30 days after that determination to
determine a permanency plan, as described below, for the child.
Under current law, if a child is placed outside of his or her home, DHFS, the
county department or the licensed child welfare agency that placed the child or
arranged the placement of the child or the agency primarily responsible for providing
services for the child must prepare a permanency plan for the child that describes,
among other things, the services provided for the child and his or her family and the
conditions, if any, upon which the child will be returned to his or her home. The
juvenile court or a panel appointed by the juvenile court must review the
permanency plan every 6 months to determine, among other things, the continuing
necessity and appropriateness of the child's placement, the progress being made
under the plan and whether reasonable efforts are being made to make it possible
for the child to return to his or her home.
This bill requires a permanency plan and a permanency plan review to address
the safety of a child's placement and the safety of returning the child to his or her
home. The bill also requires a permanency plan to describe the efforts made by the
agency to place the child for adoption, with a guardian or in some other alternative
permanent placement, if the permanency plan calls for such a placement.
Current law provides various grounds for involuntary TPR. Those grounds
include different forms of abandonment and the commission of a serious felony
against a child of the parent. A serious felony for these purposes is first-degree
intentional or reckless homicide, felony murder, 2nd-degree intentional homicide,
first-degree or 2nd-degree sexual assault, sexual assault of a child, intentional or
reckless child abuse causing great bodily harm, sexual exploitation of a child, incest,
soliciting a child for prostitution or child neglect, if death is a consequence of the
neglect.
This bill provides that abandonment of an infant, that is, leaving a child under
3 years of age without provision for the child's care or support, is a ground for
involuntary TPR. The bill also provides that the commission of a battery causing
great bodily harm or substantial bodily harm to a child of the parent is a ground for
involuntary TPR.
In addition, subject to certain exceptions, the bill requires DHFS, a county
department or a licensed child welfare agency, or the district attorney, corporation
counsel or other appropriate official designated by the county board to prosecute TPR
proceedings (person responsible for filing TPR petitions), to file a TPR petition with
respect to a child or, if a TPR petition with respect to a child has already been filed,
to join in the petition if the child has been placed in an out-of-home placement for
15 of the last 22 months, if the child was abandoned as an infant or if the parent has
committed a serious felony against a child of the parent. A person responsible for
filing TPR petitions need not file or join in a TPR petition with respect to such a child,
however, if the child is being cared for by a relative, if a TPR is not in the best interests
of the child or if the agency primarily responsible for providing services to the child
and the family, consistent with the time period in the child's permanency plan, has
not provided the services necessary for the safe return of the child to the home. The
bill requires the person responsible for filing TPR petitions in each county to file, or
join in, a TPR petition for not less than 33% of the children in the county who, as of
November 17, 1997, have been placed in out-of-home care for 15 out of the last 22
months by July 1, 1999, for not less than 67% of those children by January 1, 2000,
and for all of those children by July 1, 2000.
This bill requires the department of workforce development, which acts as the
state's location service for locating parents who have deserted their children and who
are liable for support, to provide parent location services upon request to DHFS, a
county department or a licensed child welfare agency.
Under current law, known as the criminal history and abuse record search law,
DHFS may not license a person to operate certain facilities that provide care for
children or adults (entities) if DHFS knows or should know that the person has been
convicted of, or has pending against him or her a charge for, a serious crime, as
defined by DHFS by rule, that the person has been found to have abused or neglected
a client or a child or to have misappropriated the property of a client or, if the person
must be credentialed by the department of regulation and licensing (DORL), that the
person's credential is not current or is limited so as to prevent the person from
providing adequate care to a client. Current law, however, permits such a person to
demonstrate that he or she has been rehabilitated. Similarly, under current law, an
entity may not hire or contract with a person who will be under the entity's control
and who is expected to have access to the entity's clients and may not permit to reside
at the entity a person who is expected to have access to the entity's clients if the entity
knows or should know that any of those conditions apply to that person, unless the
person demonstrates that he or she has been rehabilitated. Current law requires
DHFS to obtain, with respect to a person applying for a license to operate an entity,
and an entity to obtain, with respect to a prospective employe, contractor or resident,
a criminal history search, information contained in the client abuse registry
maintained by DHFS, information maintained by DHFS regarding any
substantiated reports of child abuse or neglect against the person and, if the person
must be credentialed by DORL, information maintained by DORL regarding the
status of the person's credentials.
This bill makes a number of changes relating to the criminal history and abuse
record search law. The bill:
1. Extends the applicability of the law to the licensing of foster homes and
treatment foster homes. Under the bill, a person who has committed a crime against
children that is a felony, felony spousal abuse or certain felonies involving violence
or who has committed, within the past 5 years, a battery or a drug-related offense
may not demonstrate that he or she has been rehabilitated for purposes of foster
home or treatment foster home licensing.
2. Prohibits DHFS not only from licensing, but also from certifying or
registering, a person to operate an entity that provides care for adults if the person
may not be licensed under current law.
3. Limits the applicability of the law to children and adults who receive direct
care or treatment services from an entity and to entities that are licensed or certified
by, or registered with, but not otherwise regulated by, DHFS to provide direct care
or treatment to clients. The bill also excludes public health dispensaries (institutions
established for the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis) from coverage under the
law.
4. Requires DHFS, in defining by rule "serious crime" for purposes of the law,
to include in that definition not only crimes involving abuse or neglect of a client for
which a person may not demonstrate that he or she has been rehabilitated, but also
crimes involving misappropriation of the property of a client or abuse or neglect of
a client for which a person may demonstrate that he or she has been rehabilitated.
The bill also requires DHFS to establish a separate list of crimes or acts involving
abuse or neglect of a client for which no person may demonstrate that he or she has
been rehabilitated. Under current law, the list of offenses for which no person may
demonstrate that he or she has been rehabilitated is limited to certain offenses listed
in the statutes.
5. Requires an entity to report to DHFS, for inclusion in the client abuse
registry, and to report to DORL, for purposes of credentialing a person,
misappropriation only of a client's property, and not of any property, by a person
employed by or under contract with the entity.
6. Transfers from the entity to DHFS the responsibility for investigating the
background of a nonclient resident or prospective nonclient resident of the entity
who is expected to have access to the entity's clients. Under the bill, DHFS must
investigate the background of an adult nonclient resident or prospective nonclient
resident and may, at its discretion, investigate the background of a minor nonclient
resident or prospective nonclient resident.
Current law directs a county department, or DHFS in a county having a
population of 500,000 or more, to make kinship care payments to a relative of a child
who is providing care and maintenance for the child if certain conditions are met,
including the condition that the child meets one or more of the grounds for being
found to be in need of protection or services under the children's code or the juvenile
justice code or that the child would be at risk of meeting one or more of those grounds
if the child were to remain in his or her home. Under current law, a child may be
found to be in need of protection or services under the juvenile justice code on the
grounds that he or she is uncontrollable, habitually truant from home or school or
a dropout, that he or she is under 10 years of age and has committed a delinquent
act or that he or she has been determined to be not responsible for a delinquent act
by reason of mental disease or defect or to be not competent to proceed.
This bill eliminates from eligibility for kinship care payments a child who meets
one or more of the grounds for being found to be in need of protection or services under
the juvenile justice code or is at risk of meeting one or more of those grounds if the
child were to remain in his or her home. The bill also requires, as the alternate
condition for eligibility for kinship care payments, that a child be at substantial risk
of meeting one or more of the grounds for being found to be in need of protection or
services under the children's code if the child were to remain in his or her home.
Health
This bill requires that, by July 31, 1998, DHFS submit drafting instructions to
the legislative reference bureau for proposed legislation to authorize, on July 1, 2000,
a single system to provide long-term care to elderly and adult disabled persons. The
bill specifies required characteristics of this long-term care system, including a
single consumer entry point for long-term care services for a county or tribal area,
simplified and uniform eligibility, a needs-oriented long-term care benefit that
covers a full array of services and support items and combined state, local and federal
funding, within the limits of federal law. In preparing the drafting instructions,
DHFS must consider the recommendations of a steering committee that is appointed
by the secretary of health and family services. DHFS also must request, by July 1,
2000, any waivers from the federal government that would be necessary to effectively
implement the proposed long-term care system. The bill authorizes DHFS to
contract with counties or tribes under a pilot project to demonstrate the ability of
counties or tribes to manage all long-term care programs under a local long-term
care management organization.
The bill authorizes a county to contract with providers to pay a fixed amount
for each person served by the provider in return for a defined set of expected outcomes
that are determined by the county. In order to contract on this basis, a county must
have a system that is approved by DHFS to monitor and assess the outcomes of the
contract.
Under current law, a licensed adult family home may provide care to only 3 or
4 unrelated adults and may not provide nursing care. A community-based
residential facility (C-BRF) may provide the same kind of care as a licensed adult
family home, but to 5 or more unrelated adults. A nursing home may provide
24-hour services to 3 or more unrelated residents who, because of their mental or
physical conditions, require over 7 hours per week of nursing care or personal care.
Under this bill, licensed adult family homes may provide care, including
nursing care, to 3 or 4 adults who are not related to the home operator. Nursing
homes may provide care or treatment to 5 or more persons who are not related to the
home operator or administrator and who require access to 24-hour nursing services,
including limited nursing care, intermediate level nursing care and skilled nursing
services. C-BRFs may provide no more than 3 hours of nursing care per week to 5
or more adults who are not related to the facility operator or administrator. However,
the limitations on the type of care that may be provided by a C-BRF do not apply
under the following conditions:
1. A C-BRF may provide up to 3 hours of nursing care per week and care above
intermediate level nursing care for up to 30 days to not more than 4 residents or 10%
of the C-BRF's licensed capacity who have temporary conditions, require the care
and are otherwise appropriate for C-BRF care, if the C-BRF has the resources
necessary to provide the care.
2. A C-BRF may provide up to 3 hours of nursing care per week and care above
intermediate level nursing care for up to 30 days to not more than 4 residents or 10%
of the C-BRF's licensed capacity, who have stable or long-term conditions, require
the care and are otherwise appropriate for C-BRF care, if the C-BRF has the
resources necessary to provide the care and has obtained a waiver of the care
limitations from DHFS.
3. A C-BRF may provide up to 3 hours of nursing care per week and care above
intermediate level nursing care to residents who have terminal illnesses and who
require the care, if the resident's primary care provider is a hospice or home health
agency or if the C-BRF has obtained a waiver of the hospice or home health agency
requirement from DHFS.
Currently, DHFS may license as a rural medical center an arrangement of
facilities that is organized under a single governing and corporate structure and that
is capable of providing at least 2 health care services in rural areas. A rural primary
care hospital is one of the facilities that may be so organized and licensed. Current
federal law authorizes and provides funds for states to establish medicare rural
hospital flexibility programs, under which states must develop at least one rural
health network and designate at least one facility as a critical access hospital.
Federal law deems any rural primary care hospital that was federally designated
before August 5, 1997, to be a critical access hospital.
This bill eliminates rural primary care hospitals from those facilities that may
be organized and licensed as a rural medical center and authorizes critical access
hospitals to be so organized and licensed. Lastly, the bill requires DHFS to apply to
the federal government to establish a medicare rural hospital flexibility program.
Currently, DHFS must reimburse the Marquette University School of
Dentistry for the cost of providing dental services in correctional centers in
Milwaukee County and clinics in the city of Milwaukee. This bill directs that such
reimbursement also be made for dental services that the school provides at clinics
in Waushara and Monroe counties.
Currently, a family with an income at or below 185% of the federal poverty line
(or, in certain cases, 200% of the federal poverty line) that meets certain criteria is
eligible for health care coverage under the badger care program. Under current law,
"family" is defined as a custodial parent and his or her dependent children.
This bill extends health care coverage under the badger care program to a
stepparent who lives with his or her spouse and the spouse's children.
Mental illness and developmental disabilities
Under current law, DHFS administers the food service operations of the
Southern Wisconsin Center for the Developmentally Disabled. This bill transfers to
the department of corrections administration of the food service operations of the
Southern Wisconsin Center for the Developmentally Disabled.
Under current law, DHFS must study the future of the state centers for the
developmentally disabled and report to the legislature and the governor by
September 1, 1998. This bill changes to March 1, 1999, the date by which DHFS must
submit this report.
Public assistance
Under current law, a person receiving benefits under the federal supplemental
security income (SSI) program or, in certain cases, under the social security
disability income (SSDI) program, is eligible for medical assistance. Generally,
persons who meet certain income and asset limitations and who are totally and
permanently disabled or totally and permanently blind are eligible for SSI or, in
some cases, SSDI. A person who is unable to engage in substantial gainful activity,
which is defined as $500 or more of earnings per month, by reason of any medically
verifiable physical or mental impairment, is considered disabled for the purpose of
determining SSI or SSDI eligibility.
This bill directs DHFS to request that the secretary of the federal department
of health and human services waive income and asset requirements for SSI and SSDI
recipients to allow DHFS to implement a program under which SSI and SSDI
recipients may work and maintain eligibility for SSI or SSDI and medical assistance
or the federal medicare program.
Under current law, a person who receives benefits under the federal SSI
program is not eligible for a Wisconsin works (W-2) employment position. W-2 is
this state's replacement for the aid to families with dependent children program.
This bill permits the department of workforce development (DWD) to require
an individual who is placed in a W-2 employment position, or who receives benefits
as a custodial parent of an infant, and who applies for SSI benefits to authorize the
federal social security administration to reimburse DWD for benefits paid to the
individual during the period that the individual was entitled to SSI benefits to the
extent that retroactive SSI benefits are made available to the person.
Under current law, certain specified services under the medical assistance
program are not subject to recipient cost sharing or copayments, including
specialized medical vehicle (SMV) services. This bill permits the charging of a
copayment for SMV services.
Under current law, monthly reimbursement for long-term community support
services that are provided to a medical assistance recipient under the community
options program may not exceed the average monthly cost of nursing home care, as
determined by DHFS. (Under the community options program, persons are assessed
to determine if community services are appropriate to meet their needs for long-term
support.) The monthly limit does not apply to a medical assistance recipient under
the age of 22, a ventilator-dependent individual or an individual for whom DHFS
determines that nursing home care or public funding for institutional care is
unavailable, or if DHFS determines that the cost of providing an individual with
nursing home care would exceed the cost of providing the person with care in the
community.
This bill eliminates the monthly limit on reimbursement for long-term
community support services that are provided to a medical assistance recipient
under the community options program.
Other health and social services
This bill makes various changes relating to criminal history and abuse record
searches of operators, employes and nonclient residents of certain facilities that
provide care for adults (See HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES,
Children.)
Insurance
The provisions of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act of 1996 (HIPAA) that are incorporated into current state law require an insurer
that provides individual health benefit plan coverage to continue in force or renew
an individual health benefit plan at the option of an individual who is insured under
the plan with limited exceptions, such as if the insured individual fails to pay
premiums.
This bill provides that an insurer is not required to renew an individual health
benefit plan that is marketed and designed to be short-term coverage between
coverages.
Also under current law, if a person who has coverage under a group health
benefit plan will lose that coverage because of the occurrence of a specified
contingency, such as a divorce from a spouse who has the group health benefit plan
coverage through his or her employment, the insurer must allow the person who will
lose the coverage to continue the group coverage (continuation coverage) or convert
to individual coverage (conversion coverage) at his or her own expense. The insurer,
however, is not required to issue or continue in force individual conversion coverage
if the person is eligible for similar benefits under another individual or group health
benefit plan or by reason of any state or federal law.
This bill reconciles current law with the HIPAA provisions by requiring an
insurer to continue in force, but not requiring an insurer to issue, individual
conversion coverage, regardless of whether a covered individual is eligible for similar
benefits under another individual or group health benefit plan or by reason of any
state or federal law.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
This bill changes the performance and payment assurance requirements for
local public works or public improvement projects. (See STATE GOVERNMENT,
State building program.)
Natural resources
Recreation
With limited exceptions, beginning on May 1, 1998, snowmobile trail use
stickers issued by the department of natural resources (DNR) are required on all
snowmobiles that are operated in this state but not registered in this state. This bill
raises the base fee and creates an additional issuing fee for the sticker. Under the
bill, DNR may appoint agents, including county clerks, to issue these stickers, and
the agents may retain the issuing fees to compensate them for providing this service.
The bill also establishes a temporary procedure for issuing these stickers during the
first year in which the stickers are required. This temporary procedure requires that
all county clerks issue these stickers.
Other natural resources
This bill permits DNR to expend moneys received from other state agencies for
car, truck, airplane, heavy equipment, information technology or radio pools for the
operation, maintenance, replacement and purchase of vehicles, equipment and
information technology.
Retirement and group insurance
Under current law, the benefits payable under the Wisconsin retirement
system (WRS) and the contributions permitted under the WRS are subject to the
applicable limitations specified in the Internal Revenue Code for 1996. This bill
provides that the benefits payable under the WRS and the contributions permitted
under the WRS are subject to the applicable limitations specified in the Internal
Revenue Code, without respect to the year.
STATE GOVERNMENT
State building program
Under current law, state contracts for at least $2,500, and local contracts for at
least $500, that pertain to public improvements or public works are required to
contain a provision requiring the prime contractor to pay all claims for labor
performed and materials furnished, used or consumed in making the public
improvement or performing the public work. If a contract is for $10,000 or more, the
contract must include a provision requiring the prime contractor to provide a bond
for performance of the contract and the payment of these claims. This bonding
requirement may be waived if the contract meets certain written standards for a
waiver. The written standards are established by the department of administration
(DOA) for most state contracts, by the department of natural resources (DNR) for
certain types of hazardous substance spill response or environmental repair
contracts, and by the appropriate local governmental entity for local governmental
public works projects.
This bill establishes new requirements regarding payment and performance
assurances for public contracts. Under the bill, there are no payment and
performance assurance requirements for state or local contracts under $10,000. For
a state contract between $10,000 and $100,000 and for a local contract between
$10,000 and $50,000, the contract must contain a provision allowing the
governmental body to make payments under the contract directly to subcontractors
or with checks that are made payable to the prime contractor and to one or more
subcontractors. The governmental body must also establish written criteria for
contracts in this price range to determine whether a contract requires payment or
performance assurances and, if so, what payment or performance assurances are
required. For a state contract between $100,000 and $250,000 and for a local contract
between $50,000 and $100,000, the contract must require the prime contractor to
obtain a payment and performance bond, unless DOA, in the case of a state contract,
or the local government body authorized to enter into the contract, in the case of
another public contract, allows the prime contractor to substitute a different
payment and performance assurance. DOA or the local body may permit the
substitution of different payment and performance assurance only after a contract
has been awarded and only if the substituted payment and performance assurance
is for an amount at least equal to the contract price and is in the form of a bond, an
irrevocable letter of credit, an escrow account or other type of instrument. A contract
in this price range must also include a provision allowing the governmental body to
make payments under the contract directly to subcontractors or with checks that are
made payable to the prime contractor and to one or more subcontractors. Finally, the
bill requires payment and performance bonds for state contracts in excess of
$250,000 and for local contracts in excess of $100,000. No waiver of this bonding
requirement is permitted under the bill. All of the dollar thresholds in the bill are
indexed biennially to reflect changes in construction costs, except that the amounts
are not adjusted if the amount of the adjustment would be less than 5%.
State finance
Under current law, all appropriations, special accounts and fund balances
within the general fund or any segregated fund may be made temporarily available
for the purpose of allowing encumbrances or financing expenditures of other general
or segregated fund activities which do not have sufficient moneys in the accounts
from which they are financed but have accounts receivable balances or moneys
anticipated to be received. Current law limits the total amount of any of these
temporary reallocations, referred to as interfund borrowing, to $400,000,000. This
bill amends the limitations on interfund borrowing so that the existing $400,000,000
limit applies only to reallocations to a fund other than the general fund. Under the
bill, temporary reallocations to the general fund at any time in a fiscal year may not
exceed 5% of total general purpose revenue appropriations, as calculated by the
secretary of administration as of that time and for that fiscal year. As under current
law, the bill's interfund borrowing limitations do not apply to reallocations from the
budget stabilization fund to the general fund.
