For 2009-11 Budget -- Not Ready For Introduction
2009 BILL
AN ACT ...; relating to: the budget.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
State government
Other state government
This bill creates a Division of Legal Services in DOA, which is authorized to provide legal services to executive branch state agencies, other than DOJ and DPI. The bill also creates an unclassified chief legal advisor position in DOA, DATCP, DCF, DOC, DHS, DNR, DOT, and DWD and permits the secretary of administration to transfer up to 3.0 FTE vacant attorney positions from state agencies to the Division of Legal Services. The chief legal advisor position is one not currently in the state civil service system.
For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
SECTION 1. 15.05 (3r) of the statutes is created to read:
15.05 (3r) CHIEF LEGAL ADVISOR. The secretary of each department specified in s. 230.08 (2) (eg) may appoint in the unclassified service a chief legal advisor.
SECTION 2. 15.103 (1g) of the statutes is created to read:
15.103 (1g) DIVISION OF LEGAL SERVICES. There is created in the department of administration a division of legal services.
SECTION 3. 16.004 (15) of the statutes is created to read:
16.004 (15) LEGAL SERVICES. (a) In this subsection, "state agency" means an office, commission, department, independent agency, or board in the executive branch of state government, including the building commission, but does not include the department of justice and the department of public instruction.
(b) The department may provide legal services to state agencies and shall assess state agencies for legal services provided by the division of legal services. The department shall credit all moneys received from state agencies under this paragraph to the appropriation account under s. 20.505 (1) (kr).
(c) During the 2010-11 fiscal year, the secretary may transfer from state agencies up to 3.0 full-time equivalent vacant attorney positions to the division of legal services. The authorized full-time equivalent positions to the department, funded from the appropriation account under s. 20.505 (1) (kr), are increased by the number of full-time equivalent positions transferred under this paragraph. The authorized full-time equivalent positions of a state agency from which a transfer is made are decreased by the number of full-time equivalent positions transferred from that state agency under this paragraph.
SECTION 4. 20.505 (1) (kr) of the statutes is created to read:
20.505 (1) (kr) Legal services. All moneys received from assessments levied against state agencies under s. 16.004 (15) (b) for legal services provided by the division of legal services in the department of administration to be used for providing those legal services.
****NOTE: This SECTION involves a change in an appropriation that must be reflected in the revised schedule in s. 20.005, stats.
SECTION 5. 230.08 (2) (eg) of the statutes is created to read:
230.08 (2) (eg) A chief legal advisor position in each of the following agencies:
1. Department of administration.
2. Department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection.
3. Department of children and families.
4. Department of corrections.
5. Department of health services.
6. Department of natural resources.
7. Department of transportation.
8. Department of workforce development.
(End)
LRB-0883LRB-0883/2
GMM:jld&bjk:md
2009 - 2010 LEGISLATURE
DOA:......Stinebrink, BB0229 - Child welfare provider rate regulation
For 2009-11 Budget -- Not Ready For Introduction
2009 BILL
AN ACT ...; relating to: the budget.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
health and human services
Children
Under current law, a residential care center for children and youth (residential care center) and a group home must establish a per client rate for its services and must submit to DCF that rate and any change in that rate before a charge is made to any purchaser of those services.
This bill requires DCF to establish the per client rate that a residential care center or a group home may charge for its services, and the per client administrative rate that a child welfare agency may charge for the administrative portion of its treatment foster care services, for services provided beginning on January 1, 2011. The bill also freezes for 2010 at the 2009 level the per client rate that a residential care center or a group home may charge for its services and the per client administrative rate that a child welfare agency may charge for the administrative portion of its treatment foster care services. The bill defines "administrative rate" as the difference between the rate charged by a child welfare agency to a purchaser of treatment foster care services and the rate paid by the child welfare agency to a treatment foster parent for the care and maintenance of a child.
Under the bill, by October 1 annually, a residential care center or a group home must submit to DCF the per client rate that it proposes to charge for services provided in the next year and a child welfare agency must submit to DCF the proposed per client administrative rate that it proposes to charge for treatment foster care services provided in the next year. DCF must then review the proposed rate and audit the residential care center, group home, or child welfare agency to determine whether the proposed rate is appropriate to the level of services to be provided; the qualifications of the residential care center, group home, or child welfare agency to provide those services; and the reasonable and necessary costs of providing those services.
In reviewing a proposed rate, DCF must consider certain factors, including: 1) changes in the consumer price index; 2) changes in allowable costs based on current actual cost data or documented projections of costs; 3) changes in program utilization that affect the per client rate or per client administrative rate; 4) changes in DCF's expectations relating to service delivery; 5) changes in service delivery proposed by the residential care center, group home, or child welfare agency and agreed to by DCF; 6) the loss of any source of revenue that had been used to pay expenses; 7) changes in any state or federal laws, rules, or regulations that result in any change in the cost of providing services, including any changes in the minimum wage; 8) competitive factors; 9) the availability of funding to pay for the services to be provided under the proposed rate; and 10) any other factor relevant to the setting of a rate that DCF may determine by rule promulgated under the bill.
If DCF determines that a proposed rate is appropriate, DCF must approve the proposed rate. If DCF does not approve a proposed rate, DCF must negotiate with the residential care center, group home, or child welfare agency to determine an agreed to rate. If after negotiations a rate is not agreed to, the parties must engage in mediation to arrive at an agreed to rate. If after mediation a rate is not agreed to, the residential care center, group home, or child welfare agency may not provide the service for which the rate was proposed.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
SECTION 1. 49.343 (title) of the statutes is amended to read:
49.343 (title) Rates for residential care centers and, group homes, and child welfare agencies.
SECTION 2. 49.343 (1) of the statutes is renumbered 49.343 (1g) and amended to read:
49.343 (1g) ESTABLISHMENT OF RATES. Subject to sub. (1m), each residential care center for children and youth, as defined in s. 48.02 (15d), and each group home, as defined in s. 48.02 (7), that is incorporated under ch. 180, 181, 185, or 193 shall establish a per client rate for its services and each child welfare agency shall establish a per client administrative rate for the administrative portion of its treatment foster care services. A residential care center for children and youth and a group home shall charge all purchasers the same rate for the same services and a child welfare agency shall charge all purchasers the same administrative rate for the same treatment foster care services.
SECTION 3. 49.343 (1d) of the statutes is created to read:
49.343 (1d) DEFINITIONS. In this section:
(a) "Administrative rate" means the difference between the rate charged by a child welfare agency to a purchaser of treatment foster care services and the rate paid by the child welfare agency to a treatment foster parent for the care and maintenance of a child.
(b) "Child welfare agency" means a child welfare agency that is authorized under s. 48.61 (7) to license treatment foster homes.
(c) "Group home" has the meaning given in s. 48.02 (7).
(d) "Residential care center for children and youth" has the meaning given in s. 48.02 (15d).
SECTION 4. 49.343 (1g) of the statutes, as affected by 2009 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), is repealed and recreated to read:
49.343 (1g) ESTABLISHMENT OF RATES. For services provided beginning on January 1, 2011, the department shall establish the per client rate that a residential care center for children and youth or a group home may charge for its services, and the per client administrative rate that a child welfare agency may charge for the administrative portion of its treatment foster care services, as provided in this section. In establishing rates for a placement specified in s. 938.357 (4) (c) 1. or 2., the department shall consult with the department of corrections. A residential care center for children and youth and a group home shall charge all purchasers the same rate for the same services and a child welfare agency shall charge all purchasers the same administrative rate for the same treatment foster care services.
SECTION 5. 49.343 (1m) of the statutes is amended to read:
49.343 (1m) NEGOTIATION OF RATES. Notwithstanding sub. (1) (1g), the department, a county department under s. 46.215, 46.22, 46.23, 51.42, or 51.437, a group of those county departments, or the department and one or more of those county departments, and a residential care center for children and youth or group home, as described in sub. (1), may negotiate a per client rate for the services of that residential care center for children and youth or group home, and the department, a county department under s. 46.215, 46.22, 46.23, 51.42, or 51.437, a group of those county departments, or the department and one or more of those county departments, and a child welfare agency may negotiate a per client administrative rate for the administrative portion of the treatment foster care services of that child welfare agency, if the department, that county department, the county departments in that group of county departments, or the department and one or more of those county departments, agree to place 75% or more of the residents of that residential care center for children and youth or group home or of the treatment foster homes operated by that child welfare agency during the period for which that rate is effective. A residential care center for children and youth or group home that negotiates a per client rate under this subsection shall charge that rate to all purchasers of its services the same rate for the same services and a child welfare agency that negotiates a per client administrative rate under this subsection shall charge all purchasers of its treatment foster care services the same administrative rate for the same treatment foster care services.
SECTION 6. 49.343 (1m) of the statutes, as affected by 2009 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), is repealed.
SECTION 7. 49.343 (2) (title) of the statutes is created to read:
49.343 (2) (title) DETERMINATION OF RATES.
SECTION 8. 49.343 (2) of the statutes is renumbered 49.343 (2) (a) and amended to read:
49.343 (2) (a) A By October 1, 2010, and annually after that, a residential care center for children and youth or a group home, as described in sub. (1) or (1m), shall submit to the department the rate it charges and any change in that rate before a charge is made to any purchaser per client rate that it proposes to charge for services provided in the next year and a child welfare agency shall submit to the department the proposed per client administrative rate that it proposes to charge for treatment foster care services provided in the next year. The department shall provide forms and instructions for the submission of rates and changes in proposed rates under this subsection paragraph and a residential care center for children and youth or a , group home, or child welfare agency that is required to submit a rate or a change in a proposed rate under this subsection paragraph shall submit that rate or change in a proposed rate using those forms and instructions.
SECTION 9. 49.343 (2) (a) of the statutes, as affected by 2009 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), is repealed and recreated to read:
49.343 (2) (a) By October 1 annually, a residential care center for children and youth or a group home shall submit to the department the per client rate that it proposes to charge for services provided in the next year and a child welfare agency shall submit to the department the proposed per client administrative rate that it proposes to charge for treatment foster care services provided in the next year. The department shall provide forms and instructions for the submission of proposed rates under this paragraph and a residential care center for children and youth, group home, or child welfare agency that is required to submit a proposed rate under this paragraph shall submit that proposed rate using those forms and instructions.
SECTION 10. 49.343 (2) (b) of the statutes is created to read:
49.343 (2) (b) The department shall review a proposed rate submitted under par. (a) and audit the residential care center for children and youth, group home, or child welfare agency submitting the proposed rate to determine whether the proposed rate is appropriate to the level of services to be provided, the qualifications of the residential care center for children and youth, group home, or child welfare agency to provide those services, and the reasonable and necessary costs of providing those services. In reviewing a proposed rate, the department shall consider all of the following factors:
1. Changes in the consumer price index for all urban consumers, U.S. city average, as determined by the U.S. department of labor, for the 12 months ending on June 30 of the year in which the proposed rate is submitted.
2. Changes in the allowable costs of the residential care center for children and youth, group home, or child welfare agency based on current actual cost data or documented projections of costs.
3. Changes in program utilization that affect the per client rate or per client administrative rate.
4. Changes in the department's expectations relating to service delivery.
5. Changes in service delivery proposed by the residential care center for children and youth, group home, or child welfare agency and agreed to by the department.
6. The loss of any source of revenue that had been used to pay expenses, resulting in a lower per client rate or per client administrative rate for services.
7. Changes in any state or federal laws, rules, or regulations that result in any change in the cost of providing services, including any changes in the minimum wage, as defined in s. 49.141 (1) (g).
8. Competitive factors.
9. The availability of funding to pay for the services to be provided under the proposed rate.
10. Any other factor relevant to the setting of a rate that the department may determine by rule promulgated under sub. (4).
SECTION 11. 49.343 (2) (c) of the statutes is created to read:
49.343 (2) (c) If the department determines under par. (b) that a proposed rate submitted under par. (a) is appropriate, the department shall approve the proposed rate. If the department does not approve a proposed rate, the department shall negotiate with the residential care center for children and youth, group home, or child welfare agency to determine an agreed to rate. If after negotiations a rate is not agreed to, the department and residential care center for children and youth, group home, or child welfare agency shall engage in mediation under the rate resolution procedure promulgated by rule under sub. (4) to arrive at an agreed to rate. If after mediation a rate is not agreed to, the residential care center for children and youth, group home, or child welfare agency may not provide the service for which the rate was proposed.
SECTION 12. 49.343 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:
49.343 (3) AUDIT. The department may require an audit of any residential care center for children and youth or, group home, as described in sub. (1) or (1m), or child welfare agency for the purpose of collecting federal funds.
SECTION 13. 49.343 (4) of the statutes is created to read:
49.343 (4) RULES. The department shall promulgate rules to implement this section. Those rules shall include rules providing for all of the following:
(a) Standards for determining whether a proposed rate is appropriate to the level of services to be provided, the qualifications of a residential care center for children and youth, group home, or child welfare agency to provide those services, and the reasonable and necessary costs of providing those services.
(b) Factors for the department to consider in reviewing a proposed rate.
(c) Procedures for reviewing proposed rates, including rate resolution procedures for mediating an agreed to rate when negotiations fail to produce an agreed to rate.
SECTION 14. 938.357 (4) (c) 1. of the statutes is amended to read:
