For regulated agencies approved before October 1, 1998, and for persons employed by, under contract to or residing as non-clients at regulated entities before October 1, 1998, the Caregiver Law's required uniform procedures and “bars" were to apply beginning on October 1, 1999. That is to say, by October 1, 1999, background checks, using the uniform procedures, were to be completed for all service providers who were approved before October 1, 1998, and for all employes, contractors and non-client residents employed by, under contract to or living at a regulated entity before October 1, 1998, and action was to be taken to withdraw approval, terminate employment or end a contract, as appropriate.
To implement the new Caregiver Law, the Department on October 1, 1998, published administrative rules, ch. HFS 12, Wis. Adm. Code, by emergency order. Chapter HFS 12 included an appendix which consisted of a list of crimes. The original list specified 159 crimes for conviction of any one of which a person would be barred permanently (45 crimes), all programs, or would be barred temporarily, all programs, pending demonstration of rehabilitation, from being approved to be a service provider or from providing care or treatment to clients or otherwise having access to clients. The October 1998 emergency rules were modified in December 1998 and again in February 1999 by emergency order, and were replaced by permanent rules effective July 1, 1999. The Crimes List in the permanent rules specified 117 crimes, with 9 of these being permanent bar crimes for all programs.
This order again modifies ch. HFS 12, but only the Crimes List and not the text of the chapter. The number of specified crimes is reduced to 79, with 6 of them, all taken from ss. 48.685 and 50.065, Stats., being permanent bar crimes for all programs. The changes to the ch. HFS 12 Crimes List are being made at this time because the 1999-2001 Budget Bill, which in mid-September 1999 was before the Legislature but not likely to take effect before October 1, 1999, was expected to provide for a more modest Crimes List than the one that was appended to ch. HFS 12. This meant that the Legislature intended that some persons who under the current rules would lose their jobs effective October 1, 1999, will be able to keep their jobs. The Department had the authority to further modify the Crimes List so that it would correspond to how the Legislature, after having heard arguments since October 1998 about how the Caregiver Law should be amended and implemented, wanted it to work. This is what the Department did through this order.
Contact Information
To find out more about the hearing or to request a copy of the rules, write or phone:
Paul Menge
OLC/Rules
Dept. of Health and Family Services
P.O. Box 7850
Madison, WI 53707-7850
Telephone (608) 266-5602 or,
if you are hearing impaired, (608) 266-3683 (TTY)
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
Written comments on the proposed rules received at the above address no later than November 2, 1999 will be given the same consideration as testimony presented at the hearing.
Fiscal Estimate
This order revises the list of crimes appended to the ch. HFS 12 permanent rules that were effective on July 1, 1999 and that replaced emergency rules first published on October 1, 1998 to implement the Caregiver Law, ss. 48.685 and 50.065, Stats.
The Caregiver Law requires the Department in it regulatory activities, county social service and human service departments and private child-placing agencies that license foster care providers and approve adoptive family homes and school boards that contract for day care services to do the following:
1) Use uniform procedures to check the backgrounds of persons approved, hired or contracted with to provide care or treatment to persons who need the care or treatment or who will otherwise have access to those persons; and
2) Bar, permanently or temporarily, persons from providing services to clients or from residing at a regulated entity who have in their backgrounds a specified conviction, finding or charge substantially related to the care of clients.
Chapter HFS 12 was effective on October 1, 1998 for persons who were seeking regulatory approval, applying for employment or for a contract with a regulated entity or proposing to reside as a non-client at a regulated entity on or after that date. Chapter HFS 12 will be effective October 1, 1999 for persons who before October 1, 1998 had regulatory approval, were employed by or under contract to a regulated entity or resided as a non-client at a regulated entity.
The Crimes List is revised to reduce the number of specified crimes from 119 to 79 and the number of crimes from 9 to 6 for which a conviction would permanently bar a person, for all programs, from receiving regulatory approval or being hired or contracted with to provide services to clients or to reside at a regulated entity.
The effect of this order should be some reduction in the number of rehabilitation review requests received by the Department, counties and school boards to review and process. However, it is not possible to accurately estimate the number of requests that will be received and what this means for workload and staffing needs of the Department and local units of government. In any case, the substantial new workload involved for the Department, counties and some school boards in implementing the caregiver background check requirements is the result of ss. 48.685 and 50.065, Stats.
Notice of Hearing
Health and Family Services
(Community Services,
Chs. HFS 30--)
Notice is hereby given that pursuant to s. 48.67, Stats., the Department of Health and Family Services will hold a public hearing to consider the repeal and recreation of ch. HFS 52, relating to residential care centers for children and youth, currently called child care institutions.
Hearing Information
October 26, 1999 Room 751
Tuesday State Office Bldg.
From 2:00 p.m. to One West Wilson St.
5:00 p.m. Madison, WI
The hearing site is fully accessible to people with disabilities. Parking for people with disabilities is available in the parking lot behind the building, in the Monona Terrace Convention Center Parking Ramp or in the Doty Street Parking Ramp. People with disabilities may enter the building directly from the parking lot at the west end of the building or from Wilson Street through the side entrance at the east end of the building.
Analysis Prepared by the Dept. of Health and Family Services
In Wisconsin 38 privately-owned residential care centers for children and youths provide treatment to children and youth, and to some young adults ages 18 to 20 who are under continuing juvenile court jurisdiction. A child, adolescent or young adult served by a center will have one or more of the following problems: an emotional disturbance, difficulty in acquiring life skills, an alcohol abuse or drug use or abuse problem or a developmental disability. Placements into residential care centers take place from youth correctional institutions and field supervision, mental health agencies and institutions, county human service and social service agencies and the interstate compact for placement of children under ss. 48.988 and 48.989, Stats., or are made by courts as protective placements under ch. 55, Stats., or by parents. The Department is responsible under ss. 48.60, 48.66 and 48.67, Stats., for licensing and supervising residential care centers on the basis of minimum requirements for issuance of a license and minimum standards for operation of a center. These requirements and standards are set out in ch. HFS 52, Wis. Adm. Code.
Chapter HFS 52 consists of standards for the administration and operation of residential care centers for children and youth, formerly called child care institutions, licensed under ss. 48.60, 48.66 and 48.67, Stats., as “child welfare agencies." The Department made some minor revisions in the rules while renumbering them from s. PW-CY 40.50 to ch. HSS 52 in 1983. However, no significant revisions have been made in the rules since 1971.
This order updates ch. HFS 52 to bring it into compliance with current drafting standards, statutes and other rules and to add new provisions to protect the health, safety and welfare of residents. The major new provisions added to ch. HFS 52 are:
1. Requirements for resident admission screening with formal assessment and treatment planning following admission.
2. A section on the applicability of resident rights under s. 51.61, Stats., and ch. HFS 94 to children and youth in residential care centers.
3. Incorporation by reference of the requirements in ch. HFS 12, relating to caregiver background checks and bars of persons with certain offenses or criminal acts from working for, contracting with, or residing at a residential care center.
4. Policy and procedural requirements for the administration of medications, including psychotropic medications.
5. Stipulation that for residential care centers the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction will establish and monitor compliance with educational standards.
6. Requirements relating to behavior management and control and the use of crisis intervention, physical hold restraint and physically enforced separation.
7. Prohibition of locked living units at a center except with approval of the Department and for purposes and under conditions specified in the rules.
8. Professional staff credentials more related to population served by the center.
9. Certain physical plant requirements, including Department approval for installation of psychiatric screening and magnetic or time delayed door locks.
10. Requirements for transporting residents.
11. Approval criterion for short-term (up to 90 days) and respite care (up to 9 days) programs operated by residential care centers.
12. Recognition that, if designated by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, a residential care center may operate a program for type 2 status juveniles placed by a court under s. 938.34 (4d), Stats., or by the Department of Corrections under s. 938.357 (4), Stats.
The Department in September and October 1995 held three public hearings on an earlier version of these proposed revised rules for child care institutions. The proposed new rules were then held up in the rulemaking process for consideration of specific concerns raised by new Department executives and because drafting staff were temporarily reassigned to support implementation of major new state legislation relating to uniform procedures across Department regulatory programs for checking caregiver backgrounds. Although the proposed rules are very similar to the proposed rules the Department was going to send to the Legislature for review in October 1996 following the 1995 public hearings, the Department has decided to go back to public hearing with them through this notice because of the addition of three new sections to the chapter (for type 2 programs, short-term programs and respite care programs) and the length of time that has elapsed since the last public review.
Contact Information
To find out more about the hearing or to request a copy of the rules, write or phone:
Donald Dorn
Division of Children and Family Services
P.O. Box 8916
Madison, WI 53708-8916
Telephone (608) 266-0415 or,
if you are hearing impaired, (608) 266-7376
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 rule received at the above address no later than October 29, 1999 will be given the same consideration as testimony presented at the hearing.
Fiscal Estimate
This order revises ch. HFS 52, the Department's rules for regulation of child care institutions (CCIs) which are being re-named residential care centers for children and youth.
The revision incorporates several new rules which may increase the operating costs of these child care institutions. The new rules deal with bonding requirements, staff-child ratios, interconnected smoke detector requirements and additional staff time needed to comply with requirements relating to child protection, patient rights and grievance procedures, permission to administer psychotropic medication and assessment and treatment planning. It is believed that most CCIs are already in compliance with the majority of the new requirements so their impact will depend on whether individual institutions have kept pace with current preferred standards and practices. Based on a survey of 8 CCIs, the new rules will generally have a minimal impact on operating costs. Some institutions will be impacted more than others, depending on their current staffing structure, service resources and plant facilities.
None of the 38 CCIs are operated by state government or local governments. However, state government agencies and county governments purchase CCI residential care and treatment services. Given that the impact on CCI operating costs will generally be minimal, the new rules should have a minimal impact on expenditures by the state and by local governments for CCI services. Even if the new requirements result in rate increases for CCIs in some areas of the state, the effect of those increases will depend on CCI placement trends in those areas.
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
These revised rules apply to 38 privately owned residential child care institutions in Wisconsin, a few of which are small businesses as “small business" is defined in s. 227.114 (1) (a), Stats. The facilities provide treatment for children, youth and young adults who have an emotional disturbance, difficulty in acquiring life skills, a developmental disability or have been abusing alcohol or involved with drugs.
The rules have not been generally updated for many years. They are revised by this order to change the generic name of the facilities to residential care centers for children and youth, to bring the rules into compliance with current drafting standards, statutes and other rules, to permit centers to operate short-term programs (up to 90 days) and respite care programs (up to 9 days) and to add new provisions to promote the health, safety and welfare of residents.
There are new requirements relating to: notification of parents and the Department; staff training; preadmission screening; initial assessment of a new resident within 30 days of admission; development of a treatment plan for each new resident; a center program statement; conditions for use of behavior management and control techniques; use of locked living units only with approval of the Department, and for purposes and under conditions specified in the rules; resident rights; transportation of residents; medication administration; fire safety; and conducting caregiver background checks on prospective new employes.
The new rules are minimum requirements to protect the health, safety and welfare of center residents.
Many of the new requirements are recognized as good management practices by the industry.
No new professional skills are necessary for compliance with the revised rules.
Notice of Hearing
Public Instruction
Notice is hereby given that pursuant to ss. 115.42 (4) and 227.11 (2) (a), Stats., and interpreting s. 115.42, Stats., the Department of Public Instruction will hold a public hearing as follows to consider the creation of ch. PI 37, relating to grants for national teacher certification.
Hearing Information
October 26, 1999 Room 041
Tuesday GEF #3 Building
4:00 p.m. to 125 South Webster St.
