Effect on Small Businesses
The department is not aware of any small businesses affected by the proposed rule.
Analysis Used to Determine Effect on Small Businesses
In general, the program is administered by county and tribal agencies, except in Milwaukee where the department’s Milwaukee Division of Child Protective Services contracts with the Professional Services Group, Children’s Hospital, and SaintA to perform assessments. None of these entities is a small business.
Agency Contacts
Jonelle Brom, Section Chief Holly Telfer, Kinship Care Coordinator
Out-of-Home Care Section Out-of-Home Care Section
(608) 422-6930 (608) 422-6921
SECTION 1. DCF 58 is repealed and recreated to read:
KINSHIP CARE AND LONG-TERM KINSHIP CARE
DCF 58.01 Purpose. This chapter is promulgated under the authority of ss. 48.57 (3m) (h) and (i) and (3n) (h) and (i) and 227.11 (2), Stats., to establish criteria and procedures for determining initial and continuing eligibility of a relative providing care and maintenance for a child for a monthly payment to assist with the expenses involved in providing that care and maintenance and for recovering overpayments. DCF 58.02 Definitions. In this chapter:
(1) “Adult resident” means a person 18 years of age or over who meets any of the following conditions:
(a) Lives at the home of a relative caregiver with the intent of making that home the person’s home.
(b) Lives at the home of a relative caregiver for more than 30 days cumulative in any 6−month period.
(2) “Background check” means the requirements under s. 48.57 (3p), Stats., and s. DCF 58.05. (3) “Background information disclosure” means the form prescribed by the department on which a person provides information for purposes of the background check under s. 48.57 (3p), Stats., and s. DCF 58.05. (4) “Child” means a person under 18 years of age. “Child” also includes a person 18 years of age or over if any of the following applies:
(a) The person is under 19 years of age, is a full−time student in good academic standing at a secondary school or its vocational or technical equivalent, and is reasonably expected to complete the program of study and be granted a high school or high school equivalency diploma.
(b) The person is under 21 years of age and meets all of the following conditions:
1. The person is a full−time student at a secondary school or its vocational or technical equivalent.
2. There is an individualized education program under s. 115.787, Stats., in effect for the person. 3. The person is placed in the home of the relative caregiver under any of the following:
a. A court order under s. 48.355, 48.357, 48.365, 938.355, 938.357, or 938.365, Stats., that terminates under s. 48.355 (4) (b) or 938.355 (4) (am), Stats., after the person attains 18 years of age, or a substantially similar Wisconsin tribal law. b. A voluntary transition-to-independent-living agreement.
c. The placement and care responsibility of another state under 42 USC 675 (8) (B) (iv) until that state provides reimbursement for the placement of the child in a relative caregiver’s home in Wisconsin. (5) “Child support agency” means a county or tribal office, officer, board, department, or agency designated by the county board or elected tribal council to administer the child support, spousal support, and establishment of paternity program on behalf of the department pursuant to s. 59.53 (5), Stats., or a cooperative agreement with the department. (6) “Child welfare agency” means a county department of social services under s. 46.22, Stats.; a county department of human services under s. 46.23, Stats.; the department in a county having a population of 750,000 or more; a tribal agency appointed by the tribal governing body; or another state that has placement and care responsibility under 42 USC 675 (8) (B) (iv) of a child in Wisconsin until the other state provides reimbursement for the child’s placement in a relative caregiver’s home in Wisconsin. (7) “Conviction record” means the record of a person’s arrests and convictions.
(8) “Court order” means a court order under s. 48.21, 48.355, 48.217, 48.357, 48.365, 938.21, 938.217, 938.355, 938.357, or 938.365, Stats., that terminates under s. 48.355 (4) (b) or 938.355 (4) (am), Stats., after the person attains 18 years of age, or a substantially similar Wisconsin tribal law. (9) “Custodial parent” means a parent that has legal custody of a child.
(10) “Department” means the department of children and families.
(11) “Director” means the director of a county department of social services under s. 46.22, Stats., or a county department of human services under s. 46.23, Stats.; the division administrator of the department’s division of Milwaukee child protective services; or the person designated by the governing body of a Wisconsin tribe. (12) “Division of hearings and appeals” means the division of hearings and appeals in the department of administration.
(13) “Employee” means a person hired by a relative caregiver to work in a position in which the person has contact with the child on a regular basis.
(14) “Final substantiated finding” means all of the following:
(a) A final determination made after January 1, 2015, that a person has abused or neglected a child under s. 48.981 (3) (c) 5m., Stats., and s. DCF 40.04 if the final determination has not been reversed or modified on appeal. (b) A determination made before January 1, 2015, that a person has abused or neglected a child under s. 48.981 (3) (c) 4., 2013 Stats., if the determination has not been reversed or modified on appeal. (c) A finding that is comparable to a final substantiated finding in any other jurisdiction.
(15) “Kinship care” means the program under s. 48.57 (3m), Stats. (16) “Kinship care agency” or “agency” means a county department of social services under s. 46.22, Stats.; a county department of human services under s. 46.23, Stats.; the department in a county having a population of 750,000 or more; a tribal agency appointed by the tribal governing body that has entered an agreement with the department to administer kinship care or long-term kinship care as provided under s. 48.57 (3t), Stats.; or a public or private agency under contract with a county department, the department, or a tribal agency for the purpose of administering all or part of kinship care or long−term kinship care. (17) “Kinship care payment” means a monthly payment in an amount specified in s. 48.57 (3m) (am), Stats., that is paid to a relative caregiver that has been determined eligible for payments under s. 48.57 (3m) and (3p), Stats., and this chapter. (18) “Legal custody” means, with respect to an individual with legal custody of a child, the right and responsibility to make major decisions, as defined under s. 767.001 (2m), Stats., concerning the child. Note: Section 767.001 (5), Stats., defines “physical placement” as the condition under which a party has the right to have a child physically placed with that party and has the right and responsibility to make, during that placement, routine daily decisions regarding the child’s care, consistent with major decisions made by a person having legal custody. (19) “Long−term kinship care” means the program under s. 48.57 (3n), Stats. (20) “Long−term kinship care payment” means a monthly payment in an amount specified in s. 48.57 (3n) (am), Stats., that is paid to a relative caregiver that has been determined eligible under s. 48.57 (3n) and (3p), Stats., and this chapter. (21) “Medical assistance” means the assistance program under 42 USC, ch. 7, subch. XIX, and ch. 49, Stats., subch. IV. (22) “Relative” means an adult that is the child’s stepparent, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, half sister, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, first cousin, 2nd cousin, nephew, niece, uncle, aunt, stepuncle, stepaunt, or any person of a preceding generation as denoted by the prefix of grand, great, or great-great, whether by blood, marriage, or legal adoption, or the spouse of any person named in this subsection, even if the marriage is terminated by death or divorce.
(23) “Relative caregiver” means a relative that is providing care and maintenance for a child and is applying for, or receiving, kinship care payments or long-term kinship care payments.
(24) “Voluntary kinship care” means the program under s. 48.57 (3m), Stats., when the child is not placed in the relative caregiver’s home under a court order or a voluntary transition-to-independent-living agreement and is not under the placement and care responsibility of a child welfare agency. (25) “Voluntary transition−to−independent−living agreement” means a voluntary agreement under s. 48.366 (3) or 938.366 (3), Stats. DCF 58.03 Types of relative caregiving. This chapter applies to the following types of relative caregiving of a child:
(1) Court-ordered out-of-home care placement. A relative applying for or receiving kinship care payments on behalf of a child that was placed in the relative’s home under a court order or a voluntary transition-to-independent-living agreement and is under the placement and care responsibility of a child welfare agency. A relative under this subsection shall also apply for or has applied for a license to operate a foster home under ch. DCF 56, unless the child was placed in the relative caregiver’s home by a court order of a tribal court. (2) Voluntary. A relative applying for or receiving kinship care payments on behalf of a child residing with the relative for a child that was not placed in the relative caregiver’s home under a court order or a voluntary transition-to-independent-living agreement and is not under the placement and care responsibility of a child welfare agency. The child’s living arrangement with the relative may be informal or the relative may be the child’s guardian under ch. 54, Stats. (3) Guardian appointed for child in need of protection or services. A relative that is applying for or receiving long-term kinship care payments and is a child’s guardian under s. 48.977, Stats. DCF 58.04 Eligibility criteria for kinship care and long-term kinship care. A relative caregiver shall be eligible to receive kinship care payments or long-term kinship care payments if the kinship care agency determines that all of the following conditions are met:
(1) Application. (a) All applicants. The relative caregiver applies for kinship care payments or long-term kinship care payments using the application form prescribed by the department.
(b) Court-ordered out-of-home care placement. 1. If the child is placed in the home of the relative caregiver under a court order or a voluntary transition-to-independent-living agreement and a child welfare agency has placement and care responsibility for the child, the relative caregiver also completes the application for a license to operate a foster home, including the completion of forms prescribed by the department under ch. DCF 56. 2. Notwithstanding subd. 1., a relative caregiver of a child placed in the relative caregiver’s home under a court order or a voluntary transition-to-independent-living agreement is not required to apply for a license to operate a foster home if the child was placed in the relative caregiver’s home by a court order of a tribal court.
Note: If a relative caregiver has a private guardianship of the child under ch. 54, Stats., a child welfare agency does not have placement and care responsibility for the child, unless there is another court order giving the child welfare agency placement and care responsibility. (c) More than one child. A relative caregiver may apply for kinship care or long-term kinship care for more than one child on the same application form.
Note: DCF-F-CFS2023, Kinship Care Payment Application, is the application prescribed by the department if the relative caregiver is not required to apply for a license to operate a foster home. DCF-F-2483-E, Joint Court-Ordered Kinship Care and Foster Care Application –Part A is the application form prescribed by the department if the child is in a court-ordered out-of-home care placement. Both application forms are available on the department’s website at https://dcf.wisconsin.gov/forms. (2) Cooperation with agency. The relative caregiver cooperates with the kinship care agency, including all of the following:
(a) Completing and returning any forms prescribed by the department.
(b) Returning phone calls from the kinship care agency.
(c) Providing information through home visits, interviews, and documentation as necessary for the kinship care agency to determine or redetermine the eligibility of the relative caregiver for kinship care or long-term kinship care.
(d) Applying for other forms of assistance for which the child may be eligible, including financial assistance and medical assistance for the child.
(e) Cooperating with referral of the child’s parent or parents to the child support agency, except in any of the following circumstances:
1. The child is 18 years of age or over.
2. The relative caregiver has a pending good cause claim under s. DCF 58.12. 3. The relative caregiver requested and the kinship care agency granted a good cause exemption to the requirement that a relative caregiver cooperate with referring the child’s parent to the child support agency under s. DCF 58.12. (f) Notifying the kinship care agency of a change in circumstances specified under s. DCF 58.10 (1). (g) Cooperating with eligibility redeterminations and reviews under s. DCF 58.10. (h) If the child is 18 years of age or over and the relative caregiver is applying for or receiving voluntary kinship care payments or long-term kinship care payments, providing the kinship care agency with a form prescribed by the department that has been signed by the relative caregiver and an official from the child’s school that verifies that the child meets the criteria in s. DCF 58.02 (4) (a) or (b) 1. and 2.
