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2011 - 2012 LEGISLATURE
DOA:......Steinmetz, BB0320 - Allow counties that are not contiguous or adjacent and counties with populations of 500,000 or more to combine to provide joint social and human services
For 2011-13 Budget -- Not Ready For Introduction
An Act ...; relating to: the budget.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
health and human services
Other health and human services
Under current law, a county with a population of less than 500,000 must establish a county department of social services to provide certain services, including services related to children and families and juvenile justice, and such a county may establish a county department of human services to provide a fuller range of human services. A county with a population of 500,000 or more must establish a department of social services and a department of human services. Two or more counties that are contiguous and that each have a population of less than 500,000 may combine to form a department of social services or a department of human services on a multicounty basis. There is no multicounty option for counties with a population of 500,000 or more.
This bill authorizes noncontiguous counties and counties with populations of 500,000 or more to combine to form a department of social services or a department of human services on a multicounty basis.
Also under current law, contiguous counties may combine to establish a county department of community programs, and adjacent counties may establish a county department of developmental disabilities services, on a multicounty basis. The bill authorizes noncontiguous, nonadjacent counties to combine to establish those departments.
Finally, current law provides that a county may combine with another county to establish a county health department on a multicounty basis. The bill specifies that two or more counties may establish a multicounty health department.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. 46.21 (2m) (am) of the statutes is created to read:
46.21 (2m) (am) Multicounty department. A county board of supervisors may establish with one or more other counties a county department of human services on a multicounty basis. A multicounty department of human services established under this paragraph shall meet the requirements for a county department of human services under this section.
Section 2. 46.215 (1) (t) of the statutes is created to read:
46.215 (1) (t) At the discretion of the county board of supervisors, to combine with one or more other counties to establish a county department of social services on a multicounty basis. A multicounty department of social services established under this paragraph shall meet the requirements for a county department of human services under this section.
Section 3. 46.22 (1) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
46.22 (1) (a) Creation. Except as provided under s. 46.23 (3) (b), the county board of supervisors of any county with a population of less than 500,000, or the county boards of 2 or more contiguous counties each with a population of less than 500,000, shall establish a county department of social services on a single-county or multicounty basis. The county department of social services shall consist of a county social services board, a county social services director and necessary personnel.
Section 4. 46.23 (3) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
46.23 (3) (a) Creation. Upon approval by the secretary of health services, by the secretary of corrections, and by the secretary of children and families of a feasibility study and a program implementation plan, the county board of supervisors of any county with a population of less than 500,000, or the county boards of supervisors of 2 or more contiguous counties, each of which has a population of less than 500,000, may establish by resolution a county department of human services on a single-county or multicounty basis to provide the services required under this section. The county department of human services shall consist of the county human services board, the county human services director and necessary personnel.
Section 5. 51.42 (3) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
51.42 (3) (a) Creation. Except as provided under s. 46.23 (3) (b), the county board of supervisors of any county, or the county boards of supervisors of 2 or more contiguous counties, shall establish a county department of community programs on a single-county or multicounty basis to administer a community mental health, developmental disabilities, alcoholism and drug abuse program, make appropriations to operate the program and authorize the county department of community programs to apply for grants-in-aid under s. 51.423. The county department of community programs shall consist of a county community programs board, a county community programs director and necessary personnel.
Section 6. 51.437 (4g) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
51.437 (4g) (a) Except as provided under par. (b) and ss. 46.21 (2m) (b) and 46.23 (3) (b), every county board of supervisors shall establish a county department of developmental disabilities services on a single-county or multicounty basis to furnish services within its county. Adjacent counties, Counties lacking the financial resources and professional personnel needed to provide or secure such services on a single-county basis, may and shall be encouraged to combine their energies and financial resources to provide these joint services and facilities with the approval of the department of health services. The county department of developmental disabilities services shall consist of a county developmental disabilities services board, a county developmental disabilities services director and necessary personnel.
Section 7. 251.02 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:
251.02 (3) A county board may, in conjunction with the county board of another county one or more other counties, establish a multiple county health department, which shall meet the requirements of this chapter. A multiple county health department shall serve all areas of the respective counties that are not served by a city health department that was established prior to January 1, 1994, by a town or village health department established under sub. (3m), or by a multiple municipal local health department established under sub. (3r).
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