1997 - 1998 LEGISLATURE
March 5, 1998 - Introduced by Representatives Huebsch, Ladwig, Musser,
Schafer, Porter, Kedzie, Ward and Dobyns, cosponsored by Senator Darling.
Referred to Committee on Children and Families.
AB884,1,4
1An Act to repeal 20.435 (3) (dh);
to amend 48.552 (2) (a) (intro.); and
to create
220.435 (3) (dh), 20.435 (3) (pm) and 48.552 of the statutes;
relating to: special
3needs adoption contracts, granting rule-making authority and making
4appropriations.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, the department of health and family services (DHFS), the
Milwaukee County department of social services, if contracted to do so by DHFS, and
a licensed child welfare agency, if licensed to do so by DHFS, may accept
guardianship of a child and place the child for adoption. Current law also requires
DHFS to establish a state adoption information exchange for the purpose of finding
adoptive homes for children with special needs. Current administrative rules
provide certain criteria for determining when a child is a child with special needs.
Those criteria include a child who has moderate to intensive difficulty-of-care
problems, a child 10 years of age or over, a child who is a member of a sibling group
of 3 or more children that must be placed together and a child who belongs to a
minority group and who is difficult to place due to a lack of placement resources for
children of that minority group.
This bill requires DHFS to contract with not more than 2 child welfare agencies
to do al of the following in the 2 regions, as designated by DHFS for purposes of
program administration, of the state, other than the region that includes Milwaukee
County, that have the highest number of children with special needs:
1. Recruit, process and approve qualified families for the adoption of children
with special needs in the region.
2. Coordinate the services provided by DHFS, including the state adoption
information exchange, other child welfare agencies and other persons to recruit,
process and approve qualified families for the adoption of children with special needs
in the region.
3. Coordinate the services described in items 1. and 2., above, with the services
provided by the county departments of human services or social services in the region
to identify children with special needs who do not have permanent homes, to initiate
termination of parental rights proceedings for those children and to provide child
welfare services to those children pending their adoption and, if necessary, following
their adoption.
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:
AB884, s. 1
1Section
1. 20.005 (3) (schedule) of the statutes: at the appropriate place, insert
2the following amounts for the purposes indicated:
-
See PDF for table ![PDF](https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/assets/image/file_acrobat.gif)
AB884, s. 2
3Section
2. 20.435 (3) (dh) of the statutes is created to read:
AB884,2,74
20.435
(3) (dh)
Special needs adoption contracts. The amounts in the schedule
5to enter into contracts under s. 48.552 (2) (a) for the provision and coordination of
6services to recruit, process and approve qualified families for the adoption of children
7with special needs.
AB884, s. 3
8Section
3. 20.435 (3) (dh) of the statutes, as created by 1997 Wisconsin Act ....
9(this act), is repealed.
AB884, s. 4
1Section
4. 20.435 (3) (pm) of the statutes is created to read:
AB884,3,42
20.435
(3) (pm)
Federal aid; adoption incentive payments. All federal moneys
3received as adoption incentive payments under
42 USC 473A, as authorized by the
4governor under s. 16.54, to be expended for the purposes for which received.
AB884, s. 5
5Section
5. 48.552 of the statutes is created to read:
AB884,3,6
648.552 Special needs adoption contracts. (1) Definitions. In this section:
AB884,3,97
(a) "Child welfare agency" means a child welfare agency that is licensed under
8s. 48.60 and authorized under s. 48.61 (5) to accept guardianship of children and to
9place children under its guardianship for adoption.
AB884,3,1110
(b) "Region" means a grouping of counties designated by the department for
11purposes of program administration.
AB884,3,17
12(2) Awarding of contracts. (a) From the appropriations under s. 20.435 (3)
13(dh) and (pm), the department, in accordance with its request-for-proposal
14procedures, shall contract with not more than 2 child welfare agencies to do all of the
15following in the 2 regions of the state, other than the region that includes a county
16having a population of 500,000 or more, that have the highest number of children
17with special needs:
AB884,3,1918
1. Recruit, process and approve qualified families for the adoption of children
19with special needs in the region of the state for which the contract was awarded.
AB884,3,2320
2. Coordinate the services provided by the department, including the state
21adoption information exchange under s. 48.55, other child welfare agencies and other
22persons to recruit, process and approve qualified families for the adoption of children
23with special needs in the region of the state for which the contract was awarded.
AB884,4,424
3. Coordinate the services provided under subds. 1. and 2. with the services
25provided by the county departments in the region of the state for which the contract
1was awarded to identify children with special needs who do not have permanent
2homes, to initiate termination of parental rights proceedings for those children and
3to provide child welfare services to those children pending their adoption and, if
4necessary, following their adoption.
AB884,4,105
(b) A child welfare agency that is awarded a contract under par. (a) shall
6provide matching funds equal to 20% of the contract amount awarded. The match
7may be in the form of money or in-kind services or both, but any moneys used by a
8child welfare agency toward a match may not include moneys received from the state
9government. Any proposed match that includes in-kind services is subject to the
10approval of the department.
AB884,4,1411
(c) A child welfare agency that is awarded a contract under par. (a) shall provide
12to the department such information that the department determines is necessary for
13monitoring and evaluating the performance of the child welfare agency under the
14contract.
AB884, s. 6
15Section
6. 48.552 (2) (a) (intro.) of the statutes, as created by 1997 Wisconsin
16Act .... (this act), is amended to read:
AB884,4,2217
48.552
(2) (a) (intro.) From the
appropriations appropriation under s. 20.435
18(3)
(dh) and (pm), the department, in accordance with its request-for-proposal
19procedures, shall contract with not more than 2 child welfare agencies to do all of the
20following in the 2 regions of the state, other than the region that includes a county
21having a population of 500,000 or more, that have the highest number of children
22with special needs:
AB884, s. 7
23Section
7.
Effective dates. This act takes effect on July 1, 1998, or on the day
24after publication, whichever is later, except as follows:
AB884,5,2
1(1)
The repeal of section 20.435 (3) (dh) of the statutes and the amendment of
2section 48.552 (2) (a) (intro.) of the statutes takes effect on July 1, 1999.