•· Allows a foster parent to have an associate’s degree or higher instead of requiring a bachelor’s degree or higher. •· Requires that the foster parent contact with the foster child include parent-child interactions, such as doing homework, playing games, and going on community outings. •· Repeals traineeship as a qualification for a foster parent and program staff. •· Revises the minimum age requirement for program staff from 21 years of age to 18 years of age. •· Revises the physical exam requirement for program staff from within the past 6 months to within the past 12 months. Foster parent training
•· Repeals the requirement for a foster parent training advisory committee. •· Repeals the requirement that the preplacement training for foster parents who operate a Level 4 foster home include 4 hours of child-specific or population-specific training. •· Repeals the option of an agency curriculum for preplacement training. •· Repeals details of the department’s standardized curriculum for initial licensing training. •· Revises the ongoing training limitation that no more than 20 percent of the required hours be from books, periodicals, web-based resources, or television and radio presentations to instead provide that ongoing training that is not in person or a live video conference not exceed 20 percent of the required hours. Supervising or placing agency
• Repeals the requirement that each foster child with a severe emotional disturbance have a clinical consultant with specified qualifications assigned. • Repeals the requirement for an aftercare plan for a child who is no longer in foster care. • Repeals the qualification requirements for a child welfare professional for foster homes with a Level 3 to 5 certification and instead require that the supervising or placing agency ensure that each child welfare professional is able to perform the specified duties independently or under the supervision of staff with a master’s degree or higher educational level. Licensing agency responsibilities
• Expands the requirement that a licensing agency notify any supervising agency with a foster child placed in a foster home prior to placement of a new foster child in the home from only when there will be more than 2 foster children placed in a foster home with a Level 3 to 5 certification to instead require notification when any new foster child will be placed in a foster home. Respite care for foster parents
• Reduces applicability of the respite care rule for a planned absence of the foster parent from an absence of more than 48 hours to an absence of more than 72 hours. • Provides that a foster child not be in respite care for more than 28 consecutive days and that a licensing agency may establish a limit that is less than 28 consecutive days. Relative or like-kin foster homes
•· Repeals nonsafety-related waivers for relatives and specifies additions, modifications, and exceptions for a relative or like-kin of a child placed or intended to be placed in the home. Summary of Data and Analytical Methodologies
The development of the proposed rule focused on maintaining licensing standards needed for safe caregiving while repealing overly stringent rules that cause unnecessary administrative burden for licensing agencies and inappropriate barriers to licensure of foster parents, especially relatives.
The process began with appointing a DCF 56 Advisory Council that included county foster care licensors, supervisors, and ongoing services professionals, and representatives from the Wisconsin County Human Services Association, the Wisconsin Association of Family & Children’s Agencies, tribal child welfare agencies, private child-placing agencies, and the Division of Milwaukee Child Protective Services.
The department and the DCF 56 Advisory Council compared the shorter and simpler federal Department of Health and Human Services National Model Foster Family Home Licensing Standards (2019) and the department’s current rule. In particular, many of the quantitative requirements in the physical environment section of the current rule were determined to be inappropriate, such as measuring the size of a foster child’s bedroom. In other areas, the department’s proposed rule includes more than what is in the model licensing standards. Additional input was received from other stakeholders, including foster youth at Camp to Belong, the Children’s Court Improvement Program, Indian Child Welfare Directors, and advocates for relative licensing.
The department also made changes to provisions in the current rule for which there are a large number of questions and exception requests, including sleeping arrangements, the requirement to use a licensed or certified child care provider for regular child care outside the foster home, firearms, and care of a foster child’s hair. The proposed rule has fewer prescriptive requirements for sleeping arrangements, allows unregulated child care providers in certain circumstances, allows concealed carry of a handgun, offers additional options for firearm storage requirements, and specifies that major hair care decisions should be made by a foster child’s parent or a foster youth.
_em5sk2qkmbrnIn addition, the proposed rule creates separate licensing standards for relatives and like-kin, as authorized by a federal rule issued in September 2023. The department’s current rule allows for nonsafety-related waivers for relatives based on a previous federal regulation. The licensing standards for relatives and like-kin in the proposed rule are based on the model standards, Kin-Specific Foster Home Approval: Recommended Standards of National Organizations, which were released shortly after the new federal rule by a coalition of 10 national organizations. The department’s relative and like-kin standards align with the kin-specific model standards. Summary of Related Federal Law
42 USC 671 (a) (10) (A) provides that a state shall establish and maintain standards for foster family homes that are reasonably in accord with recommended standards of national organizations concerned with standards for the homes, including standards related to admission policies, safety, sanitation, and protection of civil rights, and which shall permit use of the reasonable and prudent parenting standard. 42 USC 671 (a) (2) Before a child in foster care placed with prospective foster parents, the prospective foster parents will be prepared adequately with the appropriate knowledge and skills to provide for the needs of the child, and that such preparation will be continued, as necessary, after the placement of the child. 42 USC 672 (c) (1) In general, a foster parent may care for not more than 6 children in foster care. State flexibility to exceed this limit is allowed for any of the following reasons: • To allow a parenting youth in foster care to remain with the child of the parenting youth. • To allow siblings to remain together. • To allow a child with an established meaningful relationship with the family to remain with the family. • To allow a family with special training or skills to provide care to a child who has a severe disability. Separate Licensing Standards for Relative or Kinship Foster Family Homes, Department of Health and Human Services, 88 Federal Register 66700 (September 28, 2023) (to be codified at 45 CFR 1355.20 and 45 CFR 1356.21) This federal rule allows state and tribal Title IV–E agencies to adopt a set of foster home licensing or approval standards for individuals related to a child by blood, marriage or adoption and other individuals who have an emotionally significant relationship with the child, including fictive kin, that differ from the foster home licensing or approval standards used for individuals who are not relatives or fictive kin.
National Model Foster Family Home Licensing Standards, Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth, and Families, Children’s Bureau, Information Memorandum 19-01, Attachment A, issued February 4, 2019
The Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s Bureau, developed National Model Foster Family Home Licensing Standards in response to a directive in The Family First Prevention Services Act (2018) to identify reputable model licensing standards for the licensing of foster family homes (Public Law 115-123, Section 50731). Comparison to Adjacent States
Michigan
A foster parent is required to designate sleeping arrangements that are appropriate for each child’s age, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, medical and mental health needs, behavior, and history of abuse. Bedrooms must have a window to the outside that is big enough for evacuation. The use of a video camera in a bedroom of any foster child over the age of 2 is strictly prohibited.
Michigan allows a foster parent to carry a firearm in the foster home and on the property as allowed by law. Firearms must be stored locked either in a gun safe, solid metal gun case, or solid wood gun case with ammunition allowed in the same location or locked with a cable lock or trigger lock with ammunition in a separate locked location that is inaccessible to children. This is similar to the department’s proposed rule.
A foster parent must provide an allowance for a foster child based on agency guidelines or as determined by the social services worker and the foster parent for specific youth. Any money earned or received directly by the child remains the property of the child.
A foster parent must ensure that a child is able to communicate with family and friends in a manner consistent with the child’s expressed wishes, appropriate to the child’s functioning, and in accordance with the child’s treatment plan.
Illinois
A bedroom must be a minimum of 40 square feet for the first child and a minimum of 35 square feet for each additional child sharing the room. Children under six years of age may share a bedroom with related children of the opposite sex who are also under age six if each child is provided with a separate bed or crib.
The provisions on firearms and ammunition requires that they be stored and locked up separately at all times and kept in places inaccessible to children. Loaded guns may not be kept in a foster home unless required by law enforcement officers and in accordance with their law enforcement agency’s safety procedures. This provision is similar to Wisconsin’s current rule on firearms.
Personal allowance money shall be available to the children based upon the child’s age and ability to manage the money. Adolescents may be allowed to earn additional spending money.
Foster parents are authorized to approve visits that do not exceed 48 hours away from the foster parents’ care.
Dangerous household supplies and dangerous tools shall be kept in a safe place inaccessible to children under 12 years of age.
Iowa
co_anchor_IDC95D6D2D44611ED9C94F0E1F332CThe minimum bedroom area per child shall be 40 square feet. Any child over five years of age may not share a bedroom with a child of the opposite sex. A bedroom must have an unobstructed, operable window that is large enough to allow for an unrestricted exit by the child. Except for baby video monitors for a child under 2 years of age used in their bedroom, video or surveillance cameras are not allowed in the child’s bedroom or bathroom. Temperature in the bedroom must be at least 65 degrees. Firearms, sling shots, BB guns, and any other projectile weapon must be stored in a locked area inaccessible to children. Ammunition must be locked separately from a weapon. The rule specifies a form for foster parents to sign if they have a permit to carry a firearm. Any motor vehicles used to transport a foster child shall not contain a loaded gun.
The agency may waive any non-safety licensing standard for relative applicants, just as under Wisconsin’s current rule.
A foster child must be provided with a separate bed suitably sized for the child, except that two siblings of the same sex may share a double bed. Bedrooms that are used by foster children must have two exits.
Firearms and ammunition must be stored separately in locked areas that are not accessible or visible to a foster child. No one may have a loaded firearm on their person in a foster home.
Effect on Small Businesses
The rule affects small businesses as defined in s. 227.114 (1), Stats., but will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of businesses. Analysis Used to Determine Effect on Small Businesses
The rule reduces the administrative burden on private child-placing agencies that license Level 3 to 5 foster homes.
Agency Contact
Emily Erickson, Director
Bureau of Permanence and Out-of-Home Care
(608) 422-6961
Place Where Comments are to be Submitted and Deadline for Submission
Comments may be submitted to Elaine Pridgen, Department of Children and Families, 201 W. Washington Ave, P.O. Box 8916, Madison, WI, 53708-8916 or dcfpublichearing@wisconsin.gov. The comment deadline is June 24, 2025. Rule Text
SECTION 1. DCF 50.05 (10) (a) 5. and 6. are amended to read:
DCF 50.05 (10) (a) 5. Any of the changes specified in the background check notification requirements in s. DCF 56.05 (1) (g) 56.06 (4) for any household member. 6. If the prospective adoptive parents have a foster child placed in the home, any of the serious incidents specified in the notification requirements in s. DCF 56.06 (2) and (3). SECTION 2. DCF 51.07 is amended to read:
DCF 51.07 Credit for foster parent training. (1) Completion of the standardized curriculum. (a) Notwithstanding s. DCF 51.05, a prospective adoptive parent that has completed the foster parent training under s. DCF 56.14 (6d), (6h), or (7) may receive credit as appropriate toward the 25 hours of preadoption training under ss. DCF 51.05 and 51.06. The adoption agency shall ensure that the prospective adoptive parent completes in-person training sufficient to cover the required topics in s. DCF 51.05 (1) as they relate to adoption.
