3. Detailed Explanation of Statutory Authority for the Rules
Sections
48.366 and
938.366, Stats., as created by
2013 Wisconsin Act 334, permit a child placed in out-of-home care who is a full-time student at a secondary school or its vocational or technical equivalent and for whom an individualized education program (IEP) is in effect to continue in out-of-home care until the child is granted a high school or high school equivalency diploma or reaches 21 years of age, whichever occurs first, under either an extended dispositional order of the juvenile court or a voluntary transition-to-independent-living agreement between the child, or the child's guardian on behalf of the child, and the agency primarily responsible for providing services to the child under the dispositional order.
A person who terminates a voluntary transition-to-independent-living agreement, or the person's guardian on behalf of the person, may request to enter into a new agreement at any time before he or she is granted a high school or high school equivalency diploma or reaches 21 years of age, whichever occurs first, so long as he or she is a full-time student at a secondary school or its vocational or technical equivalent and an IEP remains in effect.
Sections
48.366 (4) and
938.366 (4), Stats., as created by
2013 Wisconsin Act 334, provide that the department shall promulgate rules to implement the extended out-of-home care program that include all of the following:
• Rules permitting a foster home, group home, or residential care center for children and youth to provide care for persons who agree to continue in out-of-home care under an extension of an order described in s.
48.366 (1), Stats., or a voluntary agreement under s.
48.366 (3), Stats.
• Rules setting forth the conditions under which a person who has terminated a voluntary agreement under s.
48.366 (3), Stats., and the agency primarily responsible for providing services under the agreement may enter into a new voluntary agreement under s.
48.366 (3) (c), Stats.
Section
48.975 (3m), Stats., provides that adoption assistance may be provided after the adoptee reaches the age of 18 if the adoptee is a full-time high school student.
The department administers the subsidized guardianship program under ss.
48.623, Stats., and
48.62 (5), 2009 Stats.
Section
227.11 (2) (a), Stats., expressly confers rule-making authority on each agency to promulgate rules interpreting the provisions of any statute enforced or administered by the agency.
4. Estimate of Amount of Time that State Employees Will Spend Developing the Rules and of Other Resources Necessary to Develop the Rules
175 hours.
5. List with Description of all Entities that may be Affected by the Emergency and Proposed Rules
Residential care centers for children and youth; foster parents; group home providers; adoptive parents who are receiving adoption assistance; kinship care relatives; subsidized guardians; child-placing agencies; and children who are eligible for extended out-of-home care, subsidized guardianship, or adoption assistance under s.
48.366, Stats., or
938.66, Stats., and
42 USC 675; county departments of social services; county departments of health and human services; and licensed child welfare agencies.
6. Summary and Preliminary Comparison with any Existing or Proposed Federal Regulation that is Intended to Address the Activities to be Regulated by the Proposed And Emergency Rules
In general, a state can be eligible for federal funding under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act for foster care assistance if all of the following apply:
• The child was removed and placed in foster care in accordance with either of the following:
• A voluntary placement agreement between the state agency, or any other agency acting on behalf of the state, and the parents or guardians. If the child has remained in voluntary placement for a period in excess of 180 days, a judicial determination must be made.
• A judicial determination that:
• The placement is in the best interests of the child.
• Continuation in the home from which removed would be contrary to the welfare of the child and that reasonable or, in the case of an Indian child, active efforts have been made to preserve and unify the family, with the child's health and safety as the paramount concern.
•
The child's placement and care are the responsibility of the state agency or any other public agency with which the state has made an agreement.
• The child has been placed in a foster home, group home, shelter care, or residential care center for children and youth.
• The child, while in the home, would have met the eligibility criteria for Aid to Families with Dependent Children as the program existed on July 16, 1996.
Under 42 USC 675, the definition of “child" that applies to assistance under Title IV-E is the following:
A. Subject to subparagraph B, an individual who has not attained 18 years of age.
B. At the option of a State, the term shall include an individual
for whom the following applies:
(i)
(I) The individual is in foster care under the responsibility of the State.