Rule-Making Notices
Notice of Hearing — Rehearing
Children and Families
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to sections
48.62 (1) and
(8),
48.67 (intro.) and
(4),
48.975,
49.155,
895.485 (4) (a), and
227.11 (2) (a), Stats., the Department of Children and Families proposes to hold a public hearing to consider proposed permanent rules revising Chapters
DCF 37,
38,
50,
56 201 and
250, relating to foster care.
Hearing Information
Date and Time Location
May 3, 2011 GEF 1 Building
Tuesday Room D203
at 1:30 P.M. 201 E. Washington Avenue
Madison, WI 53703
If you have special needs or circumstances regarding communication or accessibility at a hearing, please call (608) 267-9403 at least 10 days prior to the hearing date. Accommodations such as ASL interpreters, English translators, or materials in audio format will be made available on request to the fullest extent possible.
Appearances at the Hearing and Submittal of Written Comments
Interested persons are invited to appear at the hearing and will be afforded the opportunity to make an oral presentation of their positions. Persons making oral presentations are requested to submit their facts, views, and suggested rewording in writing.
Written comments on the proposed rules received at the above address, email, or through the
http://adminrules.wisconsin.gov website no later than
May 3, 2011, will be given the same consideration as testimony presented at the hearing.
Copies of Proposed Rule
A copy of the proposed rules is available at
http://adminrules.wisconsin.gov. This site allows you to view documents associated with this rule's promulgation, register to receive email notification whenever the Department posts new information about this rulemaking order, and submit comments and view comments by others during the public comment period.
You may receive a paper copy of the rule or fiscal estimate by contacting:
Elaine Pridgen
Office of Legal Counsel
Department of Children and Families
201 E. Washington Avenue
Madison, WI 53703
(608) 267-9403
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Children and Families
Statute(s) interpreted
Statutory authority
Related statute or rule
Explanation of agency authority
Section
48.62 (1), Stats., provides that any person who receives, with or without transfer of legal custody, 4 or fewer children or, if necessary to enable a sibling group to remain together, 6 or fewer children or, if the department promulgates rules permitting a different number of children, the number of children permitted under those rules, to provide care and maintenance for those children shall obtain a license to operate a foster home from the department, a county department or a licensed child welfare agency as provided in s.
48.75, Stats.
• Rules providing levels of care that a licensed foster home is certified to provide. Those levels of care shall be based on the level of knowledge, skill, training, experience, and other qualifications that are required of the licensee, the level of responsibilities that are expected of the licensee, the needs of the children who are placed with the licensee, and any other requirements relating to the ability of the licensee to provide for those needs that the department may promulgate by rule.
• Rules establishing a standardized assessment tool to assess the needs of a child placed or to be placed outside the home, to determine the level of care that is required to meet those needs, and to place the child in a placement that meets those needs. A foster home that is certified to provide a given level of care may provide foster care for any child whose needs are assessed to be at or below the level of care that the foster home is certified to provide. A foster home that is certified to provide a given level of care may not provide foster care for any child whose needs are assessed to be above that level of care unless the department, county department, or child welfare agency issuing the foster home license determines that support or services sufficient to meet the child's needs are in place and grants an exception to that prohibition.
• Rules providing monthly rates of reimbursement for foster care that are commensurate with the level of care that the foster home is certified to provide and the needs of the child who is placed in the foster home. Those rates shall include rates for supplemental payments for special needs, exceptional circumstances, and initial clothing allowances for children placed in a foster home that is receiving an age-related monthly rate under s.
48.62 (4), Stats. In promulgating the rules, the department shall provide a mechanism for equalizing the amount of reimbursement received by a foster parent prior to the promulgation of those rules and the amount of reimbursement received by a foster parent under those rules so as to reduce the amount of any reimbursement that may be lost as a result of the implementation of those rules.
• Rules providing a monthly retainer fee for a foster home that agrees to maintain openings for emergency placements.
Section
48.67 (intro.), Stats., provides that the department shall promulgate rules establishing minimum requirements for the issuance of licenses to, and establishing standards for the operation of child welfare agencies, day care centers, foster homes, group homes, shelter care facilities, and county departments. Those rules shall be designed to protect and promote the health, safety, and welfare of the children in the care of all licensees.
Section
48.67 (4), Stats., requires that all foster parents successfully complete training in the care and support needs of children who are placed in foster care that has been approved by the department. The training shall be completed on an ongoing basis, as determined by the department. The department shall promulgate rules prescribing the training that is required under this subsection and shall monitor compliance with this subsection according to those rules.
Section
48.975 (5), Stats., provides that the department shall promulgate rules to implement adoption assistance that include the following:
• A rule defining a child with special needs, which shall include a child who the department determines has, at the time of placement for adoption, moderate or intensive difficulty-of-care problems, as defined by the department, or who the department determines is, at the time of placement for adoption, at high risk of developing those problems.
• A rule defining the substantial change in circumstances under which adoptive or proposed adoptive parents may request that an agreement made be amended to increase the amount of adoption assistance for maintenance. The definition shall include all of the following:
• Situations in which a child who was defined as a child with special needs based solely on being at high risk of developing moderate or intensive difficulty-of-care problems has developed those problems.
• Situations in which a child's difficulty-of-care problems have increased from the moderate level to the intensive level as set forth in the department's schedule of difficulty-of-care levels promulgated by rule.
• A rule establishing requirements for submitting a request to increase adoption assistance based on a substantial change in circumstances, criteria for determining the amount of the increase in adoption assistance for maintenance that the department shall offer if there has been a substantial change in circumstances and if there has been no substantiated report of abuse or neglect of the child by the adoptive or proposed adoptive parents, and the procedure to appeal the decision of the department regarding the request.
Under ss.
49.155 and
227.11, Stats., the department may promulgate rules relating to administration of the child care subsidy program.
Section
895.485 (4) (a), Stats., specifies the kinds of information about all foster children that the child's placing agency is to provide to the child's foster parent or family-operated group home parent.
Summary of proposed rules
Levels of Care
Section
48.62 (8) (a), Stats., directs the department to create rules providing levels of care for foster homes. The purpose of levels of care is to improve the placement stability, safety, and permanence of children placed in foster homes by matching their assessed needs with the skills, abilities, and capacities of caregivers.
The Department has implemented the rules on levels of care in two phases. The first level of care rule was effective January 1, 2010, and created a process to certify foster homes at Level 1 or 2 and created training requirements for foster parents who operate foster homes with a Level 1 or 2 certification. A Level 1 foster home is available only to foster parents with a child-specific license. The creation of Level 1 foster homes coincided with implementation of the statutory requirement that relative caregivers of a child placed in the caregiver's home under court order who received kinship care payments under ch.
DCF 58 apply for and obtain a foster care license if they are licensable. A Level 2 foster home is a basic foster home.
This rule creates a process to certify foster homes at Level 3 to 5. Chapter DCF 38, Treatment Foster Care for Children, is repealed and most of the requirements in ch. DCF 38 are integrated into ch. DCF 56, Foster Home Care for Children, to create a single foster care rule with progressive requirements for all foster parents and agencies. Requirements from ch.
DCF 38 that have been integrated into ch.
DCF 56 with minor modifications include requirements regarding the characteristics and responsibilities of foster parents, physical environment of foster homes, care of foster children, responsibilities of supervising and licensing agencies, and responsibilities of the treatment team.
Treatment Foster Parent Requirements under Chapter DCF 38. Under ch.
DCF 38, a treatment foster parent had to have the following qualifications:
• Experience: An applicant had to meet at least 2 criteria from a list of 5 types of education, skills, abilities, and work or personal experience with children.
• Training:
• 18 hours of pre-placement training.
• 24 hours of training in the second 12-month period following licensure.
• 18 hours of ongoing training in every subsequent 12-month period.
• Three favorable references.
Level 3 Moderate Treatment Foster Homes. For new Level 3 foster homes, a foster parent must have the following qualifications:
• Experience: An applicant must meet at least 3 criteria from a list of 7 types of education, skills, abilities, and work or personal experience with children.
• Training:
• 36 hours of pre-placement training.
