Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 46 - Social services.
46.283 - Resource centers.

46.283 Resource centers.
(1) Application for contract.
(a) A county board of supervisors and, in a county with a county executive or a county administrator, the county executive or county administrator, may decide all of the following:
1. Whether to authorize one or more county departments under s. 46.21, 46.215, 46.22 or 46.23 or an aging unit under s. 46.82 (1) (a) 1., 2., or 3. to apply to the department for a contract to operate a resource center and, if so, which to authorize and what client group to serve.
2. Whether to create a long-term care district to apply to the department for a contract to operate a resource center.
(b) The governing body of a tribe or band or of the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, Inc., may decide whether to authorize a tribal agency to apply to the department for a contract to operate a resource center for tribal members and, if so, which client group to serve.
(c) A county board of supervisors may decide to apply to the department for a contract to operate a multicounty resource center in conjunction with the county board or boards of one or more other counties or a county-tribal resource center in conjunction with the governing body of a tribe or band or the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, Inc.
(d) The governing body of a tribe or band may decide to apply to the department for a contract to operate a resource center in conjunction with the governing body or governing bodies of one or more other tribes or bands or the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, Inc., or with a county board of supervisors.
(2) Exclusive contract. The department may contract to operate a resource center with counties, long-term care districts, or the governing body of a tribe or band or the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, Inc., under a joint application of any of these, or with a private nonprofit organization if the department determines that the organization has no significant connection to an entity that operates a care management organization and if any of the following applies:
(a) A county board of supervisors declines in writing to apply for a contract to operate a resource center.
(b) A county agency or a long-term care district applies for a contract but fails to meet the standards specified in sub. (3).
(3) Standards for operation. The department shall assure that at least all of the following are available to a person who contacts a resource center for service:
(a) Information and referral services and other assistance at hours that are convenient for the public.
(b) A determination of functional eligibility for the family care benefit.
(c) Within the limits of available funding, prevention and intervention services.
(d) Counseling concerning public and private benefits programs.
(e) A determination of financial eligibility and of the maximum amount of cost sharing required for a person who is seeking long-term care services, under standards prescribed by the department.
(f) Assistance to a person with respect to the person's choice of whether or not to enroll in the self-directed services option, as defined in s. 46.2899 (1), a care management organization for the family care benefit or the Family Care Partnership program, or the program of all-inclusive care for the elderly and, if so, which available long-term care program or care management organization would best meet his or her needs.
(g) Assistance in enrolling in a care management organization for persons who choose to enroll.
(j) Transitional services to families whose children with physical or developmental disabilities are preparing to enter the adult service system.
(k) A determination of eligibility for state supplemental payments under s. 49.77, medical assistance under s. 49.46, 49.468, 49.47, or 49.471, or the federal food stamp program under 7 USC 2011 to 2029.
(4) Duties. A resource center shall do all of the following:
(a) Provide services within the entire geographic area prescribed for the resource center by the department.
(b) Submit to the department all reports and data required or requested by the department.
(c) Implement internal quality improvement and quality assurance processes that meet standards prescribed by the department.
(d) Cooperate with any review by an external advocacy organization.
(f) Perform a functional screening and a financial and cost-sharing screening for any resident who requests a screening and assist any resident who is eligible and chooses to enroll in a care management organization or the self-directed services option to do so.
(g) Perform a functional screening and a financial and cost-sharing screening for any person seeking admission to a nursing home, community-based residential facility, residential care apartment complex, or adult family home, if the secretary has certified that the resource center is available to the person and the facility and the person is determined by the resource center to have a condition that is expected to last at least 90 days that would require care, assistance, or supervision. A resource center may not require a financial and cost-sharing screening for a person seeking admission or about to be admitted on a private pay basis who waives the requirement for a financial and cost-sharing screening under this paragraph, unless the person is expected to become eligible for medical assistance within 6 months. A resource center need not perform a functional screening for a person seeking admission or about to be admitted for whom a functional screening was performed within the previous 6 months.
(h) Provide access to services under s. 46.90 and ch. 55 to a person who is eligible for the services, through cooperation with the elder-adult-at-risk agency or the adult-at-risk agency that provides the services.
(i) Assure that emergency calls to the resource center are responded to promptly, 24 hours per day.
(j) Target any outreach, education, and prevention services it provides and any service development efforts it conducts on the basis of findings made by the governing board of the resource center under sub. (6) (b) 2. and 3.
(5) Funding. From the appropriation accounts under s. 20.435 (1) (n), (4) (b), (bd), (bm), (gm), (pa), and (w), and (7) (b) and (md), the department may contract with organizations that meet standards under sub. (3) for performance of the duties under sub. (4) and shall distribute funds for services provided by resource centers.
(6) Governing board.
(a)
1. A resource center shall have a governing board that reflects the ethnic and economic diversity of the geographic area served by the resource center.
2. At least one-fourth of the members of the governing board shall be individuals who belong to a client group served by the resource center or their family members, guardians, or other advocates. The proportion of these board members who belong to each client group, or their family members, guardians, or advocates, shall be the same, respectively, as the proportion of individuals in this state who receive services under s. 46.2805 to 46.2895 and belong to each client group.
3. An individual who has a financial interest in, or serves on the governing board of, a care management organization or an organization that administers a program described under s. 46.2805 (1) (a) or (b) or a managed care program under s. 49.45 for individuals who are eligible to receive supplemental security income under 42 USC 1381 to 1383c, which serves any geographic area also served by a resource center, and the individual's family members, may not serve as members of the governing board of the resource center.
(b) The governing board of a resource center shall do all of the following:
1. Determine the structure, policies, and procedures of, and oversee the operations of, the resource center. The operations of a resource center that is operated by a county are subject to the county's ordinances and budget.
2. Annually gather information from consumers and providers of long-term care services and other interested persons concerning the adequacy of long-term care services offered in the area served by the resource center. The board shall provide well-advertised opportunities for persons to participate in the board's information gathering activities conducted under this subdivision.
3. Identify any gaps in services, living arrangements, and community resources needed by individuals belonging to the client groups served by the resource center, especially those with long-term care needs.
4. Report findings made under subds. 2. and 3. to the applicable regional long-term care advisory committee.
5. Recommend strategies for building local capacity to serve older persons and persons with physical or developmental disabilities, as appropriate, to local elected officials, the regional long-term care advisory committee, or the department.
6. Identify potential new sources of community resources and funding for needed services for individuals belonging to the client groups served by the resource center.
8. Annually review interagency agreements between the resource center and care management organizations that provide services in the area served by the resource center and make recommendations, as appropriate, on the interaction between the resource center and the care management organizations to assure coordination between or among them and to assure access to and timeliness in provision of services by the resource center and the care management organizations.
9. Review the number and types of grievances and appeals related to the resource center to determine if a need exists for system changes and recommend system or other changes if appropriate.
(7) Confidentiality; exchange of information. No record, as defined in s. 19.32 (2), of a resource center that contains personally identifiable information, as defined in s. 19.62 (5), concerning an individual who receives services from the resource center may be disclosed by the resource center without the individual's informed consent, except as follows:
(a) A resource center may provide information as required to comply with s. 16.009 (2) (p) or 49.45 (4) or as necessary for the department to administer the program under ss. 46.2805 to 46.2895.
(b) Notwithstanding ss. 48.78 (2) (a), 49.45 (4), 49.83, 51.30, 51.45 (14) (a), 55.22 (3), 146.82, 252.11 (7), 253.07 (3) (c) and 938.78 (2) (a), a resource center acting under this section may exchange confidential information about a client, as defined in s. 46.287 (1), without the informed consent of the client, under s. 46.21 (2m) (c), 46.215 (1m), 46.22 (1) (dm), 46.23 (3) (e), 46.284 (7), 46.2895 (10), 51.42 (3) (e) or 51.437 (4r) (b) in the county of the resource center, if necessary to enable the resource center to perform its duties or to coordinate the delivery of services to the client.
History: 1999 a. 9; 2001 a. 16, 103; 2003 a. 33; 2005 a. 25, 254, 264, 386, 388; 2007 a. 20 ss. 969, 971 to 973, 976, 978 to 991; 2009 a. 2, 28, 180, 247, 249; 2011 a. 32; 2015 a. 55; 2017 a. 59; 2019 a. 9.
Neither this section nor the resource center's contract with the Department of Health Services established that the owner of a residential care facility had a protected property interest in the resource center listing the facility in the resource center's directory that would be sufficient to support a due process claim under the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. First, this section provides for the creation and operation of resource centers. It does not confer any property rights to individuals. Second, the contract between the resource center and the department did not include the owner as a party or grant the owner a property interest. Makhsous v. Daye, 980 F.3d 1181 (2020).

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