Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 48 - Children's code.
48.47 - Duties of department.

48.47 Duties of department. The department shall do all of the following:
(3) Trustee duty. When ordered by the court, act as trustee of funds paid for the support of any child if appointed by the court or a circuit court commissioner under s. 767.82 (7).
(4) Education and prevention. Develop and maintain education and prevention programs that the department considers to be proper.
(7) Children and youth.
(cm) Promote the establishment of adequate child care facilities and services in this state by providing start-up grants to newly operating child care facilities and services under rules promulgated by the department.
(d) With the assistance of the judicial conference, develop simplified forms for filing petitions for child abuse restraining orders and injunctions under s. 813.122. The department shall provide these forms to clerks of circuit court without cost.
(f) As part of its biennial budget request under s. 16.42, submit a request for funding for child abuse prevention efforts in an amount equal to or greater than 1 percent of the total proposed budget of the department of corrections for the same biennium, as indicated by the estimate provided by the department of corrections under s. 301.03 (14).
(h) Contract for the provision of a centralized unit for determining whether the cost of providing care for a child is eligible for reimbursement under 42 USC 670 to 679a.
(7g) Statewide automated child welfare information system. Establish a statewide automated child welfare information system. Notwithstanding ss. 46.2895 (9), 48.396 (1) and (2) (a), 48.78 (2) (a), 48.981 (7), 49.45 (4), 49.83, 51.30, 51.45 (14) (a), 55.22 (3), 146.82, 252.11 (7), 252.15, 253.07 (3) (c), 938.396 (1) (a) and (2), and 938.78 (2) (a), the department may enter the content of any record kept or information received by the department into the statewide automated child welfare information system, and a county department under s. 46.215, 46.22, or 46.23, the department, or any other organization that has entered into an information sharing and access agreement with the department or any of those county departments and that has been approved for access to the statewide automated child welfare information system by the department may have access to information that is maintained in that system, if necessary to enable the county department, department, or organization to perform its duties under this chapter, ch. 46, 51, 55, or 938, or 42 USC 670 to 679b or to coordinate the delivery of services under this chapter, ch. 46, 51, 55, or 938, or 42 USC 670 to 679b. The department may also transfer information that is maintained in the system to a court under s. 48.396 (3) (bm), and the court and the director of state courts may allow access to that information as provided in s. 48.396 (3) (c) 2. In addition, the department, a county department under s. 46.215, 46.22, or 46.23 or any other organization that has entered into an information sharing and access agreement, and that has been approved for access to the system, under this subsection may transfer information about a missing child that is maintained in the system to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children under s. 48.78 (2m) (c) or 938.78 (2m) (c).
(8) Annual reports. Annually, prepare and transmit to the governor, and to the legislature under s. 13.172 (2), a report on all of the following, which shall be the subject of a public hearing, conducted no less often than annually, by the appropriate standing committees of the legislature:
(a) The status of child abuse and neglect programs and on the status of unborn child abuse programs. The report shall include a full statistical analysis of the child abuse and neglect reports, and the unborn child abuse reports, made through the last calendar year, an evaluation of services offered under this section and their effectiveness, and recommendations for additional legislative and other action to fulfill the purpose of this section. The department shall provide statistical breakdowns by county, if requested by a county.
(b) The number of adoptions under the special needs adoption program granted in the preceding calendar year and the costs to the state for services relating to those adoptions.
(c) The number of children during the preceding calendar year who entered out-of-home care under the placement and care responsibility of a county department or the department under ch. 48 or 938 after finalization of an adoption or guardianship. For each child enumerated in the report, the report may include information concerning the length of the adoption or guardianship, the age of the child at the time of the adoption or guardianship, the age at which the child entered out-of-home care, the type of agency involved in making the adoptive or guardianship placement, and any other information determined necessary to better understand factors associated with a child entering out-of-home care after finalization of an adoption or guardianship.
(d) A summary of information in the summary reports required under s. 48.981 (7) (cr) 3. b., including all of the following:
1. Aggregated information from the summary reports transmitted to the governor and appropriate standing committees of the legislature in the preceding calendar year.
2. Trends identified by the department in the summary reports transmitted to the governor and appropriate standing committees of the legislature in the preceding calendar year.
3. Trends identified by the department based on in-depth practice reviews conducted by the department of incidents for which it received information under s. 48.981 (7) (cr) 2.
4. Changes in policies or practices that have been made to address any issues raised in the department's review of the incidents in the summary reports in the preceding calendar year and recommendations for any further changes in policies, practices, rules, or statutes that may be needed to address those issues.
(9) Citizen review panels. Transmit to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature under s. 13.172 (3) any annual report sent to the department from a citizen review panel established or designated by the department or a county department, and any written response provided by the department to a citizen review panel.
(39) Adolescent programming recommendations. Identify and provide ways to improve coordination of adolescent and parent educational programs and services at the state and local levels by doing all of the following:
(a) Identifying and recommending ways to eliminate governmental barriers to local development of coordinated educational programs and services for adolescents and parents of adolescents.
(b) Identifying and recommending ways to support and involve parents of adolescents in the planning, coordination and delivery of services for adolescents.
(40) Foster care public information. Conduct a foster care public information campaign.
History: 2007 a. 20 ss. 804, 805, 807 to 809, 823, 1268 to 1271; 2007 a. 96; 2009 a. 28, 180, 185, 338; 2011 a. 270; 2015 a. 368; 2015 a. 381 ss. 4, 9; 2021 a. 147, 148.

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