Wisconsin

Post-permanency services in Wisconsin are provided through the Wisconsin Family Connections Center (WiFCC), a unified, statewide program providing services to parents and caregivers partnering to raise children and youth through kinship care, foster care, and post-permanency, including reunification, guardianship, and adoption. WiFCC offers services for all of Wisconsin, with staff specializing in resources and opportunities for eight different regions.

Relatives can also receive support services from Wisconsin’s Kinship Navigator Program, which includes grants to individual agencies to provide concrete supports, brief legal services, and other support to meet the needs of relative caregivers and the children they are raising, caregiver education resources, and information and referral services. This is available to any relative caregiver of a minor child in Wisconsin regardless of whether they have formal child welfare intervention or not.

From July through December of 2023, 288 contacts were made with WiFCC by families seeking information, referrals, and materials. Currently, approximately eight families receive case management services through GIFTS during a quarter.

For more information, visit https://wifamilyconnectionscenter.org/about-the-wisconsin-family-connections-center/

All services are offered statewide. Social events are held regularly in each of the eight regions. Support groups are facilitated virtually.

The staff are required to have more than 30 hours of training on diverse populations to support the delivery of culturally responsive services. Materials must be translated when needed and available with closed captioning. Contracts require providers to seek assistance from advisors/experts and from individuals with lived experience when developing content to ensure that the materials are culturally responsive and use language that makes groups feel welcome. Populations of particular focus include interracial adoptive families, parents of color, and LGBTQ2S+ families. The state also has a resource hub for the LGBTQ2S+ community.

Outreach to families occurs immediately after adoption finalization. All adoptive families’ names should be provided to WiFCC by the agency completing the adoption. Catholic Charities, WiFCC’s regional service provider, is then responsible for reaching out to families at that time. There is no parallel outreach process for families who exit the system via guardianship.

The Wisconsin Family Connections Center (WiFCC) is operated by two private agencies. The state contracts with the Coalition for Children, Youth, and Families to offer statewide services and with the Journeys Program at the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of La Crosse to offer regional support; however, there is some overlap.

The Coalition for Children, Youth, and Families is responsible for operating the information and referral line and the resource library as well as developing training and coordinating conferences. Catholic Charities has responsibility for case management, support groups, and family fun events.

Wisconsin does not do any outreach to adoption families to confirm eligibility for an adoption subsidy. State law prohibits routine outreach to families based on their receipt of adoption assistance. The state reaches out to guardianship families via a letter on an annual basis to confirm eligibility. If the guardian does not return the annual review form, the monthly subsidy is suspended until it is returned. However, subsidized guardianships are county-administered (unlike adoption assistance, which is state-administered) and some counties do not consistently suspend payments when the annual review is not completed. An eligibility review for a subsidized guardian may also occur when a change in circumstance is reported to the state and prior to the youth turning 18 to confirm if payments can continue after the youth’s 18^th birthday.

A child may be eligible for an amendment to the adoption assistance agreement if (1) the child’s emotional, behavioral, or physical needs have increased and (2) it has been at least 12 months since adoption finalization and at least 12 months since a previous denial for an amendment. An amendment is a one-year increase to the monthly subsidy. After the agency receives all the required forms, they complete a child abuse and neglect background check on the adoptive parent and an assessment on the child’s needs to determine if the monthly payment amount should be increased. An amendment cannot be approved if an adoptive parent has a substantiated report of child abuse or neglect relating to the child for whom the amendment was requested. The agency is required to provide the parent with written notice of this decision and information on the parent’s right to appeal that decision. If the request to increase the payment amount is approved, this will be reviewed by the agency on an annual basis to assess if the increased payment amount should continue or if a new payment amount is warranted.  At least every second year, the family is asked to submit a full amendment request packet, including a parent-completed form and documentation completed by one or more professionals supporting the continuation of the increased need. On the “off” years, the family receives a letter giving them the option to continue the increased rate or to complete the full amendment request packet if they believe their child’s needs have changed. Either the option to continue form or full packet must be returned for the increased rate to continue.

Guardians may request an amendment to their subsidized guardianship agreement to increase the amount of the monthly payments if there has been a substantial change in the child’s emotional, behavioral, physical, and/or personal care needs. The guardian should notify the child welfare agency providing the subsidized guardianship payments to send the amendment request forms. The guardian can make this request 12 months after the guardianship was established or 12 months after a previous request for an amendment was denied.

After the agency receives all the required forms, they complete a child abuse and neglect background check on the guardian and an assessment on the child’s needs to determine if the monthly payment amount should be increased. An amendment cannot be approved if the guardian has a substantiated report of child abuse or neglect relating to the child for whom the amendment was requested since guardian was licensed (i.e., they may have had a substantiation that was successfully rehabilitated through a rehab review to be eligible for licensing). The agency is required to provide the guardian with written notice of this decision and information on the guardian’s right to appeal that decision.

If the request to increase the payment amount is approved, this will be reviewed by the agency on an annual basis to assess if the increased payment amount should continue or if a new payment amount is warranted. Amended subsidized guardianship agreements have to be reviewed annually. At least every other year, the guardian is asked to submit a full amendment request packet, including a guardian-completed form and documentation completed by one or more professionals supporting the continuation of the increased need. On the “off” years, the guardian receives a letter giving them the option to continue the increased rate or to complete the full amendment request packet if they believe the child’s needs have changed. Either the option to continue form or full packet must be returned for the increased rate to continue.

County child welfare professionals enter data into eWiSACWIS, which includes a data element on “child was previously adopted.” Children who have been adopted via public adoptions in Wisconsin should always be identified as “previously adopted” in the system. It may be more challenging to know if other children were previously adopted. The same process is followed for guardianship.

1. State funds
2. Adoption savings (reported on CB 496 Part 4 – Annual Adoption Savings Report)
3. Adoption/Guardianship Incentive Program Payments (AIPP)