Minors acknowledging paternity; service of the summons and petition in a paternity action when the respondent is deceased; the form for a paternity action summons; releasing a frozen bank account of a support obligor; determining eligibility for Wisconsin Shares; notices to, and the exercise of rights by, a guardian ad litem in an unborn child in need of protection or services proceeding; requiring a diligent investigation by an agency that receives a report of child abuse or neglect if the agency cannot identify an individual who is suspected of the abuse or neglect; eliminating a voluntary foster care education program; the prohibition against a person who has committed armed robbery from showing that he or she has been rehabilitated for purposes of being licensed, certified, or contracted with to provide child care (suggested as remedial legislation by the Department of Children and Families)

2. Under current law, a personal representative for a deceased respondent in a paternity action may appear for the respondent whenever an appearance is required. If the deceased respondent does not have a personal representative, the court may appoint a guardian ad litem, and the guardian ad litem may appear for the deceased respondent. Current law requires that the summons and petition in the paternity action be served on both the personal representative and the guardian ad litem of a deceased respondent. The bill changes the "and" to an "or." Since the court appoints a guardian ad litem only if there is no personal representative, a deceased respondent in a paternity action would not have both a personal representative and a guardian ad litem. The bill also corrects an incorrect cross-reference to the provision relating to service of the summons and petition.

3. Under current law, the form for a summons in a paternity action provides notice that interfering with the custody of a child, which is a Class I felony, is punishable by imprisonment for up to five years. A Class I felony actually is punishable under current law by imprisonment for up to three years and six months.

The bill corrects the maximum length of time for imprisonment for interfering with the custody of a child that is stated in the form for a paternity action summons.

4. Under current law, if a person who has been ordered by a court to pay child support (obligor) is delinquent in the payments, the amount of the delinquency becomes a lien in favor of the Department of Children and Families (DCF). To enforce the lien, DCF may levy against one or more accounts that the obligor has at a financial institution by sending a notice of levy to the financial institution instructing the financial institution to prohibit the closing of or withdrawals from the account, up to the amount that is sufficient to pay the amount of the delinquency plus any financial institution and levying fees. If the obligor requests a hearing and at the hearing the court orders an alternative payment arrangement or determines that the obligor does not owe the support, or owes less than the amount claimed by DCF, the court must, under current law, order DCF to return the seized funds or the excess of the seized funds over the delinquent amount. Since DCF does not actually seize the funds, the bill requires the court to order DCF to instruct the financial institution to release the account, or funds in the account that exceed the delinquent amount, to the obligor.

5. Under current law, except in Milwaukee County, DCF is required to contract with a county department, the Milwaukee County enrollment services unit (services unit), a Wisconsin Works (W-2) agency, a child care resource and referral agency, or another agency to determine the eligibility of individuals for child care subsidies under Wisconsin Shares in a particular geographic region or for a particular Indian tribal unit, and in Milwaukee County DCF may contract with the services unit to determine eligibility. Under former law, W-2 agencies determined eligibility.

The statutes currently provide that an individual may be eligible for Wisconsin Shares if the W-2 agency determines that basic education or a course of study at a technical college would facilitate the individual's efforts to maintain employment and the individual needs child care services to participate in basic education or the course of study. The bill changes this so that the entity that makes this determination is DCF or the entity with which DCF contracts to determine eligibility, which may be other than a W-2 agency.

6. Under current law, the court assigned to exercise jurisdiction under the Children's Code (juvenile court) has exclusive original jurisdiction over an unborn child who is alleged to be in need of protection or services on the grounds that the unborn child's expectant mother habitually lacks self-control in the use of alcohol beverages, controlled substances, or controlled substance analogs, exhibited to a severe degree, to the extent that there is a substantial risk that the physical health of the unborn child will be seriously affected or endangered unless the expectant mother receives prompt and adequate treatment for that habitual lack of self-control (commonly referred to as a "UCHIPS proceeding"). In a UCHIPS proceeding, the unborn child, by or through the unborn child's guardian ad litem, is entitled to receive notice of all hearings involving the unborn child, including hearings involving the temporary physical custody and changes in placement of the expectant mother and revisions to or extensions of the dispositional order. The unborn child, by or through the unborn child's guardian ad litem, is also entitled to exercise certain rights as a party to the proceeding, such as the right to request a substitution of judge, to inspect records relevant to the proceeding, and to demand a public fact-finding hearing or a jury trial. In addition, an unborn child, by or through the unborn child's guardian ad litem, may request or authorize the disclosure of law enforcement, juvenile court, or social services records relating to the expectant mother of the unborn child.

The bill eliminates the provision of those notices to, and the exercise of those rights by, an unborn child, by or through the unborn child's guardian ad litem.

Instead, the bill requires those notices to be provided to, and permits those rights to be exercised by, the unborn child's guardian ad litem.

7. Under current law, if a county department of human services or social services (county department), DCF in a county having a population of 500,000 or more, or a licensed child welfare agency under contract with a county department or DCF to perform child abuse and neglect investigations (collectively "agency"), after evaluating a report of suspected or threatened child abuse or neglect, cannot determine who abused or neglected the child, the agency must initiate a diligent investigation to determine if the child is in need of protection or services. The bill instead requires an agency to initiate such an investigation if the agency cannot identify an individual who is suspected of abuse or neglect or of threatened abuse or neglect of the child.

8. Current law requires DCF to promulgate rules establishing minimum requirements for the issuance of foster home licenses, including rules requiring all foster parents to successfully complete training in the care and support needs of children who have been placed in foster care. That training must be completed before the first child is placed with the foster parent and on an ongoing basis. Current law also requires DCF to develop a voluntary foster care education program to provide specialized training for foster parents who provide care for children with special treatment needs. The bill eliminates that voluntary foster care education program.

9. Current law prohibits a person who has been convicted or adjudicated delinquent on or after his or her 12th birthday for committing a serious crime, as defined under current law, from 1) being licensed to operate a child care center; 2) being certified as a child care provider for purposes of reimbursement under Wisconsin Shares; or 3) contracting with a school board to provide a child care program (collectively, child care provider). Current law similarly prohibits such a person from being an employee or contractor of a child care provider (caregiver) or from being permitted to reside at a premises where child care is provided (nonclient resident). There is an exception to these prohibitions if the person, caregiver, or nonclient resident shows that he or she has been rehabilitated, except that current law bars a person who has committed certain violent crimes, including armed robbery, from showing that he or she has been rehabilitated for purposes of being a child care provider, a caregiver, or a nonclient resident and bars a person who has committed certain property crimes, including armed robbery, from showing that he or she has been rehabilitated for purposes of being a child care provider, but not for purposes of being a caregiver or a nonclient resident.

The bill eliminates armed robbery as a property crime for which a person is barred from showing that he or she has been rehabilitated for purposes of being a child care provider, but not for purposes of being a caregiver or a nonclient resident.

The bill, however, retains armed robbery as a violent crime for which a person is barred from showing that he or she has been rehabilitated for purposes of being a child care provider, a caregiver, or a nonclient resident.

For further information, see the Notes provided by the Law Revision Committee of the Joint Legislative Council.