Wis. Admin. Code Department of Children and Families DCF 50.02 - Definitions
In this chapter:
(1)
"Adoption" means a process provided by law to establish the legal relationship
of parent and child between persons who do not have that relationship by birth,
with the same mutual rights, obligations, and legal consequences that exist
between the child and the child's biological parents.
(2) "Adoption agency" means a public or
private adoption agency that is licensed to accept guardianship and to place
children under its guardianship for adoption, to license and maintain foster
homes for the purpose of placing children for adoption, or both.
(3) "Adoption assistance" means payments by
the department to the adoptive or proposed adoptive parents of a child that are
designed to assist in the cost of care of that child after an agreement under
s. 48.975(4),
Stats., has been signed and the child has been placed for adoption with the
adoptive or proposed adoptive parents. "Adoption assistance" may include
monthly payments by the department under s.
48.975(3) (a),
Stats.; medical assistance under Title XIX of the Social Security Act of 1935,
as amended, as provided under s.
48.975(3) (b),
Stats.; or reimbursement of nonrecurring adoption expenses as provided under s.
48.975(3) (c),
Stats.
(4) "Adoption information
exchange" means a department program created to facilitate the adoption of
children who are legally free for public adoption by promoting public adoptions
and connecting children who are legally free for public adoption and children
who are at legal risk with qualified prospective adoptive parents.
(5) "Bureau director" means the director of
the division's bureau of permanence and out-of-home care.
(6) "Child" means a person under 18 years of
age.
Note: An adoptee who is 18 years of age or over, but under 21 years of age, may be eligible for adoption assistance under s. DCF 50.15 (3).
(7) "County department" means a county
department of social services under s.
46.22, Stats.; a county
department of human services under s.
46.23, Stats.; or, in a county
having a population of 750,000 or more, the department.
(8) "Department" means the department of
children and families.
(9)
"Division" means the department's division of safety and permanence.
(10) "Division of hearings and appeals" means
the division of hearings and appeals in the department of
administration.
(11) "Final
substantiated finding" means all of the following:
(a) A final determination made after January
1, 2015, that a person has abused or neglected a child under s. 48.981(3) (c)
5m, Stats., and s.
DCF
40.04 if the final determination has not been reversed
or modified on appeal.
(b) A
determination made before January 1, 2015, that a person has abused or
neglected a child under s.
48.981(3) (c)4,
Stats., if the determination has not been reversed or modified on
appeal.
(12) "Foster
home" means a facility operated by a person licensed under s.
48.62(1),
Stats.
(13) "Home study" means an
investigation to determine whether the prospective adoptive parents' home is
suitable for placement of a child for the purpose of a public
adoption.
(14) "Indian child" has
the meaning given in s.
48.02(8g),
Stats.
(15) "Legal risk" means the
status of a child who has a permanency plan that includes adoption when the
parental rights of one or both of the child's parents have not been not been
terminated under the laws of a state or tribe or when a court order terminating
parental rights is being appealed.
(16) "Legally free for public adoption" means
the status of a child when the legal rights of the child's parents have been
severed through death or a termination of parental rights under ss.
48.40 to
48.437, Stats., the laws of
another state, or the laws of a tribe in this state, and the court has
transferred guardianship and custody of the child to a public adoption agency
pending adoptive placement.
(17)
"Nurse practitioner" has the same meaning as "advanced practice nurse" under s.
N 8.02 (1).
(18) "Out-of-home care"
means care in a foster home, a group home under s.
48.625, Stats., or a residential
care center for children and youth under s.
48.60, Stats.
(19) "Permanency plan" means a plan required
under s. 48.38(2),
Stats., that is designed to ensure that a child is safely reunified with the
child's family whenever appropriate, or that the child quickly attains a safe
placement or home providing long-term stability.
(20) "Photolisting" means publication of
photos and descriptions of children who are or may be available for public
adoption to assist prospective adoptive parents identify a child to
adopt.
(21) "Physician" has the
same meaning as in s.
448.01(5),
Stats.
(22) "Physician assistant"
has the same meaning as in s.
448.971(2),
Stats.
(23) "Private adoption
agency" means a child welfare agency with the powers and duties of an adoption
agency under ss. 48.60 and
48.61(5) and
(7), Stats., or a comparable agency
authorized under the laws of another state.
(24) "Proposed adoptive parents" means an
individual or married couple that an adoption agency has identified as the
prospective adoptive parents for a specific child.
(25) "Prospective adoptive parents" means an
individual or married couple that is going through the process to become
adoptive parents.
(26) "Public
adoption" means the adoption of a child under the guardianship of the
department, a county department, or a tribal child welfare department in this
state if the adoption is under the laws of this state.
(27) "Public adoption agency" means the
department, a county department, or a tribal child welfare department in this
state.
(28) "Relative" has the same
meaning as in s. 48.02(15),
Stats.
(29) "Supplemental payment"
means the portion of a monthly adoption assistance payment that is based on a
child's identified needs.
Notes
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