Wis. Admin. Code Department of Children and Families DCF 50.17 - Adoption assistance reviews and appeals

(1) BEFORE ADOPTION IS FINAL.

(a) Prior to the entry of the adoption order, proposed adoptive parents may contest a department action by requesting any of the following:

1. A review by the division administrator or designee.

2. A hearing before the division of hearings and appeals under ch. 227, Stats., and ch. HA 3.

(b) Any of the following department actions may be contested under par. (a):

1. Denial of eligibility for adoption assistance.

2. The amount of the monthly adoption assistance payment that the department offered.

(c) A request for review may be filed no later than 10 days after the date of the department's notice of the action.

(2) AFTER ADOPTION IS FINAL.

(a) After the adoption is final, adoptive parents may request a hearing with the division of hearings and appeals under ch. 227, Stats., and ch. HA 3 to appeal any of the following actions:

1. Denial of an amendment request under s. DCF 50.14 or approval of an amount that is less than the adoptive parents consider appropriate.

2. Amendment or termination of the adoption assistance agreement without the concurrence of the adoptive parents.

3. Suspension of monthly adoption assistance payments without the concurrence of the adoptive parents.

4. Failure of the department to comply with a condition of the adoption assistance agreement.

5. A determination that the adoptive parents received an overpayment or the amount of the overpayment.

(b) Adoptive parents may request a hearing no later than 30 days after the date of the department's notice of the action or the date of the inaction.

(3) AFTER ADOPTION IS FINAL WITH EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES. After the adoption is final, adoptive parents may request a hearing with the division of hearings and appeals under ch. 227, Stats., and ch. HA 3 if all of the following conditions are met:

(a) The adoptive parents are appealing any of the following:

1. A department decision after the adoption became final that the conditions of eligibility in s. DCF 50.09 are not met.

2. A department decision before the adoption became final relating to the amount of adoption assistance under s. DCF 50.11.

(b) The conditions for eligibility for adoption assistance in s. DCF 50.09 existed at the time the adoption became final.

(c) One of the following extenuating circumstances occurred:

1. Facts regarding the child, the child's biological family, or the child's background that were relevant to the proposed adoption were known to the adoption worker who served as the child's guardian and who represented the adoption agency that placed the child for adoption, but were not presented to the adoptive parents by the adoption agency or by another source, such as the child's physician or the agency that originally placed the child for foster care, before the adoption became final.

2. Adoption assistance was denied based upon a means test of the adoptive family.

3. The department's determination that the child was ineligible for adoption assistance was erroneous.

4. The adoptive parents were not advised by the adoption agency or by another source, such as a social worker or another adoptive parent, about the availability of adoption assistance and had not previously adopted with adoption assistance.

(d) It has been less than 90 days since the adoptive parents knew or reasonably should have known of the extenuating circumstance under par. (c) that is the basis for the hearing request.

Notes

Wis. Admin. Code Department of Children and Families DCF 50.17

Adopted by, CR 18-001: cr. Register August 2018 No. 752, eff. 9/1/2018

A request for review of a decision may be addressed to the Administrator, Division of Safety and Permanence, P.O. Box 8916, Madison, WI 53708-8916.