48.236 (3) (a) to (c) and that, in addition to any other authority specified in the memorandum of understanding, a volunteer or employee of the program who is authorized to provide court-appointed special advocate services may be authorized to exercise any of the authority specified in s. 48.236 (4) (a) and (b), unless the parties to the memorandum of understanding determine that a variance from the requirements of pars. (b) to (d), the activities specified in s. 48.236 (3) (a) to (c) or the authority specified in s. 48.236 (4) (a) and (b) is necessary for the efficient administration of the program. (b) Selection. 1. A court-appointed special advocate program may select a person to provide court-appointed special advocate services if the person is 21 years of age or older, demonstrates an interest in the welfare of children, undergoes a satisfactory background investigation as provided under subd. 2., completes the training required under par. (c) and meets any other qualifications required by the court-appointed special advocate program. A court-appointed special advocate program may refuse to permit to provide court-appointed special advocate services any person whose provision of those services might pose a risk, as determined by the court-appointed special advocate program, to the safety of any child. 2. On receipt of an application from a prospective court-appointed special advocate, the court-appointed special advocate program, with the assistance of the department of justice, shall conduct a background investigation of the applicant. If the courtappointed special advocate program determines that any information obtained as a result of the background investigation provides a reasonable basis for further investigation, the court-appointed special advocate program may require the applicant to be fingerprinted on 2 fingerprint cards, each bearing a complete set of the applicant’s fingerprints, or by other technologies approved by law enforcement agencies. The department of justice may provide for
May 22, 2026, are designated by NOTES. (Published 5-22-26)
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the submission of the fingerprint cards or fingerprints by other technologies to the federal bureau of investigation for the purposes of verifying the identification of the applicant and obtaining the applicant’s criminal arrest and conviction record. The court-appointed special advocate program shall keep confidential all information received from the department of justice and the federal bureau of investigation under this subdivision. (c) Training. A court-appointed special advocate program shall require a volunteer or employee of the program selected under par. (b) to complete a training program before the volunteer or employee may be designated as a court-appointed special advocate under s. 48.236 (1). The training program shall include instruction on recognizing child abuse and neglect, cultural competency, as defined in s. 48.982 (1) (bm), child development, the procedures of the court, permanency planning, the activities of a court-appointed special advocate under s. 48.236 (3) and information gathering and documentation, and shall include observation of a proceeding under s. 48.13. A court-appointed special advocate program shall also require each volunteer and employee of the program selected under par. (b) to complete continuing training annually. (d) Supervision and evaluation. The supervisory support staff of a court-appointed special advocate program shall be easily accessible to the volunteers and employees of the program who are authorized to provide court-appointed special advocate services, shall hold regular case conferences with those volunteers and employees to review case progress and shall conduct annual performance evaluations of those volunteers and employees. A court-appointed special advocate program shall provide its staff and volunteers with written guidelines describing the policies, practices and procedures of the program and the responsibilities of a volunteer or employee of the program who is authorized to provide court-appointed special advocate services. History: 1975 c. 39; 1977 c. 271, 354, 447; 1979 c. 34; 1981 c. 314 s. 146; 1983 a. 27 s. 2202 (20); 1985 a. 176; 1989 a. 31, 107; 1993 a. 446; 1995 a. 27, 77; 1997 a. 27, 292; 1999 a. 149; 2013 a. 20; 2015 a. 172.