Chapter 46, SOCIAL SERVICES

46.001 Purposes of chapter. The purposes of this chapter are to conserve human resources in Wisconsin; to prevent depen- 46.2805 46.281 46.283 46.284 46.285 46.286 46.287 46.288 46.2895 46.2896 46.2897 46.2898 46.2899 46.29 46.293 46.295 46.297 46.298 46.33 46.34 46.37 46.40 46.4…

46.011 Definitions. In chs. 46, 50, 51, 54, 55, and 58: (1c) “Community-based juvenile delinquency-related services” means juvenile delinquency-related services provided under ch. 938 other than juvenile correctional services. (1e) “Department” means the department of health serv…

46.014 Secretary, powers and duties. (1) INVENTORIES. On or before July 1 in each year, the secretary shall cause full and complete inventories and appraisals to be made of all the property of each institution administered by the department, which shall be recorded and so classif…

46.016 Cooperation with federal government. The department may cooperate with the federal government in carrying out federal acts concerning public assistance, social security, mental hygiene, services for the blind, and in other matters of mutual concern pertaining to public wel…

46.017 Legal actions. sued. The department may sue and be

46.018 Disbursement of funds and facsimile signatures. Withdrawal or disbursement of moneys deposited in a public depository, as defined in s. 34.01 (5), to the credit of the department or any of its divisions or agencies shall be by check, share draft or other draft signed by th…

46.02 Agency powers and duties. Any institution that is subject to chs. 46, 49 to 51, 55, and 58 and to regulation under ch. 150 shall, in cases of conflict between chs. 46, 49 to 51, 55, and 58 and ch. 150, be governed by ch. 150. The department shall promulgate rules and establ…

46.027 Contract powers. (1) RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS; LEGISLATIVE PURPOSE. The purpose of this section is to allow the department to contract with, or award grants to, religious organizations, under any program administered by the department, on the same basis as any other nongove…

46.028 Electronic benefit transfer. The department may deliver benefits that are administered by the department to recipients of the benefits by an electronic benefit transfer system if all of the following conditions are satisfied: (1) The department obtains any authorization fr…

46.03 Department, powers and duties. The department shall: (1) INSTITUTIONS GOVERNED. Maintain and govern the Mendota and the Winnebago mental health institutes; the secure mental health facility established under s. 46.055; and the centers for the developmentally disabled. (2) S…

46.031 County social service and mental hygiene budget and contract. (1) BUDGET. (a) Each county department under s. 46.215, 46.22, 46.23, 51.42 or 51.437 shall submit to the department by December 31 annually its final budget for services directly provided or purchased. (b) The …

46.034 Authority to establish services integration and coordination pilot programs. (1) The department, in order to discharge more effectively its responsibilities under this chapter and chs. 51, 250, and 251 and other relevant provisions of the statutes, may establish community …

46.035 Department, additional powers to provide structures, facilities and permanent improvements. (1) As used in this section unless the context requires otherwise: (a) The term “existing building” in relation to any conveyance, lease or sublease made under sub. (2) (a), (b), an…

46.036 Purchase of care and services. (1) All care and services purchased by the department or by a county department under s. 46.215, 46.22, 46.23, 51.42, or 51.437, except as provided under subch. III of ch. 49 and s. 301.08 (2), shall be authorized and contracted for under the…

46.04 Anchorage program. (1) DEFINITIONS. In this section: (a) “Adolescent” means an individual who is at least 12 years of age and under 18 years of age. (b) “Drug dependent” has the meaning specified under s. 51.01 (8b). (c) “Mental illness” has the meaning given in s. 51.01 (1…

46.041 Children’s consultation service; establishment; purposes. A program to be known as the “children’s consultation service” shall be provided. The service shall be established at the Mendota Mental Health Institute or the Winnebago Mental Health Institute, or at both institut…

46.042 Treatment program for emotionally disturbed children. The department shall establish a program for the intensive treatment of emotionally disturbed children. The program shall be operated by the Mendota Mental Health Institute and be subject to all federal and state laws, …

46.043 Additional services of mental health institutes. (1) In addition to inpatient and outpatient services provided at mental health institutes under ss. 51.05 and 51.07, the department may authorize mental health institutes to offer services other than inpatient mental health …

46.044 State psychiatric institute. There is established the state psychiatric institute to be maintained as a department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The statutes relating to admission, commitment, placement, transfer, custody and discharge of mentally ill persons are…

46.047 State-operated residential facilities and support services. The department may establish and operate noninstitutional residential facilities for persons who are relocated from any center for the developmentally disabled, as defined in s. 51.01 (3), and may provide necessar…

46.048 Central Wisconsin Center for the Developmentally Disabled. There is established a new institution to be located near the city of Madison and to be known as the Central Wisconsin Center for the Developmentally Disabled. The department, with the approval of the governor, is …

46.055 Secure mental health facility for sexually violent persons. The department shall establish and operate a secure mental health facility for the detention, evaluation and institutional care of persons under ch. 980. History: 1999 a. 9. Cross-reference: See also ch. DHS 95, W…

46.056 Wisconsin Resource Center. The department shall establish the Wisconsin Resource Center on the grounds of the Winnebago Mental Health Institute near Oshkosh. Notwithstanding s. 301.03, the department shall have responsibility for administering the center as a correctional …

46.057 Mendota juvenile treatment center. (1) The department shall establish, maintain, and operate the Mendota juvenile treatment center on the grounds of the Mendota Mental Health Institute. The department may designate staff at the Mendota Mental Health Institute as responsibl…

46.058 Bonds of employees; police powers; investigation of complaints. (1) The steward of each institution under the control of the department shall execute and file an official bond in such sum and with such sureties as the secretary prescribes. The steward shall also require an…

46.06 Lands; condemnation, easements, leases, sales, purchases. Subject to s. 16.848: (1) CONDEMNATION. When the department is authorized and desires to acquire land and is unable to agree with the owner upon the terms of purchase, or when such agreement cannot be had without unr…

46.064 Client wages, allowances and release payments. The department may pay a wage or an allowance and a release payment to clients at its institutions. The department shall prescribe the amounts of pay and such hours, health and other conditions in connection with employment as…

46.066 Freedom of worship; religious ministration. (1) Subject to reasonable exercise of the privilege, members of the clergy of all religious faiths shall be given an opportunity, at least once each week, to conduct religious services within the state institutions under the cont…

46.07 Property of patients or residents. All money including wages and other property delivered to an officer or employee of any institution for the benefit of a patient or resident shall immediately be delivered to the steward, who shall enter the money upon the steward’s books …

46.09 Purchases, bills, audits, payments. Subject to s. 16.848: (1) STEWARD AS BUSINESS MANAGER. The steward of each institution under the control of the department is the local business manager and requisitioning officer, subject to the direction and rules of the department, and…

46.10 Cost of care and maintenance, liability; collection and deportation counsel; collections; court actions; recovery. (1) Liability and the collection and enforcement of such liability for the care, maintenance, services, and supplies specified in this section is governed excl…

46.13 Wassermann tests. The department may arrange with the laboratory of hygiene to secure the Wassermann test for any person confined in any state or county institution.

46.14 Reports of state institutions. (1) MONTHLY. The officer in charge of each state institution under the control of the department shall report monthly to the department, an itemized statement of all receipts and disbursements, and of the daily number of inmates, officers, tea…

46.15 Institutions subject to chapter 150. Nursing homes or hospitals under ss. 46.16, 46.17, 46.175, 46.20 and 46.205 are subject to ch. 150. History: 1977 c. 29; 1983 a. 27.

46.16 General supervision and inspection by department. (1) GENERALLY. The department shall investigate and supervise all the charitable and curative institutions, including county infirmaries, of every county and municipality, except tuberculosis sanatoriums, and all hospitals, …

46.17 County buildings; establishment, approval, inspection. (1) The department shall fix reasonable standards and regulations for the design, construction, repair, and maintenance of county homes, county infirmaries, county hospitals, and mental health facilities, with respect t…

46.175 County institutions: minimum standards. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any county currently operating an institution established under s. 49.70, 49.71, 49.72, 51.08, or 51.09 may, by resolution of the county board or, in Milwaukee County for institutions provi…

46.18 Trustees of county institutions. (1) TRUSTEES. Every county home, infirmary, hospital, or similar institution, shall, subject to regulations approved by the county board except in Milwaukee County for county homes, infirmaries, hospitals, or institutions providing mental he…

46.19 Officers and employees of county institutions. (1) The trustees shall appoint a superintendent of each institution and may remove the superintendent for cause, as defined in s. 17.001, on due notice in writing and hearing of the charges against the superintendent. (2) The t…

46.20 Joint county institutions. (1) Any 2 or more counties may jointly, by majority vote of all the members of each county board, provide for a county home, infirmary, hospital, or similar institution, or juvenile detention home, which shall be established, maintained and operat…

46.205 County home in adjoining county. The county board of any county may by a majority vote of all of its members provide for a home for the aged and physically disabled in an adjoining county and all bonds heretofore issued for the construction or other acquisition of such a h…

46.206 Welfare services; supervisory functions of state department. (1) (a) The department shall supervise the administration of social services, except for social services provided under ch. 48 and subch. III of ch. 49, community-based juvenile delinquency-related services, and …

46.208 Relief block grants; functions of state department. (1) All records of the county or tribal governing body relating to the administration of relief funded by a relief block grant, as defined in s. 49.001 (5p), shall be open to inspection at all reasonable hours by authoriz…

46.21 Institutions and department of human services in populous counties. (1) DEFINITIONS. In this section: (a) “Administrator” means the administrator of the county hospital who is appointed under sub. (1m) (am). (am) “County board of supervisors” means the county board of super…

46.215 County department of social services in populous counties. (1) CREATION; POWERS AND DUTIES. Except as provided in ss. 49.155 (3g), 49.78 (1r), 49.825, and 49.826, in a county with a population of 750,000 or more the administration of welfare services, other than child welf…

46.22 County social services. 46.22(1)(1) County department of social services. 46.22(1)(a)(a) Creation. Except as provided under s. 46.23 (3) (b), the county board of supervisors of any county with a population of less than 750,000, or the county boards of 2 or more counties, sh…

46.225 Indigency determinations. If applicable under s. 977.07 (1), a county department under s. 46.21, 46.22 or 46.23 shall make indigency determinations. History: 1979 c. 356; 1985 a. 176.

46.23 County department of human services. (1) INTENT. The intent of this section is to enable and encourage counties to develop and make available to all citizens of this state a comprehensive range of human services in an integrated and efficient manner; to utilize and expand e…

46.234 Recovery residences; registration. (1) DEFINITION. In this section, “recovery residence” means a home-like, residential environment that promotes healthy recovery from a substance use disorder and supports persons recovering from a substance use disorder through the use of…

46.238 Infants and unborn children whose mothers abuse controlled substances, controlled substance analogs, or alcohol. If an agency, as defined in s. 48.981 (1) (ag), receives a report under s. 146.0255 (2) or 146.0257 (2) and that agency is a county department under s. 46.22 or…