NCJ Number
164322
Date Published
1996
Length
72 pages
Annotation
This report describes the background and provisions of Wisconsin legislation focusing on children in need of protection or services due to child abuse or neglect.
Abstract
The legislation revises the purpose statement in the Children's Code to reemphasize that the child's best interests must always be the paramount and guiding factor considered in using and interpreting the law. The legislation also creates or revises definitions of the terms abuse, physical injury, reasonable discipline, and emotional damage and revises the grounds for jurisdiction related to children in need of protection or services. It also specifies the responsibilities of a guardian ad litem in a court proceeding, expands the role of foster parents and certain other physical custodians in hearings, permits intake workers to extend informal dispositions for these children, provides for the appointment of a child's relative as the guardian of the person of a child determined to be in need of protection or services, and revises provisions relating to the involuntary termination of parental rights. Explanations of each of the bill's provision, list of members of the Wisconsin Joint Legislative Council, and lists of committee materials