115.368 Assistance to schools for protective behaviors programs.

(1) The purpose of this section is to enable and encourage public, private, and tribal schools to develop protective behaviors programs and anti-offender behavior programs designed to assist minors and their parents or guardians in recognizing, avoiding, preventing, and halting physically or psychologically intrusive or abusive situations that may be harmful to minors.

(2) The department, in conjunction with the department of health services and the department of children and families, and after consulting with established organizations providing services with a focus on children of risk, shall:

(a) Develop and conduct protective behaviors training programs for the professional staff of public, private, and tribal schools and counties under ss. 46.034, 46.215, 46.22, 46.23, 51.42, and 51.437. The training programs shall include information on how to assist a minor and his or her parent or guardian in recognizing, avoiding, preventing, and halting physically or psychologically intrusive or abusive situations that may be harmful to the minor, including child abuse, sexual abuse, and child enticement. The training programs shall emphasize how to help minors to develop positive psychological, emotional, and problem-solving responses to such situations, and to avoid relying on negative, fearful, or solely reactive methods of dealing with such situations. The training programs shall also include information on the detection, by other minors, their parents or guardians, and school staff, of conditions that indicate that a minor is being or has been subjected to such situations; the proper action to take when there is reason to believe that a minor is being or has been subjected to such situations; and the coordination of school protective behaviors programs and activities with programs and activities of other state and local agencies. Persons other than the professional staff of public, private, and tribal schools and counties under ss. 46.034, 46.215, 46.22, 46.23, 51.42, and 51.437 may attend the training programs. The department may charge such persons a fee sufficient to cover the increased costs of materials, but not personnel cost, to the department of their participation in the programs. The department may not deny any resident of Wisconsin the opportunity to participate in a program if the person is unable to pay any fee.

(b) Provide consultation and technical assistance to public, private, and tribal schools for the development and implementation of protective behaviors programs and the coordination of those programs with programs of other state and local agencies.

History: 1985 a. 213; 1985 a. 332 ss. 153, 253; 1995 a. 27 s. 9126 (19); 2007 a. 20 ss. 2691, 9121 (6) (a); 2009 a. 302.