48.487 Tribal family services.

(1m) Tribal family services grants. From the appropriation account under s. 20.437 (1) (js), the department may distribute tribal family services grants to the elected governing bodies of the Indian tribes in this state. An elected governing body that receives a grant under this subsection may expend the grant moneys received for any of the purposes specified in subs. (2), (3) (b), (4m) (b), (5) (b), (6), and (7) as determined by that body.

(2) Adolescent self-sufficiency services. An elected governing body of an Indian tribe may expend moneys from a grant received under sub. (1m) to provide services for adolescent parents. Those services shall emphasize high school graduation and vocational preparation, training, and experience and may be structured so as to strengthen the adolescent parent's capacity to fulfill parental responsibilities by developing social skills and increasing parenting skills. An Indian tribe that provides those services shall develop a proposed service plan that is approved by the department.

(3) Adolescent pregnancy prevention services.

(a) In this subsection, “high-risk adolescent" means a person who is at least 13 years of age but under the age of 20 and who is at risk of becoming an unmarried parent as an adolescent and of incurring long-term economic dependency on public funds and is characterized by one or more of the following:

1. Low self-esteem.

2. Alcohol or drug abuse.

3. Serious emotional family conflict.

4. Poverty, as a part of a family whose income is below the poverty line, as defined under 42 USC 9902 (2).

5. Low school achievement, as a pupil who is one or more years behind his or her pupil age group in the number of school credits attained or in basic school skill levels.

6. Other significant problems.

(b) An elected governing body of an Indian tribe may expend moneys from a grant received under sub. (1m) to provide pregnancy and parenthood prevention services to high-risk adolescents. Those services shall be structured so as to increase the development of decision-making and communications skills, promote graduation from high school, and expand career and other options and may address needs of adolescents with respect to pregnancy prevention.

(4m) Adolescent choices projects.

(a) In this subsection:

1. “Adolescent" means a person who is at least 10 years of age but under the age of 18.

2. “Dropout" has the meaning given under s. 118.153 (1) (b).

(b) An elected governing body of an Indian tribe may expend moneys from a grant received under sub. (1m) to provide information to members of the Indian tribe in order to increase community knowledge about the problems of adolescents and to provide information to and activities for adolescents, particularly female adolescents, in order to enable the adolescents to develop skills with respect to all of the following:

1. Reducing adolescent pregnancy and high school dropout rates.

2. Increasing economic self-sufficiency and expanding career options for adolescents, particularly options with respect to occupations with wages higher than the minimum wage.

3. Enhancing individual adolescent self-esteem, interpersonal skills and responsible decision making.

4. Neutralizing sex-role stereotyping and bias.

(c) An Indian tribe that provides services under par. (b) shall provide those services in an area of the state that is approved by the Indian tribe and the department. The department shall determine the boundaries of the regions in this state within which the Indian tribes may provide services under par. (b) before approving the service area of an Indian tribe under this paragraph.

(d) Prior to approving the service area of an Indian tribe under par. (c), the department shall consider whether and how the Indian tribe proposes to coordinate its services with other public or private resources, programs, or activities in the region and the state.

(e) The department shall work closely with the women's council and the department of public instruction, on a continuing basis, concerning the scope and direction of activities conducted under par. (b).

(5) Domestic abuse services.

(a) In this subsection:

1. “Domestic abuse" means physical abuse, including a violation of s. 940.225 (1), (2), or (3), or any threat of physical abuse between adult family or adult household members, by a minor family or minor household member against an adult family or adult household member, by an adult against his or her adult former spouse or by an adult against an adult with whom the person has a child in common.

2. “Domestic abuse services" means any of the following:

a. Shelter facilities or private home shelter care.

b. Advocacy and counseling for victims.

c. A 24-hour telephone service.

d. Community education.

3. “Family member" means a spouse, a parent, a child, or a person related by blood or adoption to another person.

4. “Household member" means a person currently or formerly residing in a place of abode with another person.

(b) Subject to pars. (c) and (d), an elected governing body of an Indian tribe may expend moneys from a grant received under sub. (1m) to provide domestic abuse services. If an elected governing body of an Indian tribe expends those moneys for those services, the body shall provide matching funds or in-kind contributions in an amount to be determined by the department. The department shall establish guidelines regarding the types of contributions that qualify as in-kind contributions.

(c) An elected governing body of an Indian tribe may provide shelter facilities only if the department of safety and professional services determines that the physical plant of the facility will not be dangerous to the health or safety of the residents when the facility is in operation. An elected governing body of an Indian tribe may provide shelter facilities or private home shelter care only if the body ensures that the following services will be provided either by that Indian tribe or by another person:

1. A 24-hour telephone service.

2. Temporary housing and food.

3. Advocacy and counseling for victims.

4. Referral and follow-up services.

5. Arrangements for education of school-age children.

6. Emergency transportation to the shelter.

7. Community education.

(d) An Indian tribe that provides domestic abuse services under this subsection shall report all of the following information to the department by February 15 annually:

1. The total expenditures that the Indian tribe made on domestic abuse services in the previous tribal fiscal year.

2. The expenditures specified in subd. 1. by general category of domestic abuse services provided.

3. The number of persons served in the previous tribal fiscal year by general type of domestic abuse service.

4. The number of persons who were in need of domestic abuse services in the previous tribal fiscal year but who did not receive the domestic abuse services that they needed.

(6) Tribal child care. An elected governing body of an Indian tribe may expend moneys from a grant received under sub. (1m) to provide child care services under 42 USC 9858. An Indian tribe that receives funding under this subsection shall use that funding to provide child care for an eligible child, as defined in 42 USC 9858n (4).

(7) Child welfare services. An elected governing body of an Indian tribe may expend moneys from a grant received under sub. (1m) to provide child welfare services as authorized under 42 USC 621 to 628b.

History: 1987 a. 27; 1989 a. 31; 1991 a. 39; 1995 a. 27, 289; 1999 a. 9 ss. 1123d to 1125r, 1128d to 1128k, 1129g to 1129r; 2001 a. 16; 2005 a. 25; 2007 a. 20 ss. 1215 to 1219; Stats. 2007 s. 48.487; 2009 a. 94; 2013 a. 20 ss. 898 to 908, 917; 2019 a. 9.