49.175 Public assistance and local assistance allocations.

(1) Allocation of funds. Except as provided in sub. (2), within the limits of the appropriations under s. 20.437 (2) (a), (cm), (dz), (k), (kx), (L), (mc), (md), (me), and (s) and (3) (kp), the department shall allocate the following amounts for the following purposes:

(a) Wisconsin Works benefits. For Wisconsin Works benefits, $31,110,000 in fiscal year 2019-20 and $31,732,200 in fiscal year 2020-21.

(b) Wisconsin Works agency contracts; job access loans. For contracts with Wisconsin Works agencies under s. 49.143 and for job access loans under s. 49.147 (6), $50,000,000 in fiscal year 2019-20 and $50,000,000 in fiscal year 2020-21.

(c) Case management incentive payments. For supplement payments to individuals under s. 49.255, $2,700,000 in fiscal year 2019-20 and $2,700,000 in fiscal year 2020-21.

(d) Families and Schools Together. For the families and schools together program in 5 Milwaukee elementary schools to be chosen by the department, $250,000 in each fiscal year.

(f) Homeless case management services grants. For grants to shelter facilities under s. 16.3085, $500,000 in each fiscal year. All moneys allocated under this paragraph shall be credited to the appropriation account under s. 20.505 (7) (kg).

(fa) Homeless case management services grants; additional funding. For grants to shelter facilities under s. 16.3085, $500,000 in fiscal year 2019-20 and $500,000 in fiscal year 2020-21. All moneys allocated under this paragraph shall be credited to the appropriation account under s. 20.865 (4) (g) for the purpose of supplementing the appropriation under s. 20.505 (7) (kg).

(g) State administration of public assistance programs and overpayment collections. For state administration of public assistance programs and the collection of public assistance overpayments, $16,671,200 in fiscal year 2019-20 and $17,268,300 in fiscal year 2020-21.

(h) Public assistance program fraud and error reduction. For activities to reduce fraud under s. 49.197 (1m) and activities to reduce payment errors under s. 49.197 (3), $605,500 in each fiscal year.

(i) Emergency assistance. For emergency assistance under s. 49.138 and for transfer to the department of administration for low-income energy or weatherization assistance programs, $6,000,000 in each fiscal year.

(j) Grants for providing civil legal services. For the grants under s. 49.1635 (5) to Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, Inc., for distribution to programs that provide civil legal services to low-income families, $500,000 in each fiscal year.

(k) Transform Milwaukee and Transitional Jobs programs. For contract costs under the Transform Milwaukee Jobs program and the Transitional Jobs program under s. 49.163, $8,500,000 in fiscal year 2019-20 and $9,500,000 in fiscal year 2020-21.

(L) Adult literacy grants. For grants to qualified applicants under s. 49.169 to provide literacy training to adults who are eligible for temporary assistance for needy families under 42 USC 601 et seq., $41,600 in each fiscal year.

(m) Children first. For services under the work experience program for noncustodial parents under s. 49.36, $1,140,000 in each fiscal year.

(n) Fostering futures: connections count. For funding community connectors to interact with vulnerable families with young children and to connect families with formal and informal community support, $560,300 in each fiscal year.

(o) Evidence-based substance abuse prevention grants. For grants awarded under s. 48.545 (2) (c), $500,000 in each fiscal year.

(p) Direct child care services. For direct child care services under s. 49.155 or 49.257, $357,097,500 in fiscal year 2019-20 and $365,700,400 in fiscal year 2020-21.

(q) Child care state administration and licensing activities. For state administration of child care programs under s. 49.155 and for child care licensing activities, $40,152,100 in fiscal year 2019-20 and $41,555,200 in fiscal year 2020-21.

(qm) Quality care for quality kids. For the child care quality improvement activities specified in ss. 49.155 (1g) and 49.257, $16,532,900 in fiscal year 2019-20 and $16,683,700 in fiscal year 2020-21.

(r) Children of recipients of supplemental security income. For payments made under s. 49.775 for the support of the dependent children of recipients of supplemental security income, $25,013,300 in each fiscal year.

(s) Kinship care and long-term kinship care assistance. For kinship care and long-term kinship care payments under s. 48.57 (3m) (am) and (3n) (am), for assessments to determine eligibility for those payments, and for agreements under s. 48.57 (3t) with the governing bodies of Indian tribes for the administration of the kinship care and long-term kinship care programs within the boundaries of the reservations of those tribes, $26,640,000 in fiscal year 2019-20 and $28,159,200 in fiscal year 2020-21.

(t) Safety and out-of-home placement services. For services provided to ensure the safety of children who the department or a county determines may remain at home if appropriate services are provided, and for services provided to families with children placed in out-of-home care, $8,314,300 in fiscal year 2019-20 and $9,314,300 in fiscal year 2020-21. To receive funding under this paragraph, a county shall match a percentage of the amount received that is equal to the percentage the county is required to match for a distribution under s. 48.563 (2) as specified by the schedule established by the department under s. 48.569 (1) (d).

(u) Prevention services. For services to prevent child abuse or neglect, $5,789,600 in fiscal year 2019-20 and $6,789,600 in fiscal year 2020-21.

(uk) Grants for prevention services. For grants to counties, nonprofit organizations, or tribes to fund child abuse and neglect prevention services, $500,000 in each fiscal year. The department shall award the grants with the purpose of encouraging innovative practices aimed at reducing the contact that families have with the child welfare system and preventing the removal of children from their homes. A grant recipient shall provide matching funds equal to 9.89 percent of the grant amount awarded. The department shall conduct an evaluation of the effectiveness of the grant program in achieving its stated goals and, by June 30, 2021, and each odd-numbered year thereafter, shall submit a report on that evaluation to the appropriate standing committees under s. 13.172 (3).

(v) General education development. For general education development testing and preparation for individuals who are eligible for temporary assistance for needy families under 42 USC 601 et seq., $175,000 in each fiscal year.

(w) Wisconsin Community Services. For a grant to Wisconsin Community Services for the community building workshop facilitator training to provide services that are targeted to individuals in the city of Milwaukee who are eligible for funds under the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant program under 42 USC 601 et seq., $400,000 in each fiscal year.

(y) Offender reentry demonstration project. For the offender reentry demonstration project under s. 49.37 (1), $250,000 in each fiscal year.

(z) Grants to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. For grants to the Wisconsin Chapter of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America to fund programs that improve social, academic, and employment skills of youth who are eligible to receive temporary assistance for needy families under 42 USC 601 et seq., focusing on study habits, intensive tutoring in math and English, and exposure to career options and role models, $2,675,000 in each fiscal year. Grants provided under this paragraph may not be used by the grant recipient to replace funding for programs that are being funded, when the grant proceeds are received, with moneys other than those from the appropriations specified in sub. (1) (intro.). The total amount of the grants includes funds for the BE GREAT: Graduate program in the amount of matching funds that the program provides, up to $1,400,000 in each fiscal year, to be used only for activities for which federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant moneys may be used.

(zh) Earned income tax credit supplement. For the transfer of moneys from the appropriation account under s. 20.437 (2) (md) to the appropriation account under s. 20.835 (2) (kf) for the earned income tax credit, $69,700,000 in each fiscal year.

(2) Reallocation of funds.

(a) The department may not reallocate funds that are allocated under a paragraph under sub. (1) for any purpose specified in a paragraph under sub. (1) unless the department first notifies the joint committee on finance in writing of the proposed reallocation. If the cochairpersons of the committee do not notify the department within 14 working days after the date of the department's notification that the committee has scheduled a meeting to review the proposed reallocation, the department may make the proposed reallocation. If, within 14 working days after the date of the department's notification, the cochairpersons of the committee notify the department that the committee has scheduled a meeting to review the proposed reallocation, the department may make the proposed reallocation only upon approval of the committee.

(c) If the amounts of federal block grant moneys that are required to be credited to the appropriation accounts under s. 20.437 (2) (mc) and (md) are less than the amounts appropriated under s. 20.437 (2) (mc) and (md), the department shall submit a plan to the joint committee on finance for reducing the amounts of moneys allocated under sub. (1). If the cochairpersons of the committee do not notify the department within 14 working days after the date the department submits the plan that the committee has scheduled a meeting to review the proposed reduction plan, the department shall allocate the moneys as specified in the plan. If, within 14 working days after the date the department submits the plan, the cochairpersons of the committee notify the department that the committee has scheduled a meeting to review the proposed reduction plan, the department may allocate the moneys as specified in the plan only upon approval of the committee.

(3) Limit on certain funds. Moneys from the appropriation account under s. 20.437 (3) (kp) for the allocations specified in sub. (1) shall be limited to $4,730,300 and may be expended only for obligations incurred between October 1, 2015, and September 30, 2016.

History: 1997 a. 27, 105, 236, 237, 252, 318; 1999 a. 9; 2001 a. 16, 104, 109; 2003 a. 33, 321, 327; 2005 a. 25, 254; 2007 a. 5, 20, 226; 2009 a. 2, 28; 2011 a. 10, 13, 32; 2013 a. 20, 113; 2015 a. 55, 172; 2017 a. 59, 236, 254, 261, 370; 2019 a. 9.