The federal government's dereliction allows states to fall short on meeting minimum child welfare standards. Below is information specific to Wisconsin:

CFSR Results Summary: In its Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) process, HHS determines whether each state is in substantial conformity with 7 specific outcomes (pertaining to the areas of safety, permanency and family and child well-being) and 7 systemic factors (relating to the quality of services delivered to children and families and the outcomes they experience).  In the first two rounds of the CFSR, HHS has concluded that Wisconsin was:

Round 1 (2004)

• NOT in substantial conformity with 6 of the 7 Outcomes
• NOT in substantial conformity with 4 of the 7 Systemic Factors

Round 2 (2010)   

• NOT in substantial conformity with7 of the 7 Outcomes
• NOT in substantial conformity with 3 of the 7 Systemic Factors

Although federal law mandates that any state found not to be operating in substantial conformity during an initial or subequent review must begin a full review within two years after approval of the state's program improvement plan, HHS has announced that Wisconsin will not undergo Round 3 of the CFSR until FY 2018 (see CFSR Technical Bulletin #7 (March 2014)).

Documents from the U.S. Health & Human Services Children's Bureau

• Child and Family Services Review Reports and Results
  
  
  • Wisconsin Performance Improvement Plan (Round 2)
  • Final Report: Wisconsin Child and Family Services Review, 2010 (Round 2)
  • Wisconsin Performance Improvement Plan (Round 1)
  • Final Report: Wisconsin Child and Family Services Review, 2004 (Round 1)
• Title IV-E State Reports and Program Improvement Plans (PIPs)
  
  
  • Initial Primary (FY 2002)
  • PIP
  • Secondary Review (FY 2005)
  • Primary Review (FY 2008)
  • Subsequent Primary Review (FY 2011)
• Other Documents / Reports
  
  
  • Wisconsin AFCARS Assessment Review (2006)
  • Wisconsin section from HHS' Child Welfare Outcomes, 2009-2012, Report to Congress

Child Welfare Litigation*

• Jeanine B. v. Doyle
  Children’s Rights, along with co-counsel the American Civil Liberties Foundation of Wisconsin, Gray, Plant, Mooty, Mooty & Bennett, P.A. and Dorsey & Whitney LLP, prosecuted this case against the Governor of Wisconsin on behalf of all Milwaukee children in child welfare custody. The Complaint and Supplemental Complaint alleged violations of children’s constitutional and federal statutory rights. The parties settled the case in 2002. Through the Settlement Agreement and ongoing monitoring and enforcement efforts, Children’s Rights has helped spur substantial reforms in Milwaukee:: For more information, visit the website of Children's Rights.
  

*litigation summary taken from information provided by the website of Children's Rights

Child Welfare In the News**

• Annual report finds fewer Wisconsin child abuse deaths in 2013
  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - January 05, 2015
  Fewer children died in Wisconsin as a result of child abuse and neglect in 2013, 20 compared with 23 in the previous year, according to a new report by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. While that drop bodes well for the state overall, the findings are troubling for Milwaukee County, where the number of fatalities more than doubled from three in 2012 to eight - all of them children under the age of 7.
  
• Prohibiting the "Re-Homing" of Children (Statement)
  The Council of State Governments Knowledge Center - December 10, 2014
  This act revises prior law that limits advertising related to adoption of a child and a delegation of parental powers.
  
• CBS 58 Special Report: Child Welfare, a broken system (Includes video)
  WDJT - November 25, 2014
  Stressful and unhealthy. That's how social workers describe their time at the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare. The former employees are speaking out after the Bureau came under fire for thousands of incomplete investigations into child abuse and neglect.
  

**news summaries taken from daily newsfeed service of HHS' Child Welfare Information Gateway