FAQs

Call Customer Service at 1-877-415-5164 or
TTY for Hearing/Speech Impaired 1-800-947-3529

Call Customer Service at 1-877-415-5164 or
TTY for Hearing/Speech Impaired 1-800-947-3529

Benefit distribution is based on 8th digit of the case heads Social Security number:

Your benefits will be available on your specified date-even if it falls on a weekend or holiday.

You can report a change by calling the IM Central Consortium at 888-445-1621 or online through Access.wi.gov

Visit https://dcf.wisconsin.gov/files/publications/pdf/2372.pdf to view the “What to Bring List”, which details the documents required to complete the application process.

Please attach copies of all needed verifications to your mail-in application to assist in the prompt processing of your application. Make sure all verifications are readable. If you need to submit verifications without the application, please put your name and social security or case number on the document.

The state requires a renewal of your benefits for FoodShare, medical assistance, and Child Care once a year, but sometimes a six-month review will be required. A review must be completed even if there have been no changes which can be completed by phone, in-person, mail, and/or online.

If you are applying, or completing a review, for food stamps or child care, you must complete an interview. This interview may be face to face or a telephone interview.

If you are applying for medical assistance, you may apply with a mail-in application. You can request a mail-in application by contacting the IM Central Consortium at 888-445-1621 and we will send an application to you. You can also use the mail-in applications to complete your yearly medical assistance reviews.

All verifications are processed in date order.

All applications are processed in the order in which they are received, which may take up to 30 days.

Child abuse is the physical, sexual, or emotional maltreatment of a child (ages 0 to18) by a parent, family member, other caregiver, or non-caregiver. Physical abuse will involve cuts, broken or fractured bones, burns, internal injuries, or “severe and frequent bruising” inflicted on a child by other than accidental means. Sexual abuse will involve sexual intercourse, other sexual contact, or exploitation. Emotional abuse will involve verbal mistreatment, withholding of love or companionship, and the like.

Child neglect is the failure of a parent or other caregiver to provide necessary care (including supervision), food, clothing, shelter, and medical care – for reasons other than poverty – so as to seriously endanger the physical health of a child.

Once a report of child abuse or neglect is made to the Oneida County Social Services, a decision is made to assign the case.  Then a child protective service worker will then make contact with the child and parents.

If you believe that a child (a boy or girl ages 0 to 18) has been:

• abused (physically, sexually, or emotionally),
• neglected (physically or emotionally),
• or is at risk of abuse or neglect

You should report your concerns to Oneida County Social Services.

Call the Social Services intake office that serves the area in which the family resides as soon as possible.  For Oneida County, contact (715) 362-5695 or (888) 662-5695 for the Department of Social Services or the Oneida County Sheriff’s Department at (715) 361-5100.

Please report! Social Services staff will make follow up decisions. We at Social Services cannot protect children unless they are brought to our attention.

State law protects reporter confidentiality. We will not disclose your name to the individuals whom you report. You should not be afraid of reprisals if you report.

Regular hours:
Child Protective Services staff in the office will receive your call Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

After hours and on weekends:
Oneida County Sheriff’s Department
Phone: (715) 361-5100

A social worker will write up your report. They will wish to know the names, ages, and addresses of family members. They will wish to hear information about the suspected abuse or neglect. Please be prepared to provide information. The more information that you share, the better subsequent agency decision-making will be.

A supervisor will review the report and decide if the situation is of sufficient seriousness to merit investigation.

The supervisor will make a response time decision once a decision is made to open a case. Response time is determined by use of a response priority tool.

Cases are designated:

• 24 hours
• 2 to 5 days
• Child Welfare Concern

Social workers will interview children and family members regarding the maltreatment concerns. They will assess child safety, child maltreatment risk, and family strengths and needs. They will make determinations as to whether maltreatment as defined in state statutes has occurred. They will make decisions as to what sort of services might benefit the children and family.

Social Services strives to keep families together. We serve most children and families in the family home. Only in a minority of cases are children removed from their family home. Court action is necessary in this instance.

In removal situations, Social Service actions are guided by Wisconsin State Statutes (specifically, Chapter 48, also known as the Children’s Code). These statutes set forth agency child protection responsibilities, situations in which agencies may petition the Courts for involvement in children’s lives, dispositions which Courts might enter on children’s behalf, criteria which must be met in order to take children into custody, places in which children taken into custody may be held, and more. These Statutes closely circumscribe social workers’ actions. Children and families are awarded many rights by these statutes.

The social worker will write you if you are a mandated reporter. Mandated reporters are teachers, doctors, and other professionals who are required by law to report suspected maltreatment. The letter will provide basic information about the intervention, only, however, as state law provides for family confidentiality. The social worker will not write you if you are a non-mandated reporter as state law prohibits this breach of family confidentiality.

Persons Required to Report Abuse & Neglect are:

• Physicians
• Coroners
• Medical Examiners
• Nurses
• Dentists
• Chiropractors
• Acupuncturists
• Optometrists
• All Medical professionals
• Mental Health Professionals
• Day Care Providers
• Chemical Dependency Counselors
• Marriage/Family Therapists
• Professional Counselors
• Physical Therapists
• Occupational Therapists
• Dietitians
• Speech Therapists
• Audiologists
• EMT’s/Paramedics
• Social/Public Assistance Workers
• School Administrators
• Teachers/Counselors
• Police/Law Enforcement Officers
• Mediators under s.767.11
• Treatment staff employed by or working under contract with a county  department
• Child care workers in any day care center, group home, or residential care center

Mandated reporters are required to report suspected abuse and neglect of any child they see while in the course of their professional duties. Persons required to report must also report those situations in which they have reason to believe that a child has been threatened with abuse or neglect and that abuse or neglect is likely to occur. We encourage each mandated reporters to file his/her own report.

Any other person may report if there is reason to believe that a child has been abused or neglected or has been threatened with abuse or neglect.

Penalty: Persons required to report and who intentionally fail to report suspected child abuse or neglect may be fined up to $ 1,000 or imprisoned for up to six months or both. Persons who report in good faith are immune from civil or criminal liability.

For more information, please read the State of Wisconsin Statute 48.981(2) at the following address: https://www.legis.state.wi.us/rsb/stats.html

Type 48.981(2) in the “Go to a specific Statute (Folio)” text box. Click on “Go”.
Information may be found on page 106.

To get started, you must contact the Oneida County Department of Social Services at (715) 362-5695 or (888) 662-5695. Staff will assist you with the certification process and answer any questions you may have.

The process can take as little as 30 days but will not exceed 60 days.

It costs $ 90.00 plus $ 8.00  for background checks for anyone in the home who is over the age of 12.

Yes, with written permission of your landlord. Without permission, the state will not let us continue the certification process.

Please call (715) 362-5695 or (888) 662-5695 to discuss the ages of the children you plan to care for. There are many different situations that cannot be answered on this FAQ page.

The certifier will make a visit prior to you being certified. Follow-up visits will occur at least once a year. If community information is received, additional visits may be required.

Once you are certified, either regular or provisional, your name goes on the master child care provider list that we give to people looking for a provider.

A referral can be made to the Department of Social Services by calling (715) 362-5695 or (888) 662-5695 by the interested party, a family member, physician, neighbor or other individuals/referral agencies who will indicate a need for Adult Protective services for a vunerable adult (physically disabled and elderly).

An “Adult at Risk” means any adult who has a physical or mental condition that substantially impairs his or her ability to care for his or her needs and who has experienced, is currently experiencing, or at risk for experiencing abuse, neglect, self-neglect or financial exploitation.

The Guardian of the person must advocate for the ward’s best interests and be actively involved in the determination of how best to meet the ward’s needs for care, treatment and services. A Guardian of the estate is required to provide the ward with the greatest financial independence and self-determination in light of the ward’s functional level, wishes and preferences.

The Wisconsin Medicaid Estate Recovery Program seeks repayment for the cost of certain long term care services paid for by Medicaid on behalf of recipients. Recovery is made from the estates of recipients and from liens placed on their homes. The money recovered is returned to the Medicaid Program and used to pay for care for other Medicaid recipients. Long term care services for which the program seeks repayment mainly include nursing home services and community-based waiver services.

“Spousal Impoverishment Protection” affects certain married couples, who are elderly or have disabilities, and where one of the spouses is residing in a nursing home or other medical institution for 30 days or more. There are special rules for counting assets and allocating the assets to the community spouse and the nursing home spouse. The purpose of the spousal impoverishment protection is to prevent the community spouse from being impoverished by the spouse’s institutionalization.

Delinquency social workers are assigned to a family after a law enforcement agency has made a referral to Social Services.

A social worker reviews the law enforcement referral to determine whether Oneida County has the legal authority to handle the referral and whether the action described in the referral has legal merit.

• The parents and/or guardian of the child involved will be sent a notice requesting that they, along with the child, participate in an intake conference to discuss the referral.
• The intake conference will assist the intake worker to determine how the case will be handled.
  

Social Services cannot advise you with regard to this decision.

You should know that:

• Parents may hire an attorney at their own expense.
• If the juvenile desires to be represented by an attorney, the court may appoint a Public Defender.
• If in disposing of your child’s case the court is considering a placement in out of home care e.g. foster care, the child will need to be represented by an attorney.
  

If law enforcement refers a juvenile responsible for a crime to Juvenile Intake and that juvenile is a resident of Oneida County, you will receive a victim information packet by mail, which includes the following:

A brochure informing you of your rights (Victim Notification and Juvenile Court Process)

A form requesting information about your loss and asking you to describe the effect this crime had on you. (This form needs to be completed and returned to Social Services as notification of your intent to collect damages.)

Social Services will assist victims of juvenile crime through the direct collection of restitution.

NOTE: Juveniles under age fourteen are limited by law to a maximum restitution assessment of $ 250 per delinquent act.

Specific laws govern the release of information about a juvenile. Generally, those statutes state to what agency or person the information may be released in order to provide services, protect the community or prosecute a case. The Department will often ask that you sign a release in order to facilitate communication, but in certain circumstances, a release is not necessary.

If you feel your child is a danger to himself or others, you should contact law enforcement.  If it is not an emergency, you can contact the Oneida County Department of Social Services and speak to the intake social worker.

Social Workers are assigned to a family after a parent, law enforcement agency or a school has made a referral to Social Services.

The parents and/or guardian of the child involved will be sent a notice requesting that they, along with the child, participate in an intake conference to discuss the referral.  The conference will assist the intake worker to determine how the case will be handled and if services to the family would be appropriate.

If your child is refusing to go to school, immediately contact a teacher, administrator or counselor at your child’s school and request assistance.  You should expect an offer for the following to occur by the school:

• To meet with you to discuss your child’s truancy.
• An opportunity for educational counseling for your child to determine whether a change in the child’s curriculum would resolve the truancy issue.
• An evaluation of your child to determine whether problems may be a cause of the truancy, and if so, steps can be taken to overcome the learning problems.
• An evaluation to determine whether social problems may be the cause of the child’s truancy and what appropriate actions or referrals should be taken.

  If your child continues to miss school, he/she can receive a simple truancy citation or be cited by the school attendance officer and ordered to appear in Truancy Court.

There is currently no legal process available via the court system in Wisconsin to allow emancipation.

You should contact law enforcement  and report your child as a runaway.

The Clerk of Court’s Office and the Family Court Commissioner’s Office has Pro Se packets which you can obtain a stipulation.  All completed stipulations can be returned to the child support agency.

The Child Support Agency will not give any tax advice.  Parties should refer to their court order and ask their tax preparer for advice on which party gets to claim the child for that tax year.

If you wish for the IRS to not intercept your spouse’s portion of the tax refund, you should contact your tax preparer to have an Injured Spouse IRS form completed.

If you sent a personal check: contact your bank to verify if the check was cashed. If the check was cashed, get proof of the cashed check from your bank and provide that information to the trust fund so the cashed check can be traced.  If the check wasn’t cashed and it has been more then 10 days, you may want to stop payment and reissue the check.

If you sent a money order:  look on the back of your money order receipt for information on tracing a lost money order

Provide the child support agency with a letter and copies of your paystub showing child support withheld from your paycheck.  If the agency finds that the payments were not received at the trust fund, the agency will contact your employer to remit payment or face court action.

Contact the child support agency for an Ability to Work form that you will need to have your physician or healthcare provider complete and return to the Child Support Agency. If your injury is long term, you will want to consider applying for Social Security Disability.  You can reach the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213.

Loss of a job doesn’t stop a child support order.  if you lose your job, you should first contact the child support agency to report the loss of employment.

Although neither party is required to obtain an attorney for any child support action, you always have the right to seek private counsel.  The county attorney present at the hearings only represents the child support agency and doesn’t represent either parties specific interests.

Copies of court orders can be obtained from Oneida County Clerk of Courts office at 715-369-6120.

Contact the child support agency to receive a modification packet to complete.  Upon receipt of a completed modification packet and verification of your financial information the agency will collect information from the other party and conduct a desk review of the case to see if a modification is appropriate.

The child support agency doesn’t handle any issues regarding custody or placement.  All placement and custody issues must be directed to the Oneida County FCC at 715-369-6152.