Critical Incidents Information - Wisconsin Act 78

Act 78 requires the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to notify the public in cases of child death, serious injury, and egregious or critical incidents due to maltreatment or suspected maltreatment. DCF must report on cases when it is suspected a child in out-of-home care died of suicide.

County agencies and the Division of Milwaukee Child Protective Services must report critical incidents to DCF within 2 working days of the agency learning about the incident.

• The public notification is provided by DCF within 2 working days of the incident occurrence. The Child Protective Services (CPS) practice review begins at this time.
• Within 90 days, DCF must send the 90 Day Summary of the incident to the Governor and legislative committees. A copy of this summary is also posted to the public webpage.
• Some of the cases with prior CPS history may require additional practice assessment. The 6 Month Summary provides a performance overview with recommendations

There are several steps of required documentation workers must make when an Act 78 report is received.

• Serious Incident Report (Act 78) Guide Child Death, Serious Injury or Egregious Incident of Abuse or Neglect is helpful in understanding what the necessary steps are at each point in these cases.
• 90 Day Summary Writing Guide provides helpful tips for completing the 90 Day Summary tab in eWiSACWIS.

The DCF Division of Safety and Permanence (DSP) continues to carry out the review protocol for cases that qualify for a further Practice Review, using the Systems Change Review. This review protocol, which uses a trauma sensitive approach, has been well received by Wisconsin’s child welfare professionals. It has increased our understanding of ways to improve child welfare practice at the state and local levels. The review process:

• Improves efficiency
• Continues to increase partnership
• Focuses on analysis of system issues

View these documents and webinars for more information about this process.

• DCF has produced seven short, informative webinars on the Systems Change Reviews process found in the Case Practice section of the Child Welfare Policy & Program Information Webinars web page.
• Key Elements of the Systems Change Review Process Defined provides a brief description of each step involved in the Systems Change Review process.
• Systems Change Review Process Flow is a visual overview of the entire process.
• Systems Change Review Frequently Asked Questions addresses a number of questions related to the process.
• Secondary Traumatic Stress and the Systems Change Review provides things to think about in supporting CPS professionals as they engage with the process.
• The DSP has published the Systems Change Review 2018-2019 Results. The report outlines the Systems Change Review process, as well as, the aggregate data and results from the cases reviewed using this process during this period.
  • 2017 Systems Change Review Results is the previous report. It provides the information pertaining to the specified time.
• For further questions about the Systems Change Review process, or to learn about becoming a Wisconsin Reviewer, please email DSPSystemsChangeReview@wisconsin.gov