Wisconsin Department
of Children and Families - Division
of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Child Care Subsidy Administration
Wisconsin Shares Handbook
The Child Support Agency (CSA) determines child support cooperation for all individuals. If the CSA determines that a parent is not cooperating, they will notify the parent of the noncooperation decision and provide their justification for the decision. In CWW, the agency worker will receive an alert that child support cooperation has been updated after the CSA has entered the noncooperation in KIDS.
Income Maintenance (IM) workers determine if good cause for not cooperating with the CSA exists. If the parent is also applying for or participating in the Wisconsin Works (W-2) program, the W-2 Financial and Employment Planner (FEP) determines good cause for both W-2 and Wisconsin Shares if both programs are open.
The agency worker must send a Notice of Action Needed (also known as the Verification Checklist) to the parent within seven (7) calendar days from the date the agency worker receives the notice of noncooperation from the CSA. The agency worker must send the Notice of Action Needed even if eligibility for the parent is closing at the end of the month for a different reason (unless the parent is moving out of state).
The Notice of Action Needed informs the parent that they are not cooperating with child support and that they have seven (7) business days from the issuance date on the Notice of Action Needed to cooperate with the CSA or file a good cause claim. The Notice of Action Needed includes a copy of the Good Cause Claim form, as well as a link to the electronic format of the Good Cause Claim form (DCF-F-DWSP2019-E).
On the eighth (8th) business day, if the individual has not cooperated with the CSA or submitted a good cause claim to the IM agency, the agency worker must run eligibility to close Wisconsin Shares eligibility. If this takes place after Adverse Action, agency workers must run with dates to end eligibility at the end of the current month (see 11.2).
Noncooperation Instances
An instance of noncooperation will be automatically recorded in CWW when eligibility is confirmed closed for child support noncooperation. The entire Wisconsin Shares Assistance Group (AG) is not eligible for Wisconsin Shares until the individual cooperates with the CSA or files a good cause claim. However, eligibility will continue for children on the case who are in foster care, subsidized guardianship placements, interim caretaker placements, and children in a court-ordered placement with a relative who receives the Kinship Care payment (see 4.7.1).
Example 1: Clark has two (2) biological children, Nancy and Dale, and one (1) foster child, Ryan. On April 7, the agency worker receives an alert that Clark is not cooperating with the CSA for Nancy and Dale and pends eligibility to send the Notice of Action Needed. Clark does not cooperate or claim good cause by the verification due date. On April 18, the agency worker runs eligibility to confirm Wisconsin Shares eligibility closed effective April 30. However, Ryan’s eligibility remains open if all other eligibility criteria are met because Clark is not required to cooperate with the CSA for Ryan. |
If an individual fails three (3) or more times to meet the child support cooperation requirements without good cause, the AG is not eligible for Wisconsin Shares for a period of at least six (6) months and until all members of the AG cooperate with the CSA. After the third instance, there will be a subsequent 6-month penalty period for each new instance of noncooperation because the parent has already failed to cooperate three (3) times.
Example 2: Terry has three (3) instances of noncooperation with child support. On December 20, the agency worker receives an alert that she is not cooperating with child support. The agency worker pends for good cause and generates the Notice of Action Needed. On December 28, the agency worker runs eligibility with dates to close Wisconsin Shares effective December 31 because Terry has not cooperated or claimed good cause. A fourth instance of noncooperation is created. Terry is not eligible until July 1, even if she decides to cooperate with the CSA before July. |
This section last updated 12/1/2022