Tribal Consultation

The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families is committed to maintaining positive government-to-government relationships with the 11 federally-recognized Tribal Nations headquartered in Wisconsin. The Department is committed to employ its best efforts to achieve positive outcomes from its consultation and collaboration with Tribal Nations. The Department of Children and Families holds annual consultation meetings with the leaders of each Tribal Nation. On this page you will find a link to the Department's Consultation Policy, the required documents and handouts for each tribal consultation meeting, including the Consultation Action Plan that results from each consultation meeting.

Tribal Consultation Policy

Government-to-government relations involve respectful and cooperative communication and dealings that are designed to implement programs in a collaborative manner and achieve a consensus before a decision is made or an action is taken. The intent of this policy is to serve as a framework to strengthen day-to-day working relationships between Tribal and state government agencies, improve government-to-government communications, and promote the inclusion of Tribal Nations and Tribal perspectives into the work of our agency.

Tribal Consultation Policy

Tribal Consultation Meetings

The Secretary of the Department of Children and Families, in consultation with tribal leadership, schedules annual consultation meetings to review the accomplishments and effectiveness of the current year’s action plan. Below you will find information for the current year’s consultation meeting as well as information from previous consultation meetings.

2026 Consultation Meeting

2025 Consultation Meeting

2024 Consultation Meeting