Grants-in-aid
Wis. Stat. § 51.423
in effect(1) The department shall fund, within the limits of the department’s allocation for mental health services under s. 20.435 (7) (b) and (o) and subject to this section, services for mental illness, developmental disability, alcoholism, and drug abuse to meet standards of service quality and accessibility. The department’s primary responsibility is to guarantee that county departments established under either s. 51.42 or 51.437 receive a reasonably uniform minimum level of funding and its secondary responsibility is to fund programs which meet exceptional community needs or provide specialized or innovative services. Moneys appropriated under s. 20.435 (7) (b) and earmarked by the department for mental health services under s. 20.435 (7) (o) shall be allocated by the department to county departments under s. 51.42 or 51.437 in the manner set forth in this section.
(2) From the appropriations under s. 20.435 (7) (b) and (o), the department shall distribute the funding for services provided or purchased by county departments under s. 46.23, 51.42, or 51.437 to such county departments as provided under s. 46.40. County matching funds are required for the distributions under s. 46.40 (2) and (9) (b). Each county’s required match for the distributions under s. 46.40 (2) for a year equals 9.89 percent of the total of the county’s distributions under s. 46.40 (2) for that year for which matching funds are required plus the amount the county was required by s. 46.26 (2) (c), 1985 stats., to spend for juvenile delinquency-related services from its distribution for 1987. Each county’s required match for the distribution under s. 46.40 (9) (b) for a year equals 9.89 percent of that county’s amounts described in s. 46.40 (9) (ar) (intro.) for that year. Matching funds may be from county tax levies, federal and state revenue sharing funds, or private donations to the counties that meet the requirements specified in sub. (5). Private donations may not exceed 25 percent of the total county match. If the county match is less than the amount required to generate the full amount of state and federal funds distributed for this period, the decrease in the amount of state and federal funds equals the difference between the required and the actual amount of county matching funds.
(4) The department shall prorate the amount allocated to any county department under sub. (2) to reflect actual federal funds available.
(5)
(a) A private donation to a county may be used to match the state grant-in-aid under s. 46.495 (1) (d) or under sub. (2) only if the donation is both of the following:
1. Donated to a county department under s. 46.215, 46.22, 51.42 or 51.437 and the donation is under the administrative control of such county department.
2. Donated without restrictions as to use, unless the restrictions specify that the donation be used for a particular service and the donor neither sponsors nor operates the service.
(b) Voluntary federated fund-raising organizations are not sponsors or operators of services within the meaning of par. (a) 2. Any member agency of such an organization that sponsors or operates services is deemed an autonomous entity separate from the organization unless the board membership of the organization and the agency interlock.
(6) The county allocation to match aid increases shall be included in the contract under s. 46.031 (2g) and approved by January 1 of the year for which the funds are allocated, in order to generate state aid matching funds. All funds allocated under sub. (2) shall be included in the contract under s. 46.031 (2g) and approved.
(7) Each county department under either s. 51.42 or 51.437, but not both, shall be treated, for the purpose of this section only, as unified with any other county department established in its jurisdiction under either s. 51.42 or 51.437 and shall receive an amount determined under sub. (2).
(9) If the funds appropriated under s. 20.435 (7) (b) for any fiscal year are insufficient to provide county departments with the sums calculated under subs. (1) to (7), the appropriation shall be allocated among county departments in proportion to the sums they would receive under subs. (1) to (7).
(10) Each county department which is eligible under the state plan for medical assistance shall obtain a medical assistance provider number and shall bill for all eligible clients. A county department operating an inpatient facility shall apply for a special hospital license under s. 50.33 (2) (c). Under powers delegated under s. 46.10 (16), each county department shall retain 100 percent of all collections it makes and its providers make for care other than that provided or purchased by the state.
(11) Each county department under s. 51.42 or 51.437, or both, shall apply all funds it receives under subs. (1) to (7) to provide the services required under ss. 51.42, 51.437 and 51.45 (2) (g) to meet the needs for service quality and accessibility of the persons in its jurisdiction, except that the county department may pay for inpatient treatment only with funds designated by the department for inpatient treatment. The county department may expand programs and services with county funds not used to match state funds under this section subject to the approval of the county board of supervisors in a county with a single-county department, except in Milwaukee County, the Milwaukee County mental health board in Milwaukee County, or the county boards of supervisors in counties with multicounty departments and with other local or private funds subject to the approval of the department and the county board of supervisors in a county with a single-county department under s. 51.42 or 51.437, the Milwaukee County mental health board with a department under s. 51.42, or the county boards of supervisors in counties with a multicounty department under s. 51.42 or 51.437. The county board of supervisors in a county with a single-county department under s. 51.42 or 51.437, the Milwaukee County mental health board with a department under s. 51.42, or the county boards of supervisors in counties with a multicounty department under s. 51.42 or 51.437 may delegate the authority to expand programs and services to the county department under s. 51.42 or 51.437. The county department under s. 51.42 or 51.437 shall report to the department all county funds allocated to the county department under s. 51.42 or 51.437 and the use of such funds. Moneys collected under s. 46.10 shall be applied to cover the costs of primary services, exceptional and specialized services or to reimburse supplemental appropriations funded by counties. County departments under ss. 51.42 and 51.437 shall include collections made on and after October 1, 1978, by the department that are subject to s. 46.10 (8m) (a) 3. and 4. and are distributed to county departments under ss. 51.42 and 51.437 from the appropriation account under s. 20.435 (5) (gg), as revenues on their grant-in-aid expenditure reports to the department.
(12) The department may not provide state aid to any county department under s. 51.42 or 51.437 for excessive inpatient treatment. For each county department under ss. 51.42 and 51.437 in each calendar year, sums expended for the 22nd and all subsequent average days of care shall be deemed excessive inpatient treatment. No inpatient treatment provided to children, adolescents, chronically mentally ill patients, patients requiring specialized care at a mental health institute, or patients at the centers for the developmentally disabled may be deemed excessive. If a patient is discharged or released and then readmitted within 60 days after such discharge or release from an inpatient facility, the number of days of care following readmission shall be added to the number of days of care before discharge or release for the purpose of calculating the total length of such patient’s stay in the inpatient facility.
(15) Funds allocated under this section and recovered from audit adjustments from a prior fiscal year may be included in subsequent certifications only to pay counties owed funds as a result of any audit adjustment. By June 30 of each year the department shall submit to the chief clerk of each house of the legislature, for distribution to the appropriate standing committees under s. 13.172 (3), a report on funds recovered and paid out during the previous calendar year as a result of audit adjustments.
Source: WI Statutes (Official Site)URL: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/51.423Fetched: 10/7/2026