48.067 Powers and duties of intake workers. To carry out the objectives and provisions of this chapter but subject to its limitations, intake workers shall:

(1) Provide intake services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for the purpose of screening children taken into custody and not released under s. 48.20 (2) and the adult expectant mothers of unborn children taken into custody and not released under s. 48.203 (1).

(2) Interview, unless impossible, any child or expectant mother of an unborn child who is taken into physical custody and not released, and when appropriate interview other available concerned parties. If the child cannot be interviewed, the intake worker shall consult with the child's parent or a responsible adult. If an adult expectant mother of an unborn child cannot be interviewed, the intake worker shall consult with an adult relative or friend of the adult expectant mother. No child may be placed in a juvenile detention facility unless the child has been interviewed in person by an intake worker, except that if the intake worker is in a place which is distant from the place where the child is or the hour is unreasonable, as defined by written court intake rules, and if the child meets the criteria under s. 48.208, the intake worker, after consulting by telephone with the law enforcement officer who took the child into custody, may authorize the secure holding of the child while the intake worker is en route to the in-person interview or until 8 a.m. of the morning after the night on which the child was taken into custody.

(3) Determine whether the child or the expectant mother of an unborn child shall be held under s. 48.205 and such policies as the judge shall promulgate under s. 48.06 (1) or (2).

(4) If the child or the expectant mother of an unborn child is not released, determine where the child or expectant mother shall be held.

(5) Provide crisis counseling during the intake process when such counseling appears to be necessary.

(6) Receive referral information, conduct intake inquiries, request that a petition be filed, and enter into informal dispositions under policies promulgated under s. 48.06 (1) or (2).

(6m) Conduct the multidisciplinary screen in counties that have an alcohol and other drug abuse program under s. 48.547.

(7) Make referrals of cases to other agencies if their assistance appears to be needed or desirable.

(7m) At the request of a minor who claims to be pregnant, assist the minor in preparing a petition to initiate a proceeding under s. 48.375 (7) and file the petition with the clerk of circuit court.

(8) Make interim recommendations to the court concerning children, and unborn children and their expectant mothers, awaiting final disposition under s. 48.355.

(9) Perform any other functions ordered by the court, and assist the court or chief judge of the judicial administrative district in developing written policies or carrying out its other duties when the court or chief judge so requests.

History: 1977 c. 354, 449; 1979 c. 300; 1987 a. 151, 339; 1991 a. 263; 1993 a. 98; 1997 a. 80, 292; 1999 a. 83; 2005 a. 344.