Sonja Blake v. Debra Jossart

2016 WI 57, 884 N.W.2d 484, 370 Wis. 2d 1, 2016 Wisc. LEXIS 171
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 6, 2016
Docket2012AP002578
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 2016 WI 57 (Sonja Blake v. Debra Jossart) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sonja Blake v. Debra Jossart, 2016 WI 57, 884 N.W.2d 484, 370 Wis. 2d 1, 2016 Wisc. LEXIS 171 (Wis. 2016).

Opinions

DAVID T. PROSSER, J.

¶ 1. This is a review of an unpublished decision of the court of appeals affirming a circuit court order rejecting constitutional challenges to Wis. Stat. § 48.685(5)(br)5. (2013-14).1

[8]*8¶ 2. In late 2009 the Wisconsin Legislature approved 2009 Wis. Act 76, which substantially changed the circumstances under which the Department of Children and Families (DCF) may license and certify childcare providers in Wisconsin. One provision in the new law, Wis. Stat. § 48.685(5)(br)5., "imposes a lifetime ban on licensure" and certification for persons who have been convicted of specific crimes. Jamerson v. DCF, 2013 WI 7, ¶ 2, 345 Wis. 2d 205, 824 N.W.2d 822.

¶ 3. After the Act took effect, the Racine County Human Services Department (Racine County) revoked the childcare certification previously issued to Sonja Blake (Blake) because she had a 1986 conviction for misdemeanor welfare fraud. Under Wis. Stat. § 48.685(5)(br)5., the 1986 conviction made Blake ineligible for certification. Blake raised various constitutional challenges to the statute in the Dane County Circuit Court and in the court of appeals. She did not prevail.

¶ 4. Before this court, Blake renews the three constitutional arguments she raised in the courts below. First, she contends that the lifetime prohibition on certification creates an arbitrary and irrational classification that denies her equal protection of the law. Second, she claims that the prohibition deprives her of a liberty interest by abridging an alleged substantive due process right to practice her chosen profession as a state-regulated childcare provider. Finally, she argues that the prohibition creates an "impermissible irrebuttable presumption." For the reasons discussed below, we disagree with each of her arguments and affirm the decision of the court of appeals.

[9]*9I. BACKGROUND

A. The Children's Code and 2009 Wis. Act. 76

¶ 5. DCF licenses childcare centers and certifies childcare providers under Chapter 48 of the Wisconsin Statutes.2 "To obtain a license ... to operate a child care center, a person must. . . meet the requirements specified in s. 48.685."3 To receive certification as a childcare provider, a person must, among other prerequisites, "meet the minimum requirements for certification established by the department under s. 49.155(ld)" and "meet the requirements specified in s. 48.685."4

¶ 6. A person need not obtain a license to operate a childcare center if the center provides care and supervision for less than 4 children under the age of 7.5 However, only a licensed childcare center or a person with a childcare certification "may receive payment for providing child care services for an individual who is determined eligible for a child care subsidy under s. 49.155."6

[10]*10¶ 7. The Wisconsin Shares program detailed in Wis. Stat. § 49.155 provides subsidies to families meeting certain financial eligibility requirements. These subsidies eventually reach childcare centers and childcare providers, so long as they are licensed or certified.7 To acquire a license or certification, a person must meet the requirements set forth in Wis. Stat. § 48.685. If a person fails to obtain a license or certification because the person is ineligible under § 48.685, the person is ineligible to receive Wisconsin Shares dollars.

¶ 8. Wisconsin Stat. § 48.685 provides for an extensive search of childcare providers' backgrounds for any record of criminal history or child abuse. The section places a lifetime prohibition on licensure or certification for people with certain criminal convictions on their records, as subdivision 5., at issue in this case, demonstrates:

(br) For purposes of licensing a person to operate a child care center under s. 48.65 [ or] certifying a child care provider under s. 48.651,... no person who has been convicted or adjudicated delinquent on or after his or her 12th birthday for committing any of the following offenses ... may be permitted to demonstrate that he or she has been rehabilitated:
5. An offense involving fraudulent activity as a participant in the Wisconsin Works program under [11]*11ss. 49.141 to 49.161, including as a recipient of a child care subsidy under s. 49.155, or as a recipient of aid to families with dependent children under s. 49.19, medical assistance under subch. IV of ch. 49, food stamps benefits under the food stamp program under 7 USC 2011 to 2036, supplemental security income payments under s. 49.77, payments for the support of children of supplemental security income recipients under s. 49.775, or health care benefits under the Badger Care health care program under s. 49.665.8

¶ 9. Subdivisions 6. and 7. prohibit licensure and certification based on convictions for other offenses, but the prohibitions apply only "if the person completed his or her sentence, including any probation, parole, or extended supervision, or was discharged by the department of corrections, less than 5 years before the date" of the background check.9

¶ 10. These lifetime and five-year prohibitions on eligibility under Wis. Stat. § 48.685(5)(br) stand in contrast to the prohibitions listed in § 48.685(4m)(a)-(b). Although § 48.685(4m)(a) and (b) also disqualify from licensure or certification people with certain criminal convictions, § 48.685(5)(a) allows for licensure or certification notwithstanding prior conviction "if the person demonstrates to the department... by clear and convincing evidence . . . that he or she has been rehabilitated."

¶ 11. The legislature created the paragraph (br) prohibitions in Section 24 of 2009 Wis. Act. 76, which followed a series of articles in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel detailing extensive fraud and abuse by childcare providers receiving funds through Wisconsin [12]*12Shares.10 Prior to Act 76, the law contained a rebut-table presumption of ineligibility for licensure or certification if a person had a specified criminal conviction, but it did not permanently bar people from eligibility based on any prior conviction.11

B. Blake's Childcare Certification

¶ 12. Blake received her childcare provider certification from Racine County in October 2001. She then began operating a childcare business from her own home. Starting with her eldest daughter's two children, Blake soon grew her childcare business into caring for the children of her daughter's and her son's friends.

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Bluebook (online)
2016 WI 57, 884 N.W.2d 484, 370 Wis. 2d 1, 2016 Wisc. LEXIS 171, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sonja-blake-v-debra-jossart-wis-2016.