Wisconsin. Division for Handicapped Children and Pupil Services

Provisions for the education of handicapped children began very soon after Wisconsin's statehood. Evidence of this is found in the establishment of the School for the Blind in 1850. Two years later legislative action provided for residential care of deaf children. In 1937 the Wisconsin School for the Blind (now the Wisconsin School for the Visually Handicapped) (WIHV88-A9) and the Wisconsin School for the Deaf (WIHV88-A62) were transferred from the Board of Control (WIHV85-2106) to the Dept. of Public Instruction (WIHV86-A116). Children with other physical and mental handicaps did not receive significant attention until a state supervisor for speech defects was appointed in 1913, followed by a legislative provision for state supervisor-psychologist in 1917, and physical therapy services in 1927. The Crippled Children's Division of the Dept. of Public Instruction was also created in 1927.

Legislation providing for the creation of the Bureau for Handicapped Children was enacted in 1939. All areas of service for handicapped children, including the Cripped Children's Division, were integrated. In 1968 the Bureau was reorganized as the Division for Handicapped Children. The agency was reorganized again in 1985 as the Division for Handicapped Children and Pupil Services, In the Wisconsin State Archives' database, this form of the agency name is used for all records, 1939-present.

The Division for Handicapped Children and Pupil Services coordinates pupil services activities such as counseling, nursing, psychology, and social work, and administers, monitors, and supervises special education and medical and related services for children with exceptional educational needs. The division is responsible for statewide coordination of local efforts to implement Subchapter V, Ch. 115, Wis. Stats.; P. L. 94-142, the federal Education of the Handicapped Act; and for administering parts of Title V of the Social Security Act of 1935.