The State Advisory Council for Home and Family, created under section 245.33 of the Wisconsin Statutes by chapter 569, Laws of 1963, was authorized to study the scope and operation of laws of this state and surrounding states relating to marriage and actions affecting marriage and the support of children and other dependents, and examine recent Supreme Court decisions affecting same; study the causes of family disintegration and the need for programs and services to promote family unity; investigate the effect of divorce on public welfare and make recommendations to improve marital stability thereby reducing potential welfare costs; conduct workshops and public hearings; employ staff necessary to implement duties assigned to it; and appoint consulting committees consisting of nonmembers.
The council was amended by chapter 59, Laws of 1965, which increased the number of members and by chapter 659, Laws of 1965, which repealed section 245.33 of the statutes and recreated the council under section 13.53 of the statutes with a change in name to the Council for Home and Family. Further amendments were made by chapter 20, Laws of 1967 which made minor changes in the terms of the appointees and methods of reporting findings. In addition, the council was authorized to sponsor or participate in conferences for home and family on a local, state, regional, interstate, or national level, coordinate and stimulate activities of county life councils, and receive and use gifts and grants. Due to excessive spending, appropriations for the council were cut off by chapter 125, Laws of 1971, but the council continued to exist on paper until terminated on August 4, 1973 by the repeal of section 13.53 of the statutes.
The council was composed of seventeen members: four were to be chairmen of judiciary and public welfare committees in each legislative house or their designated representatives, and the remainder were to be appointed by the legislature for terms of two years. These thirteen appointive members consisted of three family court judges, three clergymen, two attorneys, one sociologist or college professor, one family court commissioner, one county corporation counsel, one county welfare director, and one voluntary social welfare agency representative.
The most active committee of the Council for Home and Family was the Family Life Education and Marriage Counseling Committee. Originally called the Family Life Education Committee, its name was changed on September 1, 1966 when the committee assumed the duties of counseling teenagers and young adults on premarital sexual relations and marriage. The purpose of the committee was to research and attempt to decrease the number of unwed mothers, illegitimate births, abortions, and divorce. The committee was also given the responsibility of overseeing the committees whose area of concern was closely related, such as alimony, conciliation courts, abandonment, and extradition.
