The Bureau for Pupil Services was created within the Dept. of Public Instruction's Division for Instructional Services (WIHV87-A600) in the late 1970s. In 1985 the bureau was reorganized into the Division for Handicapped Children and Pupil Services (WIHV87-A592). In the Wisconsin State Archives' database, this form of the agency name is used for records from both periods of the bureau's existence.
The mission of the bureau is to assist school districts and staff through the provision of technical assistance, in-service training, and the management of state and federal resources in the development and implementation of programs and services to help pupils in their social, personal, educational, and career development. The bureau has program responsibilities for school counseling, school nursing, school psychology, school social work, children-at-risk, alcohol and other drug education, traffic safety, school age parents, child abuse/sexual assault prevention, youth suicide prevention, AIDS education, and educational outreach for homeless children.