Section 301.20  Definitions

"Administrative case review" or "ACR" means case reviews required by 42 USC 675(1) and 20 ILCS 505/6a.

"Biological father" means a man who was not married to the mother when the child was born and who has acknowledged his paternity in open court, or who has signed a statement acknowledging paternity, or who is legally presumed to be the father because he married the child's mother after the child's birth and his name appears on the child's official record of birth, or whose paternity is adjudicated in court.  When paternity has been established in the above manner, the relatives of the biological father as well as those of the mother may be considered for the placement of related children.

"Child only standard of need" means the assistance standard for cases in which no adult member is included, as established by the Illinois Department of Human Services in 89 Ill. Adm. Code 111 (Assistance Standards).

"Children for whom the Department is legally responsible" means children for whom the Department has temporary protective custody, custody or guardianship via court order, or children whose parents signed an adoptive surrender or voluntary placement agreement with the Department.

"Contact between siblings", as used in this Part, means telephone and written communication among siblings who are placed apart from one another.

"Department" as used in this Part, means the Department of Children and Family Services.

"Diligent search", as used in this Part, means the efforts used by the Department to find a joint placement for siblings who must be placed apart from their families.  Diligent search is further defined in Section 301.70(c) of this Part.

"Family" means one or more adults and children, related by blood, marriage, civil union, or adoption and residing in the same household.

"Father" means a man presumed to be the natural father of a child if:

            he and the child's natural mother are or have been married to each other, even though the marriage is or could be declared invalid, and the child is born or conceived during such marriage;

            after the child's birth, he and the child's natural mother have married each other, even though the marriage is or could be declared invalid, and he is named, with his consent, as the child's father on the child's birth certificate pursuant to Section 12 of the Vital Records Act [410 ILCS 535];

            he and the child's natural mother have signed an acknowledgment of paternity in accordance with rules adopted by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services under Section 10-17.7 of the Illinois Public Aid Code [305 ILCS 5/10-17.7] [750 ILCS 45/5]; or

            he and the child's mother have signed a petition to establish the parent and child relationship by consent of the parties in accordance with Section 6 of the Act. (See Sections 5(a)(4) and 6 of the Act [750 ILCS 45/5(a)(4) and 6].)

A man can rebut a presumption of paternity before a court of jurisdiction. Father also means a man who adopts a child or has been determined by court or administrative adjudication to be the child's father.

"Federally-funded foster care" means foster care maintenance payments made in accordance with Title IV-E of the Social Security Act for which federal matching grants are received.

"Final placement decision" means the decision made by the Department, within 90 days after the initial placement of a child with a relative, to leave or remove the child in the relative home based on the evaluation of the results of the criminal background check of the relative and household members and based on the best interest of the child. 

"Foster care payment" means the amount paid by the Department for a child's room, board, clothing, and personal allowance in a licensed foster family home.

"Godparent" is a person who sponsors a child at baptism or one in whom the parents have entrusted a special duty that includes assisting in raising the child if the parent cannot raise the child.  The worker shall verify the godparent/godchild relationship by contacting the parents to confirm the fact that they did, in fact, designate the person as the godparent. If the parents are unavailable, the worker should contact other close family members to verify the relationship.  If the person is considered to be the child's godparent, in order for placement to occur, the same placement selection criteria as contained in Section 301.60 (Placement Selection Criteria) must be met. If the godparent is not a licensed foster parent, all the conditions currently in effect for placement with relatives in Section 301.80 must be met.

"Joint placement", in the context of sibling placement, means the siblings are placed in the same substitute care setting.

"LEADS" means Law Enforcement Agency Data System.

"Parents" means the child's legal parents whose parental rights have not been terminated and adoptive parents.  Biological fathers are considered legal parents when paternity has been established as required by the definition in this Section.

"Permanency goal" means the desired outcome of intervention and service, which is determined to be consistent with the health, safety, well-being, and best interests of the child.  A permanent legal status is usually a component of the permanency goal.

"Permanent family placement" means placement in a foster family home or a relative home that is intended to last until the child reaches age 21 or until the child is capable of self-sufficiency.  The Department may retain guardianship of the child or the foster parent or relative may assume guardianship of the child.

"Permanent legal status" means a legally binding relationship between a child and a family as established by birth or a court of law.

"Placement Clearance Process" means the approval of a child's placement in foster care or unlicensed relative care from the Placement Clearance Unit.

"Region" means Cook County or any of the downstate Department of Children and Family Services regions.

"Relative", for purposes of placement of children for whom the Department is legally responsible, means any person, 21 years of age or over, other than the parent, who:

            is currently related to the child in any of the following ways by blood or adoption:  grandparent, sibling, great-grandparent, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, first cousin, first cousin once removed (children of one's first cousin to oneself), second cousin (children of first cousins are second cousins to each other), godparent (as defined in this Section), great-uncle, or great-aunt, or

            is the spouse, or party to a civil union, of such a relative, or

            is the child's step-father, step-mother, or adult step-brother or step-sister, or

            is the partner, or adult child of a partner, in a civil union with the child's mother or father.

Relative also includes a person related in any of the foregoing ways to a sibling of a child, even though the person is not related to the child, when the child and its sibling are placed together with that person.  [20 ILCS 505/7(b)]

"Residential facility", for the purposes of the Aristotle P. Consent Decree, means all non-foster care or relative home care placements.

"Service plan" means a written plan on a form prescribed by the Department in the plan toward the permanency goal for the children required by 42 USC 675(5), 325 ILCS 5/8.2, and 89 Ill. Adm. Code 315 (Permanency Planning).

"Short-term diagnostic placement" means a placement limited to 30 days after the time period deemed clinically necessary to complete the appropriate diagnostic evaluation or treatment, and in no event shall last more than 90 days.

"Siblings" means children in the custody or guardianship of the Department who have a shared biological or adoptive parent.

"Substitute care" means the care of children who require placement away from their families.  Substitute care includes foster family care, care of a child for whom the Department is legally responsible provided in a relative family home, care provided in a group home, and care provided in a child care or other institution.

"Visitation", as used in this Subpart, means face-to-face contact between parents and their children who are in substitute care or among siblings who are placed apart from one another.

"Voluntary placement agreement" means a time-limited written request and consent from a parent, guardian or legal custodian of a child for placement of the child out of the home. When signed by designated Department staff, the Department agrees to provide child welfare services which include placement.

(Source:  Amended at 36 Ill. Reg. 4039, effective March 5, 2012)