093_SB1650enr

 
SB1650 Enrolled                      LRB093 03202 RLC 03219 b

 1        AN ACT concerning juveniles.

 2        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section  5.  The Juvenile Court Act of 1987 is amended by
 5    changing Section 1-5 as follows:

 6        (705 ILCS 405/1-5) (from Ch. 37, par. 801-5)
 7        Sec. 1-5.  Rights of parties to proceedings.
 8        (1)  Except as provided in this Section and paragraph (2)
 9    of Sections 2-22, 3-23, 4-20, 5-610 or 5-705, the  minor  who
10    is  the  subject of the proceeding and his parents, guardian,
11    legal custodian  or  responsible  relative  who  are  parties
12    respondent  have  the  right  to  be present, to be heard, to
13    present   evidence   material   to   the   proceedings,    to
14    cross-examine witnesses, to examine pertinent court files and
15    records and also, although proceedings under this Act are not
16    intended  to  be  adversary  in  character,  the  right to be
17    represented  by  counsel.   At  the  request  of  any   party
18    financially unable to employ counsel, with the exception of a
19    foster  parent permitted to intervene under this Section, the
20    court shall appoint the Public Defender or such other counsel
21    as the case may require. Counsel appointed for the minor  and
22    any  indigent  party  shall appear at all stages of the trial
23    court proceeding, and such appointment shall continue through
24    the permanency hearings and termination  of  parental  rights
25    proceedings subject to withdrawal or substitution pursuant to
26    Supreme Court Rules or the Code of Civil Procedure. Following
27    the  dispositional  hearing,  the court may require appointed
28    counsel, other than counsel for the minor or counsel for  the
29    guardian  ad  litem,  to  withdraw his or her appearance upon
30    failure of the party for whom  counsel  was  appointed  under
31    this Section to attend any subsequent proceedings.
 
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 1        No hearing on any petition or motion filed under this Act
 2    may  be  commenced unless the minor who is the subject of the
 3    proceeding is represented  by  counsel.  Notwithstanding  the
 4    preceding sentence, if a guardian ad litem has been appointed
 5    for the minor under Section 2-17 of this Act and the guardian
 6    ad  litem  is a licensed attorney at law of this State, or in
 7    the event that a court appointed special  advocate  has  been
 8    appointed as guardian ad litem and counsel has been appointed
 9    to  represent the court appointed special advocate, the court
10    may not require the appointment of counsel to  represent  the
11    minor  unless  the court finds that the minor's interests are
12    in conflict with what the guardian ad litem determines to  be
13    in  the  best  interest  of  the minor. Each adult respondent
14    shall be furnished a written "Notice of Rights" at or  before
15    the first hearing at which he or she appears.
16        (1.5)  The Department shall maintain a system of response
17    to  inquiry made by parents or putative parents as to whether
18    their child is under  the  custody  or  guardianship  of  the
19    Department;  and  if  so,  the  Department  shall  direct the
20    parents or putative  parents  to  the  appropriate  court  of
21    jurisdiction,  including  where  inquiry  may  be made of the
22    clerk of the court regarding the case  number  and  the  next
23    scheduled  court  date  of the minor's case. Effective notice
24    and the means of accessing information shall be given to  the
25    public on a continuing basis by the Department.
26        (2) (a)  Though not appointed guardian or legal custodian
27    or  otherwise  made a party to the proceeding, any current or
28    previously appointed foster parent or relative caregiver,  or
29    representative  of an agency or association interested in the
30    minor has the right to be heard by the court,  but  does  not
31    thereby become a party to the proceeding.
32        In  addition  to  the  foregoing right to be heard by the
33    court, any current foster parent or relative caregiver  of  a
34    minor   and  the  agency  designated  by  the  court  or  the
 
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 1    Department of Children and Family Services  as  custodian  of
 2    the  minor  who  is  alleged to be or has been adjudicated an
 3    abused or neglected minor under Section 2-3  or  a  dependent
 4    minor  under  Section  2-4  of  this Act has the right to and
 5    shall be given adequate notice at all stages of  any  hearing
 6    or proceeding under this Act.
 7        Any foster parent or relative caregiver who is denied his
 8    or  her  right  to  be  heard  under this Section may bring a
 9    mandamus action under  Article  XIV  of  the  Code  of  Civil
10    Procedure  against  the court or any public agency to enforce
11    that right.  The mandamus action may be  brought  immediately
12    upon the denial of those rights but in no event later than 30
13    days  after the foster parent has been denied the right to be
14    heard.
15        (b)  If after an adjudication that a minor is  abused  or
16    neglected  as  provided  under Section 2-21 of this Act and a
17    motion has been made to restore  the  minor  to  any  parent,
18    guardian,  or  legal  custodian  found  by  the court to have
19    caused the neglect or to have  inflicted  the  abuse  on  the
20    minor,  a foster parent may file a motion to intervene in the
21    proceeding for the sole purpose of requesting that the  minor
22    be  placed  with  the foster parent, provided that the foster
23    parent (i) is the current foster parent of the minor or  (ii)
24    has  previously  been  a  foster parent for the minor for one
25    year or more, has a foster care license or is eligible for  a
26    license,  and  is not the subject of any findings of abuse or
27    neglect of any child.  The  juvenile  court  may  only  enter
28    orders  placing  a  minor with a specific foster parent under
29    this subsection (2)(b) and nothing in this Section  shall  be
30    construed  to  confer  any  jurisdiction  or authority on the
31    juvenile court  to  issue  any  other  orders  requiring  the
32    appointed guardian or custodian of a minor to place the minor
33    in a designated foster home or facility.  This Section is not
34    intended  to  encompass any matters that are within the scope
 
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 1    or determinable under the administrative and  appeal  process
 2    established by rules of the Department of Children and Family
 3    Services  under  Section  5(o)  of  the  Children  and Family
 4    Services Act.  Nothing in  this  Section  shall  relieve  the
 5    court  of  its  responsibility, under Section 2-14(a) of this
 6    Act to act in a just and speedy manner  to  reunify  families
 7    where it is the best interests of the minor and the child can
 8    be  cared  for at home without endangering the child's health
 9    or safety and, if reunification is not in the best  interests
10    of  the  minor, to find another permanent home for the minor.
11    Nothing in this Section, or in any order issued by the  court
12    with  respect  to  the  placement  of  a  minor with a foster
13    parent,  shall  impair  the  ability  of  the  Department  of
14    Children and Family Services, or anyone else authorized under
15    Section 5 of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, to
16    remove a minor from the  home  of  a  foster  parent  if  the
17    Department  of  Children  and  Family  Services or the person
18    removing  the  minor  has  reason   to   believe   that   the
19    circumstances  or  conditions  of  the  minor  are  such that
20    continuing in the residence or care of the foster parent will
21    jeopardize the  child's  health  and  safety  or  present  an
22    imminent risk of harm to that minor's life.
23        (c)  If  a  foster  parent  has  had the minor who is the
24    subject of the proceeding under Article II in his or her home
25    for more than one year on or after July 3, 1994  and  if  the
26    minor's  placement  is  being  terminated  from  that  foster
27    parent's  home,  that  foster  parent shall have standing and
28    intervenor status except in  those  circumstances  where  the
29    Department  of  Children  and  Family Services or anyone else
30    authorized under Section 5 of the Abused and Neglected  Child
31    Reporting  Act  has  removed the minor from the foster parent
32    because of a reasonable  belief  that  the  circumstances  or
33    conditions  of  the  minor  are  such  that continuing in the
34    residence or care of the foster parent  will  jeopardize  the
 
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 1    child's health or safety or presents an imminent risk of harm
 2    to the minor's life.
 3        (d)  The court may grant standing to any foster parent if
 4    the  court finds that it is in the best interest of the child
 5    for the foster parent to have standing and intervenor status.
 6        (3)  Parties  respondent  are  entitled  to   notice   in
 7    compliance  with  Sections 2-15 and 2-16, 3-17 and 3-18, 4-14
 8    and 4-15 or 5-525 and 5-530, as  appropriate.  At  the  first
 9    appearance  before  the  court  by  the  minor,  his parents,
10    guardian, custodian or responsible relative, the court  shall
11    explain  the nature of the proceedings and inform the parties
12    of their rights under the first 2 paragraphs of this Section.
13        If the child  is  alleged  to  be  abused,  neglected  or
14    dependent,  the  court shall admonish the parents that if the
15    court declares the child to be a ward of the court and awards
16    custody or guardianship to the  Department  of  Children  and
17    Family   Services,   the  parents  must  cooperate  with  the
18    Department of Children and Family Services, comply  with  the
19    terms  of  the service plans, and correct the conditions that
20    require the child to be in care, or risk termination of their
21    parental rights.
22        Upon an adjudication  of  wardship  of  the  court  under
23    Sections  2-22,  3-23,  4-20 or 5-705, the court shall inform
24    the parties of their right to appeal  therefrom  as  well  as
25    from any other final judgment of the court.
26        When   the  court  finds  that  a  child  is  an  abused,
27    neglected, or dependent minor under Section 2-21,  the  court
28    shall  admonish  the  parents that the parents must cooperate
29    with the Department of Children and Family  Services,  comply
30    with  the  terms  of  the  service  plans,  and  correct  the
31    conditions  that  require  the  child  to be in care, or risk
32    termination of their parental rights.
33        When the court declares a child to be a ward of the court
34    and awards guardianship to the  Department  of  Children  and
 
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 1    Family  Services under Section 2-22, the court shall admonish
 2    the parents, guardian,  custodian,  or  responsible  relative
 3    that  the  parents  must  cooperate  with  the  Department of
 4    Children and Family Services, comply with the  terms  of  the
 5    service  plans,  and  correct the conditions that require the
 6    child to be in care, or risk termination  of  their  parental
 7    rights.
 8        (4)  No  sanction may be applied against the minor who is
 9    the subject of the proceedings by reason of  his  refusal  or
10    failure to testify in the course of any hearing held prior to
11    final adjudication under Section 2-22, 3-23, 4-20 or 5-705.
12        (5)  In  the  discretion  of  the court, the minor may be
13    excluded from any part or parts of  a  dispositional  hearing
14    and,  with  the  consent  of the parent or parents, guardian,
15    counsel or a guardian ad litem, from any part or parts of  an
16    adjudicatory hearing.
17        (6)  The general public except for the news media and the
18    victim shall be excluded from any hearing and, except for the
19    persons  specified  in  this  Section only persons, including
20    representatives of agencies  and  associations,  who  in  the
21    opinion of the court have a direct interest in the case or in
22    the  work  of  the  court  shall  be admitted to the hearing.
23    However, the court may, for the minor's safety and protection
24    and for good cause  shown,  prohibit  any  person  or  agency
25    present   in   court  from  further  disclosing  the  minor's
26    identity. Nothing in this subsection (6) prevents  the  court
27    from allowing other juveniles to be present or to participate
28    in  a  court session being held under the Juvenile Drug Court
29    Treatment Act.
30        (7)  A party shall not be entitled to exercise the  right
31    to  a substitution of a judge without cause under subdivision
32    (a)(2) of Section 2-1001 of the Code of Civil Procedure in  a
33    proceeding  under this Act if the judge is currently assigned
34    to a proceeding involving  the  alleged  abuse,  neglect,  or
 
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 1    dependency  of  the  minor's sibling or half sibling and that
 2    judge  has  made  a  substantive  ruling  in  the  proceeding
 3    involving the minor's sibling or half sibling.
 4    (Source: P.A. 91-357, eff. 7-29-99; 92-559, eff. 1-1-03.)

 5        Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
 6    becoming law.