HB1429eng 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB1429 Engrossed LRB094 08433 LCB 38636 b

AN ACT concerning families.

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

Section 5. The Adoption Act is amended by changing Section 6 as follows:

(750 ILCS 50/6) (from Ch. 40, par. 1508)

Sec. 6. Investigation.

A. Investigation; all cases. Within 10 days after the filing of a petition for the adoption or standby adoption of a child other than a related child, the court shall appoint a child welfare agency approved by the Department of Children and Family Services, or a person deemed competent by the court, or in Cook County the Court Services Division of the Cook County Department of Public Aid, or the Department of Children and Family Services if the court determines that no child welfare agency is available or that the petitioner is financially unable to pay for the investigation, to investigate accurately, fully and promptly, the allegations contained in the petition; the character, reputation, health and general standing in the community of the petitioners; the religious faith of the petitioners and, if ascertainable, of the child sought to be adopted; and whether the petitioners are proper persons to adopt the child and whether the child is a proper subject of adoption. The investigation required under this Section shall include a fingerprint based criminal background check with a review of fingerprints by the Illinois State Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation. Each petitioner subject to this investigation, shall submit his or her fingerprints to the Department of State Police in the form and manner prescribed by the Department of State Police. These fingerprints shall be checked against the fingerprint records now and hereafter filed in the Department of State Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal history records databases. The Department of State Police shall charge a fee for conducting the criminal history records check, which shall be deposited in the State Police Services Fund and shall not exceed the actual cost of the records check. The criminal background check required by this Section shall include a listing of when, where and by whom the criminal background check was prepared. The criminal background check required by this Section shall not be more than two years old.

Neither a clerk of the circuit court nor a judge may require that a criminal background check or fingerprint review be filed with, or at the same time as, an initial petition for adoption.

A-5. As part of the investigation process, the court-appointed investigator shall present to the petitioner a Designation of Standby Guardian Designee form and information regarding guardianship so that the petitioner can include guardianship designation in the adoption process if the petitioner so chooses.

B. Investigation; foreign-born child. In the case of a child born outside the United States or a territory thereof, in addition to the investigation required under subsection (A) of this Section, a post-placement investigation shall be conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Child Care Act of 1969, the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, and regulations of the foreign placing agency and the supervising agency.

The requirements of a post-placement investigation shall be deemed to have been satisfied if a valid final order or judgment of adoption has been entered by a court of competent jurisdiction in a country other than the United States or a territory thereof with respect to such child and the petitioners.

C. Report of investigation. The court shall determine whether the costs of the investigation shall be charged to the petitioners. The information obtained as a result of such investigation shall be presented to the court in a written report. The results of the criminal background check required under subsection (A) shall be provided to the court for its review. The court may, in its discretion, weigh the significance of the results of the criminal background check against the entirety of the background of the petitioners. The Court, in its discretion, may accept the report of the investigation previously made by a licensed child welfare agency, if made within one year prior to the entry of the judgment. Such report shall be treated as confidential and withheld from inspection unless findings adverse to the petitioners or to the child sought to be adopted are contained therein, and in that event the court shall inform the petitioners of the relevant portions pertaining to the adverse findings. In no event shall any facts set forth in the report be considered at the hearing of the proceeding, unless established by competent evidence. The report shall be filed with the record of the proceeding. If the file relating to the proceeding is not impounded, the report shall be impounded by the clerk of the court and shall be made available for inspection only upon order of the court.

D. Related adoption. Such investigation shall not be made when the petition seeks to adopt a related child or an adult unless the court, in its discretion, shall so order. In such an event the court may appoint a person deemed competent by the court.

(Source: P.A. 93-418, eff. 1-1-04.)