093_SB1650ham001

 










                                     LRB093 03202 RLC 16482 a

 1                    AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1650

 2        AMENDMENT NO.     .  Amend Senate Bill 1650 by  replacing
 3    everything after the enacting clause with the following:

 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
 
                            -2-      LRB093 03202 RLC 16482 a
 1    court proceeding, and such appointment shall continue through
 2    the  permanency  hearings  and termination of parental rights
 3    proceedings subject to withdrawal or substitution pursuant to
 4    Supreme Court Rules or the Code of Civil Procedure. Following
 5    the dispositional hearing, the court  may  require  appointed
 6    counsel,  other than counsel for the minor or counsel for the
 7    guardian ad litem, to withdraw his  or  her  appearance  upon
 8    failure  of  the  party  for whom counsel was appointed under
 9    this Section to attend any subsequent proceedings.
10        No hearing on any petition or motion filed under this Act
11    may be commenced unless the minor who is the subject  of  the
12    proceeding  is  represented  by  counsel. Notwithstanding the
13    preceding sentence, if a guardian ad litem has been appointed
14    for the minor under Section 2-17 of this Act and the guardian
15    ad litem is a licensed attorney at law of this State,  or  in
16    the  event  that  a court appointed special advocate has been
17    appointed as guardian ad litem and counsel has been appointed
18    to represent the court appointed special advocate, the  court
19    may  not  require the appointment of counsel to represent the
20    minor unless the court finds that the minor's  interests  are
21    in  conflict with what the guardian ad litem determines to be
22    in the best interest of  the  minor.  Each  adult  respondent
23    shall  be furnished a written "Notice of Rights" at or before
24    the first hearing at which he or she appears.
25        (1.5)  The Department shall maintain a system of response
26    to inquiry made by parents or putative parents as to  whether
27    their  child  is  under  the  custody  or guardianship of the
28    Department; and  if  so,  the  Department  shall  direct  the
29    parents  or  putative  parents  to  the  appropriate court of
30    jurisdiction, including where inquiry  may  be  made  of  the
31    clerk  of  the  court  regarding the case number and the next
32    scheduled court date  of the minor's case.  Effective  notice
33    and  the means of accessing information shall be given to the
34    public on a continuing basis by the Department.
 
                            -3-      LRB093 03202 RLC 16482 a
 1        (2) (a)  Though not appointed guardian or legal custodian
 2    or otherwise made a party to the proceeding, any  current  or
 3    previously  appointed foster parent or relative caregiver, or
 4    representative of an agency or association interested in  the
 5    minor  has  the  right to be heard by the court, but does not
 6    thereby become a party to the proceeding.
 7        In addition to the foregoing right to  be  heard  by  the
 8    court,  any  current foster parent or relative caregiver of a
 9    minor  and  the  agency  designated  by  the  court  or   the
10    Department  of  Children  and Family Services as custodian of
11    the minor who is alleged to be or  has  been  adjudicated  an
12    abused  or  neglected  minor under Section 2-3 or a dependent
13    minor under Section 2-4 of this Act  has  the  right  to  and
14    shall  be  given adequate notice at all stages of any hearing
15    or proceeding under this Act.
16        Any foster parent or relative caregiver who is denied his
17    or her right to be heard  under  this  Section  may  bring  a
18    mandamus  action  under  Article  XIV  of  the  Code of Civil
19    Procedure against the court or any public agency  to  enforce
20    that  right.   The mandamus action may be brought immediately
21    upon the denial of those rights but in no event later than 30
22    days after the foster parent has been denied the right to  be
23    heard.
24        (b)  If  after  an adjudication that a minor is abused or
25    neglected as provided under Section 2-21 of this  Act  and  a
26    motion  has  been  made  to  restore the minor to any parent,
27    guardian, or legal custodian  found  by  the  court  to  have
28    caused  the  neglect  or  to  have inflicted the abuse on the
29    minor, a foster parent may file a motion to intervene in  the
30    proceeding  for the sole purpose of requesting that the minor
31    be placed with the foster parent, provided  that  the  foster
32    parent  (i) is the current foster parent of the minor or (ii)
33    has previously been a foster parent for  the  minor  for  one
34    year  or more, has a foster care license or is eligible for a
 
                            -4-      LRB093 03202 RLC 16482 a
 1    license, and is not the subject of any findings of  abuse  or
 2    neglect  of  any  child.   The  juvenile court may only enter
 3    orders placing a minor with a specific  foster  parent  under
 4    this  subsection  (2)(b) and nothing in this Section shall be
 5    construed to confer any  jurisdiction  or  authority  on  the
 6    juvenile  court  to  issue  any  other  orders  requiring the
 7    appointed guardian or custodian of a minor to place the minor
 8    in a designated foster home or facility.  This Section is not
 9    intended to encompass any matters that are within  the  scope
10    or  determinable  under the administrative and appeal process
11    established by rules of the Department of Children and Family
12    Services under  Section  5(o)  of  the  Children  and  Family
13    Services  Act.   Nothing  in  this  Section shall relieve the
14    court of its responsibility, under Section  2-14(a)  of  this
15    Act  to  act  in a just and speedy manner to reunify families
16    where it is the best interests of the minor and the child can
17    be cared for at home without endangering the  child's  health
18    or  safety and, if reunification is not in the best interests
19    of the minor, to find another permanent home for  the  minor.
20    Nothing  in this Section, or in any order issued by the court
21    with respect to the  placement  of  a  minor  with  a  foster
22    parent,  shall  impair  the  ability  of  the  Department  of
23    Children and Family Services, or anyone else authorized under
24    Section 5 of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, to
25    remove  a  minor  from  the  home  of  a foster parent if the
26    Department of Children and  Family  Services  or  the  person
27    removing   the   minor   has   reason  to  believe  that  the
28    circumstances or  conditions  of  the  minor  are  such  that
29    continuing in the residence or care of the foster parent will
30    jeopardize  the  child's  health  and  safety  or  present an
31    imminent risk of harm to that minor's life.
32        (c)  If a foster parent has had  the  minor  who  is  the
33    subject of the proceeding under Article II in his or her home
34    for  more  than  one year on or after July 3, 1994 and if the
 
                            -5-      LRB093 03202 RLC 16482 a
 1    minor's  placement  is  being  terminated  from  that  foster
 2    parent's home, that foster parent  shall  have  standing  and
 3    intervenor  status  except  in  those circumstances where the
 4    Department of Children and Family  Services  or  anyone  else
 5    authorized  under Section 5 of the Abused and Neglected Child
 6    Reporting Act has removed the minor from  the  foster  parent
 7    because  of  a  reasonable  belief  that the circumstances or
 8    conditions of the minor  are  such  that  continuing  in  the
 9    residence  or  care  of the foster parent will jeopardize the
10    child's health or safety or presents an imminent risk of harm
11    to the minor's life.
12        (d)  The court may grant standing to any foster parent if
13    the court finds that it is in the best interest of the  child
14    for the foster parent to have standing and intervenor status.
15        (3)  Parties   respondent   are  entitled  to  notice  in
16    compliance with Sections 2-15 and 2-16, 3-17 and  3-18,  4-14
17    and  4-15  or  5-525  and 5-530, as appropriate. At the first
18    appearance before  the  court  by  the  minor,  his  parents,
19    guardian,  custodian or responsible relative, the court shall
20    explain the nature of the proceedings and inform the  parties
21    of their rights under the first 2 paragraphs of this Section.
22        If  the  child  is  alleged  to  be  abused, neglected or
23    dependent, the court shall admonish the parents that  if  the
24    court declares the child to be a ward of the court and awards
25    custody  or  guardianship  to  the Department of Children and
26    Family  Services,  the  parents  must  cooperate   with   the
27    Department  of  Children and Family Services, comply with the
28    terms of the service plans, and correct the  conditions  that
29    require the child to be in care, or risk termination of their
30    parental rights.
31        Upon  an  adjudication  of  wardship  of  the court under
32    Sections 2-22, 3-23, 4-20 or 5-705, the  court  shall  inform
33    the  parties  of  their  right to appeal therefrom as well as
34    from any other final judgment of the court.
 
                            -6-      LRB093 03202 RLC 16482 a
 1        When  the  court  finds  that  a  child  is  an   abused,
 2    neglected,  or  dependent minor under Section 2-21, the court
 3    shall admonish the parents that the  parents  must  cooperate
 4    with  the  Department of Children and Family Services, comply
 5    with  the  terms  of  the  service  plans,  and  correct  the
 6    conditions that require the child to  be  in  care,  or  risk
 7    termination of their parental rights.
 8        When the court declares a child to be a ward of the court
 9    and  awards  guardianship  to  the Department of Children and
10    Family Services under Section 2-22, the court shall  admonish
11    the  parents,  guardian,  custodian,  or responsible relative
12    that the  parents  must  cooperate  with  the  Department  of
13    Children  and  Family  Services, comply with the terms of the
14    service plans, and correct the conditions  that  require  the
15    child  to  be  in care, or risk termination of their parental
16    rights.
17        (4)  No sanction may be applied against the minor who  is
18    the  subject  of  the proceedings by reason of his refusal or
19    failure to testify in the course of any hearing held prior to
20    final adjudication under Section 2-22, 3-23, 4-20 or 5-705.
21        (5)  In the discretion of the court,  the  minor  may  be
22    excluded  from  any  part or parts of a dispositional hearing
23    and, with the consent of the  parent  or  parents,  guardian,
24    counsel  or a guardian ad litem, from any part or parts of an
25    adjudicatory hearing.
26        (6)  The general public except for the news media and the
27    victim shall be excluded from any hearing and, except for the
28    persons specified in this  Section  only  persons,  including
29    representatives  of  agencies  and  associations,  who in the
30    opinion of the court have a direct interest in the case or in
31    the work of the court  shall  be  admitted  to  the  hearing.
32    However, the court may, for the minor's safety and protection
33    and  for  good  cause  shown,  prohibit  any person or agency
34    present  in  court  from  further  disclosing   the   minor's
 
                            -7-      LRB093 03202 RLC 16482 a
 1    identity.  Nothing  in this subsection (6) prevents the court
 2    from allowing other juveniles to be present or to participate
 3    in a court session being held under the Juvenile  Drug  Court
 4    Treatment Act.
 5        (7)  A  party shall not be entitled to exercise the right
 6    to a substitution of a judge without cause under  subdivision
 7    (a)(2)  of Section 2-1001 of the Code of Civil Procedure in a
 8    proceeding under this Act if the judge is currently  assigned
 9    to  a  proceeding  involving  the  alleged abuse, neglect, or
10    dependency of the minor's sibling or half  sibling  and  that
11    judge  has  made  a  substantive  ruling  in  the  proceeding
12    involving the minor's sibling or half sibling.
13    (Source: P.A. 91-357, eff. 7-29-99; 92-559, eff. 1-1-03.)

14        Section  99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect upon
15    becoming law.".