Full Text of SB1931 94th General Assembly
SB1931sam002 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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Sen. Debbie DeFrancesco Halvorson
Filed: 4/11/2005
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| AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1931
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| AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1931, AS AMENDED, | 3 |
| by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the | 4 |
| following:
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| "Section 5. The Education for Homeless Children Act is | 6 |
| amended by changing Sections 1-25 and 1-30 as follows:
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| (105 ILCS 45/1-25)
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| Sec. 1-25. Ombudspersons; dispute resolution; civil | 9 |
| actions.
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| (a) Each regional superintendent of schools shall act as an | 11 |
| ombudsperson
to provide resource information and resolve | 12 |
| disputes relating to the rights of
homeless children under this | 13 |
| Act, except in Cook County, where each school
district shall | 14 |
| designate a person to serve as ombudsperson when a dispute
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| arises. If a school denies a homeless child enrollment or | 16 |
| transportation, it
shall immediately refer the parent or | 17 |
| guardian to the ombudsperson. The child
shall be admitted and | 18 |
| transported to the school chosen by the parents or
guardians | 19 |
| until final resolution of the dispute. The ombudsperson shall
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| convene a meeting of all parties and attempt to resolve the | 21 |
| dispute within 5
school days after receiving notice of the | 22 |
| dispute.
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| (a-5) Whenever a child and his or her parents who initially | 24 |
| share the housing of another person due to loss of housing, |
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| economic hardship, or similar reasons continue to share the | 2 |
| housing, the superintendent of the school district of origin | 3 |
| may request, after the passage of 18 months or the minimum | 4 |
| number of months identified in the State Plan required under | 5 |
| the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, whichever | 6 |
| is greater, and annually again thereafter, that the | 7 |
| ombudsperson determine whether the parents and child currently | 8 |
| share the housing due to the loss of housing, economic | 9 |
| hardship, or similar reasons. This determination shall be | 10 |
| effective solely at the close of the academic year, shall be | 11 |
| based on the totality of circumstances, and may include the | 12 |
| consideration of all relevant factors, including, but not | 13 |
| limited to, (i) the length of time that the child and parents | 14 |
| have been sharing the housing of another person; (ii) the | 15 |
| degree to and manner in which the parents are capable of | 16 |
| obtaining alternative housing within the school district of | 17 |
| origin through such means as employment, a savings plan, public | 18 |
| benefits, publicly-funded supports and programs, alimony, | 19 |
| child support, and assets; (iii) the degree to and manner in | 20 |
| which the parents have attempted to obtain alternative housing | 21 |
| and alternative housing supports within the school district of | 22 |
| origin; (iv) the degree to and manner in which alternative | 23 |
| housing and alternative housing supports are otherwise | 24 |
| available to the parents within the school district of origin; | 25 |
| (v) the degree to and manner in which the parents are capable | 26 |
| of obtaining alternative housing in the school district of | 27 |
| origin with the support of other persons, such as friends, | 28 |
| relatives, social service programs, housing programs, and | 29 |
| support from congregations and civic organizations; (vi) the | 30 |
| degree to and manner in which the living conditions and | 31 |
| circumstances in the shared housing are adequate; (vii) the | 32 |
| degree to and manner in which the child and parents have a | 33 |
| social and economic nexus to the region served by the school | 34 |
| district of origin; and (viii) the degree to and manner in |
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| which the child and parents have a social and economic nexus to | 2 |
| the area served by the school district in which the homeless | 3 |
| child is living.
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| (b) Any party to a dispute under this Act may file a civil | 5 |
| action in a
court
of competent jurisdiction to seek appropriate | 6 |
| relief. In any civil action, a
party whose rights under this | 7 |
| Act are found to have been violated shall be
entitled to | 8 |
| recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs.
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| (c) If a dispute arises, the school district shall inform | 10 |
| parents and
guardians of homeless children of the availability | 11 |
| of the ombudsperson, sources
of low cost or free legal | 12 |
| assistance, and other advocacy services in the
community.
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| (Source: P.A. 88-634, eff. 1-1-95.)
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| (105 ILCS 45/1-30)
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| Sec. 1-30. McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children | 16 |
| Committee. The Homeless Children Committee is abolished on the | 17 |
| effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General | 18 |
| Assembly. There is created the McKinney-Vento Education for | 19 |
| Homeless Children Committee composed of 13 members, appointed | 20 |
| as follows: the Governor shall appoint, for a term of 2 years, | 21 |
| 4 providers to homeless persons who represent the geographic, | 22 |
| racial, ethnic, and economic diversity of the State; the | 23 |
| Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of | 24 |
| the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate, and | 25 |
| the Minority Leader of the Senate each and individually shall | 26 |
| appoint, for a term of 2 years, a homeless or formerly homeless | 27 |
| parent, after consultation with a statewide non-profit | 28 |
| organization that advocates an end to homelessness; the State | 29 |
| Superintendent of Education shall appoint, for a term of 3 | 30 |
| years, one person who represents a statewide non-profit | 31 |
| organization that advocates an end to homelessness and 4 school | 32 |
| personnel, one who represents City of Chicago School District | 33 |
| 299 and 3 who represent, respectively, Regions 1 and 2, Regions |
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| 3 and 4, and Regions 5 and 6 of the Illinois Association of | 2 |
| Regional Superintendents of Schools. These appointments shall | 3 |
| be made no later than 3 months after the effective date of this | 4 |
| amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly. If a member of the | 5 |
| Committee resigns or is otherwise unable to adequately fulfill | 6 |
| the responsibility of serving on the Committee, the appointing | 7 |
| authority shall immediately appoint a person to complete the | 8 |
| unfinished term of his or her predecessor. When a term of | 9 |
| appointment is completed, the appointing authority shall | 10 |
| re-appoint the person or appoint another person in his or her | 11 |
| place, for a new term of office that corresponds in length to | 12 |
| the original term. Failure to make an appointment as provided | 13 |
| in this Section shall in no way hinder or prohibit the other | 14 |
| members of the Committee from acting upon the responsibilities | 15 |
| and authority of the Committee set forth in this Act. The | 16 |
| Committee shall meet no less than 3 times a year; review any | 17 |
| and all facts and policies relevant to the educational success | 18 |
| of homeless children; solicit and receive information from | 19 |
| educators, public officials, and other persons interested in | 20 |
| the educational success of homeless children; respond to | 21 |
| requests for information and guidance from members of the | 22 |
| General Assembly and other public officials; review, | 23 |
| promulgate, and modify, through addenda, amendments, or | 24 |
| otherwise, the State plans required under the federal | 25 |
| McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act; establish performance | 26 |
| objectives, benchmarks, and measures for the allocation and | 27 |
| expenditure of funds available under the federal | 28 |
| McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act; and establish its own | 29 |
| procedures and rules for conducting business. The State | 30 |
| Superintendent of Education shall provide the assistance | 31 |
| necessary to ensure that the homeless and formerly homeless | 32 |
| persons who serve on the Committee are able to undertake the | 33 |
| travel necessary for Committee business; designate an employee | 34 |
| of the State Board of Education to convene the first meeting of |
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| the Committee no later than 4 months after the effective date | 2 |
| of this amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly and | 3 |
| thereafter support the Committee in all its work; and otherwise | 4 |
| take all action necessary to ensure that the members may act | 5 |
| upon the responsibilities and authority of the Committee set | 6 |
| forth in this Act.
There is hereby created a
Homeless
Children | 7 |
| Committee composed of 24 members, 18 of whom shall be appointed | 8 |
| by the
State Superintendent of Education after consultation | 9 |
| with advocates for the
homeless and private nonprofit | 10 |
| organizations that advocate an end to
homelessness, 2 of whom | 11 |
| shall be members of the General Assembly appointed (one
from | 12 |
| each chamber) by the Governor, and 4 of whom shall be members | 13 |
| of the
General Assembly appointed one each by the Speaker of | 14 |
| the House of
Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House | 15 |
| of Representatives, the
President of the Senate, and the | 16 |
| Minority Leader of the Senate. Of the 18
members appointed by | 17 |
| the State Superintendent of Education as provided in this
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| Section, 6 shall be homeless and formerly homeless parents or | 19 |
| guardians, 6
shall be providers to and advocates for homeless | 20 |
| persons, and 6 shall be school
personnel from different | 21 |
| geographic regions of the State. Members of the
Committee shall | 22 |
| serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority and a vacancy
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| on the Committee shall be filled by the appropriate appointing | 24 |
| authority. The
Committee shall have the authority to review and | 25 |
| modify the current and future
State plans that are required | 26 |
| under the federal Stewart B. McKinney Homeless
Assistance Act.
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| (Source: P.A. 88-634, eff. 1-1-95.)".
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