State of Illinois
91st General Assembly
Legislation

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91_SB0774

 
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 1        AN ACT to amend the Children's  Advocacy  Center  Act  by
 2    changing Section 4.

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

 5        Section 5.  The Children's Advocacy Center Act is amended
 6    by changing Section 4 as follows:

 7        (55 ILCS 80/4) (from Ch. 23, par. 1804)
 8        Sec. 4. Children's Advocacy Center.
 9        (a)  Subject to the referendum provisions of this Act,  a
10    Children's  Advocacy  Center ("Center") may be established to
11    coordinate the activities of the various agencies involved in
12    the investigation,  prosecution  and  treatment  referral  of
13    child  sexual  abuse.   The Advisory Board shall serve as the
14    governing board for the Center and, by the majority  vote  of
15    its  members,  shall  submit a proposed annual budget for the
16    operation of the Center to the county board. The county board
17    shall appropriate funds and levy a tax sufficient to  operate
18    the Center. Each county shall establish a Children's Advocacy
19    Center  Fund  and  shall  deposit the net proceeds of the tax
20    authorized by Section 6 of this Act in that Fund, which shall
21    be kept separate from all other county funds and  shall  only
22    be used for the purposes of this Act.
23        (b)  The  Advisory  Board  shall  pay from the Children's
24    Advocacy Center Fund the salaries of  all  employees  of  the
25    Center,  all  of  whom  shall  be  county  employees, and the
26    expenses of acquiring a physical  plant  for  the  Center  by
27    construction  or  lease and maintaining the Center, including
28    the  expenses  of  administering  the  coordination  of   the
29    investigation,  prosecution  and  treatment referral of child
30    sexual abuse under the provisions  of  the  protocol  adopted
31    pursuant to this Act.
 
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 1        (c)  Every  Center  shall  include at least the following
 2    components:
 3             (1)  An   interdisciplinary,   coordinated   systems
 4        approach to the investigation of child sexual abuse which
 5        shall include, at a minimum;
 6                  (i)  an interagency notification procedure;
 7                  (ii)  a dispute resolution process between  the
 8             involved  agencies  when a conflict arises on how to
 9             proceed with the investigation of a case;
10                  (iii)  a policy on interagency decision-making;
11             and
12                  (iv)  a description of the role each agency has
13             in the investigation of the case;
14             (2)  A safe, separate space with assigned  personnel
15        designated  for  the  investigation  and  coordination of
16        child sexual abuse cases;
17             (3)  An interdisciplinary case  review  process  for
18        purposes  of  decision-making,  problem  solving, systems
19        coordination, and information sharing;
20             (4)  A comprehensive tracking system to receive  and
21        coordinate  information  concerning  child  sexual  abuse
22        cases from each participating agency;
23             (5)  Interdisciplinary  specialized training for all
24        professionals involved with the victims and  families  of
25        child sexual abuse cases; and
26             (6)  A  process  for evaluating the effectiveness of
27        the Center and its operations.
28        (d)  In the event that a Center has been  established  as
29    provided  in  this Section, the Advisory Board of that Center
30    may, by a majority of the members, authorize  the  Center  to
31    coordinate the activities of the various agencies involved in
32    the  investigation,  prosecution,  and  treatment referral of
33    serious child physical abuse cases. The Advisory Board  shall
34    provide  for  the  financial support of these activities in a
 
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 1    manner similar to that set out in subsections (a) and (b)  of
 2    this  Section  and  shall  be allowed to submit a budget that
 3    includes support for physical abuse and neglect activities to
 4    the County Board, which shall appropriate funds that  may  be
 5    available under Section 5 of this Act.
 6        (e)  The  Illinois  Child  Advocacy  Commission  may also
 7    provide technical assistance and  guidance  to  the  Advisory
 8    Boards  and  shall make a single annual grant for the purpose
 9    of providing technical support and  assistance  for  advocacy
10    center  development  in Illinois whenever an appropriation is
11    made by the General Assembly specifically for  that  purpose.
12    The  grant  may  be  made  only to an Illinois not-for-profit
13    corporation that qualifies for tax  treatment  under  Section
14    501(c)(3)  of the Internal Revenue Code and that has a voting
15    membership consisting of children's  advocacy  centers.   The
16    grant  may  be  spent  on staff, office space, equipment, and
17    other expenses necessary  for  the  development  of  resource
18    materials   and   other   forms   of  technical  support  and
19    assistance.  The grantee shall report to  the  Commission  on
20    the  specific  uses of grant funds by no later than October 1
21    of each year and shall retain supporting documentation for  a
22    period  of at least 5 years after the corresponding report is
23    filed.
24    (Source: P.A. 89-543, eff. 1-1-97.)

25        Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
26    becoming law.

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