State of Illinois
91st General Assembly
Legislation

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91_SB1388eng

 
SB1388 Engrossed                               LRB9109824RCks

 1        AN ACT to amend the Adoption Act by changing Section 6.

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

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

 6        (750 ILCS 50/6) (from Ch. 40, par. 1508)
 7        Sec.  6.  A.  Investigation;  all  cases.  Within 10 days
 8    after the filing of a petition for the  adoption  or  standby
 9    adoption  of  a  child  other than a related child, the court
10    shall  appoint  a  child  welfare  agency  approved  by   the
11    Department  of  Children  and  Family  Services,  or a person
12    deemed competent by the court, or in Cook  County  the  Court
13    Services  Division  of  the  Cook County Department of Public
14    Aid, or the Department of Children and Family Services if the
15    court determines that no child welfare agency is available or
16    that the petitioner is financially  unable  to  pay  for  the
17    investigation, to investigate accurately, fully and promptly,
18    the  allegations  contained  in  the petition; the character,
19    reputation, health and general standing in the  community  of
20    the  petitioners; the religious faith of the petitioners and,
21    if ascertainable, of the child  sought  to  be  adopted;  and
22    whether the petitioners are proper persons to adopt the child
23    and  whether  the  child is a proper subject of adoption. The
24    investigation required under this  Section  shall  include  a
25    criminal  background  check  with a review of fingerprints by
26    State and federal authorities.  The criminal background check
27    required by this Section shall include  a  listing  of  when,
28    where and by whom the criminal background check was prepared.
29    The  criminal background check required by this Section shall
30    not be more than two years old.
31        Neither a clerk of the circuit  court  nor  a  judge  may
 
SB1388 Engrossed            -2-                LRB9109824RCks
 1    require  that  a  criminal  background  check  or fingerprint
 2    review be filed with, or at the  same  time  as,  an  initial
 3    petition for adoption.
 4        B.  Investigation;  foreign-born child.  In the case of a
 5    child born outside the United States or a territory  thereof,
 6    in  addition  to  the investigation required under subsection
 7    (A) of this Section, a post-placement investigation shall  be
 8    conducted  in  accordance  with the requirements of the Child
 9    Care Act of 1969, the Interstate Compact on the Placement  of
10    Children,  and  regulations of the foreign placing agency and
11    the supervising agency.
12        The requirements of a post-placement investigation  shall
13    be  deemed  to  have been satisfied if a valid final order or
14    judgment of adoption has been entered by a court of competent
15    jurisdiction in a country other than the United States  or  a
16    territory   thereof  with  respect  to  such  child  and  the
17    petitioners.
18        C.  Report of investigation.  The court  shall  determine
19    whether  the  costs  of the investigation shall be charged to
20    the petitioners. The information obtained as a result of such
21    investigation shall be presented to the court  in  a  written
22    report. The results of the criminal background check required
23    under  subsection  (A) shall be provided to the court for its
24    review.   The  court  may,  in  its  discretion,  weigh   the
25    significance  of the results of the criminal background check
26    against the entirety of the background  of  the  petitioners.
27    The  Court,  in  its discretion, may accept the report of the
28    investigation previously made by  a  licensed  child  welfare
29    agency,  if  made  within  one year prior to the entry of the
30    judgment. Such report shall be treated  as  confidential  and
31    withheld  from  inspection  unless  findings  adverse  to the
32    petitioners  or  to  the  child  sought  to  be  adopted  are
33    contained therein, and in that event the court  shall  inform
34    the  petitioners  of  the relevant portions pertaining to the
 
SB1388 Engrossed            -3-                LRB9109824RCks
 1    adverse findings. In no event shall any facts  set  forth  in
 2    the  report  be  considered at the hearing of the proceeding,
 3    unless established by competent evidence. The report shall be
 4    filed with  the  record  of  the  proceeding.   If  the  file
 5    relating to the proceeding is not impounded, the report shall
 6    be  impounded  by  the  clerk  of the court and shall be made
 7    available for inspection only upon order of the court.
 8        D.  Related adoption. Such  investigation  shall  not  be
 9    made  when  the petition seeks to adopt a related child or an
10    adult unless the court, in its discretion, shall so order. In
11    such an event the court may appoint a person deemed competent
12    by the court.
13    (Source: P.A.  91-429,  eff.  1-1-00;  91-572,  eff.  1-1-00;
14    revised 10-19-99.)

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

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