Public Act 094-0034
 
HB0759 Enrolled LRB094 07435 AJO 37597 b

    AN ACT concerning children.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Children and Family Services Act is amended
by adding Section 5.25 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 505/5.25 new)
    Sec. 5.25. Behavioral health services.
    (a) Every child in the care of the Department of Children
and Family Services under this Act shall receive the necessary
behavioral health services including but not limited to: mental
health services, trauma services, substance abuse services,
and developmental disabilities services. The provision of
these services may be provided in milieu including but not
limited to: integrated assessment, treatment plans, individual
and group therapy, specialized foster care, community based
programming, licensed residential services, psychosocial
rehabilitation, screening assessment and support services,
hospitalization, and transitional planning and referral to the
Department of Human Services for appropriate services when the
child reaches adulthood. Services shall be appropriate to meet
the needs of the individual child and may be provided to the
child at the site of the program, facility, or foster home or
at an otherwise appropriate location. A program facility, or
home, shall assist the Department staff in arranging for a
child to receive behavioral health services from an outside
provider when those services are necessary to meet the child's
needs and the child wishes to receive them.
    (b) Not later than January 1, 2006, the Department shall
file a proposed rule or a proposed amendment to an existing
rule regarding the provision of behavioral health services to
children who have serious behavioral health needs. The proposal
shall address, but is not limited to, the implementation of the
following: integrated assessment, treatment plans, individual
and group therapy, specialized foster care, community based
programming, licensed residential services, psychosocial
rehabilitation, hospitalization, and transitional planning and
referral to the Department of Human Services for appropriate
services when the child reaches adulthood.
    (c) In preparation for the comprehensive implementation of
the behavioral health system, the Department shall also prepare
an assessment of behavioral health community services
available to the Department in the State. The assessment shall
evaluate the resources needed in each region to provide
appropriate behavioral health services for all of the
Department's foster children within the region's service area
who are in need of behavioral health services. The assessments
shall include, at a minimum, an analysis of the current
availability and needs in each of the following areas:
comprehensive integrated assessment, trauma services, mental
health treatment, qualified mental health professionals,
community providers, programs for psychosocial rehabilitation,
and programs for substance abuse. By January 1, 2007, the
Department shall complete all required individual and regional
assessments and shall submit a written report to the Governor
and the General Assembly that describes the results of the
assessment and contains a specific plan to address the
identified needs for services.