Public Act 90-0028 of the 90th General Assembly
Public Act 90-0028
HB0165 Enrolled LRB9000741DJcd
AN ACT concerning children.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
ARTICLE 5.
Section 5-1. Short title. This Article may be cited as
the Interstate Compact on Adoption Act, and references in
this Article to "this Act" mean this Article.
Section 5-5. Findings. The legislature finds that:
(1) Finding adoptive families for children, for whom
state assistance is desirable pursuant to subsection (j) of
Section 5 of the Children and Family Services Act, and
ensuring the protection of the interest of the children
affected during the entire assistance period, require special
measures when the adoptive parents move to other states or
are residents of another state.
(2) Provision of medical and other necessary services
for children, with state assistance, encounters special
difficulties when the provision of services takes place in
other states.
Section 5-10. Purposes. The purposes of the Act are to:
(1) Authorize the Illinois Department of Children and
Family Services to enter into interstate agreements with
agencies of other states for the protection of children on
behalf of whom adoption assistance is being provided by the
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
(2) Provide procedures for interstate children's
adoption assistance payments, including medical payments.
Section 5-15. Definitions. As used in this Act, unless
the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Adoption assistance state" means the state that is
signatory to an adoption assistance agreement in a particular
case.
"Residence state" means the state where the child is
living.
"State" means a state of the United States, the District
of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin
Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands, or a Territory or Possession of or administered by
the United States.
Section 5-20. Compacts authorized. The Illinois
Department of Children and Family Services is authorized to
develop, participate in the development of, negotiate, and
enter into one or more interstate compacts on behalf of this
State with other states to implement one or more of the
purposes set forth in this Act. When so entered into, and
for so long as it shall remain in force, such a compact shall
have the force and effect of law.
Section 5-25. Contents of compacts. A compact entered
into pursuant to the authority conferred by this Act shall
contain the following:
(1) A provision making it available for joinder by
all states.
(2) A provision or provisions for withdrawal from
the compact upon written notice to the parties, but with
a period of one year between the date of the notice and
the effective date of the withdrawal.
(3) A requirement that the protections afforded by
or pursuant to the compact continue in force for the
duration of the adoption assistance and be applicable to
all children and their adoptive parents who on the
effective date of the withdrawal are receiving adoption
assistance from a party state other than the one in which
they are resident and have their principal place of
abode.
(4) A requirement that each instance of adoption
assistance to which the compact applies be covered by an
adoption assistance agreement in writing between the
adoptive parents and the state child welfare agency of
the state that undertakes to provide the adoption
assistance, and further, that any such agreement be
expressly for the benefit of the adopted child and
enforceable by the adoptive parents and the state agency
providing the adoption assistance.
(5) Other provisions that may be appropriate to
implement the proper administration of the compact.
Section 5-30. Optional contents of compacts. A compact
entered into pursuant to the authority conferred by this Act
may contain provisions in addition to those required pursuant
to Section 5-25 of this Act, as follows:
(1) Provisions establishing procedures for and
entitlement to medical and other necessary social
services for the child in accordance with applicable
laws, even though the child and the adoptive parents are
in a state other than the one responsible for or
providing the services or the funds to defray part or all
of the costs of the services.
(2) Other provisions that may be appropriate or
incidental to the proper administration of the compact.
Section 5-35. Medical assistance.
(a) A child with special needs who resides in this State
and who is the subject of an adoption assistance agreement
with another state shall be eligible for medical assistance
from this State under Article V of the Illinois Public Aid
Code upon the filing of agreed documentation obtained from
the assistance state and filed with the Illinois Department
of Public Aid. The Department of Children and Family Services
shall be required at least annually to establish that the
agreement is still in force or has been renewed.
(b) If a child (i) is in another state, (ii) is covered
by an adoption assistance agreement made by the Illinois
Department of Children and Family Services, and (iii) was
eligible for medical assistance under Article V of the
Illinois Public Aid Code at the time he or she resided in
this State and would continue to be eligible for that
assistance if he or she was currently residing in this State,
then that child is eligible for medical assistance under
Article V of the Illinois Public Aid Code, but only for those
medical assistance benefits under Article V that are not
provided by the other state. There shall be no payment or
reimbursement by this State for services or benefits covered
under any insurance or other third party medical contract or
arrangement held by the child or the adoptive parents.
(c) The submission of any claim for payment or
reimbursement for services or benefits pursuant to this
Section or the making of any statement in connection
therewith, which claim or statement the maker knows or should
know to be false, misleading, or fraudulent, shall be
punishable as perjury and shall also be subject to a fine not
to exceed $10,000 or imprisonment for not to exceed 2 years,
or both.
(d) The provisions of this Section shall apply only to
medical assistance for children under adoption assistance
agreements from states that have entered into a compact with
this State under which the other state provided medical
assistance to children with special needs under adoption
assistance agreements made by this State.
(e) The Illinois Department of Children and Family
Services and the Illinois Department of Public Aid may adopt
all rules necessary to implement this Section.
Section 5-40. Federal participation. Consistent with
federal law, the Illinois Department of Children and Family
Services and the Illinois Department of Public Aid or the
Illinois Department of Human Services, as the successor
agency of the Illinois Department of Public Aid, in
connection with the administration of this Act and any
compact entered into pursuant to this Act, shall include in
any state plan made pursuant to the Adoption Assistance and
Child Welfare Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-272), Titles IV (e) and
XIX of the Social Security Act, and any other applicable
federal laws the provision of adoption assistance and medical
assistance for which the federal government pays some or all
of the cost. The Department of Children and Family Services
and the Illinois Department of Public Aid or the Department
of Human Services, as the successor agency of the Illinois
Department of Public Aid, shall apply for and administer all
relevant federal aid in accordance with law.
ARTICLE 10
Section 10-5. The Children and Family Services Act is
amended by changing Sections 5, 6a, 7, and 7.7 as follows:
(20 ILCS 505/5) (from Ch. 23, par. 5005)
(Text of Section before amendment by P.A. 89-507)
Sec. 5. To provide direct child welfare services when
not available through other public or private child care or
program facilities.
(a) For purposes of this Section:
(1) "Children" means persons found within the State
who are under the age of 18 years. The term also
includes persons under age 19 who:
(A) were committed to the Department pursuant
to the Juvenile Court Act or the Juvenile Court Act
of 1987, as amended, prior to the age of 18 and who
continue under the jurisdiction of the court; or
(B) were accepted for care, service and
training by the Department prior to the age of 18
and whose best interest in the discretion of the
Department would be served by continuing that care,
service and training because of severe emotional
disturbances, physical disability, social adjustment
or any combination thereof, or because of the need
to complete an educational or vocational training
program.
(2) "Homeless youth" means persons found within the
State who are under the age of 19, are not in a safe and
stable living situation and cannot be reunited with their
families.
(3) "Child welfare services" means public social
services which are directed toward the accomplishment of
the following purposes:
(A) protecting and promoting the welfare of
children, including homeless, dependent or neglected
children;
(B) preventing or remedying, or assisting in
the solution of problems which may result in, the
neglect, abuse, exploitation or delinquency of
children;
(C) preventing the unnecessary separation of
children from their families by identifying family
problems, assisting families in resolving their
problems, and preventing the breakup of the family
where the prevention of child removal is desirable
and possible;
(D) restoring to their families children who
have been removed, by the provision of services to
the child and the families;
(E) placing children in suitable adoptive
homes, in cases where restoration to the biological
family is not possible or appropriate;
(F) assuring adequate care of children away
from their homes, in cases where the child cannot be
returned home or cannot be placed for adoption;
(G) providing supportive services and living
maintenance which contribute to the physical,
emotional and social well-being of children who are
pregnant and unmarried;
(H) providing shelter and independent living
services for homeless youth; and
(I) placing and maintaining children in
facilities that provide separate living quarters for
children under the age of 18 and for children 18
years of age and older, unless a child 18 years of
age is in the last year of high school education or
vocational training, in an approved individual or
group treatment program, or in a licensed shelter
facility. The Department is not required to place or
maintain children:
(i) who are in a foster home, or
(ii) who are persons with a developmental
disability, as defined in the Mental Health and
Developmental Disabilities Code, or
(iii) who are female children who are
pregnant, pregnant and parenting or parenting,
or
(iv) who are siblings,
in facilities that provide separate living quarters
for children 18 years of age and older and for
children under 18 years of age.
(b) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to
authorize the expenditure of public funds for the purpose of
performing abortions.
(c) The Department shall establish and maintain
tax-supported child welfare services and extend and seek to
improve voluntary services throughout the State, to the end
that services and care shall be available on an equal basis
throughout the State to children requiring such services.
(d) The Director may authorize advance disbursements for
any new program initiative to any agency contracting with the
Department. As a prerequisite for an advance disbursement,
the contractor must post a surety bond in the amount of the
advance disbursement and have a purchase of service contract
approved by the Department. The Department may pay up to 2
months operational expenses in advance. The amount of the
advance disbursement shall be prorated over the life of the
contract or the remaining months of the fiscal year,
whichever is less, and the installment amount shall then be
deducted from future bills. Advance disbursement
authorizations for new initiatives shall not be made to any
agency after that agency has operated during 2 consecutive
fiscal years. The requirements of this Section concerning
advance disbursements shall not apply with respect to the
following: payments to local public agencies for child day
care services as authorized by Section 5a of this Act; and
youth service programs receiving grant funds under Section
17a-4.
(e) For the purpose of insuring effective state-wide
planning, development, and utilization of resources for the
day care of children, operated under various auspices, the
Department is hereby designated to coordinate all day care
activities for children of the State and shall:
(1) Develop on or before December 1, 1977, and
update every year thereafter, a state comprehensive
day-care plan for submission to the Governor which
identifies high-priority areas and groups, relating them
to available resources, and identifying the most
effective approaches to the use of existing day care
services. The State comprehensive day-care plan shall be
made available to the General Assembly following the
Governor's approval of the plan.
The plan shall include methods and procedures for
the development of additional day care resources for
children to meet the goal of reducing short-run and
long-run dependency and to provide necessary enrichment
and stimulation to the education of young children.
Recommendation shall be made for State policy on optimum
use of private and public, local, state and federal
resources, including an estimate of the resources needed
for the licensing and regulation of day care facilities.
A written report shall be submitted to the Governor
and the General Assembly, annually, on April 15, and
shall include an evaluation of developments over the
preceding fiscal year, including cost-benefit analyses of
various arrangements. Beginning with the report in 1990
and every 2 years thereafter, the report shall also
include the following:
(A) An assessment of the child care services,
needs and available resources throughout the State
and an assessment of the adequacy of existing child
care services, including, but not limited to,
services assisted under this Act and under any other
program administered by other State agencies.
(B) A survey of day care facilities to
determine the number of qualified caregivers, as
defined by rule, attracted to vacant positions and
any problems encountered by facilities in attracting
and retaining capable caregivers.
(C) The average wages and salaries and fringe
benefit packages paid to caregivers throughout the
State, computed on a regional basis.
(D) The qualifications of new caregivers hired
at licensed day care facilities during the previous
2 year period.
(E) Recommendations for increasing caregiver
wages and salaries to insure quality care for
children.
(F) Evaluation of the fee structure and income
eligibility for child care subsidized by the State.
The requirement for reporting to the General
Assembly shall be satisfied by filing copies of the
report with the Speaker, the Minority Leader and the
Clerk of the House of Representatives and the President,
the Minority Leader and the Secretary of the Senate and
the Legislative Research Unit, as required by Section 3.1
of the General Assembly Organization Act, and filing such
additional copies with the State Government Report
Distribution Center for the General Assembly as is
required under paragraph (t) of Section 7 of the State
Library Act.
(2) Establish policies and procedures for
developing and implementing interagency agreements with
other agencies of the State providing child care services
or reimbursement for such services.
(3) In cooperation with other State agencies,
develop and implement a resource and referral system for
the State of Illinois either within the Department or by
contract with local or regional agencies. Funding for
implementation of this system may be provided through
Department appropriations or other inter-agency funding
arrangements. The resource and referral system shall
provide at least the following services:
(A) assembling and maintaining a data base on
the supply of child care services;
(B) providing information and referrals for
parents;
(C) coordinating the development of new child
care resources;
(D) providing technical assistance and
training to child care service providers; and
(E) recording and analyzing the demand for
child care services.
The Department shall complete implementation of this
resource and referral system in all regions of the State
by January 1, 1992.
(4) Conduct day care planning activities with the
following priorities:
(A) development of voluntary day care
resources wherever possible, with the provision for
grants-in-aid only where demonstrated to be useful
and necessary as incentives or supports;
(B) emphasis on service to children of
recipients of public assistance where such service
will allow training or employment of the parent
toward achieving the goal of independence;
(C) maximum employment of recipients of public
assistance in day care centers and day care homes,
operated in conjunction with short-term work
training programs;
(D) care of children from families in stress
and crises whose members potentially may become, or
are in danger of becoming, non-productive and
dependent;
(E) expansion of family day care facilities
wherever possible;
(F) location of centers in economically
depressed neighborhoods, preferably in multi-service
centers with cooperation of other agencies;
(G) use of existing facilities free of charge
or for reasonable rental wherever possible in lieu
of construction;
(H) development of strategies for assuring a
more complete range of day care options, including
provision of day care services in homes, in schools
or in centers, which will enable a parent or parents
to complete a course of education or obtain or
maintain employment.
Emphasis shall be given to support services which
will help to ensure such parents' graduation from high
school and to services for participants in the Project
Chance program of job training conducted by the Illinois
Department of Public Aid.
(5) Actively stimulate the development of public
and private resources at the local level. It shall also
seek the fullest utilization of federal funds directly or
indirectly available to the Department.
Where appropriate, existing non-governmental agencies or
associations shall be involved in planning by the Department.
(f) The Department, pursuant to a contract with the
Illinois Department of Public Aid, may provide child care
services to former recipients of assistance under The
Illinois Public Aid Code as authorized by Section 9-6.3 of
that Code.
(g) The Department shall establish rules and regulations
concerning its operation of programs designed to meet the
goals of child protection, family preservation, family
reunification, adoption and youth development, including but
not limited to:
(1) adoption;
(2) foster care;
(3) family counseling;
(4) protective services;
(5) service to unwed mothers;
(6) homemaker service;
(7) return of runaway children;
(8) independent living skills and shelter for
homeless youth;
(9) placement under Section 5-7 of the Juvenile
Court Act or Section 2-27, 3-28, 4-25 or 5-29 of the
Juvenile Court Act of 1987 in accordance with the federal
Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980; and
(10) interstate services.
Rules and regulations established by the Department shall
include provisions for training Department staff and the
staff of Department grantees, through contracts with other
agencies or resources, in alcohol and drug abuse screening
techniques to identify children and adults who should be
referred to an alcohol and drug abuse treatment program for
professional evaluation.
(h) If the Department finds that there is no appropriate
program or facility within or available to the Department for
a ward and that no licensed private facility has an adequate
and appropriate program or none agrees to accept the ward,
the Department shall create an appropriate individualized,
program-oriented plan for such ward. The plan may be
developed within the Department or through purchase of
services by the Department to the extent that it is within
its statutory authority to do.
(i) Service programs shall be available throughout the
State and shall include but not be limited to the following
services:
(1) case management;
(2) homemakers;
(3) counseling;
(4) parent education;
(5) day care; and
(6) emergency assistance and advocacy.
In addition, the following services may be made available
to assess and meet the needs of children and families:
(1) comprehensive family-based services;
(2) assessments;
(3) respite care; and
(4) in-home health services.
The Department shall provide transportation for any of
the services it makes available to children or families or
for which it refers children or families.
(j) The Department may provide financial assistance, and
shall establish rules and regulations concerning such
assistance, to persons who adopt physically or mentally
handicapped, older and other hard-to-place children who
immediately prior to their adoption were legal wards of the
Department. The Department may also provide financial
assistance, and shall establish rules and regulations for
such assistance, to persons appointed guardian of the person
under Section 5-7 of the Juvenile Court Act or Section 2-27,
3-28, 4-25 or 5-29 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 for
children who were wards of the Department for 12 months
immediately prior to the appointment of the successor
guardian and for whom the Department has set a goal of
permanent family placement with a foster family.
The amount of assistance may vary, depending upon the
needs of the child and the adoptive parents, but must be at
least $25 less than the monthly cost of care of the child in
a foster home, as set forth in the annual assistance
agreement. Special purpose grants are allowed where the
child requires special service but such costs may not exceed
the amounts which similar services would cost the Department
if it were to provide or secure them as guardian of the
child.
Any financial assistance provided under this subsection
is inalienable by assignment, sale, execution, attachment,
garnishment, or any other remedy for recovery or collection
of a judgment or debt.
(k) The Department shall accept for care and training
any child who has been adjudicated neglected or abused, or
dependent committed to it pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act
or the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
(l) Before July 1, 2000, the Department may provide, and
beginning July 1, 2000, the Department shall provide, family
preservation services, as determined to be appropriate and in
the child's best interests and when the child will not be in
imminent risk of harm, to any family whose child has been
placed in substitute care, any persons who have adopted a
child and require post-adoption services, or any persons
whose child or children are at risk of being placed outside
their home as documented by an "indicated" report of
suspected child abuse or neglect determined pursuant to the
Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. Nothing in this
paragraph shall be construed to create a private right of
action or claim on the part of any individual or child
welfare agency.
The Department shall notify the child and his family of
the Department's responsibility to offer and provide family
preservation services as identified in the service plan. The
child and his family shall be eligible for services as soon
as the report is determined to be "indicated". The
Department may offer services to any child or family with
respect to whom a report of suspected child abuse or neglect
has been filed, prior to concluding its investigation under
Section 7.12 of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act.
However, the child's or family's willingness to accept
services shall not be considered in the investigation. The
Department may also provide services to any child or family
who is the subject of any report of suspected child abuse or
neglect or may refer such child or family to services
available from other agencies in the community, even if the
report is determined to be unfounded, if the conditions in
the child's or family's home are reasonably likely to subject
the child or family to future reports of suspected child
abuse or neglect. Acceptance of such services shall be
voluntary.
The Department may, at its discretion except for those
children also adjudicated neglected or dependent, accept for
care and training any child who has been adjudicated
addicted, as a truant minor in need of supervision or as a
minor requiring authoritative intervention, under the
Juvenile Court Act or the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, but no
such child shall be committed to the Department by any court
without the approval of the Department. A minor charged with
a criminal offense under the Criminal Code of 1961 or
adjudicated delinquent shall not be placed in the custody of
or committed to the Department by any court, except a minor
less than 13 years of age committed to the Department under
Section 5-23 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
(m) The Department may assume temporary custody of any
child if:
(1) it has received a written consent to such
temporary custody signed by the parents of the child or
by the parent having custody of the child if the parents
are not living together or by the guardian or custodian
of the child if the child is not in the custody of either
parent, or
(2) the child is found in the State and neither a
parent, guardian nor custodian of the child can be
located.
If the child is found in his or her residence without a
parent, guardian, custodian or responsible caretaker, the
Department may, instead of removing the child and assuming
temporary custody, place an authorized representative of the
Department in that residence until such time as a parent,
guardian or custodian enters the home and expresses a
willingness and apparent ability to resume permanent charge
of the child, or until a relative enters the home and is
willing and able to assume charge of the child until a
parent, guardian or custodian enters the home and expresses
such willingness and ability to resume permanent charge.
After a caretaker has remained in the home for a period not
to exceed 12 hours, the Department must follow those
procedures outlined in Section 2-9, 3-11, 4-8 or 5-9 of the
Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
The Department shall have the authority, responsibilities
and duties that a legal custodian of the child would have
pursuant to subsection (9) of Section 1-3 of the Juvenile
Court Act of 1987. Whenever a child is taken into temporary
custody pursuant to an investigation under the Abused and
Neglected Child Reporting Act, or pursuant to a referral and
acceptance under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 of a minor in
limited custody, the Department, during the period of
temporary custody and before the child is brought before a
judicial officer as required by Section 2-9, 3-11, 4-8 or 5-9
of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, shall have the authority,
responsibilities and duties that a legal custodian of the
child would have under subsection (9) of Section 1-3 of the
Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
The Department shall ensure that any child taken into
custody is scheduled for an appointment for a medical
examination.
A parent, guardian or custodian of a child in the
temporary custody of the Department who would have custody of
the child if he were not in the temporary custody of the
Department may deliver to the Department a signed request
that the Department surrender the temporary custody of the
child. The Department may retain temporary custody of the
child for 10 days after the receipt of the request, during
which period the Department may cause to be filed a petition
pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. If a petition is
so filed, the Department shall retain temporary custody of
the child until the court orders otherwise. If a petition is
not filed within the 10 day period, the child shall be
surrendered to the custody of the requesting parent, guardian
or custodian not later than the expiration of the 10 day
period, at which time the authority and duties of the
Department with respect to the temporary custody of the child
shall terminate.
(n) The Department may place children under 18 years of
age in licensed child care facilities when in the opinion of
the Department, appropriate services aimed at family
preservation have been unsuccessful or unavailable and such
placement would be for their best interest. Payment for
board, clothing, care, training and supervision of any child
placed in a licensed child care facility may be made by the
Department, by the parents or guardians of the estates of
those children, or by both the Department and the parents or
guardians, except that no payments shall be made by the
Department for any child placed in a licensed child care
facility for board, clothing, care, training and supervision
of such a child that exceed the average per capita cost of
maintaining and of caring for a child in institutions for
dependent or neglected children operated by the Department.
However, such restriction on payments does not apply in cases
where children require specialized care and treatment for
problems of severe emotional disturbance, physical
disability, social adjustment, or any combination thereof and
suitable facilities for the placement of such children are
not available at payment rates within the limitations set
forth in this Section. All reimbursements for services
delivered shall be absolutely inalienable by assignment,
sale, attachment, garnishment or otherwise.
(o) The Department shall establish an administrative
review and appeal process for children and families who
request or receive child welfare services from the
Department. Children who are wards of the Department and are
placed by private child welfare agencies, and foster families
with whom those children are placed, shall be afforded the
same procedural and appeal rights as children and families in
the case of placement by the Department, including the right
to an initial review of a private agency decision by that
agency. The Department shall insure that any private child
welfare agency, which accepts wards of the Department for
placement, affords those rights to children and foster
families. The Department shall accept for administrative
review and an appeal hearing a complaint made by a child or
foster family concerning a decision following an initial
review by a private child welfare agency. An appeal of a
decision concerning a change in the placement of a child
shall be conducted in an expedited manner.
(p) There is hereby created the Department of Children
and Family Services Emergency Assistance Fund from which the
Department may provide special financial assistance to
families which are in economic crisis when such assistance is
not available through other public or private sources and the
assistance is deemed necessary to prevent dissolution of the
family unit or to reunite families which have been separated
due to child abuse and neglect. The Department shall
establish administrative rules specifying the criteria for
determining eligibility for and the amount and nature of
assistance to be provided. The Department may also enter
into written agreements with private and public social
service agencies to provide emergency financial services to
families referred by the Department. Special financial
assistance payments shall be available to a family no more
than once during each fiscal year and the total payments to a
family may not exceed $500 during a fiscal year.
(q) The Department may receive and use, in their
entirety, for the benefit of children any gift, donation or
bequest of money or other property which is received on
behalf of such children, or any financial benefits to which
such children are or may become entitled while under the
jurisdiction or care of the Department.
The Department shall set up and administer no-cost,
interest-bearing savings accounts in appropriate financial
institutions ("individual accounts") for children for whom
the Department is legally responsible and who have been
determined eligible for Veterans' Benefits, Social Security
benefits, assistance allotments from the armed forces, court
ordered payments, parental voluntary payments, Supplemental
Security Income, Railroad Retirement payments, Black Lung
benefits, or other miscellaneous payments. Interest earned
by each individual account shall be credited to the account,
unless disbursed in accordance with this subsection.
In disbursing funds from children's individual accounts,
the Department shall:
(1) Establish standards in accordance with State
and federal laws for disbursing money from children's
individual accounts. In all circumstances, the
Department's "Guardianship Administrator" or his or her
designee must approve disbursements from children's
individual accounts. The Department shall be responsible
for keeping complete records of all disbursements for
each individual account for any purpose.
(2) Calculate on a monthly basis the amounts paid
from State funds for the child's board and care, medical
care not covered under Medicaid, and social services; and
utilize funds from the child's individual account, as
covered by regulation, to reimburse those costs.
Monthly, disbursements from all children's individual
accounts, up to 1/12 of $13,000,000, shall be deposited
by the Department into the General Revenue Fund and the
balance over 1/12 of $13,000,000 into the DCFS Children's
Services Fund.
(3) Maintain any balance remaining after
reimbursing for the child's costs of care, as specified
in item (2). The balance shall accumulate in accordance
with relevant State and federal laws and shall be
disbursed to the child or his or her guardian, or to the
issuing agency.
(r) The Department shall promulgate regulations
encouraging all adoption agencies to voluntarily forward to
the Department or its agent names and addresses of all
persons who have applied for and have been approved for
adoption of a hard-to-place or handicapped child and the
names of such children who have not been placed for adoption.
A list of such names and addresses shall be maintained by the
Department or its agent, and coded lists which maintain the
confidentiality of the person seeking to adopt the child and
of the child shall be made available, without charge, to
every adoption agency in the State to assist the agencies in
placing such children for adoption. The Department may
delegate to an agent its duty to maintain and make available
such lists. The Department shall ensure that such agent
maintains the confidentiality of the person seeking to adopt
the child and of the child.
(s) The Department of Children and Family Services may
establish and implement a program to reimburse Department and
private child welfare agency foster parents licensed by the
Department of Children and Family Services for damages
sustained by the foster parents as a result of the malicious
or negligent acts of foster children, as well as providing
third party coverage for such foster parents with regard to
actions of foster children to other individuals. Such
coverage will be secondary to the foster parent liability
insurance policy, if applicable. The program shall be funded
through appropriations from the General Revenue Fund,
specifically designated for such purposes.
(t) The Department shall perform home studies and
investigations and shall exercise supervision over visitation
as ordered by a court pursuant to the Illinois Marriage and
Dissolution of Marriage Act or the Adoption Act only if:
(1) an order entered by an Illinois court
specifically directs the Department to perform such
services; and
(2) the court has ordered one or both of the
parties to the proceeding to reimburse the Department for
its reasonable costs for providing such services in
accordance with Department rules, or has determined that
neither party is financially able to pay.
The Department shall provide written notification to the
court of the specific arrangements for supervised visitation
and projected monthly costs within 60 days of the court
order. The Department shall send to the court information
related to the costs incurred except in cases where the court
has determined the parties are financially unable to pay. The
court may order additional periodic reports as appropriate.
(u) Whenever the Department places a child in a licensed
foster home, group home, child care institution, or in a
relative home, the Department shall provide to the caretaker:
(1) available detailed information concerning the
child's educational and health history, copies of
immunization records (including insurance and medical
card information), a history of the child's previous
placements, if any, and reasons for placement changes
excluding any information that identifies or reveals the
location of any previous caretaker;
(2) a copy of the child's portion of the client
service plan, including any visitation arrangement, and
all amendments or revisions to it as related to the
child; and
(3) information containing details of the child's
individualized educational plan when the child is
receiving special education services.
The caretaker shall be informed of any known social or
behavioral information (including, but not limited to, fire
setting, perpetuation of sexual abuse, destructive behavior,
and substance abuse) necessary to care for and safeguard the
child.
(u-5) Effective July 1, 1995, only foster care
placements licensed as foster family homes pursuant to the
Child Care Act of 1969 shall be eligible to receive foster
care payments from the Department. Relative caregivers who,
as of July 1, 1995, were approved pursuant to approved
relative placement rules previously promulgated by the
Department at 89 Ill. Adm. Code 335 and had submitted an
application for licensure as a foster family home may
continue to receive foster care payments only until the
Department determines that they may be licensed as a foster
family home or that their application for licensure is denied
or until September 30, 1995, whichever occurs first.
(v) The Department shall access criminal history record
information as defined in the Illinois Uniform Conviction
Information Act and information maintained in the
adjudicatory and dispositional record system as defined in
subdivision (A)19 of Section 55a of the Civil Administrative
Code of Illinois if the Department determines the information
is necessary to perform its duties under the Abused and
Neglected Child Reporting Act, the Child Care Act of 1969,
and the Children and Family Services Act. The Department
shall provide for interactive computerized communication and
processing equipment that permits direct on-line
communication with the Department of State Police's central
criminal history data repository. The Department shall
comply with all certification requirements and provide
certified operators who have been trained by personnel from
the Department of State Police. In addition, one Office of
the Inspector General investigator shall have training in the
use of the criminal history information access system and
have access to the terminal. The Department of Children and
Family Services and its employees shall abide by rules and
regulations established by the Department of State Police
relating to the access and dissemination of this information.
(w) Within 120 days of August 20, 1995 (the effective
date of Public Act 89-392), the Department shall prepare and
submit to the Governor and the General Assembly, a written
plan for the development of in-state licensed secure child
care facilities that care for children who are in need of
secure living arrangements for their health, safety, and
well-being. For purposes of this subsection, secure care
facility shall mean a facility that is designed and operated
to ensure that all entrances and exits from the facility, a
building or a distinct part of the building, are under the
exclusive control of the staff of the facility, whether or
not the child has the freedom of movement within the
perimeter of the facility, building, or distinct part of the
building. The plan shall include descriptions of the types
of facilities that are needed in Illinois; the cost of
developing these secure care facilities; the estimated number
of placements; the potential cost savings resulting from the
movement of children currently out-of-state who are projected
to be returned to Illinois; the necessary geographic
distribution of these facilities in Illinois; and a proposed
timetable for development of such facilities.
(Source: P.A. 88-380; 88-398; 88-487; 88-614, eff. 9-7-94;
88-670, eff. 12-2-94; 89-21, eff. 6-6-95; 89-392, eff.
8-20-95; 89-626, eff. 8-9-96.)
(Text of Section after amendment by P.A. 89-507)
Sec. 5. Direct child welfare services; Department of
Children and Family Services. To provide direct child welfare
services when not available through other public or private
child care or program facilities.
(a) For purposes of this Section:
(1) "Children" means persons found within the State
who are under the age of 18 years. The term also
includes persons under age 19 who:
(A) were committed to the Department pursuant
to the Juvenile Court Act or the Juvenile Court Act
of 1987, as amended, prior to the age of 18 and who
continue under the jurisdiction of the court; or
(B) were accepted for care, service and
training by the Department prior to the age of 18
and whose best interest in the discretion of the
Department would be served by continuing that care,
service and training because of severe emotional
disturbances, physical disability, social adjustment
or any combination thereof, or because of the need
to complete an educational or vocational training
program.
(2) "Homeless youth" means persons found within the
State who are under the age of 19, are not in a safe and
stable living situation and cannot be reunited with their
families.
(3) "Child welfare services" means public social
services which are directed toward the accomplishment of
the following purposes:
(A) protecting and promoting the health,
safety and welfare of children, including homeless,
dependent or neglected children;
(B) remedying, or assisting in the solution of
problems which may result in, the neglect, abuse,
exploitation or delinquency of children;
(C) preventing the unnecessary separation of
children from their families by identifying family
problems, assisting families in resolving their
problems, and preventing the breakup of the family
where the prevention of child removal is desirable
and possible when the child can be cared for at home
without endangering the child's health and safety;
(D) restoring to their families children who
have been removed, by the provision of services to
the child and the families when the child can be
cared for at home without endangering the child's
health and safety;
(E) placing children in suitable adoptive
homes, in cases where restoration to the biological
family is not safe, possible or appropriate;
(F) assuring safe and adequate care of
children away from their homes, in cases where the
child cannot be returned home or cannot be placed
for adoption. At the time of placement, the
Department shall consider concurrent planning, as
described in subsection (l-1) of this Section so
that permanency may occur at the earliest
opportunity. Consideration should be given so that
if reunification fails or is delayed, the placement
made is the best available placement to provide
permanency for the child;
(G) (blank);
(H) (blank); and
(I) placing and maintaining children in
facilities that provide separate living quarters for
children under the age of 18 and for children 18
years of age and older, unless a child 18 years of
age is in the last year of high school education or
vocational training, in an approved individual or
group treatment program, or in a licensed shelter
facility. The Department is not required to place or
maintain children:
(i) who are in a foster home, or
(ii) who are persons with a developmental
disability, as defined in the Mental Health and
Developmental Disabilities Code, or
(iii) who are female children who are
pregnant, pregnant and parenting or parenting,
or
(iv) who are siblings,
in facilities that provide separate living quarters
for children 18 years of age and older and for
children under 18 years of age.
(b) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to
authorize the expenditure of public funds for the purpose of
performing abortions.
(c) The Department shall establish and maintain
tax-supported child welfare services and extend and seek to
improve voluntary services throughout the State, to the end
that services and care shall be available on an equal basis
throughout the State to children requiring such services.
(d) The Director may authorize advance disbursements for
any new program initiative to any agency contracting with the
Department. As a prerequisite for an advance disbursement,
the contractor must post a surety bond in the amount of the
advance disbursement and have a purchase of service contract
approved by the Department. The Department may pay up to 2
months operational expenses in advance. The amount of the
advance disbursement shall be prorated over the life of the
contract or the remaining months of the fiscal year,
whichever is less, and the installment amount shall then be
deducted from future bills. Advance disbursement
authorizations for new initiatives shall not be made to any
agency after that agency has operated during 2 consecutive
fiscal years. The requirements of this Section concerning
advance disbursements shall not apply with respect to the
following: payments to local public agencies for child day
care services as authorized by Section 5a of this Act; and
youth service programs receiving grant funds under Section
17a-4.
(e) (Blank).
(f) (Blank).
(g) The Department shall establish rules and regulations
concerning its operation of programs designed to meet the
goals of child safety and protection, family preservation,
family reunification, and adoption, including but not limited
to:
(1) adoption;
(2) foster care;
(3) family counseling;
(4) protective services;
(5) (blank);
(6) homemaker service;
(7) return of runaway children;
(8) (blank);
(9) placement under Section 5-7 of the Juvenile
Court Act or Section 2-27, 3-28, 4-25 or 5-29 of the
Juvenile Court Act of 1987 in accordance with the federal
Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980; and
(10) interstate services.
Rules and regulations established by the Department shall
include provisions for training Department staff and the
staff of Department grantees, through contracts with other
agencies or resources, in alcohol and drug abuse screening
techniques to identify children and adults who should be
referred to an alcohol and drug abuse treatment program for
professional evaluation.
(h) If the Department finds that there is no appropriate
program or facility within or available to the Department for
a ward and that no licensed private facility has an adequate
and appropriate program or none agrees to accept the ward,
the Department shall create an appropriate individualized,
program-oriented plan for such ward. The plan may be
developed within the Department or through purchase of
services by the Department to the extent that it is within
its statutory authority to do.
(i) Service programs shall be available throughout the
State and shall include but not be limited to the following
services:
(1) case management;
(2) homemakers;
(3) counseling;
(4) parent education;
(5) day care; and
(6) emergency assistance and advocacy.
In addition, the following services may be made available
to assess and meet the needs of children and families:
(1) comprehensive family-based services;
(2) assessments;
(3) respite care; and
(4) in-home health services.
The Department shall provide transportation for any of
the services it makes available to children or families or
for which it refers children or families.
(j) The Department may provide financial assistance, and
shall establish rules and regulations concerning such
assistance, to persons who adopt physically or mentally
handicapped, older and other hard-to-place children who
immediately prior to their adoption were legal wards of the
Department. The Department may also provide financial
assistance, and shall establish rules and regulations for
such assistance, to persons appointed guardian of the person
under Section 5-7 of the Juvenile Court Act or Section 2-27,
3-28, 4-25 or 5-29 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 for
children who were wards of the Department for 12 months
immediately prior to the appointment of the successor
guardian and for whom the Department has set a goal of
permanent family placement with a foster family.
The amount of assistance may vary, depending upon the
needs of the child and the adoptive parents, but must be at
least $25 less than the monthly cost of care of the child in
a foster home, as set forth in the annual assistance
agreement. Special purpose grants are allowed where the
child requires special service but such costs may not exceed
the amounts which similar services would cost the Department
if it were to provide or secure them as guardian of the
child.
Any financial assistance provided under this subsection
is inalienable by assignment, sale, execution, attachment,
garnishment, or any other remedy for recovery or collection
of a judgment or debt.
(k) The Department shall accept for care and training
any child who has been adjudicated neglected or abused, or
dependent committed to it pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act
or the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
(l) Before July 1, 2000, the Department may provide, and
beginning July 1, 2000, the Department shall provide, family
preservation services, as determined to be appropriate and in
the child's best interests and when the child will be safe
and not be in imminent risk of harm, to any family whose
child has been placed in substitute care, any persons who
have adopted a child and require post-adoption services, or
any persons whose child or children are at risk of being
placed outside their home as documented by an "indicated"
report of suspected child abuse or neglect determined
pursuant to the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act.
Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to create a
private right of action or claim on the part of any
individual or child welfare agency.
The Department shall notify the child and his family of
the Department's responsibility to offer and provide family
preservation services as identified in the service plan. The
child and his family shall be eligible for services as soon
as the report is determined to be "indicated". The
Department may offer services to any child or family with
respect to whom a report of suspected child abuse or neglect
has been filed, prior to concluding its investigation under
Section 7.12 of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act.
However, the child's or family's willingness to accept
services shall not be considered in the investigation. The
Department may also provide services to any child or family
who is the subject of any report of suspected child abuse or
neglect or may refer such child or family to services
available from other agencies in the community, even if the
report is determined to be unfounded, if the conditions in
the child's or family's home are reasonably likely to subject
the child or family to future reports of suspected child
abuse or neglect. Acceptance of such services shall be
voluntary.
The Department may, at its discretion except for those
children also adjudicated neglected or dependent, accept for
care and training any child who has been adjudicated
addicted, as a truant minor in need of supervision or as a
minor requiring authoritative intervention, under the
Juvenile Court Act or the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, but no
such child shall be committed to the Department by any court
without the approval of the Department. A minor charged with
a criminal offense under the Criminal Code of 1961 or
adjudicated delinquent shall not be placed in the custody of
or committed to the Department by any court, except a minor
less than 13 years of age committed to the Department under
Section 5-23 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
(l-1) The legislature recognizes that the best interests
of the child require that the child be placed in the most
permanent living arrangement as soon as is practically
possible. To achieve this goal, the legislature directs the
Department of Children and Family Services to conduct
concurrent planning so that permanency may occur at the
earliest opportunity. Permanent living arrangements may
include prevention of placement of a child outside the home
of the family when the child can be cared for at home without
endangering the child's health or safety; reunification with
the family, when safe and appropriate, if temporary placement
is necessary; or movement of the child toward the most
permanent living arrangement and permanent legal status.
When a child is placed in foster care, the Department
shall ensure and document that reasonable efforts were made
to prevent or eliminate the need to remove the child from the
child's home. The Department must make reasonable efforts to
reunify the family when temporary placement of the child
occurs or must request a finding from the court that
reasonable efforts are not appropriate or have been
unsuccessful.
A decision to place a child in substitute care shall be
made with considerations of the child's health, safety, and
best interests. At the time of placement, consideration
should also be given so that if reunification fails or is
delayed, the placement made is the best available placement
to provide permanency for the child.
The Department shall adopt rules addressing concurrent
planning for reunification and permanency. The Department
shall consider the following factors when determining
appropriateness of concurrent planning:
(1) the likelihood of prompt reunification;
(2) the past history of the family;
(3) the barriers to reunification being addressed
by the family;
(4) the level of cooperation of the family;
(5) the foster parents' willingness to work with
the family to reunite;
(6) the willingness and ability of the foster
family to provide an adoptive home or long-term
placement;
(7) the age of the child;
(8) placement of siblings.
(m) The Department may assume temporary custody of any
child if:
(1) it has received a written consent to such
temporary custody signed by the parents of the child or
by the parent having custody of the child if the parents
are not living together or by the guardian or custodian
of the child if the child is not in the custody of either
parent, or
(2) the child is found in the State and neither a
parent, guardian nor custodian of the child can be
located.
If the child is found in his or her residence without a
parent, guardian, custodian or responsible caretaker, the
Department may, instead of removing the child and assuming
temporary custody, place an authorized representative of the
Department in that residence until such time as a parent,
guardian or custodian enters the home and expresses a
willingness and apparent ability to ensure the child's health
and safety and resume permanent charge of the child, or until
a relative enters the home and is willing and able to ensure
the child's health and safety and assume charge of the child
until a parent, guardian or custodian enters the home and
expresses such willingness and ability to ensure the child's
safety and resume permanent charge. After a caretaker has
remained in the home for a period not to exceed 12 hours, the
Department must follow those procedures outlined in Section
2-9, 3-11, 4-8 or 5-9 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
The Department shall have the authority, responsibilities
and duties that a legal custodian of the child would have
pursuant to subsection (9) of Section 1-3 of the Juvenile
Court Act of 1987. Whenever a child is taken into temporary
custody pursuant to an investigation under the Abused and
Neglected Child Reporting Act, or pursuant to a referral and
acceptance under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 of a minor in
limited custody, the Department, during the period of
temporary custody and before the child is brought before a
judicial officer as required by Section 2-9, 3-11, 4-8 or 5-9
of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, shall have the authority,
responsibilities and duties that a legal custodian of the
child would have under subsection (9) of Section 1-3 of the
Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
The Department shall ensure that any child taken into
custody is scheduled for an appointment for a medical
examination.
A parent, guardian or custodian of a child in the
temporary custody of the Department who would have custody of
the child if he were not in the temporary custody of the
Department may deliver to the Department a signed request
that the Department surrender the temporary custody of the
child. The Department may retain temporary custody of the
child for 10 days after the receipt of the request, during
which period the Department may cause to be filed a petition
pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. If a petition is
so filed, the Department shall retain temporary custody of
the child until the court orders otherwise. If a petition is
not filed within the 10 day period, the child shall be
surrendered to the custody of the requesting parent, guardian
or custodian not later than the expiration of the 10 day
period, at which time the authority and duties of the
Department with respect to the temporary custody of the child
shall terminate.
(n) The Department may place children under 18 years of
age in licensed child care facilities when in the opinion of
the Department, appropriate services aimed at family
preservation have been unsuccessful and cannot ensure the
child's health and safety or are unavailable and such
placement would be for their best interest. Payment for
board, clothing, care, training and supervision of any child
placed in a licensed child care facility may be made by the
Department, by the parents or guardians of the estates of
those children, or by both the Department and the parents or
guardians, except that no payments shall be made by the
Department for any child placed in a licensed child care
facility for board, clothing, care, training and supervision
of such a child that exceed the average per capita cost of
maintaining and of caring for a child in institutions for
dependent or neglected children operated by the Department.
However, such restriction on payments does not apply in cases
where children require specialized care and treatment for
problems of severe emotional disturbance, physical
disability, social adjustment, or any combination thereof and
suitable facilities for the placement of such children are
not available at payment rates within the limitations set
forth in this Section. All reimbursements for services
delivered shall be absolutely inalienable by assignment,
sale, attachment, garnishment or otherwise.
(o) The Department shall establish an administrative
review and appeal process for children and families who
request or receive child welfare services from the
Department. Children who are wards of the Department and are
placed by private child welfare agencies, and foster families
with whom those children are placed, shall be afforded the
same procedural and appeal rights as children and families in
the case of placement by the Department, including the right
to an initial review of a private agency decision by that
agency. The Department shall insure that any private child
welfare agency, which accepts wards of the Department for
placement, affords those rights to children and foster
families. The Department shall accept for administrative
review and an appeal hearing a complaint made by a child or
foster family concerning a decision following an initial
review by a private child welfare agency. An appeal of a
decision concerning a change in the placement of a child
shall be conducted in an expedited manner.
(p) There is hereby created the Department of Children
and Family Services Emergency Assistance Fund from which the
Department may provide special financial assistance to
families which are in economic crisis when such assistance is
not available through other public or private sources and the
assistance is deemed necessary to prevent dissolution of the
family unit or to reunite families which have been separated
due to child abuse and neglect. The Department shall
establish administrative rules specifying the criteria for
determining eligibility for and the amount and nature of
assistance to be provided. The Department may also enter
into written agreements with private and public social
service agencies to provide emergency financial services to
families referred by the Department. Special financial
assistance payments shall be available to a family no more
than once during each fiscal year and the total payments to a
family may not exceed $500 during a fiscal year.
(q) The Department may receive and use, in their
entirety, for the benefit of children any gift, donation or
bequest of money or other property which is received on
behalf of such children, or any financial benefits to which
such children are or may become entitled while under the
jurisdiction or care of the Department.
The Department shall set up and administer no-cost,
interest-bearing savings accounts in appropriate financial
institutions ("individual accounts") for children for whom
the Department is legally responsible and who have been
determined eligible for Veterans' Benefits, Social Security
benefits, assistance allotments from the armed forces, court
ordered payments, parental voluntary payments, Supplemental
Security Income, Railroad Retirement payments, Black Lung
benefits, or other miscellaneous payments. Interest earned
by each individual account shall be credited to the account,
unless disbursed in accordance with this subsection.
In disbursing funds from children's individual accounts,
the Department shall:
(1) Establish standards in accordance with State
and federal laws for disbursing money from children's
individual accounts. In all circumstances, the
Department's "Guardianship Administrator" or his or her
designee must approve disbursements from children's
individual accounts. The Department shall be responsible
for keeping complete records of all disbursements for
each individual account for any purpose.
(2) Calculate on a monthly basis the amounts paid
from State funds for the child's board and care, medical
care not covered under Medicaid, and social services; and
utilize funds from the child's individual account, as
covered by regulation, to reimburse those costs.
Monthly, disbursements from all children's individual
accounts, up to 1/12 of $13,000,000, shall be deposited
by the Department into the General Revenue Fund and the
balance over 1/12 of $13,000,000 into the DCFS Children's
Services Fund.
(3) Maintain any balance remaining after
reimbursing for the child's costs of care, as specified
in item (2). The balance shall accumulate in accordance
with relevant State and federal laws and shall be
disbursed to the child or his or her guardian, or to the
issuing agency.
(r) The Department shall promulgate regulations
encouraging all adoption agencies to voluntarily forward to
the Department or its agent names and addresses of all
persons who have applied for and have been approved for
adoption of a hard-to-place or handicapped child and the
names of such children who have not been placed for adoption.
A list of such names and addresses shall be maintained by the
Department or its agent, and coded lists which maintain the
confidentiality of the person seeking to adopt the child and
of the child shall be made available, without charge, to
every adoption agency in the State to assist the agencies in
placing such children for adoption. The Department may
delegate to an agent its duty to maintain and make available
such lists. The Department shall ensure that such agent
maintains the confidentiality of the person seeking to adopt
the child and of the child.
(s) The Department of Children and Family Services may
establish and implement a program to reimburse Department and
private child welfare agency foster parents licensed by the
Department of Children and Family Services for damages
sustained by the foster parents as a result of the malicious
or negligent acts of foster children, as well as providing
third party coverage for such foster parents with regard to
actions of foster children to other individuals. Such
coverage will be secondary to the foster parent liability
insurance policy, if applicable. The program shall be funded
through appropriations from the General Revenue Fund,
specifically designated for such purposes.
(t) The Department shall perform home studies and
investigations and shall exercise supervision over visitation
as ordered by a court pursuant to the Illinois Marriage and
Dissolution of Marriage Act or the Adoption Act only if:
(1) an order entered by an Illinois court
specifically directs the Department to perform such
services; and
(2) the court has ordered one or both of the
parties to the proceeding to reimburse the Department for
its reasonable costs for providing such services in
accordance with Department rules, or has determined that
neither party is financially able to pay.
The Department shall provide written notification to the
court of the specific arrangements for supervised visitation
and projected monthly costs within 60 days of the court
order. The Department shall send to the court information
related to the costs incurred except in cases where the court
has determined the parties are financially unable to pay. The
court may order additional periodic reports as appropriate.
(u) Whenever the Department places a child in a licensed
foster home, group home, child care institution, or in a
relative home, the Department shall provide to the caretaker:
(1) available detailed information concerning the
child's educational and health history, copies of
immunization records (including insurance and medical
card information), a history of the child's previous
placements, if any, and reasons for placement changes
excluding any information that identifies or reveals the
location of any previous caretaker;
(2) a copy of the child's portion of the client
service plan, including any visitation arrangement, and
all amendments or revisions to it as related to the
child; and
(3) information containing details of the child's
individualized educational plan when the child is
receiving special education services.
The caretaker shall be informed of any known social or
behavioral information (including, but not limited to, fire
setting, perpetuation of sexual abuse, destructive behavior,
and substance abuse) necessary to care for and safeguard the
child.
(u-5) Effective July 1, 1995, only foster care
placements licensed as foster family homes pursuant to the
Child Care Act of 1969 shall be eligible to receive foster
care payments from the Department. Relative caregivers who,
as of July 1, 1995, were approved pursuant to approved
relative placement rules previously promulgated by the
Department at 89 Ill. Adm. Code 335 and had submitted an
application for licensure as a foster family home may
continue to receive foster care payments only until the
Department determines that they may be licensed as a foster
family home or that their application for licensure is denied
or until September 30, 1995, whichever occurs first.
(v) The Department shall access criminal history record
information as defined in the Illinois Uniform Conviction
Information Act and information maintained in the
adjudicatory and dispositional record system as defined in
subdivision (A)19 of Section 55a of the Civil Administrative
Code of Illinois if the Department determines the information
is necessary to perform its duties under the Abused and
Neglected Child Reporting Act, the Child Care Act of 1969,
and the Children and Family Services Act. The Department
shall provide for interactive computerized communication and
processing equipment that permits direct on-line
communication with the Department of State Police's central
criminal history data repository. The Department shall
comply with all certification requirements and provide
certified operators who have been trained by personnel from
the Department of State Police. In addition, one Office of
the Inspector General investigator shall have training in the
use of the criminal history information access system and
have access to the terminal. The Department of Children and
Family Services and its employees shall abide by rules and
regulations established by the Department of State Police
relating to the access and dissemination of this information.
(w) Within 120 days of August 20, 1995 (the effective
date of Public Act 89-392), the Department shall prepare and
submit to the Governor and the General Assembly, a written
plan for the development of in-state licensed secure child
care facilities that care for children who are in need of
secure living arrangements for their health, safety, and
well-being. For purposes of this subsection, secure care
facility shall mean a facility that is designed and operated
to ensure that all entrances and exits from the facility, a
building or a distinct part of the building, are under the
exclusive control of the staff of the facility, whether or
not the child has the freedom of movement within the
perimeter of the facility, building, or distinct part of the
building. The plan shall include descriptions of the types
of facilities that are needed in Illinois; the cost of
developing these secure care facilities; the estimated number
of placements; the potential cost savings resulting from the
movement of children currently out-of-state who are projected
to be returned to Illinois; the necessary geographic
distribution of these facilities in Illinois; and a proposed
timetable for development of such facilities.
(Source: P.A. 88-380; 88-398; 88-487; 88-614, eff. 9-7-94;
88-670, eff. 12-2-94; 89-21, eff. 6-6-95; 89-392, eff.
8-20-95; 89-507, eff. 7-1-97; 89-626, eff. 8-9-96.)
(20 ILCS 505/6a) (from Ch. 23, par. 5006a)
(Text of Section before amendment by P.A. 89-704)
Sec. 6a. Case Plan.
(a) With respect to each Department client for whom the
Department is providing placement service, the Department
shall develop a case plan designed to stabilize the family
situation and prevent placement of a child outside the home
of the family, reunify the family if temporary placement is
necessary, or move the child toward the most permanent living
arrangement and permanent legal status. Such case plan shall
provide for the utilization of family preservation services.
Such case plan shall be reviewed and updated every 6 months.
Where appropriate, the case plan shall include
recommendations concerning alcohol or drug abuse evaluation.
(b) The Department may enter into written agreements
with child welfare agencies to establish and implement case
plan demonstration projects. The demonstration projects
shall require that service providers develop, implement,
review and update client case plans. The Department shall
examine the effectiveness of the demonstration projects in
promoting the family reunification or the permanent placement
of each client and shall report its findings to the General
Assembly no later than 90 days after the end of the fiscal
year in which any such demonstration project is implemented.
(Source: P.A. 85-985; 86-1296.)
(Text of Section after amendment by P.A. 89-704)
Sec. 6a. Case Plan.
(a) With respect to each Department client for whom the
Department is providing placement service, the Department
shall develop a case plan designed to stabilize the family
situation and prevent placement of a child outside the home
of the family when the child can be cared for at home without
endangering the child's health or safety, reunify the family
if temporary placement is necessary when safe and
appropriate, or move the child toward the most permanent
living arrangement and permanent legal status. Such case
plan shall provide for the utilization of reasonable family
preservation services as defined in Section 8.2 of the Abused
and Neglected Child Reporting Act. Such case plan shall be
reviewed and updated every 6 months. Where appropriate, the
case plan shall include recommendations concerning alcohol or
drug abuse evaluation.
(b) The Department may enter into written agreements
with child welfare agencies to establish and implement case
plan demonstration projects. The demonstration projects
shall require that service providers develop, implement,
review and update client case plans. The Department shall
examine the effectiveness of the demonstration projects in
promoting the family reunification or the permanent placement
of each client and shall report its findings to the General
Assembly no later than 90 days after the end of the fiscal
year in which any such demonstration project is implemented.
(Source: P.A. 89-704, eff. 1-1-98.)
(20 ILCS 505/7) (from Ch. 23, par. 5007)
Sec. 7. Placement of children; considerations.
(a) In placing any child under this Act, the Department
shall place such child, as far as possible, in the care and
custody of some individual holding the same religious belief
as the parents of the child, or with some child care facility
which is operated by persons of like religious faith as the
parents of such child.
(b) In placing a child under this Act, the Department
may place a child with a relative if the Department has
reason to believe that the relative will be able to
adequately provide for the child's safety and welfare. The
Department may not place a child with a relative, with the
exception of certain circumstances which may be waived as
defined by the Department in rules, if the results of a check
of the Law Enforcement Agency Data System (LEADS) identifies
a prior criminal conviction of the relative or any adult
member of the relative's household for any of the following
offenses under the Criminal Code of 1961:
(1) murder;
(1.1) solicitation of murder;
(1.2) solicitation of murder for hire;
(1.3) intentional homicide of an unborn child;
(1.4) voluntary manslaughter of an unborn child;
(1.5) involuntary manslaughter;
(1.6) reckless homicide;
(1.7) concealment of a homicidal death;
(1.8) involuntary manslaughter of an unborn child;
(1.9) reckless homicide of an unborn child;
(1.10) drug-induced homicide;
(2) a sex offense under Article 11, except offenses
described in Sections 11-7, 11-8, 11-12, and 11-13;
(3) kidnapping;
(3.1) aggravated unlawful restraint;
(3.2) forcible detention;
(3.3) aiding and abetting child abduction;
(4) aggravated kidnapping;
(5) child abduction;
(6) aggravated battery of a child;
(7) criminal sexual assault;
(8) aggravated criminal sexual assault;
(8.1) predatory criminal sexual assault of a child;
(9) criminal sexual abuse;
(10) aggravated sexual abuse;
(11) heinous battery;
(12) aggravated battery with a firearm;
(13) tampering with food, drugs, or cosmetics;
(14) drug-induced infliction of great bodily harm;
(15) aggravated stalking;
(16) home invasion;
(17) vehicular invasion;
(18) criminal transmission of HIV;
(19) criminal neglect of an elderly or disabled
person;
(20) child abandonment;
(21) endangering the life or health of a child;
(22) ritual mutilation;
(23) ritualized abuse of a child;
(24) an offense in any other state the elements of
which are similar and bear a substantial relationship to
any of the foregoing offenses.
For the purpose of this subsection, "relative" shall include
any person, 21 years of age or over, other than the parent,
who (i) is currently related to the child in any of the
following ways by blood or adoption: grandparent, sibling,
great-grandparent, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, first cousin,
great-uncle, or great-aunt; or (ii) is the spouse of such a
relative; or (iii) is the child's step-father, step-mother,
or adult step-brother or step-sister; "relative" also
includes a person related in any of the foregoing ways to a
sibling of a child, even though the person is not related to
the child, when the child and its sibling are placed together
with that person. A relative with whom a child is placed
pursuant to this subsection may, but is not required to,
apply for licensure as a foster family home pursuant to the
Child Care Act of 1969; provided, however, that as of July 1,
1995, foster care payments shall be made only to licensed
foster family homes pursuant to the terms of Section 5 of
this Act.
(c) In placing a child under this Act, the Department
shall ensure that the child's health, safety, and best
interests are met by giving due, not sole, consideration to
the child's race or ethnic heritage in making a family foster
care placement. The Department shall consider the cultural,
ethnic, or racial background of the child and the capacity of
the prospective foster or adoptive parents to meet the needs
of a child of this background as one of a number of factors
used to determine the best interests of the child. The
Department shall make special efforts for the diligent
recruitment of potential foster and adoptive families that
reflect the ethnic and racial diversity of the children for
whom foster and adoptive homes are needed. "Special efforts"
shall include contacting and working with community
organizations and religious organizations and may include
contracting with those organizations, utilizing local media
and other local resources, and conducting outreach
activities.
(c-1) At the time of placement, the Department shall
consider concurrent planning, as described in subsection
(l-1) of Section 5, so that permanency may occur at the
earliest opportunity. Consideration should be given so that
if reunification fails or is delayed, the placement made is
the best available placement to provide permanency for the
child.
(d) The Department may accept gifts, grants, offers of
services, and other contributions to use in making special
recruitment efforts.
(e) The Department in placing children in adoptive or
foster care homes may not, in any policy or practice relating
to the placement of children for adoption or foster care,
discriminate against any child or prospective adoptive parent
on the basis of race.
(Source: P.A. 89-21, eff. 7-1-95; 89-422; 89-428, eff.
12-13-95; 89-462, eff. 5-29-96; 89-626, eff. 8-9-96.)
(20 ILCS 505/7.7)
Sec. 7.7. Limit on multiple placements. If the
Department has placed a child in substitute care pursuant to
a court order, the Department may not change the child's
placement unless the Department specifically documents that
the current placement is unsafe or unsuitable or that another
placement is in the child's best interests or unless the new
placement is in an adoptive home or other permanent
placement.
(Source: P.A. 89-422.)
Section 10-10. The Child Care Act of 1969 is amended by
changing Section 4.2 as follows:
(225 ILCS 10/4.2) (from Ch. 23, par. 2214.2)
Sec. 4.2. (a) No applicant may receive a license from
the Department and no person may be employed by a licensed
child care facility who refuses to authorize an investigation
as required by Section 4.1.
(b) No applicant may receive a license from the
Department and no person may be employed by a child care
facility licensed by the Department who has been declared a
sexually dangerous person under "An Act in relation to
sexually dangerous persons, and providing for their
commitment, detention and supervision", approved July 6,
1938, as amended, or convicted of committing or attempting to
commit any of the following offenses stipulated under the
Criminal Code of 1961:
(1) murder;
(1.1) solicitation of murder;
(1.2) solicitation of murder for hire;
(1.3) intentional homicide of an unborn child;
(1.4) voluntary manslaughter of an unborn child;
(1.5) involuntary manslaughter;
(1.6) reckless homicide;
(1.7) concealment of a homicidal death;
(1.8) involuntary manslaughter of an unborn child;
(1.9) reckless homicide of an unborn child;
(1.10) drug induced homicide;
(2) a sex offense under Article 11, except offenses
described in Sections 11-7, 11-8, 11-12, and 11-13;
(3) kidnapping;
(3.1) aggravated unlawful restraint;
(3.2) forcible detention;
(3.3) harboring a runaway;
(3.4) aiding and abetting child abduction;
(4) aggravated kidnapping;
(5) child abduction;
(6) aggravated battery of a child;
(7) criminal sexual assault;
(8) aggravated criminal sexual assault;
(8.1) predatory criminal sexual assault of a child;
(9) criminal sexual abuse;
(10) aggravated sexual abuse;
(11) heinous battery;
(12) aggravated battery with a firearm;
(13) tampering with food, drugs, or cosmetics;
(14) drug induced infliction of great bodily harm;
(15) hate crime;
(16) stalking;
(17) aggravated stalking;
(18) threatening public officials;
(19) home invasion;
(20) vehicular invasion;
(21) criminal transmission of HIV;
(22) criminal neglect of an elderly or disabled
person;
(23) child abandonment;
(24) endangering the life or health of a child;
(25) ritual mutilation;
(26) ritualized abuse of a child;
(27) an offense in any other state the elements of
which are similar and bear a substantial relationship to
any of the foregoing offenses.
(c) In addition to the provisions set forth in
subsection (b), no applicant may receive a license from the
Department to operate a foster family home, and no adult
person may reside in a foster family home licensed by the
Department, who has been convicted of committing or
attempting to commit any of the following offenses stipulated
under the Criminal Code of 1961, the Cannabis Control Act,
and the Illinois Controlled Substances Act:
(I) OFFENSES DIRECTED AGAINST THE PERSON
(A) KIDNAPPING AND RELATED OFFENSES
(1) Unlawful restraint.
(B) BODILY HARM
(2) Felony aggravated assault.
(3) Vehicular endangerment.
(4) Felony domestic battery.
(5) Aggravated battery.
(6) Heinous battery.
(7) Aggravated battery with a firearm.
(8) Aggravated battery of an unborn child.
(9) Aggravated battery of a senior citizen.
(10) Intimidation.
(11) Compelling organization membership of persons.
(12) Abuse and gross neglect of a long term care
facility resident.
(13) Felony violation of an order of protection.
(II) OFFENSES DIRECTED AGAINST PROPERTY
(14) Felony theft.
(15) Robbery.
(16) Armed robbery.
(17) Aggravated robbery.
(18) Vehicular hijacking.
(19) Aggravated vehicular hijacking.
(20) Burglary.
(21) Possession of burglary tools.
(22) Residential burglary.
(23) Criminal fortification of a residence or
building.
(24) Arson.
(25) Aggravated arson.
(26) Possession of explosive or explosive
incendiary devices.
(III) OFFENSES AFFECTING PUBLIC HEALTH, SAFETY, AND DECENCY
(27) Felony unlawful use of weapons.
(28) Aggravated discharge of a firearm.
(29) Reckless discharge of a firearm.
(30) Unlawful use of metal piercing bullets.
(31) Unlawful sale or delivery of firearms on the
premises of any school.
(32) Disarming a police officer.
(33) Obstructing justice.
(34) Concealing or aiding a fugitive.
(35) Armed violence.
(36) Felony contributing to the criminal
delinquency of a juvenile.
(IV) DRUG OFFENSES
(37) Possession of more than 30 grams of cannabis.
(38) Manufacture of more than 10 grams of cannabis.
(39) Cannabis trafficking.
(40) Delivery of cannabis on school grounds.
(41) Unauthorized production of more than 5
cannabis sativa plants.
(42) Calculated criminal cannabis conspiracy.
(43) Unauthorized manufacture or delivery of
controlled substances.
(44) Controlled substance trafficking.
(45) Manufacture, distribution, or advertisement of
look-alike substances.
(46) Calculated criminal drug conspiracy.
(46.5) Streetgang criminal drug conspiracy.
(47) Permitting unlawful use of a building.
(48) Delivery of controlled, counterfeit, or
look-alike substances to persons under age 18, or at
truck stops, rest stops, or safety rest areas, or on
school property.
(49) Using, engaging, or employing persons under 18
to deliver controlled, counterfeit, or look-alike
substances.
(50) Delivery of controlled substances.
(51) Sale or delivery of drug paraphernalia.
(52) Felony possession, sale, or exchange of
instruments adapted for use of a controlled substance or
cannabis by subcutaneous injection.
(d) Notwithstanding subsection (c), the Department may
issue a new foster family home license or may renew an
existing foster family home license of an applicant who was
convicted of an offense described in subsection (c), provided
all of the following requirements are met:
(1) The relevant criminal offense or offenses
occurred more than 10 years prior to the effective date
of this amendatory Act of 1997.
(2) The applicant had previously disclosed the
conviction or convictions to the Department for purposes
of a background check.
(3) After the disclosure, the Department either
placed a child in the home or the foster family home
license was issued.
(4) During the background check, the Department had
assessed and waived the conviction in compliance with the
existing statutes and rules in effect at the time of the
waiver.
(5) The applicant meets all other requirements and
qualifications to be licensed as a foster family home
under this Act and the Department's administrative rules.
(6) The applicant has a history of providing a
safe, stable home environment and appears able to
continue to provide a safe, stable home environment.
(Source: P.A. 89-21, eff. 7-1-95; 89-263, eff. 8-10-95;
89-428, eff. 12-13-95; 89-462, eff. 5-29-96; 89-498, eff.
6-27-96.)
Section 10-15. The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting
Act is amended by changing Sections 2, 5, 7.5, and 8.2 as
follows:
(325 ILCS 5/2) (from Ch. 23, par. 2052)
Sec. 2. The Illinois Department of Children and Family
Services shall, upon receiving reports made under this Act,
protect the health, safety, and best interests of the child
in all situations in which the child is vulnerable to child
abuse or neglect, offer protective services in order to
prevent any further harm to the child and to other children
in the same environment or family, stabilize the home
environment, and preserve family life whenever possible and
protect the health and safety of children in all situations
in which they are vulnerable to child abuse or neglect.
Recognizing that children also can be abused and neglected
while living in public or private residential agencies or
institutions meant to serve them, while attending day care
centers or schools, or when in contact with adults who are
responsible for the welfare of the child at that time, this
Act also provides for the reporting and investigation of
child abuse and neglect in such instances. In performing any
of these duties, the Department may utilize such protective
services of voluntary agencies as are available.
(Source: P.A. 84-1318.)
(325 ILCS 5/5) (from Ch. 23, par. 2055)
Sec. 5. An officer of a local law enforcement agency,
designated employee of the Department, or a physician
treating a child may take or retain temporary protective
custody of the child without the consent of the person
responsible for the child's welfare, if (1) he has reason to
believe that the child cannot be cared for at home or in the
circumstances or conditions of the child are such that
continuing in his place of residence or in the care and
custody of the person responsible for the child's welfare
without endangering the child's health or safety, presents an
imminent danger to that child's life or health; and (2) there
is not time to apply for a court order under the Juvenile
Court Act of 1987 for temporary custody of the child. The
person taking or retaining a child in temporary protective
custody shall immediately make every reasonable effort to
notify the person responsible for the child's welfare and
shall immediately notify the Department. The Department
shall provide to the temporary caretaker of a child any
information in the Department's possession concerning the
positive results of a test performed on the child to
determine the presence of the antibody or antigen to Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), or of HIV infection, as well as
any communicable diseases or communicable infections that the
child has. The temporary caretaker of a child shall not
disclose to another person any information received by the
temporary caretaker from the Department concerning the
results of a test performed on the child to determine the
presence of the antibody or antigen to HIV, or of HIV
infection, except pursuant to Section 9 of the AIDS
Confidentiality Act, as now or hereafter amended. The
Department shall promptly initiate proceedings under the
Juvenile Court Act of 1987 for the continued temporary
custody of the child.
Where the physician keeping a child in his custody does
so in his capacity as a member of the staff of a hospital or
similar institution, he shall notify the person in charge of
the institution or his designated agent, who shall then
become responsible for the further care of such child in the
hospital or similar institution under the direction of the
Department.
Said care includes, but is not limited to the granting of
permission to perform emergency medical treatment to a minor
where the treatment itself does not involve a substantial
risk of harm to the minor and the failure to render such
treatment will likely result in death or permanent harm to
the minor, and there is not time to apply for a court order
under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
Any person authorized and acting in good faith in the
removal of a child under this Section shall have immunity
from any liability, civil or criminal that might otherwise be
incurred or imposed as a result of such removal. Any
physician authorized and acting in good faith and in
accordance with acceptable medical practice in the treatment
of a child under this Section shall have immunity from any
liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be
incurred or imposed as a result of granting permission for
emergency treatment.
With respect to any child taken into temporary protective
custody pursuant to this Section, the Department of Children
and Family Services Guardianship Administrator or his
designee shall be deemed the child's legally authorized
representative for purposes of consenting to an HIV test if
deemed necessary and appropriate by the Department's
Guardianship Administrator or designee and obtaining and
disclosing information concerning such test pursuant to the
AIDS Confidentiality Act if deemed necessary and appropriate
by the Department's Guardianship Administrator or designee
and for purposes of consenting to the release of information
pursuant to the Illinois Sexually Transmissible Disease
Control Act if deemed necessary and appropriate by the
Department's Guardianship Administrator or designee.
Any person who administers an HIV test upon the consent
of the Department of Children and Family Services
Guardianship Administrator or his designee, or who discloses
the results of such tests to the Department's Guardianship
Administrator or his designee, shall have immunity from any
liability, civil, criminal or otherwise, that might result by
reason of such actions. For the purpose of any proceedings,
civil or criminal, the good faith of any persons required to
administer or disclose the results of tests, or permitted to
take such actions, shall be presumed.
(Source: P.A. 86-733; 86-904; 86-1028.)
(325 ILCS 5/7.5) (from Ch. 23, par. 2057.5)
Sec. 7.5. If the Child Protective Service Unit is denied
reasonable access to a child by the parents or other persons
and it deems that the health, safety, and best interests of
the child so require, it shall request the intervention of a
local law enforcement agency or seek an appropriate court
order to examine and interview the child.
(Source: P.A. 81-1077.)
(325 ILCS 5/8.2) (from Ch. 23, par. 2058.2)
(Text of Section before amendment by P.A. 89-507)
Sec. 8.2. If the Child Protective Service Unit
determines, following an investigation made pursuant to
Section 7.4 of this Act, that there is credible evidence that
the child is abused or neglected, the Department shall assess
the family's need for services, and, as necessary, develop,
with the family, an appropriate service plan for the family's
voluntary acceptance or refusal. In any case where there is
evidence that the perpetrator of the abuse or neglect is an
addict or alcoholic as defined in the Alcoholism and Other
Drug Abuse and Dependency Act, the Department, when making
referrals for drug or alcohol abuse services, shall make such
referrals to facilities licensed by the Department of
Alcoholism and Substance Abuse or the Department of Public
Health. The Department shall comply with Section 8.1 by
explaining its lack of legal authority to compel the
acceptance of services and may explain its concomitant
noncommitant authority to petition the Circuit court under
the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 or refer the case to the local
law enforcement authority or State's attorney for criminal
prosecution.
For purposes of this Act, the term "family preservation
services" refers to all services to prevent the placement of
children in substitute care, to reunite them with their
families if so placed and if reunification is an appropriate
goal, or to maintain an adoptive placement. The term
"homemaker" includes emergency caretakers, homemakers,
caretakers, housekeepers and chore services. The term
"counseling" includes individual therapy, infant stimulation
therapy, family therapy, group therapy, self-help groups,
drug and alcohol abuse counseling, vocational counseling and
post-adoptive services. The term "day care" includes
protective day care and day care to meet educational,
prevocational or vocational needs. The term "emergency
assistance and advocacy" includes coordinated services to
secure emergency cash, food, housing and medical assistance
or advocacy for other subsistence and family protective
needs.
Before July 1, 2000, appropriate family preservation
services shall, subject to appropriation, be included in the
service plan if the Department has determined that those
services are in the child's best interests and when the child
will not be in imminent risk of harm. Beginning July 1,
2000, appropriate family preservation services shall be
uniformly available throughout the State. The Department
shall promptly notify children and families of the
Department's responsibility to offer and provide family
preservation services as identified in the service plan.
Such plans may include but are not limited to: case
management services; homemakers; counseling; parent
education; day care; emergency assistance and advocacy
assessments; respite care; in-home health care;
transportation to obtain any of the above services; and
medical assistance. Nothing in this paragraph shall be
construed to create a private right of action or claim on the
part of any individual or child welfare agency.
The Department shall provide a preliminary report to the
General Assembly no later than January 1, 1991, in regard to
the provision of services authorized pursuant to this
Section. The report shall include:
(a) the number of families and children served, by
type of services;
(b) the outcome from the provision of such
services, including the number of families which remained
intact at least 6 months following the termination of
services;
(c) the number of families which have been subjects
of founded reports of abuse following the termination of
services;
(d) an analysis of general family circumstances in
which family preservation services have been determined
to be an effective intervention;
(e) information regarding the number of families in
need of services but unserved due to budget or program
criteria guidelines;
(f) an estimate of the time necessary for and the
annual cost of statewide implementation of such services;
(g) an estimate of the length of time before
expansion of these services will be made to include
families with children over the age of 6; and
(h) recommendations regarding any proposed
legislative changes to this program.
Each Department field office shall maintain on a local
basis directories of services available to children and
families in the local area where the Department office is
located.
The Department shall refer children and families served
pursuant to this Section to private agencies and governmental
agencies, where available.
Where there are 2 equal proposals from both a
not-for-profit and a for-profit agency to provide services,
the Department shall give preference to the proposal from the
not-for-profit agency.
No service plan shall compel any child or parent to
engage in any activity or refrain from any activity which is
not reasonably related to remedying a condition or conditions
that gave rise or which could give rise to any finding of
child abuse or neglect.
(Source: P.A. 88-670, eff. 12-2-94; 89-21, eff. 6-6-95;
revised 2-7-97.)
(Text of Section after amendment by P.A. 89-507)
Sec. 8.2. If the Child Protective Service Unit
determines, following an investigation made pursuant to
Section 7.4 of this Act, that there is credible evidence that
the child is abused or neglected, the Department shall assess
the family's need for services, and, as necessary, develop,
with the family, an appropriate service plan for the family's
voluntary acceptance or refusal. In any case where there is
evidence that the perpetrator of the abuse or neglect is an
addict or alcoholic as defined in the Alcoholism and Other
Drug Abuse and Dependency Act, the Department, when making
referrals for drug or alcohol abuse services, shall make such
referrals to facilities licensed by the Department of Human
Services or the Department of Public Health. The Department
shall comply with Section 8.1 by explaining its lack of legal
authority to compel the acceptance of services and may
explain its concomitant noncommitant authority to petition
the Circuit court under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 or
refer the case to the local law enforcement authority or
State's attorney for criminal prosecution.
For purposes of this Act, the term "family preservation
services" refers to all services to prevent the placement of
children in substitute care when the children can be cared
for at home or in the custody of the person responsible for
the children's welfare without endangering the children's
health or safety, to reunite them with their families if so
placed when and if reunification is an appropriate goal, or
to maintain an adoptive placement. The term "homemaker"
includes emergency caretakers, homemakers, caretakers,
housekeepers and chore services. The term "counseling"
includes individual therapy, infant stimulation therapy,
family therapy, group therapy, self-help groups, drug and
alcohol abuse counseling, vocational counseling and
post-adoptive services. The term "day care" includes
protective day care and day care to meet educational,
prevocational or vocational needs. The term "emergency
assistance and advocacy" includes coordinated services to
secure emergency cash, food, housing and medical assistance
or advocacy for other subsistence and family protective
needs.
Before July 1, 2000, appropriate family preservation
services shall, subject to appropriation, be included in the
service plan if the Department has determined that those
services will ensure the child's health and safety, are in
the child's best interests, and will not place the child when
the child will not be in imminent risk of harm. Beginning
July 1, 2000, appropriate family preservation services shall
be uniformly available throughout the State. The Department
shall promptly notify children and families of the
Department's responsibility to offer and provide family
preservation services as identified in the service plan.
Such plans may include but are not limited to: case
management services; homemakers; counseling; parent
education; day care; emergency assistance and advocacy
assessments; respite care; in-home health care;
transportation to obtain any of the above services; and
medical assistance. Nothing in this paragraph shall be
construed to create a private right of action or claim on the
part of any individual or child welfare agency.
The Department shall provide a preliminary report to the
General Assembly no later than January 1, 1991, in regard to
the provision of services authorized pursuant to this
Section. The report shall include:
(a) the number of families and children served, by
type of services;
(b) the outcome from the provision of such
services, including the number of families which remained
intact at least 6 months following the termination of
services;
(c) the number of families which have been subjects
of founded reports of abuse following the termination of
services;
(d) an analysis of general family circumstances in
which family preservation services have been determined
to be an effective intervention;
(e) information regarding the number of families in
need of services but unserved due to budget or program
criteria guidelines;
(f) an estimate of the time necessary for and the
annual cost of statewide implementation of such services;
(g) an estimate of the length of time before
expansion of these services will be made to include
families with children over the age of 6; and
(h) recommendations regarding any proposed
legislative changes to this program.
Each Department field office shall maintain on a local
basis directories of services available to children and
families in the local area where the Department office is
located.
The Department shall refer children and families served
pursuant to this Section to private agencies and governmental
agencies, where available.
Where there are 2 equal proposals from both a
not-for-profit and a for-profit agency to provide services,
the Department shall give preference to the proposal from the
not-for-profit agency.
No service plan shall compel any child or parent to
engage in any activity or refrain from any activity which is
not reasonably related to remedying a condition or conditions
that gave rise or which could give rise to any finding of
child abuse or neglect.
(Source: P.A. 88-670, eff. 12-2-94; 89-21, eff. 6-6-95;
89-507, eff. 7-1-97; revised 2-7-97.)
Section 10-20. The Juvenile Court Act of 1987 is amended
by changing Sections 1-2, 1-3, 1-5, 1-8, 2-10, 2-10.1, 2-13,
2-14, 2-15, 2-16, 2-17, 2-17.1, 2-20, 2-21, 2-22, 2-23, 2-24,
2-25, 2-27, 2-28, 2-28.1, 2-29, and 2-31 and by adding
Section 2-27.5 as follows:
(705 ILCS 405/1-2) (from Ch. 37, par. 801-2)
(Text of Section before amendment by P.A. 89-704)
Sec. 1-2. Purpose and policy. (1) The purpose of this
Act is to secure for each minor subject hereto such care and
guidance, preferably in his or her own home, as will serve
the moral, emotional, mental, and physical welfare of the
minor and the best interests of the community; to preserve
and strengthen the minor's family ties whenever possible,
removing him or her from the custody of his or her parents
only when his or her welfare or safety or the protection of
the public cannot be adequately safeguarded without removal;
and, when the minor is removed from his or her own family, to
secure for him or her custody, care and discipline as nearly
as possible equivalent to that which should be given by his
or her parents, and in cases where it should and can properly
be done to place the minor in a family home so that he or she
may become a member of the family by legal adoption or
otherwise.
(2) In all proceedings under this Act the court may
direct the course thereof so as promptly to ascertain the
jurisdictional facts and fully to gather information bearing
upon the current condition and future welfare of persons
subject to this Act. This Act shall be administered in a
spirit of humane concern, not only for the rights of the
parties, but also for the fears and the limits of
understanding of all who appear before the court.
(3) In all procedures under this Act, the following
shall apply:
(a) The procedural rights assured to the minor shall be
the rights of adults unless specifically precluded by laws
which enhance the protection of such minors.
(b) Every child has a right to services necessary to his
or her proper development, including health, education and
social services.
(c) The parents' right to the custody of their child
shall not prevail when the court determines that it is
contrary to the best interests of the child.
(4) This Act shall be liberally construed to carry out
the foregoing purpose and policy.
(Source: P.A. 85-601.)
(Text of Section after amendment by P.A. 89-704)
Sec. 1-2. Purpose and policy.
(1) The purpose of this Act is to secure for each minor
subject hereto such care and guidance, preferably in his or
her own home, as will serve the safety and moral, emotional,
mental, and physical welfare of the minor and the best
interests of the community; to preserve and strengthen the
minor's family ties whenever possible, removing him or her
from the custody of his or her parents only when his or her
safety or welfare or safety or the protection of the public
cannot be adequately safeguarded without removal; if the
child is removed from the custody of his or her parent, the
Department of Children and Family Services immediately shall
consider concurrent planning, as described in Section 5 of
the Children and Family Services Act so that permanency may
occur at the earliest opportunity; consideration should be
given so that if reunification fails or is delayed, the
placement made is the best available placement to provide
permanency for the child; and, when the minor is removed from
his or her own family, to secure for him or her custody, care
and discipline as nearly as possible equivalent to that which
should be given by his or her parents, and in cases where it
should and can properly be done to place the minor in a
family home so that he or she may become a member of the
family by legal adoption or otherwise. Provided that a
ground for unfitness under the Adoption Act can be met, it
may be appropriate to expedite termination of parental
rights:
(a) when reasonable efforts are inappropriate, or have
been provided and were unsuccessful, and there are
aggravating circumstances including, but not limited to,
those cases in which (i) a child or a sibling of the child
was (A) abandoned, (B) tortured, or (C) chronically abused or
(ii) the parent is criminally convicted of (A) first degree
murder or second degree murder of any child, (B) attempt or
conspiracy to commit first degree murder or second degree
murder of any child, (C) solicitation to commit murder,
solicitation to commit murder for hire, or solicitation to
commit second degree murder of any child, or accountability
for the first or second degree murder of any child, or (D)
aggravated criminal sexual assault in violation of Section
12-14(b)(1) of the Criminal Code of 1961; or
(b) when the parental rights of a parent with respect to
a sibling of the child have been terminated; or in
abandonment cases; or in those extreme cases in which the
parent's conduct toward the child or the child's sibling has
been so egregious that the behavior justifies termination of
parental rights; or
(c) in those extreme cases in which the parent's
incapacity to care for the child, combined with an extremely
poor prognosis for treatment or rehabilitation, justifies
expedited termination of a determination that parental rights
should be terminated.
(2) In all proceedings under this Act the court may
direct the course thereof so as promptly to ascertain the
jurisdictional facts and fully to gather information bearing
upon the current condition and future welfare of persons
subject to this Act. This Act shall be administered in a
spirit of humane concern, not only for the rights of the
parties, but also for the fears and the limits of
understanding of all who appear before the court.
(3) In all procedures under this Act, the following
shall apply:
(a) The procedural rights assured to the minor
shall be the rights of adults unless specifically
precluded by laws which enhance the protection of such
minors.
(b) Every child has a right to services necessary
to his or her safety and proper development, including
health, education and social services.
(c) The parents' right to the custody of their
child shall not prevail when the court determines that it
is contrary to the health, safety, and best interests of
the child.
(4) This Act shall be liberally construed to carry out
the foregoing purpose and policy.
(Source: P.A. 89-704, eff. 1-1-98.)
(705 ILCS 405/1-3) (from Ch. 37, par. 801-3)
Sec. 1-3. Definitions. Terms used in this Act, unless
the context otherwise requires, have the following meanings
ascribed to them:
(1) Adjudicatory hearing. "Adjudicatory hearing" means a
hearing to determine whether the allegations of a petition
under Section 2-13, 3-15 or 4-12 that a minor under 18 years
of age is abused, neglected or dependent, or requires
authoritative intervention, or addicted, respectively, are
supported by a preponderance of the evidence or whether the
allegations of a petition under Section 5-13 that a minor is
delinquent are proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
(2) Adult. "Adult" means a person 21 years of age or
older.
(3) Agency. "Agency" means a public or private child
care facility legally authorized or licensed by this State
for placement or institutional care or for both placement and
institutional care.
(4) Association. "Association" means any organization,
public or private, engaged in welfare functions which include
services to or on behalf of children but does not include
"agency" as herein defined.
(4.05) Best Interests. Whenever a "best interest"
determination is required, the following factors shall be
considered in the context of the child's age and
developmental needs:
(a) the physical safety and welfare of the child,
including food, shelter, health, and clothing;
(b) the development of the child's identity;
(c) the child's background and ties, including familial,
racial, cultural, and religious;
(d) the child's sense of attachments, including:
(i) where the child actually feels love,
attachment, and a sense of being valued (as opposed to
where adults believe the child should feel such love,
attachment, and a sense of being valued);
(ii) the child's sense of security;
(iii) the child's sense of familiarity;
(iv) continuity of affection for the child;
(v) the least disruptive placement alternative for
the child;
(e) the child's wishes and long-term goals;
(f) the child's community ties, including church,
school, and friends;
(g) permanence for the child;
(h) the uniqueness of every family and child;
(i) the risks attendant to entering and being in
substitute care; and
(j) the preferences of the persons available to care for
the child.
(4.1) Chronic truant. "Chronic truant" shall have the
definition ascribed to it in Section 26-2a of The School
Code.
(5) Court. "Court" means the circuit court in a session
or division assigned to hear proceedings under this Act.
(6) Dispositional hearing. "Dispositional hearing" means
a hearing to determine whether a minor should be adjudged to
be a ward of the court, and to determine what order of
disposition should be made in respect to a minor adjudged to
be a ward of the court.
(7) Emancipated minor. "Emancipated minor" means any
minor 16 years of age or over who has been completely or
partially emancipated under the "Emancipation of Mature
Minors Act", enacted by the Eighty-First General Assembly, or
under this Act.
(8) Guardianship of the person. "Guardianship of the
person" of a minor means the duty and authority to act in the
best interests of the minor, subject to residual parental
rights and responsibilities, to make important decisions in
matters having a permanent effect on the life and development
of the minor and to be concerned with his or her general
welfare. It includes but is not necessarily limited to:
(a) the authority to consent to marriage, to
enlistment in the armed forces of the United States, or
to a major medical, psychiatric, and surgical treatment;
to represent the minor in legal actions; and to make
other decisions of substantial legal significance
concerning the minor;
(b) the authority and duty of reasonable
visitation, except to the extent that these have been
limited in the best interests of the minor by court
order;
(c) the rights and responsibilities of legal
custody except where legal custody has been vested in
another person or agency; and
(d) the power to consent to the adoption of the
minor, but only if expressly conferred on the guardian in
accordance with Section 2-29, 3-30, 4-27 or 5-31.
(9) Legal custody. "Legal custody" means the
relationship created by an order