Section 315.20  Definitions

 

"Administrative case review" means a review of permanency planning open to the participation of the parents of the child, conducted by a person who is not responsible for the case management of, or the delivery of services to, either the child or the parents who are the subjects of the review. (See 42 U.S.C. 675(6).) The administrative case review is also open to the participation of other professionals involved in assessing or treating the child, any legal representative of the parent or child, and the foster parents as specified in 89 Ill. Adm. Code 316 (Administrative Case Reviews and Court Hearings).

 

"Aftercare planning" means service planning that starts with the first contact with the family and that focuses on providing a smooth transition from Department guardianship or custody. It includes the receipt of child welfare services to discharge from guardianship or custody and the termination of Department funded services.

 

"Best interest of the child", defined in the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, means consideration of the following factors in the context of the child's age and developmental needs:

 

the physical safety and welfare of the child, including food, shelter, health, and clothing;

 

the development of the child's identity;

 

the child's background and ties, including familial, cultural, and religious;

 

the child's sense of attachments, including:

 

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);

 

the child's sense of security;

 

the child's sense of familiarity;

 

continuity of affection for the child;

 

the least disruptive placement alternative for the child;

 

the child's wishes and long-term goals, including the child's wishes regarding available permanency options and the child's wishes regarding maintaining connections with parents, siblings, and other relatives;

 

the child's community ties, including church, school, and friends;

 

the child's need for permanence, which includes the child's need for stability and continuity of relationships with parent figures, siblings and other relatives;

 

the uniqueness of every family and child;

 

the risks attendant to entering and being in substitute care; and

 

the preferences of the persons available to care for the child, including willingness to provide permanency to the child, either through subsidized guardianship or through adoption. [705 ILCS 405/1-3]

 

"Case plan" means a written plan on a form prescribed by the Department that guides all participants in the plan of intervention toward the permanency goals for the children. Formerly known as client service plan.

 

"Children for whom the Department is legally responsible" means children for whom the Department has temporary protective custody, custody or guardianship via court order, or children whose parents have signed an adoptive surrender or voluntary placement agreement with the Department.

 

"Concurrent planning" means a process whereby the Department or its service provider works toward family reunification with a family whose children have been removed from the home while, at the same time, developing an alternative plan, if reunification with the family cannot be attained.

 

"Culturally competent haircare" for purposes of this Part, means the ability to understand and provide appropriate haircare for children based on knowledge of the norms, traditions, and experiences of a child's ethnic background.

 

"Culture" means the norms, traditions, and experiences of a person's community that inform that person's daily life and long-term goals. [20 ILCS 505/7.3b(b)(2)]

 

"Family" means one or more adults and children, related by blood, marriage, civil union, or adoption and residing in the same household.

 

"Fictive kin" means a person who is unrelated to a child by birth, marriage, tribal custom, or adoption who is shown to have significant and close personal or emotional ties with the child or the child's family. [20 ILCS 505/4d]

 

"Guardian" means an individual person appointed by the court to assume the responsibilities of the guardianship of the person as defined in Section 1-3 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 [705 ILCS 405/1-3] or Article XI of the Probate Act of 1975 [755 ILCS 5].

 

"Haircare" means all care and practices related to the maintenance, health, and expression of hair, including, but not limited to, the daily maintenance routine, cutting, styling, or dying of hair as well as culturally specific practices, products, and techniques that reflect and respect diverse identities of youth in care as well as promote dignity and self-worth. [20 ILCS 505/7.3b (b)(1)]

 

"Identity" means the memories, experiences, relationships, and values that create one's sense of self. This combination creates a steady sense of who one is over time, even as new facets are developed and incorporated into one's identity. [20 ILCS 505/7.3b (b)(3)]

 

"Individual Treatment Plan" or "ITP" or "Treatment Plan" means a written document developed by the appropriate service provider staff with the participation of the client with a mental illness and, if applicable, the client's guardian, which specifies the client's diagnosis, problems, and service needs to be addressed, the intermediate objectives and long-term goals for the services and the planned interventions for achieving these goals.

 

"Individualized Family Service Plan" or "IFSP" means a written working document developed for each child in order to facilitate the provisions of Early Intervention (EI) services.  The IFSP is created by the family, an inter-disciplinary team, the core EI agency, and the case manager (service coordinator).  The EI agency is responsible for coordinating the IFSP implementation.

 

"Minimum parenting standards" means that a parent or other person responsible for the child's welfare is able and willing to ensure that a child is healthy and safe, which includes ensuring that the child is adequately fed, clothed appropriately for the weather conditions, provided with adequate shelter, protected from physical, mental and emotional harm, and provided with necessary medical care and education required by law.

 

"Parent" means an individual who has established a parent-child relationship under Section 201 of the Illinois Parentage Act of 2015 [750 ILCS 46/103(n)]

 

"Permanency goal" means the desired outcome of intervention and service, that is determined to be consistent with the health, safety, well-being, and best interests of the child. A permanent legal status is usually a component of the permanency goal.

 

"Permanent legal status" means a legally binding relationship between a child and a family as established by birth or by a court of law.

 

"Race" for purposes of this Part, includes traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles such as braids, locks, and twists. [775 ILCS 5/1-103(M-5)]

 

"Relative", for purposes of placement of children for whom the Department is legally responsible, means a person, who is:

 

related to a child by blood, marriage, tribal custom, adoption, or civil union or to a child's sibling in any of the foregoing ways, even though the person is not related to the child, when the child and the child's sibling are placed together with that person or fictive kin as defined in this Part.

 

For children who have been in the guardianship of the Department following the termination of their parents' parental rights, been adopted or placed in subsidized or unsubsidized guardianship, and are subsequently returned to the temporary custody or guardianship of the Department, "relative" includes any person who would have qualified as a relative under this definition prior to the termination of the parents' parental rights if the Department determines, and documents, or the court finds that it would be in the child's best interests to consider this person a relative, based upon the factors for determining best interests set forth in subsection (4.05) of Section 1-3 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. [20 ILCS 505/4d]

 

"Siblings" means children who have at least one parent in common.  Children continue to be considered siblings after parental rights are terminated, if parental rights were terminated while a petition under Article II of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 was pending.  Children continue to be considered siblings after one or more of the children are adopted or placed in private guardianship, if they were in the custody or guardianship of the Department pursuant to Article II of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 [705 ILCS 405] immediately prior to the adoption or guardianship.  Step-siblings may be considered "siblings" when the children enter into substitute care together, have a positive relationship and share at least one parent in common.

 

"Sibling contact" means contact between or among siblings who are residing apart from one another, and may include, but is not limited to:  telephone calls; video conferencing; in person visitation; sending and receiving cards, letters, emails, text messages, gifts, etc.; sharing photographs or information; use of any approved social media; and any other agreed upon forms of communication technology as detailed in the visitation and contact plan.

 

"Substitute care" means the care of children who require placement away from their families or private guardians.  Substitute care includes foster family care, care provided in a relative home placement as defined in 89 Ill. Adm. Code 301 (Placement and Visitation Services), care provided in a group home, care provided in a maternity center or a child care institution, mental health institution or other institution, and care provided in an independent living arrangement.

 

"Termination of parental rights" means a court order that relieves the legal parents of parental responsibility for the child and revokes all legal rights with respect to the child.  The termination order also frees the child from all obligations of maintenance and obedience with respect to the legal parents.

 

"Visitation" means face-to-face contact:

 

between parents and their children who are in substitute care;

 

between siblings in substitute care who are placed apart from one another; or

 

between siblings in substitute care with siblings who are not in substitute care (e.g., emancipated, case closed due to independence, adopted, placed in private guardianship, living in home of parent, etc.).

 

(Source:  Amended at 50 Ill. Reg. 999, effective January 7, 2026)