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Rep. Sara Feigenholtz
Filed: 5/13/2005
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09400SB1469ham001 |
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LRB094 06589 RAS 46486 a |
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| AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1469
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| AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1469 by replacing |
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| the title with the following: |
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| "AN ACT concerning families."; and
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| by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the |
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| following:
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| "Section 5. The Adoption Act is amended by changing Section |
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| 6 as follows:
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| (750 ILCS 50/6) (from Ch. 40, par. 1508)
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| Sec. 6. Investigation.
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| A. Investigation; all cases. Within 10 days after the |
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| filing of
a petition for the adoption or standby adoption of a |
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| child other than a related
child, the
court shall appoint a |
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| child welfare agency approved by the Department of
Children and |
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| Family Services, or a person deemed competent by the court, or
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| in
Cook County the Court Services Division of the Cook County |
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| Department of
Public Aid, or the Department of Children and |
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| Family Services if the court
determines that no child welfare |
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| agency is available or that the petitioner
is financially |
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| unable to pay for the investigation, to investigate
accurately, |
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| fully and promptly, the allegations contained in the petition;
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| the character, reputation, health and general standing in the |
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| community of
the petitioners; the religious faith of the |
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09400SB1469ham001 |
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LRB094 06589 RAS 46486 a |
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| petitioners and, if
ascertainable, of the child sought to be |
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| adopted; and whether the
petitioners are proper persons to |
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| adopt the child and whether the child is
a proper subject of |
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| adoption. The investigation required under this Section
shall |
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| include a fingerprint based criminal background check with a |
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| review
of fingerprints by the Illinois State Police and Federal |
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| Bureau of
Investigation.
Each petitioner subject to this |
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| investigation, shall submit his or her
fingerprints to the
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| Department
of State Police in the form and manner prescribed by |
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| the Department of State
Police. These fingerprints shall be |
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| checked against the fingerprint records
now and hereafter filed |
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| in the Department of State
Police and Federal Bureau of |
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| Investigation criminal history records
databases. The |
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| Department of State Police shall charge
a fee for conducting |
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| the criminal history records check, which shall be
deposited in |
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| the State Police Services Fund and shall not exceed the actual
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| cost of the records check.
The criminal background check |
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| required by
this Section shall include a listing of when, where |
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| and by whom the criminal
background check was prepared. The |
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| criminal background check required by this
Section shall not be |
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| more than two years old.
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| Neither a clerk of the circuit court nor a judge may |
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| require that a
criminal
background check or fingerprint review |
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| be filed with, or at the same time as,
an initial petition for |
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| adoption.
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| A-5. As part of the investigation process, the |
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| court-appointed investigator shall present to the petitioner a |
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| Designation of Standby Guardian Designee form and information |
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| regarding guardianship so that the petitioner can include |
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| guardianship designation in the adoption process if the |
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| petitioner so chooses.
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| B. Investigation; foreign-born child. In the case of a |
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| child born
outside the United States or a territory thereof, in |
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| addition to the
investigation required under subsection (A) of |
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LRB094 06589 RAS 46486 a |
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| this Section, a
post-placement investigation shall be |
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| conducted in accordance with the
requirements of the Child Care |
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| Act of 1969, the Interstate Compact on the
Placement of |
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| Children, and regulations of the foreign placing agency and
the |
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| supervising agency.
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| The requirements of a post-placement investigation shall |
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| be deemed to
have been satisfied if a valid final order or |
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| judgment of adoption has
been entered by a court of competent |
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| jurisdiction in a country other than
the United States or a |
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| territory thereof with respect to such child and
the |
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| petitioners.
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| C. Report of investigation. The court shall determine |
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| whether the costs of
the investigation shall be charged to the |
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| petitioners. The information obtained
as a result of such |
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| investigation shall be presented to the court in a written
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| report. The results of the criminal background check required |
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| under subsection
(A) shall be provided to the court for its |
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| review. The court may, in its
discretion, weigh the |
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| significance of the results of the criminal background
check |
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| against the entirety of the background of the petitioners. The |
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| Court, in
its discretion, may accept the report of the |
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| investigation previously made by a
licensed child welfare |
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| agency, if made within one year prior to the entry of
the |
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| judgment. Such report shall be treated as confidential and |
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| withheld from
inspection unless findings adverse to the |
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| petitioners or to the child sought to
be adopted are contained |
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| therein, and in that event the court shall inform the
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| petitioners of the relevant portions pertaining to the adverse |
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| findings. In no
event shall any facts set forth in the report |
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| be considered at the hearing of
the proceeding, unless |
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| established by competent evidence. The report shall be
filed |
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| with the record of the proceeding. If the file relating to the
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| proceeding is not impounded, the report shall be impounded by |
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| the clerk of the
court and shall be made available for |
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| inspection only upon order of the court.
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| D. Related adoption. Such investigation shall not be made |
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| when the
petition seeks to adopt a related child or an adult |
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| unless the court, in
its discretion, shall so order. In such an |
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| event the court may appoint a
person deemed competent by the |
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| court.
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| (Source: P.A. 93-418, eff. 1-1-04.)".
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