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| 1 | AN ACT concerning children.
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| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| 3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | Section 5. The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act is | ||||||
| 5 | amended by changing Section 7.6 as follows:
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| 6 | (325 ILCS 5/7.6) (from Ch. 23, par. 2057.6)
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| 7 | Sec. 7.6.
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| 8 | (a) There shall be a single State-wide, toll-free telephone | ||||||
| 9 | number
established and maintained by the Department which all | ||||||
| 10 | persons, whether
or not mandated by law, may use to report | ||||||
| 11 | suspected child abuse
or neglect at any hour of the day or | ||||||
| 12 | night, on any day of the week. Immediately
upon receipt of such | ||||||
| 13 | reports, the Department shall transmit the contents
of the | ||||||
| 14 | report, either orally or electronically, to the appropriate | ||||||
| 15 | Child
Protective Service Unit. Any other person may use the | ||||||
| 16 | State-wide number
to obtain assistance or information | ||||||
| 17 | concerning the handling of child abuse
and neglect cases.
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| 18 | Wherever the Statewide number is posted, there shall also | ||||||
| 19 | be posted the
following notice:
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| 20 | "Any person who knowingly transmits a false report to the | ||||||
| 21 | Department
commits the offense of disorderly conduct under | ||||||
| 22 | subsection (a)(7) of
Section 26-1 of the Criminal Code of 2012. | ||||||
| 23 | A violation of this subsection is a Class 4 felony."
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| 1 | (b) As used in this subsection: | ||||||
| 2 | "Bullying" has the meaning ascribed to that term in Section | ||||||
| 3 | 27-23.7 of the School Code. | ||||||
| 4 | "Hazing" means an act of hazing as described in Section | ||||||
| 5 | 12C-50 of the Criminal Code of 2012. | ||||||
| 6 | School-aged children under the age of 18 may use the | ||||||
| 7 | statewide toll-free telephone number established under | ||||||
| 8 | subsection (a) to report alleged incidents of bullying or | ||||||
| 9 | hazing that occur at their school. Children who call the | ||||||
| 10 | statewide toll-free telephone number to report an alleged | ||||||
| 11 | incident of bullying or hazing may remain anonymous. Through | ||||||
| 12 | the statewide toll-free telephone number, the Department shall | ||||||
| 13 | provide callers with information on how to handle an alleged | ||||||
| 14 | incident of bullying or hazing. The information provided may | ||||||
| 15 | include a list of available resources developed or provided by | ||||||
| 16 | other federal or State agencies concerning bullying or hazing | ||||||
| 17 | prevention. Upon receipt of a child's report of bullying or | ||||||
| 18 | hazing, the Department shall report the incident as soon as | ||||||
| 19 | possible to the superintendent of the school district in which | ||||||
| 20 | the child resides or, if the child attends a non-public school, | ||||||
| 21 | the administrator of the non-public school. Reports made to the | ||||||
| 22 | statewide toll-free telephone number concerning an alleged | ||||||
| 23 | incident of bullying or hazing shall not initiate a child abuse | ||||||
| 24 | or neglect investigation under this Act and shall not be | ||||||
| 25 | transmitted to any Child Protective Services Unit. | ||||||
| 26 | The Department shall inform all school districts and | ||||||
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| 1 | non-public schools in the State that school-aged children under | ||||||
| 2 | the age of 18 may call the statewide toll-free telephone number | ||||||
| 3 | established under subsection (a) to report alleged incidents of | ||||||
| 4 | bullying or hazing. The Department shall also post on its | ||||||
| 5 | website, in a relevant and conspicuous place, information on | ||||||
| 6 | how a child can report an alleged incident of bullying or | ||||||
| 7 | hazing to the statewide toll-free telephone number. | ||||||
| 8 | (Source: P.A. 97-189, eff. 7-22-11; 97-1150, eff. 1-25-13.)
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