HB2935 EnrolledLRB101 10499 SLF 55605 b

1    AN ACT concerning courts.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Juvenile Court Act of 1987 is amended by
5changing Section 1-5 as follows:
 
6    (705 ILCS 405/1-5)  (from Ch. 37, par. 801-5)
7    Sec. 1-5. Rights of parties to proceedings.
8    (1) Except as provided in this Section and paragraph (2) of
9Sections 2-22, 3-23, 4-20, 5-610 or 5-705, the minor who is the
10subject of the proceeding and his or her parents, guardian,
11legal custodian or responsible relative who are parties
12respondent have the right to be present, to be heard, to
13present evidence material to the proceedings, to cross-examine
14witnesses, to examine pertinent court files and records and
15also, although proceedings under this Act are not intended to
16be adversary in character, the right to be represented by
17counsel. At the request of any party financially unable to
18employ counsel, with the exception of a foster parent permitted
19to intervene under this Section, the court shall appoint the
20Public Defender or such other counsel as the case may require.
21Counsel appointed for the minor and any indigent party shall
22appear at all stages of the trial court proceeding, and such
23appointment shall continue through the permanency hearings and

 

 

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1termination of parental rights proceedings subject to
2withdrawal, vacating of appointment, or substitution pursuant
3to Supreme Court Rules or the Code of Civil Procedure.
4Following the dispositional hearing, the court may require
5appointed counsel, other than counsel for the minor or counsel
6for the guardian ad litem, to withdraw his or her appearance
7upon failure of the party for whom counsel was appointed under
8this Section to attend any subsequent proceedings.
9    No hearing on any petition or motion filed under this Act
10may be commenced unless the minor who is the subject of the
11proceeding is represented by counsel. Notwithstanding the
12preceding sentence, if a guardian ad litem has been appointed
13for the minor under Section 2-17 of this Act and the guardian
14ad litem is a licensed attorney at law of this State, or in the
15event that a court appointed special advocate has been
16appointed as guardian ad litem and counsel has been appointed
17to represent the court appointed special advocate, the court
18may not require the appointment of counsel to represent the
19minor unless the court finds that the minor's interests are in
20conflict with what the guardian ad litem determines to be in
21the best interest of the minor. Each adult respondent shall be
22furnished a written "Notice of Rights" at or before the first
23hearing at which he or she appears.
24    (1.5) The Department shall maintain a system of response to
25inquiry made by parents or putative parents as to whether their
26child is under the custody or guardianship of the Department;

 

 

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1and if so, the Department shall direct the parents or putative
2parents to the appropriate court of jurisdiction, including
3where inquiry may be made of the clerk of the court regarding
4the case number and the next scheduled court date of the
5minor's case. Effective notice and the means of accessing
6information shall be given to the public on a continuing basis
7by the Department.
8    (2) (a) Though not appointed guardian or legal custodian or
9otherwise made a party to the proceeding, any current or
10previously appointed foster parent or relative caregiver, or
11representative of an agency or association interested in the
12minor has the right to be heard by the court, but does not
13thereby become a party to the proceeding.
14    In addition to the foregoing right to be heard by the
15court, any current foster parent or relative caregiver of a
16minor and the agency designated by the court or the Department
17of Children and Family Services as custodian of the minor who
18is alleged to be or has been adjudicated an abused or neglected
19minor under Section 2-3 or a dependent minor under Section 2-4
20of this Act has the right to and shall be given adequate notice
21at all stages of any hearing or proceeding under this Act.
22    Any foster parent or relative caregiver who is denied his
23or her right to be heard under this Section may bring a
24mandamus action under Article XIV of the Code of Civil
25Procedure against the court or any public agency to enforce
26that right. The mandamus action may be brought immediately upon

 

 

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1the denial of those rights but in no event later than 30 days
2after the foster parent has been denied the right to be heard.
3    (b) If after an adjudication that a minor is abused or
4neglected as provided under Section 2-21 of this Act and a
5motion has been made to restore the minor to any parent,
6guardian, or legal custodian found by the court to have caused
7the neglect or to have inflicted the abuse on the minor, a
8foster parent may file a motion to intervene in the proceeding
9for the sole purpose of requesting that the minor be placed
10with the foster parent, provided that the foster parent (i) is
11the current foster parent of the minor or (ii) has previously
12been a foster parent for the minor for one year or more, has a
13foster care license or is eligible for a license or is not
14required to have a license, and is not the subject of any
15findings of abuse or neglect of any child. The juvenile court
16may only enter orders placing a minor with a specific foster
17parent under this subsection (2)(b) and nothing in this Section
18shall be construed to confer any jurisdiction or authority on
19the juvenile court to issue any other orders requiring the
20appointed guardian or custodian of a minor to place the minor
21in a designated foster home or facility. This Section is not
22intended to encompass any matters that are within the scope or
23determinable under the administrative and appeal process
24established by rules of the Department of Children and Family
25Services under Section 5(o) of the Children and Family Services
26Act. Nothing in this Section shall relieve the court of its

 

 

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1responsibility, under Section 2-14(a) of this Act to act in a
2just and speedy manner to reunify families where it is the best
3interests of the minor and the child can be cared for at home
4without endangering the child's health or safety and, if
5reunification is not in the best interests of the minor, to
6find another permanent home for the minor. Nothing in this
7Section, or in any order issued by the court with respect to
8the placement of a minor with a foster parent, shall impair the
9ability of the Department of Children and Family Services, or
10anyone else authorized under Section 5 of the Abused and
11Neglected Child Reporting Act, to remove a minor from the home
12of a foster parent if the Department of Children and Family
13Services or the person removing the minor has reason to believe
14that the circumstances or conditions of the minor are such that
15continuing in the residence or care of the foster parent will
16jeopardize the child's health and safety or present an imminent
17risk of harm to that minor's life.
18    (c) If a foster parent has had the minor who is the subject
19of the proceeding under Article II in his or her home for more
20than one year on or after July 3, 1994 and if the minor's
21placement is being terminated from that foster parent's home,
22that foster parent shall have standing and intervenor status
23except in those circumstances where the Department of Children
24and Family Services or anyone else authorized under Section 5
25of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act has removed the
26minor from the foster parent because of a reasonable belief

 

 

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1that the circumstances or conditions of the minor are such that
2continuing in the residence or care of the foster parent will
3jeopardize the child's health or safety or presents an imminent
4risk of harm to the minor's life.
5    (d) The court may grant standing to any foster parent if
6the court finds that it is in the best interest of the child
7for the foster parent to have standing and intervenor status.
8    (3) Parties respondent are entitled to notice in compliance
9with Sections 2-15 and 2-16, 3-17 and 3-18, 4-14 and 4-15 or
105-525 and 5-530, as appropriate. At the first appearance before
11the court by the minor, his parents, guardian, custodian or
12responsible relative, the court shall explain the nature of the
13proceedings and inform the parties of their rights under the
14first 2 paragraphs of this Section.
15    If the child is alleged to be abused, neglected or
16dependent, the court shall admonish the parents that if the
17court declares the child to be a ward of the court and awards
18custody or guardianship to the Department of Children and
19Family Services, the parents must cooperate with the Department
20of Children and Family Services, comply with the terms of the
21service plans, and correct the conditions that require the
22child to be in care, or risk termination of their parental
23rights.
24    Upon an adjudication of wardship of the court under
25Sections 2-22, 3-23, 4-20 or 5-705, the court shall inform the
26parties of their right to appeal therefrom as well as from any

 

 

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1other final judgment of the court.
2    When the court finds that a child is an abused, neglected,
3or dependent minor under Section 2-21, the court shall admonish
4the parents that the parents must cooperate with the Department
5of Children and Family Services, comply with the terms of the
6service plans, and correct the conditions that require the
7child to be in care, or risk termination of their parental
8rights.
9    When the court declares a child to be a ward of the court
10and awards guardianship to the Department of Children and
11Family Services under Section 2-22, the court shall admonish
12the parents, guardian, custodian, or responsible relative that
13the parents must cooperate with the Department of Children and
14Family Services, comply with the terms of the service plans,
15and correct the conditions that require the child to be in
16care, or risk termination of their parental rights.
17    (4) No sanction may be applied against the minor who is the
18subject of the proceedings by reason of his refusal or failure
19to testify in the course of any hearing held prior to final
20adjudication under Section 2-22, 3-23, 4-20 or 5-705.
21    (5) In the discretion of the court, the minor may be
22excluded from any part or parts of a dispositional hearing and,
23with the consent of the parent or parents, guardian, counsel or
24a guardian ad litem, from any part or parts of an adjudicatory
25hearing.
26    (6) The general public except for the news media and the

 

 

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1crime victim, as defined in Section 3 of the Rights of Crime
2Victims and Witnesses Act, shall be excluded from any hearing
3and, except for the persons specified in this Section only
4persons, including representatives of agencies and
5associations, who in the opinion of the court have a direct
6interest in the case or in the work of the court shall be
7admitted to the hearing. However, the court may, for the
8minor's safety and protection and for good cause shown,
9prohibit any person or agency present in court from further
10disclosing the minor's identity. Nothing in this subsection (6)
11prevents the court from allowing other juveniles to be present
12or to participate in a court session being held under the
13Juvenile Drug Court Treatment Act.
14    (7) A party shall not be entitled to exercise the right to
15a substitution of a judge without cause under subdivision
16(a)(2) of Section 2-1001 of the Code of Civil Procedure in a
17proceeding under this Act if the judge is currently assigned to
18a proceeding involving the alleged abuse, neglect, or
19dependency of the minor's sibling or half sibling and that
20judge has made a substantive ruling in the proceeding involving
21the minor's sibling or half sibling.
22(Source: P.A. 98-249, eff. 1-1-14.)