101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB4769

 

Introduced 2/18/2020, by Rep. Deanne M. Mazzochi

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
325 ILCS 5/3  from Ch. 23, par. 2053
410 ILCS 50/3.5 new

    Amends the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. Provides that a child shall not be considered neglected solely because the child's parent or other person responsible for his or her welfare: (i) objects to a recommended vaccination schedule; (ii) objects to the administration of opioid medication or ophthalmic antibiotics in newborns; (iii) objects to the administration, in non-emergency situations, of a medication without review of an FDA-approved package insert or instructions for use; (iv) objects to separation of the child and parent or other person responsible for his or her welfare by the medical professional during non-emergency medical consultations; (v) requests minimally invasive diagnostic tests for the child; or (vi) seeks diagnosis of or treatment of symptoms associated with Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome or Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcal Infections. Provides that if a medical professional complies with an objection or request set forth in the amendatory Act by a child's parent or other person responsible for the child's welfare, no liability for any such decision may attach to the medical professional. Amends the Medical Patient Rights Act. Provides that a child's parent or other person responsible for the child's welfare has a right to be free from threats by medical professionals to refer a child to protective services, unless the medical professional has a good faith basis to believe that the child otherwise meets the definition of an abused child or a neglected child as defined under the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. Requires the Department of Public Health to adopt rules.


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A BILL FOR

 

HB4769LRB101 17640 KTG 67067 b

1    AN ACT concerning children.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act is
5amended by changing Section 3 as follows:
 
6    (325 ILCS 5/3)  (from Ch. 23, par. 2053)
7    Sec. 3. As used in this Act unless the context otherwise
8requires:
9    "Adult resident" means any person between 18 and 22 years
10of age who resides in any facility licensed by the Department
11under the Child Care Act of 1969. For purposes of this Act, the
12criteria set forth in the definitions of "abused child" and
13"neglected child" shall be used in determining whether an adult
14resident is abused or neglected.
15    "Agency" means a child care facility licensed under Section
162.05 or Section 2.06 of the Child Care Act of 1969 and includes
17a transitional living program that accepts children and adult
18residents for placement who are in the guardianship of the
19Department.
20    "Blatant disregard" means an incident where the real,
21significant, and imminent risk of harm would be so obvious to a
22reasonable parent or caretaker that it is unlikely that a
23reasonable parent or caretaker would have exposed the child to

 

 

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1the danger without exercising precautionary measures to
2protect the child from harm. With respect to a person working
3at an agency in his or her professional capacity with a child
4or adult resident, "blatant disregard" includes a failure by
5the person to perform job responsibilities intended to protect
6the child's or adult resident's health, physical well-being, or
7welfare, and, when viewed in light of the surrounding
8circumstances, evidence exists that would cause a reasonable
9person to believe that the child was neglected. With respect to
10an agency, "blatant disregard" includes a failure to implement
11practices that ensure the health, physical well-being, or
12welfare of the children and adult residents residing in the
13facility.
14    "Child" means any person under the age of 18 years, unless
15legally emancipated by reason of marriage or entry into a
16branch of the United States armed services.
17    "Department" means Department of Children and Family
18Services.
19    "Local law enforcement agency" means the police of a city,
20town, village or other incorporated area or the sheriff of an
21unincorporated area or any sworn officer of the Illinois
22Department of State Police.
23    "Abused child" means a child whose parent or immediate
24family member, or any person responsible for the child's
25welfare, or any individual residing in the same home as the
26child, or a paramour of the child's parent:

 

 

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1        (a) inflicts, causes to be inflicted, or allows to be
2    inflicted upon such child physical injury, by other than
3    accidental means, which causes death, disfigurement,
4    impairment of physical or emotional health, or loss or
5    impairment of any bodily function;
6        (b) creates a substantial risk of physical injury to
7    such child by other than accidental means which would be
8    likely to cause death, disfigurement, impairment of
9    physical or emotional health, or loss or impairment of any
10    bodily function;
11        (c) commits or allows to be committed any sex offense
12    against such child, as such sex offenses are defined in the
13    Criminal Code of 2012 or in the Wrongs to Children Act, and
14    extending those definitions of sex offenses to include
15    children under 18 years of age;
16        (d) commits or allows to be committed an act or acts of
17    torture upon such child;
18        (e) inflicts excessive corporal punishment or, in the
19    case of a person working for an agency who is prohibited
20    from using corporal punishment, inflicts corporal
21    punishment upon a child or adult resident with whom the
22    person is working in his or her professional capacity;
23        (f) commits or allows to be committed the offense of
24    female genital mutilation, as defined in Section 12-34 of
25    the Criminal Code of 2012, against the child;
26        (g) causes to be sold, transferred, distributed, or

 

 

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1    given to such child under 18 years of age, a controlled
2    substance as defined in Section 102 of the Illinois
3    Controlled Substances Act in violation of Article IV of the
4    Illinois Controlled Substances Act or in violation of the
5    Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act,
6    except for controlled substances that are prescribed in
7    accordance with Article III of the Illinois Controlled
8    Substances Act and are dispensed to such child in a manner
9    that substantially complies with the prescription; or
10        (h) commits or allows to be committed the offense of
11    involuntary servitude, involuntary sexual servitude of a
12    minor, or trafficking in persons as defined in Section 10-9
13    of the Criminal Code of 2012 against the child.
14    A child shall not be considered abused for the sole reason
15that the child has been relinquished in accordance with the
16Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act.
17    "Neglected child" means any child who is not receiving the
18proper or necessary nourishment or medically indicated
19treatment including food or care not provided solely on the
20basis of the present or anticipated mental or physical
21impairment as determined by a physician acting alone or in
22consultation with other physicians or otherwise is not
23receiving the proper or necessary support or medical or other
24remedial care recognized under State law as necessary for a
25child's well-being, or other care necessary for his or her
26well-being, including adequate food, clothing and shelter; or

 

 

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1who is subjected to an environment which is injurious insofar
2as (i) the child's environment creates a likelihood of harm to
3the child's health, physical well-being, or welfare and (ii)
4the likely harm to the child is the result of a blatant
5disregard of parent, caretaker, or agency responsibilities; or
6who is abandoned by his or her parents or other person
7responsible for the child's welfare without a proper plan of
8care; or who has been provided with interim crisis intervention
9services under Section 3-5 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987
10and whose parent, guardian, or custodian refuses to permit the
11child to return home and no other living arrangement agreeable
12to the parent, guardian, or custodian can be made, and the
13parent, guardian, or custodian has not made any other
14appropriate living arrangement for the child; or who is a
15newborn infant whose blood, urine, or meconium contains any
16amount of a controlled substance as defined in subsection (f)
17of Section 102 of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act or a
18metabolite thereof, with the exception of a controlled
19substance or metabolite thereof whose presence in the newborn
20infant is the result of medical treatment administered to the
21mother or the newborn infant. A child shall not be considered
22neglected for the sole reason that the child's parent or other
23person responsible for his or her welfare has left the child in
24the care of an adult relative for any period of time. A child
25shall not be considered neglected for the sole reason that the
26child has been relinquished in accordance with the Abandoned

 

 

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1Newborn Infant Protection Act. A child shall not be considered
2neglected or abused for the sole reason that such child's
3parent or other person responsible for his or her welfare
4depends upon spiritual means through prayer alone for the
5treatment or cure of disease or remedial care as provided under
6Section 4 of this Act. A child shall not be considered
7neglected or abused solely because the child is not attending
8school in accordance with the requirements of Article 26 of The
9School Code, as amended.
10    A child shall not be considered neglected solely because
11the child's parent or other person responsible for his or her
12welfare:
13        (a) objects to:
14            (i) a recommended vaccination schedule, including,
15        but not limited to, administering to the child: (1)
16        silver nitrate; (2) vitamin K; (3) the HPV vaccine; or
17        (4) a flu vaccine; or
18            (ii) the dosing schedule for vaccines, including,
19        but not limited to, objecting to administering
20        multiple vaccines in a single day;
21        (b) objects to the administration of opioid medication
22    or ophthalmic antibiotics in newborns;
23        (c) objects to the administration, in non-emergency
24    situations, of a medication without review of an
25    FDA-approved package insert or instructions for use;
26        (d) objects to separation of the child and parent or

 

 

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1    other person responsible for his or her welfare by the
2    medical professional during non-emergency medical
3    consultations;
4        (e) requests minimally invasive diagnostic tests for
5    the child; or
6        (f) seeks diagnosis of or treatment of symptoms
7    associated with Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric
8    Syndrome or Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder
9    Associated with Streptococcal Infections.
10    If a medical professional complies with an objection or
11request set forth in subsections (a) through (f) by a child's
12parent or other person responsible for the child's welfare, no
13liability for any such decision may attach to the medical
14professional.
15    "Child Protective Service Unit" means certain specialized
16State employees of the Department assigned by the Director to
17perform the duties and responsibilities as provided under
18Section 7.2 of this Act.
19    "Near fatality" means an act that, as certified by a
20physician, places the child in serious or critical condition,
21including acts of great bodily harm inflicted upon children
22under 13 years of age, and as otherwise defined by Department
23rule.
24    "Great bodily harm" includes bodily injury which creates a
25high probability of death, or which causes serious permanent
26disfigurement, or which causes a permanent or protracted loss

 

 

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1or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ, or
2other serious bodily harm.
3    "Person responsible for the child's welfare" means the
4child's parent; guardian; foster parent; relative caregiver;
5any person responsible for the child's welfare in a public or
6private residential agency or institution; any person
7responsible for the child's welfare within a public or private
8profit or not for profit child care facility; or any other
9person responsible for the child's welfare at the time of the
10alleged abuse or neglect, including any person that is the
11custodian of a child under 18 years of age who commits or
12allows to be committed, against the child, the offense of
13involuntary servitude, involuntary sexual servitude of a
14minor, or trafficking in persons for forced labor or services,
15as provided in Section 10-9 of the Criminal Code of 2012, or
16any person who came to know the child through an official
17capacity or position of trust, including but not limited to
18health care professionals, educational personnel, recreational
19supervisors, members of the clergy, and volunteers or support
20personnel in any setting where children may be subject to abuse
21or neglect.
22    "Temporary protective custody" means custody within a
23hospital or other medical facility or a place previously
24designated for such custody by the Department, subject to
25review by the Court, including a licensed foster home, group
26home, or other institution; but such place shall not be a jail

 

 

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1or other place for the detention of criminal or juvenile
2offenders.
3    "An unfounded report" means any report made under this Act
4for which it is determined after an investigation that no
5credible evidence of abuse or neglect exists.
6    "An indicated report" means a report made under this Act if
7an investigation determines that credible evidence of the
8alleged abuse or neglect exists.
9    "An undetermined report" means any report made under this
10Act in which it was not possible to initiate or complete an
11investigation on the basis of information provided to the
12Department.
13    "Subject of report" means any child reported to the central
14register of child abuse and neglect established under Section
157.7 of this Act as an alleged victim of child abuse or neglect
16and the parent or guardian of the alleged victim or other
17person responsible for the alleged victim's welfare who is
18named in the report or added to the report as an alleged
19perpetrator of child abuse or neglect.
20    "Perpetrator" means a person who, as a result of
21investigation, has been determined by the Department to have
22caused child abuse or neglect.
23    "Member of the clergy" means a clergyman or practitioner of
24any religious denomination accredited by the religious body to
25which he or she belongs.
26(Source: P.A. 99-350, eff. 6-1-16; 100-733, eff. 1-1-19.)
 

 

 

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1    Section 10. The Medical Patient Rights Act is amended by
2adding Section 3.5 as follows:
 
3    (410 ILCS 50/3.5 new)
4    Sec. 3.5. Parental rights.
5    (a) In addition to any other right provided under this Act,
6a child's parent or other person responsible for the child's
7welfare has a right to be free from threats by medical
8professionals to refer a child to protective services, unless
9the medical professional has a good faith basis to believe that
10the child otherwise meets the definition of an abused child or
11a neglected child as defined in Section 3 of the Abused and
12Neglected Child Reporting Act.
13    (b) The Department of Public Health shall adopt rules to
14implement this Section.