102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
HB5178

 

Introduced 1/27/2022, by Rep. Carol Ammons

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
325 ILCS 5/4

    Amends the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. In provisions concerning mandated reporter training, requires mandated reporters to complete training that includes a section on the consequences and results of hotline calls and investigations conducted by the Department of Children and Family Services. Provides that the section on the consequences and results of hotline calls and Department investigations shall be in-person or web-based, and shall include, at a minimum, information on the following topics: (i) the procedural process after a hotline call is made; (ii) actions the Department is authorized to take during the investigative process; (iii) data from the last 5 annual Disproportionality and Disparity reports, published by the Children and Family Research Center, that detail the racial disproportionality present at each key decision point of system involvement; (iv) the trauma caused to children and families by family separation, even for 48 hours or less; and (v) how records of indicated, unfounded, and undetermined investigations are retained and used by the Department and other public entities. Provides that the section on the consequences and results of hotline calls and Department investigations, shall be provided through the Department, through a licensed entity authorized to provide continuing education for professionals. Provides that beginning January 1, 2023, any additions or updates to the mandated reporting training shall be reflected in all manuals or guides for mandated reporters about their duty to report.


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A BILL FOR

 

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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 4 as follows:
 
6    (325 ILCS 5/4)
7    Sec. 4. Persons required to report; privileged
8communications; transmitting false report.
9    (a) The following persons are required to immediately
10report to the Department when they have reasonable cause to
11believe that a child known to them in their professional or
12official capacities may be an abused child or a neglected
13child:
14        (1) Medical personnel, including any: physician
15    licensed to practice medicine in any of its branches
16    (medical doctor or doctor of osteopathy); resident;
17    intern; medical administrator or personnel engaged in the
18    examination, care, and treatment of persons; psychiatrist;
19    surgeon; dentist; dental hygienist; chiropractic
20    physician; podiatric physician; physician assistant;
21    emergency medical technician; acupuncturist; registered
22    nurse; licensed practical nurse; advanced practice
23    registered nurse; genetic counselor; respiratory care

 

 

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1    practitioner; home health aide; or certified nursing
2    assistant.
3        (2) Social services and mental health personnel,
4    including any: licensed professional counselor; licensed
5    clinical professional counselor; licensed social worker;
6    licensed clinical social worker; licensed psychologist or
7    assistant working under the direct supervision of a
8    psychologist; associate licensed marriage and family
9    therapist; licensed marriage and family therapist; field
10    personnel of the Departments of Healthcare and Family
11    Services, Public Health, Human Services, Human Rights, or
12    Children and Family Services; supervisor or administrator
13    of the General Assistance program established under
14    Article VI of the Illinois Public Aid Code; social
15    services administrator; or substance abuse treatment
16    personnel.
17        (3) Crisis intervention personnel, including any:
18    crisis line or hotline personnel; or domestic violence
19    program personnel.
20        (4) Education personnel, including any: school
21    personnel (including administrators and certified and
22    non-certified school employees); personnel of institutions
23    of higher education; educational advocate assigned to a
24    child in accordance with the School Code; member of a
25    school board or the Chicago Board of Education or the
26    governing body of a private school (but only to the extent

 

 

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1    required under subsection (d)); or truant officer.
2        (5) Recreation or athletic program or facility
3    personnel.
4        (6) Child care personnel, including any: early
5    intervention provider as defined in the Early Intervention
6    Services System Act; director or staff assistant of a
7    nursery school or a child day care center; or foster
8    parent, homemaker, or child care worker.
9        (7) Law enforcement personnel, including any: law
10    enforcement officer; field personnel of the Department of
11    Juvenile Justice; field personnel of the Department of
12    Corrections; probation officer; or animal control officer
13    or field investigator of the Department of Agriculture's
14    Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare.
15        (8) Any funeral home director; funeral home director
16    and embalmer; funeral home employee; coroner; or medical
17    examiner.
18        (9) Any member of the clergy.
19        (10) Any physician, physician assistant, registered
20    nurse, licensed practical nurse, medical technician,
21    certified nursing assistant, licensed social worker,
22    licensed clinical social worker, or licensed professional
23    counselor of any office, clinic, or any other physical
24    location that provides abortions, abortion referrals, or
25    contraceptives.
26    (b) When 2 or more persons who work within the same

 

 

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1workplace and are required to report under this Act share a
2reasonable cause to believe that a child may be an abused or
3neglected child, one of those reporters may be designated to
4make a single report. The report shall include the names and
5contact information for the other mandated reporters sharing
6the reasonable cause to believe that a child may be an abused
7or neglected child. The designated reporter must provide
8written confirmation of the report to those mandated reporters
9within 48 hours. If confirmation is not provided, those
10mandated reporters are individually responsible for
11immediately ensuring a report is made. Nothing in this Section
12precludes or may be used to preclude any person from reporting
13child abuse or child neglect.
14    (c)(1) As used in this Section, "a child known to them in
15their professional or official capacities" means:
16        (A) the mandated reporter comes into contact with the
17    child in the course of the reporter's employment or
18    practice of a profession, or through a regularly scheduled
19    program, activity, or service;
20        (B) the mandated reporter is affiliated with an
21    agency, institution, organization, school, school
22    district, regularly established church or religious
23    organization, or other entity that is directly responsible
24    for the care, supervision, guidance, or training of the
25    child; or
26        (C) a person makes a specific disclosure to the

 

 

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1    mandated reporter that an identifiable child is the victim
2    of child abuse or child neglect, and the disclosure
3    happens while the mandated reporter is engaged in his or
4    her employment or practice of a profession, or in a
5    regularly scheduled program, activity, or service.
6    (2) Nothing in this Section requires a child to come
7before the mandated reporter in order for the reporter to make
8a report of suspected child abuse or child neglect.
9    (d) If an allegation is raised to a school board member
10during the course of an open or closed school board meeting
11that a child who is enrolled in the school district of which he
12or she is a board member is an abused child as defined in
13Section 3 of this Act, the member shall direct or cause the
14school board to direct the superintendent of the school
15district or other equivalent school administrator to comply
16with the requirements of this Act concerning the reporting of
17child abuse. For purposes of this paragraph, a school board
18member is granted the authority in his or her individual
19capacity to direct the superintendent of the school district
20or other equivalent school administrator to comply with the
21requirements of this Act concerning the reporting of child
22abuse.
23    Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, if an
24employee of a school district has made a report or caused a
25report to be made to the Department under this Act involving
26the conduct of a current or former employee of the school

 

 

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1district and a request is made by another school district for
2the provision of information concerning the job performance or
3qualifications of the current or former employee because he or
4she is an applicant for employment with the requesting school
5district, the general superintendent of the school district to
6which the request is being made must disclose to the
7requesting school district the fact that an employee of the
8school district has made a report involving the conduct of the
9applicant or caused a report to be made to the Department, as
10required under this Act. Only the fact that an employee of the
11school district has made a report involving the conduct of the
12applicant or caused a report to be made to the Department may
13be disclosed by the general superintendent of the school
14district to which the request for information concerning the
15applicant is made, and this fact may be disclosed only in cases
16where the employee and the general superintendent have not
17been informed by the Department that the allegations were
18unfounded. An employee of a school district who is or has been
19the subject of a report made pursuant to this Act during his or
20her employment with the school district must be informed by
21that school district that if he or she applies for employment
22with another school district, the general superintendent of
23the former school district, upon the request of the school
24district to which the employee applies, shall notify that
25requesting school district that the employee is or was the
26subject of such a report.

 

 

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1    (e) Whenever such person is required to report under this
2Act in his capacity as a member of the staff of a medical or
3other public or private institution, school, facility or
4agency, or as a member of the clergy, he shall make report
5immediately to the Department in accordance with the
6provisions of this Act and may also notify the person in charge
7of such institution, school, facility or agency, or church,
8synagogue, temple, mosque, or other religious institution, or
9his designated agent that such report has been made. Under no
10circumstances shall any person in charge of such institution,
11school, facility or agency, or church, synagogue, temple,
12mosque, or other religious institution, or his designated
13agent to whom such notification has been made, exercise any
14control, restraint, modification or other change in the report
15or the forwarding of such report to the Department.
16    (f) In addition to the persons required to report
17suspected cases of child abuse or child neglect under this
18Section, any other person may make a report if such person has
19reasonable cause to believe a child may be an abused child or a
20neglected child.
21    (g) The privileged quality of communication between any
22professional person required to report and his patient or
23client shall not apply to situations involving abused or
24neglected children and shall not constitute grounds for
25failure to report as required by this Act or constitute
26grounds for failure to share information or documents with the

 

 

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1Department during the course of a child abuse or neglect
2investigation. If requested by the professional, the
3Department shall confirm in writing that the information or
4documents disclosed by the professional were gathered in the
5course of a child abuse or neglect investigation.
6    The reporting requirements of this Act shall not apply to
7the contents of a privileged communication between an attorney
8and his or her client or to confidential information within
9the meaning of Rule 1.6 of the Illinois Rules of Professional
10Conduct relating to the legal representation of an individual
11client.
12    A member of the clergy may claim the privilege under
13Section 8-803 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
14    (h) Any office, clinic, or any other physical location
15that provides abortions, abortion referrals, or contraceptives
16shall provide to all office personnel copies of written
17information and training materials about abuse and neglect and
18the requirements of this Act that are provided to employees of
19the office, clinic, or physical location who are required to
20make reports to the Department under this Act, and instruct
21such office personnel to bring to the attention of an employee
22of the office, clinic, or physical location who is required to
23make reports to the Department under this Act any reasonable
24suspicion that a child known to him or her in his or her
25professional or official capacity may be an abused child or a
26neglected child.

 

 

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1    (i) Any person who enters into employment on and after
2July 1, 1986 and is mandated by virtue of that employment to
3report under this Act, shall sign a statement on a form
4prescribed by the Department, to the effect that the employee
5has knowledge and understanding of the reporting requirements
6of this Act. On and after January 1, 2019, the statement shall
7also include information about available mandated reporter
8training provided by the Department. The statement shall be
9signed prior to commencement of the employment. The signed
10statement shall be retained by the employer. The cost of
11printing, distribution, and filing of the statement shall be
12borne by the employer.
13    (j) Persons required to report child abuse or child
14neglect as provided under this Section must complete an
15initial mandated reporter training, including a section on
16implicit bias and a section on the consequences and results of
17hotline calls and Department investigations, within 3 months
18of their date of engagement in a professional or official
19capacity as a mandated reporter, or within the time frame of
20any other applicable State law that governs training
21requirements for a specific profession, and at least every 3
22years thereafter. The initial requirement only applies to the
23first time they engage in their professional or official
24capacity. In lieu of training every 3 years, medical
25personnel, as listed in paragraph (1) of subsection (a), must
26meet the requirements described in subsection (k).

 

 

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1    The mandated reporter trainings shall be in-person or
2web-based, and shall include, at a minimum, information on the
3following topics: (i) indicators for recognizing child abuse
4and child neglect, as defined under this Act; (ii) the process
5for reporting suspected child abuse and child neglect in
6Illinois as required by this Act and the required
7documentation; (iii) responding to a child in a
8trauma-informed manner; and (iv) understanding the response of
9child protective services and the role of the reporter after a
10call has been made. Child-serving organizations are encouraged
11to provide in-person annual trainings.
12    The implicit bias section shall be in-person or web-based,
13and shall include, at a minimum, information on the following
14topics: (i) implicit bias and (ii) racial and ethnic
15sensitivity. As used in this subsection, "implicit bias" means
16the attitudes or internalized stereotypes that affect people's
17perceptions, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner
18and that exist and often contribute to unequal treatment of
19people based on race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual
20orientation, age, disability, and other characteristics. The
21implicit bias section shall provide tools to adjust automatic
22patterns of thinking and ultimately eliminate discriminatory
23behaviors. During these trainings mandated reporters shall
24complete the following: (1) a pretest to assess baseline
25implicit bias levels; (2) an implicit bias training task; and
26(3) a posttest to reevaluate bias levels after training. The

 

 

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1implicit bias curriculum for mandated reporters shall be
2developed within one year after the effective date of this
3amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly and shall be
4created in consultation with organizations demonstrating
5expertise and or experience in the areas of implicit bias,
6youth and adolescent developmental issues, prevention of child
7abuse, exploitation, and neglect, culturally diverse family
8systems, and the child welfare system.
9    The section on the consequences and results of hotline
10calls and Department investigations shall be in-person or
11web-based, and shall include, at a minimum, information on the
12following topics: (i) the procedural process after a hotline
13call is made, including, but not limited to, how the
14Department decides whether or not to accept a call, the
15initial investigation, the full investigation, the
16implications of each investigation outcome (unfounded,
17indicated, undetermined), and how an indicated finding can
18trigger court involvement; (ii) actions the Department is
19authorized to take during the investigative process, including
20conducting interviews of caregivers, children, and others;
21conducting searches of homes, locations, and persons; taking
22photographs or x-rays; taking protective custody; and entering
23into a Safety Plan with the person under investigation, with
24descriptions thereof and how children and families are made
25aware of these actions and their rights during the
26investigative process; (iii) data from the last 5 annual

 

 

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1Disproportionality and Disparity reports, published by the
2Children and Family Research Center, that detail the racial
3disproportionality present at each key decision point of
4system involvement; (iv) the trauma caused to children and
5families by family separation, even for 48 hours or less; and
6(v) how records of indicated, unfounded, and undetermined
7investigations are retained and used by the Department and
8other public entities, including lengths of time records are
9retained based on a case's allegations and determination.
10    The mandated reporter training, including a section on
11implicit bias and a section on the consequences and results of
12hotline calls and Department investigations, shall be provided
13through the Department, through an entity authorized to
14provide continuing education for professionals licensed
15through the Department of Financial and Professional
16Regulation, the State Board of Education, the Illinois Law
17Enforcement Training Standards Board, or the Department of
18State Police, or through an organization approved by the
19Department to provide mandated reporter training, including a
20section on implicit bias and a section on the consequences and
21results of hotline calls and Department investigations. The
22Department must make available a free web-based training for
23reporters.
24    Each mandated reporter shall report to his or her employer
25and, when applicable, to his or her licensing or certification
26board that he or she received the mandated reporter training.

 

 

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1The mandated reporter shall maintain records of completion.
2    Beginning January 1, 2021, if a mandated reporter receives
3licensure from the Department of Financial and Professional
4Regulation or the State Board of Education, and his or her
5profession has continuing education requirements, the training
6mandated under this Section shall count toward meeting the
7licensee's required continuing education hours.
8    Beginning January 1, 2023, any additions or updates to the
9mandated reporting training required under this subsection
10shall be reflected in all manuals or guides for mandated
11reporters about their duty to report.
12    (k)(1) Medical personnel, as listed in paragraph (1) of
13subsection (a), who work with children in their professional
14or official capacity, must complete mandated reporter training
15at least every 6 years. Such medical personnel, if licensed,
16must attest at each time of licensure renewal on their renewal
17form that they understand they are a mandated reporter of
18child abuse and neglect, that they are aware of the process for
19making a report, that they know how to respond to a child in a
20trauma-informed manner, and that they are aware of the role of
21child protective services and the role of a reporter after a
22call has been made.
23    (2) In lieu of repeated training, medical personnel, as
24listed in paragraph (1) of subsection (a), who do not work with
25children in their professional or official capacity, may
26instead attest each time at licensure renewal on their renewal

 

 

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1form that they understand they are a mandated reporter of
2child abuse and neglect, that they are aware of the process for
3making a report, that they know how to respond to a child in a
4trauma-informed manner, and that they are aware of the role of
5child protective services and the role of a reporter after a
6call has been made. Nothing in this paragraph precludes
7medical personnel from completing mandated reporter training
8and receiving continuing education credits for that training.
9    (l) The Department shall provide copies of this Act, upon
10request, to all employers employing persons who shall be
11required under the provisions of this Section to report under
12this Act.
13    (m) Any person who knowingly transmits a false report to
14the Department commits the offense of disorderly conduct under
15subsection (a)(7) of Section 26-1 of the Criminal Code of
162012. A violation of this provision is a Class 4 felony.
17    Any person who knowingly and willfully violates any
18provision of this Section other than a second or subsequent
19violation of transmitting a false report as described in the
20preceding paragraph, is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for a
21first violation and a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent
22violation; except that if the person acted as part of a plan or
23scheme having as its object the prevention of discovery of an
24abused or neglected child by lawful authorities for the
25purpose of protecting or insulating any person or entity from
26arrest or prosecution, the person is guilty of a Class 4 felony

 

 

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1for a first offense and a Class 3 felony for a second or
2subsequent offense (regardless of whether the second or
3subsequent offense involves any of the same facts or persons
4as the first or other prior offense).
5    (n) A child whose parent, guardian or custodian in good
6faith selects and depends upon spiritual means through prayer
7alone for the treatment or cure of disease or remedial care may
8be considered neglected or abused, but not for the sole reason
9that his parent, guardian or custodian accepts and practices
10such beliefs.
11    (o) A child shall not be considered neglected or abused
12solely because the child is not attending school in accordance
13with the requirements of Article 26 of the School Code, as
14amended.
15    (p) Nothing in this Act prohibits a mandated reporter who
16reasonably believes that an animal is being abused or
17neglected in violation of the Humane Care for Animals Act from
18reporting animal abuse or neglect to the Department of
19Agriculture's Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare.
20    (q) A home rule unit may not regulate the reporting of
21child abuse or neglect in a manner inconsistent with the
22provisions of this Section. This Section is a limitation under
23subsection (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois
24Constitution on the concurrent exercise by home rule units of
25powers and functions exercised by the State.
26    (r) For purposes of this Section "child abuse or neglect"

 

 

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1includes abuse or neglect of an adult resident as defined in
2this Act.
3(Source: P.A. 101-564, eff. 1-1-20; 102-604, eff. 1-1-22.)