102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
SB0098

 

Introduced 2/3/2021, by Sen. Terri Bryant

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
325 ILCS 5/4

    Amends the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. In a provision requiring all mandated reporters to complete mandated reporter training, provides that the required in-person or web-based training shall include information on the process for reporting suspected child abuse or neglect utilizing the Department of Children and Family Services' Online Reporting System for Mandated Reporters.


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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 within 3 months of their
16date of engagement in a professional or official capacity as a
17mandated reporter, or within the time frame of any other
18applicable State law that governs training requirements for a
19specific profession, and at least every 3 years thereafter.
20The initial requirement only applies to the first time they
21engage in their professional or official capacity. In lieu of
22training every 3 years, medical personnel, as listed in
23paragraph (1) of subsection (a), must meet the requirements
24described in subsection (k).
25    The trainings shall be in-person or web-based, and shall
26include, at a minimum, information on the following topics:

 

 

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1(i) indicators for recognizing child abuse and child neglect,
2as defined under this Act; (ii) the process for reporting
3suspected child abuse and child neglect in Illinois as
4required by this Act and the required documentation, including
5the process for reporting suspected child abuse or neglect
6utilizing the Department's Online Reporting System for
7Mandated Reporters; (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 mandated reporter training shall be provided through
13the Department, through an entity authorized to provide
14continuing education for professionals licensed through the
15Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, the State
16Board of Education, the Illinois Law Enforcement Training
17Standards Board, or the Department of State Police, or through
18an organization approved by the Department to provide mandated
19reporter training. The Department must make available a free
20web-based training for reporters.
21    Each mandated reporter shall report to his or her employer
22and, when applicable, to his or her licensing or certification
23board that he or she received the mandated reporter training.
24The mandated reporter shall maintain records of completion.
25    Beginning January 1, 2021, if a mandated reporter receives
26licensure from the Department of Financial and Professional

 

 

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1Regulation or the State Board of Education, and his or her
2profession has continuing education requirements, the training
3mandated under this Section shall count toward meeting the
4licensee's required continuing education hours.
5    (k)(1) Medical personnel, as listed in paragraph (1) of
6subsection (a), who work with children in their professional
7or official capacity, must complete mandated reporter training
8at least every 6 years. Such medical personnel, if licensed,
9must attest at each time of licensure renewal on their renewal
10form that they understand they are a mandated reporter of
11child abuse and neglect, that they are aware of the process for
12making a report, that they know how to respond to a child in a
13trauma-informed manner, and that they are aware of the role of
14child protective services and the role of a reporter after a
15call has been made.
16    (2) In lieu of repeated training, medical personnel, as
17listed in paragraph (1) of subsection (a), who do not work with
18children in their professional or official capacity, may
19instead attest each time at licensure renewal on their renewal
20form that they understand they are a mandated reporter of
21child abuse and neglect, that they are aware of the process for
22making a report, that they know how to respond to a child in a
23trauma-informed manner, and that they are aware of the role of
24child protective services and the role of a reporter after a
25call has been made. Nothing in this paragraph precludes
26medical personnel from completing mandated reporter training

 

 

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1and receiving continuing education credits for that training.
2    (l) The Department shall provide copies of this Act, upon
3request, to all employers employing persons who shall be
4required under the provisions of this Section to report under
5this Act.
6    (m) Any person who knowingly transmits a false report to
7the Department commits the offense of disorderly conduct under
8subsection (a)(7) of Section 26-1 of the Criminal Code of
92012. A violation of this provision is a Class 4 felony.
10    Any person who knowingly and willfully violates any
11provision of this Section other than a second or subsequent
12violation of transmitting a false report as described in the
13preceding paragraph, is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for a
14first violation and a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent
15violation; except that if the person acted as part of a plan or
16scheme having as its object the prevention of discovery of an
17abused or neglected child by lawful authorities for the
18purpose of protecting or insulating any person or entity from
19arrest or prosecution, the person is guilty of a Class 4 felony
20for a first offense and a Class 3 felony for a second or
21subsequent offense (regardless of whether the second or
22subsequent offense involves any of the same facts or persons
23as the first or other prior offense).
24    (n) A child whose parent, guardian or custodian in good
25faith selects and depends upon spiritual means through prayer
26alone for the treatment or cure of disease or remedial care may

 

 

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1be considered neglected or abused, but not for the sole reason
2that his parent, guardian or custodian accepts and practices
3such beliefs.
4    (o) A child shall not be considered neglected or abused
5solely because the child is not attending school in accordance
6with the requirements of Article 26 of the School Code, as
7amended.
8    (p) Nothing in this Act prohibits a mandated reporter who
9reasonably believes that an animal is being abused or
10neglected in violation of the Humane Care for Animals Act from
11reporting animal abuse or neglect to the Department of
12Agriculture's Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare.
13    (q) A home rule unit may not regulate the reporting of
14child abuse or neglect in a manner inconsistent with the
15provisions of this Section. This Section is a limitation under
16subsection (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois
17Constitution on the concurrent exercise by home rule units of
18powers and functions exercised by the State.
19    (r) For purposes of this Section "child abuse or neglect"
20includes abuse or neglect of an adult resident as defined in
21this Act.
22(Source: P.A. 100-513, eff. 1-1-18; 100-1071, eff. 1-1-19;
23101-564, eff. 1-1-20.)