103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB4349

 

Introduced 1/16/2024, by Rep. Steven Reick

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the 22nd Judicial Circuit Children and Family Services Agency Act (which may be referred to as AJ's Law). Establishes a 22nd Judicial Circuit Children and Family Services Agency for a 5-year period to replace the operations of the Department Children and Family Services within the 22nd Judicial Circuit. Provides that the Agency shall have all powers and duties of the Department. Provides for the appointment of an Executive Director and employment of employees. Provides for requirements for operation of the Agency, including unit-based multidisciplinary teams. Provides for State funding of the Agency after submission of a budget to the Department each year. Provides for the transfer of power and duties back to the Department should the Agency cease operations after the initial 5-year period. Repeals the Act 6 years after the effective date of the Act. Effective immediately.


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A BILL FOR

 

HB4349LRB103 35387 LNS 65452 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 1. Short title; references to Act.
5    (a) This Act may be cited as the 22nd Judicial Circuit
6Children and Family Services Agency Act.
7    (b) This Act may be referred to as AJ's Law.
 
8    Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
9    "Agency" means the 22nd Judicial Circuit Children and
10Family Services Agency.
11    "Department" means the Department of Children and Family
12Services.
 
13    Section 10. 22nd Judicial Circuit Children and Family
14Services Agency; Department transfer of duties.
15    (a) The 22nd Judicial Circuit Children and Family Services
16Agency is established. The Agency shall begin operation no
17earlier than 90 days after the effective date of this Act. Once
18operations begin, the Agency shall be a full-time Agency of
19the 22nd Judicial Circuit whose personnel, other than
20consultants, clinicians, or part-time clerical staff, shall
21devote full time during business hours to Agency duties.
22    The 22nd Judicial Circuit shall give the Department at

 

 

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1least 45 days' notice as to the date the Agency will begin
2operations. The Agency will operate for at least 5 full years
3after the date the Agency began its operations.
4    (b) On the date the 22nd Judicial Circuit indicated to the
5Department that it would begin its Agency operations in the
6notice provided to the Department under subsection (a), the
7Department's powers and duties under the Children and Family
8Services Act and the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act
9are assumed by the Agency. Duties under these Acts include,
10but are not limited to, maintaining and managing current
11services offered under Acts, investigations, court
12proceedings, and maintaining and managing the files
13transferred from the Department and created by the Agency. A
145-member Executive Commission shall determine which portions
15of the Children and Family Services Act and the Abused and
16Neglected Child Reporting Act are appropriate to be assumed by
17the Agency. The Executive Commission shall be led by the
18Executive Director and shall consist of: one member appointed
19by the Governor; one member appointed by the President of the
20Senate; one member appointed by the Minority Leader of the
21Senate; one member appointed by the Speaker of the House of
22Representatives; and one member appointed by the Minority
23Leader of the House of Representatives. The Agency may modify
24its duties under the Acts if those charges are in the best
25interests of the children and family in the 22nd Judicial
26Circuit and by reporting such changes to the Department no

 

 

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1earlier than 30 days before any such change.
2    (c) Once powers and duties are assumed by the Agency under
3this Section, the Agency shall perform its work in accordance
4with Department criteria, including any needed revised
5criteria based upon changes in the Agency's duties reported to
6the Department under subsection (b).
 
7    Section 15. Agency duties; investigatory functions. The
8Agency shall protect the health, safety, and best interests of
9children in all situations in which children are vulnerable to
10child abuse or neglect, offer protective services in order to
11prevent any further harm to the child and to other children in
12the same environment or family, stabilize the home
13environment, and preserve family life whenever possible.
14    The Agency shall employ policies and procedures to protect
15children from being abused and neglected as provided for in
16the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, including, but
17not limited to, being responsible for receiving and
18investigating reports of adult resident abuse or neglect. In
19performing any of these duties, the Agency may utilize
20protective services of voluntary agencies are available.
 
21    Section 20. Executive Director; appointment. The 22nd
22Judicial Circuit shall appoint an Executive Director of the
23Agency who shall oversee the Executive Commission appointed
24under subsection (b) of Section 10. The Executive Director

 

 

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1shall possess such qualifications as prescribed by the 22nd
2Judicial Circuit. The Executive Director of the Agency may
3appoint such professional employees who meet the qualification
4requirements of the Agency as allowed by the funds available
5to the Agency.
 
6    Section 25. Employees; facilities.
7    (a) All investigators and employees of the Agency shall be
8employees of the 22nd Judicial Circuit with the same
9qualifications and accreditation as required under the
10statutes, rules, procedures, and standards governing
11investigators and employees of the Department. Current
12employees and contractors of the Department may be employed or
13contracted by the Agency as deemed appropriate by the
14Executive Director, including those employees and
15investigators employed by the State within the facilities of
16the Department within the 22nd Judicial Circuit. Agency
17employees shall be enrolled in such benefits and pension
18programs as deemed appropriate by the Executive Director that
19would be commensurate with 22nd Judicial Circuit employees
20within other 22nd Judicial Circuit agencies and departments.
2122nd Judicial Circuit employees of the Agency shall be
22eligible for the same training eligible for similar roles as
23State employees or contractors of the Department.
24    (b) The Agency may lease or purchase facilities to operate
25the Agency and to house its employees and contractors,

 

 

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1including leasing or purchasing facilities from the
2Department.
 
3    Section 30. Operations. The Agency will be operated as
4recommended in the February 2016 report, "The Urgent Need in
5Illinois for Unit-Based Multidisciplinary Teams to Investigate
6Child Abuse", published by the Illinois Children's Justice
7Task Force.
8    The Agency may contract with the State, units of local
9government, providers, contractors, and servicers in order to
10provide its services with the highest standards as determined
11by the Executive Director and the Agency, including contracts
12with pediatric child abuse physicians and neglect centers of
13excellence.
 
14    Section 35. Agency funding; continuing appropriation.
15    (a) No later than 45 days after the effective date of this
16Act and each year thereafter no later than 45 days before the
17anniversary of the date the Agency began operations, the
18Executive Director shall prepare a budget and file the
19proposed budget with the Director of Children and Family
20Services. Each budget shall be no less than the total amount of
21all appropriations that were used by the Department in the
2222nd Judicial Circuit in the fiscal year immediately preceding
23the date the Agency began its operations.
24    On the date the Agency begins it operations under

 

 

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1subsection (a) of Section 10, the Department shall make grants
2to the 22nd Judicial Circuit for use by the Agency in amounts
3equal to the moneys the Department was appropriated or
4otherwise received that the Department would have used for the
5remainder of the current fiscal year in the 22nd Judicial
6Circuit. The grants, including those amounts appropriated and
7transferred to the Department under subsection (b), shall be
8distributed to the 22nd Judicial Circuit no later than 14 days
9after the Department receives the applicable moneys and shall
10continue indefinitely unless the Agency ceases operations
11under Section 45. For moneys in possession of the Department
12designated for use in the 22nd Judicial Circuit on the date the
13Agency begins its operations, those moneys shall be
14distributed to the 22nd Judicial Circuit no later than 14 days
15after the Agency began its operations.
16    (b) For the 5 State fiscal years immediately following the
17date the Agency begins its operations under subsection (a) of
18Section 10:
19        (1) The Governor shall submit to the General Assembly
20    a proposed budget for the Department for use by the 22nd
21    Judicial Circuit in which total General Revenue Fund
22    appropriations are no less than the total amount of all
23    appropriations that were used by the Department in the
24    22nd Judicial Circuit in the fiscal year immediately
25    preceding the date the Agency began its operations. In
26    addition, the Governor shall specify the total amount of

 

 

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1    funds to be transferred from all Funds to the Department
2    for use by the 22nd Judicial Circuit during the budget
3    year, which shall be no less than the total amount of all
4    appropriations that were used by the Department in the
5    22nd Judicial Circuit in the fiscal year immediately
6    preceding the date the Agency began its operations. The
7    Governor may submit a proposed budget in which the total
8    appropriated and transferred amounts the Department for
9    use by the 22nd Judicial Circuit are less than the total
10    amount of all appropriations that were used by the
11    Department in the 22nd Judicial Circuit in the fiscal year
12    immediately preceding the date the Agency began its
13    operations if the Governor declares in writing to the
14    General Assembly the reason for the lesser amounts.
15        (2) The General Assembly shall appropriate amounts for
16    the Department for use by the 22nd Judicial Circuit for
17    each fiscal year so that the total appropriation from all
18    Funds is no less than the total amount of appropriations
19    that were used by the Department in the 22nd Judicial
20    Circuit in the fiscal year immediately preceding the date
21    the Agency began its operations. In addition, the General
22    Assembly shall legislatively transfer to the Department
23    for use by the 22nd Judicial Circuit for the fiscal year a
24    total amount that is no less than the total amount of all
25    appropriations that were used by the Department in the
26    22nd Judicial Circuit in the fiscal year immediately

 

 

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1    preceding the date the Agency began its operations. The
2    General Assembly may appropriate or transfer lesser
3    amounts if it declares by Joint Resolution the reason for
4    the lesser amounts.
 
5    Section 40. Reporting; accountability.
6    (a) The Agency shall issue annual reports to the
7Department, the Governor, and the General Assembly no later
8than 30 days after each anniversary of the date the Agency
9began its operations. The report shall detail the Agency's
10performance according to standard performance metrics,
11including, but not limited to, time of response to hotline
12reports, time of communication of hotline reports among
13various county stakeholders, including law enforcement, number
14and quality of indicated reports as measured against the
15Department's last baseline established in the 22nd Judicial
16Circuit before the date the Agency began its operations,
17caseload management by investigators as measured against the
18Department's last baseline established in the 22nd Judicial
19Circuit before the date the Agency began its operations, and
20other metrics as may be recommended by the Executive Director
21of the Agency, the Director of Children and Family Services,
22or the Office of the Inspector General of the Department.
23    (b) The Office of the Inspector General of the Department
24has the authority to investigate any Agency matter that would
25otherwise fall within the Inspector General's authority if

 

 

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1those matters involved the Department.
 
2    Section 45. Agency ceasing operations.
3    (a) No earlier than 5 years after the Agency began
4operations, the 22nd Judicial Circuit may cease operations
5under this Section. Before ceasing operations, the 22nd
6Judicial Circuit shall give the Department no less than 90
7days' notice of the date the Agency will cease operations. On
8the date the Agency ceases operations, the Department will
9resume its powers and duties under the Children and Family
10Services Act and the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act
11and cease all grants to the 22nd Judicial Circuit under this
12Act.
13    For moneys in possession of the Agency from grants from
14the Department on the date the Agency ceases operations, those
15moneys shall be distributed to the Department no later than 14
16days after the Agency ceases its operations.
17    (b) The Agency shall cease operations on the date of
18repeal of this Act under Section 50 if the General Assembly has
19not repealed that Section. On that date, the Department shall
20resume its powers and duties and the Agency shall distribute
21moneys as provided in subsection (a).
 
22    Section 50. Repeal. This Act is repealed 6 years after the
23effective date of the Act.
 
24    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon

 

 

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1becoming law.