98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HB1340

 

Introduced , by Rep. Joe Sosnowski

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
20 ILCS 2405/3  from Ch. 23, par. 3434

    Amends the Disabled Persons Rehabilitation Act. Provides that any person providing services as a personal assistant or an individual provider under the Department of Human Services' Home Services Program shall submit to a criminal history background check. Provides that the Department shall promulgate rules that (i) are necessary to implement this provision; and (ii) indicate any condition or circumstance when a personal assistant or individual provider shall be denied employment as a result of the criminal history background check. Defines "individual provider" to mean a person providing services under the Home Services Program who is a personal assistant, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, certified nurse assistant, occupational therapist, physical therapist, or speech therapist and has been privately hired by the customer.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Disabled Persons Rehabilitation Act is
5amended by changing Section 3 as follows:
 
6    (20 ILCS 2405/3)  (from Ch. 23, par. 3434)
7    Sec. 3. Powers and duties. The Department shall have the
8powers and duties enumerated herein:
9    (a) To co-operate with the federal government in the
10administration of the provisions of the federal Rehabilitation
11Act of 1973, as amended, of the Workforce Investment Act of
121998, and of the federal Social Security Act to the extent and
13in the manner provided in these Acts.
14    (b) To prescribe and supervise such courses of vocational
15training and provide such other services as may be necessary
16for the habilitation and rehabilitation of persons with one or
17more disabilities, including the administrative activities
18under subsection (e) of this Section, and to co-operate with
19State and local school authorities and other recognized
20agencies engaged in habilitation, rehabilitation and
21comprehensive rehabilitation services; and to cooperate with
22the Department of Children and Family Services regarding the
23care and education of children with one or more disabilities.

 

 

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1    (c) (Blank).
2    (d) To report in writing, to the Governor, annually on or
3before the first day of December, and at such other times and
4in such manner and upon such subjects as the Governor may
5require. The annual report shall contain (1) a statement of the
6existing condition of comprehensive rehabilitation services,
7habilitation and rehabilitation in the State; (2) a statement
8of suggestions and recommendations with reference to the
9development of comprehensive rehabilitation services,
10habilitation and rehabilitation in the State; and (3) an
11itemized statement of the amounts of money received from
12federal, State and other sources, and of the objects and
13purposes to which the respective items of these several amounts
14have been devoted.
15    (e) (Blank).
16    (f) To establish a program of services to prevent the
17unnecessary institutionalization of persons in need of long
18term care and who meet the criteria for blindness or disability
19as defined by the Social Security Act, thereby enabling them to
20remain in their own homes. Such preventive services include any
21or all of the following:
22        (1) personal assistant services;
23        (2) homemaker services;
24        (3) home-delivered meals;
25        (4) adult day care services;
26        (5) respite care;

 

 

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1        (6) home modification or assistive equipment;
2        (7) home health services;
3        (8) electronic home response;
4        (9) brain injury behavioral/cognitive services;
5        (10) brain injury habilitation;
6        (11) brain injury pre-vocational services; or
7        (12) brain injury supported employment.
8    The Department shall establish eligibility standards for
9such services taking into consideration the unique economic and
10social needs of the population for whom they are to be
11provided. Such eligibility standards may be based on the
12recipient's ability to pay for services; provided, however,
13that any portion of a person's income that is equal to or less
14than the "protected income" level shall not be considered by
15the Department in determining eligibility. The "protected
16income" level shall be determined by the Department, shall
17never be less than the federal poverty standard, and shall be
18adjusted each year to reflect changes in the Consumer Price
19Index For All Urban Consumers as determined by the United
20States Department of Labor. The standards must provide that a
21person may not have more than $10,000 in assets to be eligible
22for the services, and the Department may increase or decrease
23the asset limitation by rule. The Department may not decrease
24the asset level below $10,000.
25    The services shall be provided, as established by the
26Department by rule, to eligible persons to prevent unnecessary

 

 

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1or premature institutionalization, to the extent that the cost
2of the services, together with the other personal maintenance
3expenses of the persons, are reasonably related to the
4standards established for care in a group facility appropriate
5to their condition. These non-institutional services, pilot
6projects or experimental facilities may be provided as part of
7or in addition to those authorized by federal law or those
8funded and administered by the Illinois Department on Aging.
9The Department shall set rates and fees for services in a fair
10and equitable manner. Services identical to those offered by
11the Department on Aging shall be paid at the same rate.
12    Personal assistants shall be paid at a rate negotiated
13between the State and an exclusive representative of personal
14assistants under a collective bargaining agreement. In no case
15shall the Department pay personal assistants an hourly wage
16that is less than the federal minimum wage.
17    Solely for the purposes of coverage under the Illinois
18Public Labor Relations Act (5 ILCS 315/), personal assistants
19providing services under the Department's Home Services
20Program shall be considered to be public employees and the
21State of Illinois shall be considered to be their employer as
22of the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd
23General Assembly, but not before. The State shall engage in
24collective bargaining with an exclusive representative of
25personal assistants working under the Home Services Program
26concerning their terms and conditions of employment that are

 

 

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1within the State's control. Nothing in this paragraph shall be
2understood to limit the right of the persons receiving services
3defined in this Section to hire and fire personal assistants or
4supervise them within the limitations set by the Home Services
5Program. The State shall not be considered to be the employer
6of personal assistants for any purposes not specifically
7provided in this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly,
8including but not limited to, purposes of vicarious liability
9in tort and purposes of statutory retirement or health
10insurance benefits. Personal assistants shall not be covered by
11the State Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971 (5 ILCS 375/).
12    Any person providing services as a personal assistant or an
13individual provider under the Department's Home Services
14Program shall submit to a criminal history background check.
15The Department shall promulgate rules that (i) are necessary to
16implement this provision; and (ii) indicate any condition or
17circumstance when a personal assistant or individual provider
18shall be denied employment as a result of the criminal history
19background check. For purposes of this paragraph, "individual
20provider" means a person providing services under the Home
21Services Program who is a personal assistant, registered nurse,
22licensed practical nurse, certified nurse assistant,
23occupational therapist, physical therapist, or speech
24therapist and has been privately hired by the customer.
25    The Department shall execute, relative to nursing home
26prescreening, as authorized by Section 4.03 of the Illinois Act

 

 

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1on the Aging, written inter-agency agreements with the
2Department on Aging and the Department of Healthcare and Family
3Services, to effect the intake procedures and eligibility
4criteria for those persons who may need long term care. On and
5after July 1, 1996, all nursing home prescreenings for
6individuals 18 through 59 years of age shall be conducted by
7the Department, or a designee of the Department.
8    The Department is authorized to establish a system of
9recipient cost-sharing for services provided under this
10Section. The cost-sharing shall be based upon the recipient's
11ability to pay for services, but in no case shall the
12recipient's share exceed the actual cost of the services
13provided. Protected income shall not be considered by the
14Department in its determination of the recipient's ability to
15pay a share of the cost of services. The level of cost-sharing
16shall be adjusted each year to reflect changes in the
17"protected income" level. The Department shall deduct from the
18recipient's share of the cost of services any money expended by
19the recipient for disability-related expenses.
20    To the extent permitted under the federal Social Security
21Act, the Department, or the Department's authorized
22representative, may recover the amount of moneys expended for
23services provided to or in behalf of a person under this
24Section by a claim against the person's estate or against the
25estate of the person's surviving spouse, but no recovery may be
26had until after the death of the surviving spouse, if any, and

 

 

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1then only at such time when there is no surviving child who is
2under age 21, blind, or permanently and totally disabled. This
3paragraph, however, shall not bar recovery, at the death of the
4person, of moneys for services provided to the person or in
5behalf of the person under this Section to which the person was
6not entitled; provided that such recovery shall not be enforced
7against any real estate while it is occupied as a homestead by
8the surviving spouse or other dependent, if no claims by other
9creditors have been filed against the estate, or, if such
10claims have been filed, they remain dormant for failure of
11prosecution or failure of the claimant to compel administration
12of the estate for the purpose of payment. This paragraph shall
13not bar recovery from the estate of a spouse, under Sections
141915 and 1924 of the Social Security Act and Section 5-4 of the
15Illinois Public Aid Code, who precedes a person receiving
16services under this Section in death. All moneys for services
17paid to or in behalf of the person under this Section shall be
18claimed for recovery from the deceased spouse's estate.
19"Homestead", as used in this paragraph, means the dwelling
20house and contiguous real estate occupied by a surviving spouse
21or relative, as defined by the rules and regulations of the
22Department of Healthcare and Family Services, regardless of the
23value of the property.
24    The Department shall submit an annual report on programs
25and services provided under this Section. The report shall be
26filed with the Governor and the General Assembly on or before

 

 

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1March 30 each year.
2    The requirement for reporting to the General Assembly shall
3be satisfied by filing copies of the report with the Speaker,
4the Minority Leader and the Clerk of the House of
5Representatives and the President, the Minority Leader and the
6Secretary of the Senate and the Legislative Research Unit, as
7required by Section 3.1 of the General Assembly Organization
8Act, and filing additional copies with the State Government
9Report Distribution Center for the General Assembly as required
10under paragraph (t) of Section 7 of the State Library Act.
11    (g) To establish such subdivisions of the Department as
12shall be desirable and assign to the various subdivisions the
13responsibilities and duties placed upon the Department by law.
14    (h) To cooperate and enter into any necessary agreements
15with the Department of Employment Security for the provision of
16job placement and job referral services to clients of the
17Department, including job service registration of such clients
18with Illinois Employment Security offices and making job
19listings maintained by the Department of Employment Security
20available to such clients.
21    (i) To possess all powers reasonable and necessary for the
22exercise and administration of the powers, duties and
23responsibilities of the Department which are provided for by
24law.
25    (j) (Blank).
26    (k) (Blank).

 

 

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1    (l) To establish, operate and maintain a Statewide Housing
2Clearinghouse of information on available, government
3subsidized housing accessible to disabled persons and
4available privately owned housing accessible to disabled
5persons. The information shall include but not be limited to
6the location, rental requirements, access features and
7proximity to public transportation of available housing. The
8Clearinghouse shall consist of at least a computerized database
9for the storage and retrieval of information and a separate or
10shared toll free telephone number for use by those seeking
11information from the Clearinghouse. Department offices and
12personnel throughout the State shall also assist in the
13operation of the Statewide Housing Clearinghouse. Cooperation
14with local, State and federal housing managers shall be sought
15and extended in order to frequently and promptly update the
16Clearinghouse's information.
17    (m) To assure that the names and case records of persons
18who received or are receiving services from the Department,
19including persons receiving vocational rehabilitation, home
20services, or other services, and those attending one of the
21Department's schools or other supervised facility shall be
22confidential and not be open to the general public. Those case
23records and reports or the information contained in those
24records and reports shall be disclosed by the Director only to
25proper law enforcement officials, individuals authorized by a
26court, the General Assembly or any committee or commission of

 

 

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1the General Assembly, and other persons and for reasons as the
2Director designates by rule. Disclosure by the Director may be
3only in accordance with other applicable law.
4(Source: P.A. 97-732, eff. 6-30-12; 97-1019, eff. 8-17-12;
5revised 8-23-12.)