Full Text of SB2177 102nd General Assembly
SB2177 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022 SB2177 Introduced 2/26/2021, by Sen. Elgie R. Sims, Jr. SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Amends the Children and Family Services Act. Provides that no youth in care shall be required to store his or her belongings in plastic bags or in similar forms of disposable containers, including, but not limited to, trash bags, paper or plastic shopping bags, or pillow cases when relocating from one placement type to another placement type or when discharged from the custody or guardianship of the Department of Children and Family Services. Requires the Department and all purchase of service agencies under contract with the Department to ensure that each youth in care has appropriate baggage and other items to store his or her belongings when moving through the State's child welfare system.
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| | | FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY | |
| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning children.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Children and Family Services Act is amended | 5 | | by changing Section 7.3a as follows: | 6 | | (20 ILCS 505/7.3a) | 7 | | Sec. 7.3a. Normalcy parenting for children in foster care; | 8 | | participation in childhood activities. | 9 | | (a) Legislative findings. | 10 | | (1) Every day parents make important decisions about | 11 | | their child's
participation in extracurricular activities. | 12 | | Caregivers for children in out-of-home
care are faced with | 13 | | making the same decisions. | 14 | | (2) When a caregiver makes decisions, he or she must | 15 | | consider applicable laws, rules, and regulations to | 16 | | safeguard the health, safety, and best interests of a | 17 | | child in out-of-home care. | 18 | | (3) Participation in extracurricular activities is | 19 | | important to a child's
well-being, not only emotionally, | 20 | | but also in developing valuable life skills. | 21 | | (4) The General Assembly recognizes the importance of | 22 | | making every effort to normalize
the lives of children in | 23 | | out-of-home care and to empower a caregiver
to approve or |
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| 1 | | not approve a child's participation in appropriate | 2 | | extracurricular activities based on
the caregiver's own | 3 | | assessment using the reasonable and prudent
parent | 4 | | standard, without prior approval of the Department, the
| 5 | | caseworker, or the court. | 6 | | (5) Nothing in this Section shall be presumed to | 7 | | discourage or diminish the engagement of families and | 8 | | guardians in the child's life activities. | 9 | | (b) Definitions. As used in this Section: | 10 | | "Appropriate activities" means activities or items that | 11 | | are generally
accepted as suitable for children of the same | 12 | | chronological age or
developmental level of maturity. | 13 | | Appropriateness is based on the development
of cognitive, | 14 | | emotional, physical, and behavioral capacity that is
typical | 15 | | for an age or age group, taking into account the individual | 16 | | child's cognitive, emotional, physical, and behavioral | 17 | | development. | 18 | | "Caregiver" means a person with whom the child is placed | 19 | | in
out-of-home care or a designated official for child care | 20 | | facilities
licensed by the Department as
defined in the Child | 21 | | Care Act of 1969. | 22 | | "Reasonable and prudent parent standard" means the | 23 | | standard
characterized by careful and sensible parental | 24 | | decisions that maintain
the child's health, safety, and best | 25 | | interests while at the same time
supporting the child's | 26 | | emotional and developmental growth that a
caregiver shall use |
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| 1 | | when determining whether to allow a child in out-of-home care | 2 | | to participate in extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and | 3 | | social
activities. | 4 | | (c) Requirements for decision-making. | 5 | | (1) Each child who comes into the care and custody of | 6 | | the Department
is fully entitled to participate in | 7 | | appropriate extracurricular,
enrichment, cultural, and | 8 | | social activities in a manner that allows that child to | 9 | | participate in his or her community to the fullest extent | 10 | | possible. | 11 | | (2) Caregivers must use the reasonable and prudent | 12 | | parent standard
in determining whether to give permission | 13 | | for a child in out-of-home
care to participate in | 14 | | appropriate extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and | 15 | | social activities.
Caregivers are expected to promote and | 16 | | support a child's participation in such activities. When | 17 | | using the reasonable and prudent parent standard, the
| 18 | | caregiver shall consider: | 19 | | (A) the child's age, maturity, and developmental | 20 | | level to promote the
overall health, safety, and best | 21 | | interests of the child; | 22 | | (B) the best interest of the child based on | 23 | | information known by the
caregiver; | 24 | | (C) the importance and fundamental value of | 25 | | encouraging the child's emotional and
developmental | 26 | | growth gained through participation in activities in |
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| 1 | | his or her community; | 2 | | (D) the importance and fundamental value of | 3 | | providing the child with the most family-like
living | 4 | | experience possible; and | 5 | | (E) the behavioral history of the child and the | 6 | | child's ability to safely
participate in the proposed | 7 | | activity. | 8 | | (3) A caregiver is not liable for harm
caused to a | 9 | | child in out-of-home care who participates in an activity | 10 | | approved by
the caregiver, provided that the caregiver has | 11 | | acted as a reasonable
and prudent parent in permitting the | 12 | | child to engage in the activity. | 13 | | (c-5) No youth in care shall be required to store his or | 14 | | her belongings in plastic bags or in similar forms of | 15 | | disposable containers, including, but not limited to, trash | 16 | | bags, paper or plastic shopping bags, or pillow cases when | 17 | | relocating from one placement type to another placement type | 18 | | or when discharged from the custody or guardianship of the | 19 | | Department. The Department and all purchase of service | 20 | | agencies under contract with the Department shall ensure that | 21 | | each youth in care has appropriate baggage and other items to | 22 | | store his or her belongings when moving through the State's | 23 | | child welfare system. As used in this subsection, "purchase of | 24 | | service agency" means any entity that contracts with the | 25 | | Department to provide services that are consistent with the | 26 | | purposes of this Act. |
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| 1 | | (d) Rulemaking. The Department shall adopt, by rule,
| 2 | | procedures no later than June 1, 2017 that promote and protect | 3 | | the ability
of children to participate in appropriate | 4 | | extracurricular,
enrichment, cultural, and social activities.
| 5 | | (Source: P.A. 99-839, eff. 8-19-16.)
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