Full Text of HB4544 94th General Assembly
HB4544eng 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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HB4544 Engrossed |
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LRB094 17347 DRJ 52642 b |
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| AN ACT concerning children.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act is | 5 |
| amended by changing Sections 10, 15, 20, 25, 27, 30, 35, 40, | 6 |
| 50, 55, and 65 as follows: | 7 |
| (325 ILCS 2/10)
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| Sec. 10. Definitions. In this Act:
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| "Abandon" has the same meaning as in the Abused and | 10 |
| Neglected
Child Reporting Act.
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| "Abused child" has the same meaning as in the Abused and | 12 |
| Neglected
Child Reporting Act.
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| "Child-placing agency" means a licensed public or private | 14 |
| agency
that receives a child for the purpose of placing or | 15 |
| arranging
for the placement of the child in a foster family | 16 |
| home or
other facility for child care, apart from the custody | 17 |
| of the child's
parents.
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| "Department" or "DCFS" means the Illinois Department of | 19 |
| Children and
Family Services.
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| "Emergency medical facility" means a freestanding | 21 |
| emergency center or
trauma center, as defined in the Emergency | 22 |
| Medical Services (EMS) Systems
Act.
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| "Emergency medical professional" includes licensed | 24 |
| physicians, and any
emergency medical technician-basic, | 25 |
| emergency medical
technician-intermediate, emergency medical | 26 |
| technician-paramedic,
trauma nurse specialist, and | 27 |
| pre-hospital RN, as defined in the
Emergency Medical Services | 28 |
| (EMS) Systems Act.
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| "Fire station" means a fire station within the State that | 30 |
| is staffed
with at least one full-time emergency medical | 31 |
| professional.
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| "Hospital" has the same meaning as in the Hospital |
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| Licensing Act.
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| "House of worship" means a building that is routinely used | 3 |
| for religious ceremonies and worship services.
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| "Legal custody" means the relationship created by a court | 5 |
| order in
the best interest of a newborn infant that imposes on | 6 |
| the infant's custodian
the responsibility of physical | 7 |
| possession of the infant, the duty to
protect, train, and | 8 |
| discipline the infant, and the duty to provide the infant
with | 9 |
| food,
shelter, education, and medical care, except as these are | 10 |
| limited by
parental rights and responsibilities.
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| "Neglected child" has the same meaning as in the Abused and
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| Neglected Child Reporting Act.
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| "Newborn infant" means a child who a licensed physician | 14 |
| reasonably
believes is 72 hours old or less at the time the | 15 |
| child is
initially relinquished to a house of worship, | 16 |
| hospital, police station, fire station, or
emergency
medical | 17 |
| facility, and who is not an abused or a neglected child.
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| "Police station" means a municipal police station or a | 19 |
| county sheriff's
office.
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| "Relinquish" means to bring a newborn infant, who a
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| licensed physician reasonably believes is 72 hours old or less,
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| to a house of worship, hospital, police station, fire station, | 23 |
| or emergency medical facility
and
to leave the infant with | 24 |
| personnel of the facility, if the person leaving the
infant | 25 |
| does not express an intent to return for the
infant or states | 26 |
| that he or she will not return for the infant.
In the case of a | 27 |
| mother who gives birth to an infant in a hospital,
the mother's | 28 |
| act of leaving that newborn infant at the
hospital (i) without | 29 |
| expressing an intent to return for the infant or (ii)
stating | 30 |
| that she will not return for the infant is not a | 31 |
| "relinquishment" under
this Act.
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| "Temporary protective custody" means the temporary | 33 |
| placement of
a newborn infant within a hospital or other | 34 |
| medical facility out of the
custody of the infant's parent.
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| (Source: P.A. 92-408, eff. 8-17-01; 92-432, eff. 8-17-01; | 36 |
| 93-820, eff. 7-27-04 .)
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| (325 ILCS 2/15)
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| Sec. 15. Presumptions.
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| (a) There is a presumption that by relinquishing a newborn | 4 |
| infant
in accordance with this Act, the infant's parent
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| consents to the termination of his or her
parental rights with | 6 |
| respect to the infant.
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| (b) There is a presumption that a person relinquishing a | 8 |
| newborn
infant in accordance with this Act:
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| (1) is the newborn infant's biological parent; and
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| (2) either without expressing an intent to return for | 11 |
| the
infant or expressing an intent not to return for the | 12 |
| infant,
did intend to relinquish the infant to the house of | 13 |
| worship,
hospital, police station, fire
station, or | 14 |
| emergency medical facility to treat, care for, and
provide | 15 |
| for the infant in accordance with this
Act.
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| (c) A parent of a relinquished newborn infant
may rebut the | 17 |
| presumption set forth in either subsection (a) or
subsection | 18 |
| (b) pursuant to Section 55, at any time before the termination | 19 |
| of
the parent's
parental rights.
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| (Source: P.A. 92-408, eff. 8-17-01; 92-432, eff. 8-17-01; | 21 |
| 93-820, eff. 7-27-04 .)
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| (325 ILCS 2/20)
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| Sec. 20. Procedures with respect to relinquished newborn
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| infants.
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| (a) Hospitals. Every hospital must accept and
provide all | 26 |
| necessary emergency services and care to a relinquished
newborn | 27 |
| infant, in accordance with this Act.
The hospital shall examine | 28 |
| a relinquished newborn infant and perform tests
that, based on | 29 |
| reasonable medical judgment, are appropriate in evaluating
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| whether the relinquished newborn infant was abused or | 31 |
| neglected.
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| The act of relinquishing a newborn infant serves as implied
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| consent for the hospital and its medical personnel and | 34 |
| physicians on
staff to treat and provide care for the
infant.
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| The hospital shall be deemed to have temporary protective | 2 |
| custody of a
relinquished newborn
infant until the infant is | 3 |
| discharged to the custody of a
child-placing agency or the | 4 |
| Department.
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| (b) Fire stations and emergency medical facilities. Every | 6 |
| fire
station and emergency medical facility must accept and
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| provide all necessary emergency services and care to a | 8 |
| relinquished
newborn infant, in accordance with this Act.
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| The act of relinquishing a newborn infant serves as implied
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| consent for the fire station or emergency medical facility and
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| its emergency medical professionals to treat and provide care | 12 |
| for the
infant, to the extent that those emergency medical | 13 |
| professionals are trained
to
provide those services.
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| After the relinquishment of a newborn infant to a fire | 15 |
| station or
emergency medical facility, the fire station or | 16 |
| emergency medical
facility's personnel must arrange for the | 17 |
| transportation of the
infant to the nearest hospital as soon as
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| transportation can be arranged.
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| If the parent of a newborn infant returns to reclaim the
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| child within 72 hours after relinquishing the child to a fire | 21 |
| station or
emergency
medical facility, the fire station or | 22 |
| emergency medical facility must inform
the parent of the name | 23 |
| and location of the hospital to which the infant was
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| transported.
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| (c) Police stations. Every police station must accept a | 26 |
| relinquished
newborn
infant, in accordance with this Act. After | 27 |
| the relinquishment of a newborn
infant to a
police station, the | 28 |
| police station must arrange for the transportation of the
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| infant to the
nearest hospital as soon as transportation can be | 30 |
| arranged.
The act of relinquishing a
newborn infant serves as | 31 |
| implied consent for the hospital to which the infant
is
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| transported and that hospital's medical personnel and | 33 |
| physicians on staff to
treat and
provide care for the infant.
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| If the parent of a newborn infant returns to reclaim the | 35 |
| infant within 72
hours after
relinquishing the infant to a | 36 |
| police station,
the police station must inform the parent of |
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name and location of the hospital to which the infant was | 2 |
| transported.
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| (d) Houses of worship. A house of worship may accept a | 4 |
| relinquished newborn infant only if it has been authorized to | 5 |
| do so under this Act by the Department. After the | 6 |
| relinquishment of a newborn
infant to a
house of worship, the | 7 |
| house of worship must arrange for the transportation of the
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| infant to the
nearest hospital as soon as transportation can be | 9 |
| arranged.
The act of relinquishing a
newborn infant serves as | 10 |
| implied consent for the hospital to which the infant
is
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| transported and that hospital's medical personnel and | 12 |
| physicians on staff to
treat and
provide care for the infant. | 13 |
| If the parent of a newborn infant returns to reclaim the infant | 14 |
| within 72
hours after
relinquishing the infant to a house of | 15 |
| worship,
the house of worship must inform the parent of the
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| name and location of the hospital to which the infant was | 17 |
| transported. | 18 |
| The Department shall adopt rules setting forth the | 19 |
| criteria, standards, and procedures for authorizing houses of | 20 |
| worship to accept relinquished newborn infants under this Act | 21 |
| and for designating or identifying those houses of worship as | 22 |
| places where a parent may relinquish a newborn infant under | 23 |
| this Act. The rules shall include the following provisions: | 24 |
| (1) A house of worship must apply to the Department for | 25 |
| authorization to accept relinquished newborn infants. | 26 |
| (2) The authorization shall be valid for no longer than | 27 |
| one year, and a house of worship must apply for renewed | 28 |
| authorization for each succeeding year. | 29 |
| (3) A house of worship shall be subject to inspection | 30 |
| by the Department at the time of an initial or renewed | 31 |
| authorization to verify that it meets the criteria and | 32 |
| standards established by the Department for the acceptance | 33 |
| of relinquished newborn infants. | 34 |
| (4) Only a house of worship that has been authorized by | 35 |
| the Department to accept relinquished newborn infants | 36 |
| under this Act may conduct a public information campaign to |
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| alert the public about the provisions of this subsection.
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| (Source: P.A. 92-408, eff. 8-17-01; 92-432, eff. 8-17-01; | 3 |
| 93-820, eff. 7-27-04 .)
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| (325 ILCS 2/25)
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| Sec. 25. Immunity for relinquishing person.
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| (a) The act of relinquishing a newborn infant to a house of | 7 |
| worship,
hospital, police
station, fire
station, or emergency | 8 |
| medical facility in accordance with this Act
does not, by | 9 |
| itself, constitute a basis for a finding of abuse,
neglect, or | 10 |
| abandonment of the infant pursuant to the laws of this State | 11 |
| nor
does it, by itself, constitute a violation of Section | 12 |
| 12-21.5 or 12-21.6 of the
Criminal Code of 1961.
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| (b) If there is suspected child abuse or neglect
that is | 14 |
| not based solely on the newborn infant's relinquishment to a | 15 |
| house of worship,
hospital, police station, fire station, or | 16 |
| emergency medical facility, the
personnel
of the house of | 17 |
| worship, hospital, police station, fire station, or emergency | 18 |
| medical
facility who are
mandated reporters under the Abused | 19 |
| and Neglected Child Reporting Act must
report the abuse or | 20 |
| neglect pursuant to that Act.
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| (c) Neither a child protective investigation nor a criminal
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| investigation may be initiated solely because a newborn infant | 23 |
| is
relinquished pursuant to this Act.
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| (Source: P.A. 92-408, eff. 8-17-01; 92-432, eff. 8-17-01; | 25 |
| 93-820, eff. 7-27-04 .)
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| (325 ILCS 2/27)
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| Sec. 27. Immunity of facility and personnel.
A house of | 28 |
| worship, hospital, police station, fire station, or emergency | 29 |
| medical facility,
and
any personnel of a house of worship, | 30 |
| hospital, police station, fire station, or emergency
medical | 31 |
| facility, are
immune
from criminal or civil liability for | 32 |
| acting in good faith in accordance with
this Act.
Nothing in | 33 |
| this Act limits liability for negligence for care and
medical | 34 |
| treatment.
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| (Source: P.A. 92-408, eff. 8-17-01; 92-432, eff. 8-17-01; | 2 |
| 93-820, eff. 7-27-04 .)
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| (325 ILCS 2/30)
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| Sec. 30. Anonymity of relinquishing person.
If there is no | 5 |
| evidence of abuse or neglect of a
relinquished newborn infant, | 6 |
| the relinquishing person has the right to
remain anonymous and | 7 |
| to leave the house of worship, hospital, police station, fire | 8 |
| station,
or emergency
medical facility at any time and not be | 9 |
| pursued or followed. Before the
relinquishing person leaves the | 10 |
| house of worship,
hospital, police station, fire station, or
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| emergency medical
facility, the house of worship, hospital, | 12 |
| police station, fire station, or emergency medical
facility | 13 |
| personnel
shall (i) verbally inform the relinquishing person | 14 |
| that by
relinquishing the
child anonymously, he or she will | 15 |
| have to petition the court if he or she
desires to prevent the | 16 |
| termination of parental rights and regain custody of the
child | 17 |
| and (ii) shall offer the relinquishing person the information
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| packet
described in Section 35 of this Act.
However, nothing in | 19 |
| this Act shall be construed as precluding the
relinquishing | 20 |
| person from providing his or her identity or completing the
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| application forms for the Illinois Adoption Registry and | 22 |
| Medical Information
Exchange and requesting that the house of | 23 |
| worship, hospital, police station, fire station, or
emergency | 24 |
| medical
facility forward those forms to the Illinois Adoption | 25 |
| Registry and Medical
Information Exchange.
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| (Source: P.A. 92-408, eff. 8-17-01; 92-432, eff. 8-17-01; | 27 |
| 93-820, eff. 7-27-04 .)
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| (325 ILCS 2/35)
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| Sec. 35. Information for relinquishing person. A house of | 30 |
| worship,
hospital, police
station, fire station,
or emergency
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| medical facility that receives a newborn infant relinquished in | 32 |
| accordance with
this
Act must offer an information packet to | 33 |
| the relinquishing person and, if
possible, must clearly inform | 34 |
| the relinquishing person that his or her
acceptance of the
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| information is completely voluntary, that registration with | 2 |
| the Illinois
Adoption Registry and Medical Information | 3 |
| Exchange is voluntary, that the
person will remain anonymous if | 4 |
| he or she completes a Denial of Information
Exchange, and that | 5 |
| the person has the option to provide medical information
only | 6 |
| and still remain anonymous. The
information packet must include | 7 |
| all of
the following:
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| (1) All Illinois Adoption Registry and Medical | 9 |
| Information Exchange
application forms, including the | 10 |
| Medical Information
Exchange Questionnaire and
the web | 11 |
| site address and toll-free phone number of the Registry.
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| (2) Written notice of the following:
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| (A) No sooner than 60 days following the date of | 14 |
| the
initial relinquishment of the infant to a house of | 15 |
| worship,
hospital, police station,
fire station, or | 16 |
| emergency medical facility, the child-placing agency | 17 |
| or the
Department will
commence proceedings for the | 18 |
| termination of
parental rights and placement of the | 19 |
| infant for
adoption.
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| (B) Failure of a parent of the
infant to contact | 21 |
| the Department and
petition for the return of custody | 22 |
| of the
infant before termination of parental rights
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| bars any future action asserting legal rights
with | 24 |
| respect to the infant.
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| (3) A resource list of providers of counseling
services | 26 |
| including grief counseling, pregnancy counseling, and
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| counseling regarding adoption and other available options | 28 |
| for placement of the
infant.
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| Upon request, the Department of Public Health shall provide | 30 |
| the
application forms for the Illinois Adoption Registry and | 31 |
| Medical Information
Exchange to houses of worship, hospitals, | 32 |
| police stations, fire stations, and emergency
medical | 33 |
| facilities.
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| (Source: P.A. 92-408, eff. 8-17-01; 92-432, eff. 8-17-01; | 35 |
| 93-820, eff. 7-27-04 .)
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| (325 ILCS 2/40)
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| Sec. 40. Reporting requirements.
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| (a) Within 12 hours after accepting a newborn infant
from a | 4 |
| relinquishing person or from a house of worship, police | 5 |
| station, fire station, or
emergency medical
facility in | 6 |
| accordance with this Act, a hospital must report to the
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| Department's State Central Registry for the purpose of | 8 |
| transferring
physical custody of the infant from the hospital | 9 |
| to either a
child-placing agency or the Department.
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| (b) Within 24 hours after receiving a report under | 11 |
| subsection (a), the
Department must request assistance from law | 12 |
| enforcement
officials to investigate the matter using the | 13 |
| National Crime Information Center
to ensure that the | 14 |
| relinquished newborn infant is not a missing
child.
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| (c) Once a hospital has made a report to the Department
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| under subsection (a), the
Department must
arrange for
a | 17 |
| licensed child-placing agency to accept physical custody of the | 18 |
| relinquished
newborn infant.
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| (d) If a relinquished child is not a newborn infant as | 20 |
| defined
in this Act, the hospital and the Department must | 21 |
| proceed as if the child is an
abused or neglected child.
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| (Source: P.A. 92-408, eff. 8-17-01; 92-432, eff. 8-17-01; | 23 |
| 93-820, eff. 7-27-04 .)
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| (325 ILCS 2/50)
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| Sec. 50. Child-placing agency procedures.
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| (a) The Department's
State Central Registry must maintain a | 27 |
| list of licensed child-placing
agencies willing to take legal | 28 |
| custody of newborn infants relinquished
in accordance with this | 29 |
| Act. The
child-placing agencies on the list must be contacted | 30 |
| by the
Department on a rotating basis upon notice from a | 31 |
| hospital
that a newborn infant has been
relinquished in | 32 |
| accordance with this Act.
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| (b) Upon notice from the Department that a newborn infant | 34 |
| has
been relinquished in accordance with this Act, a | 35 |
| child-placing
agency must accept the newborn infant if the |
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| agency has the accommodations to
do
so. The
child-placing | 2 |
| agency must seek an order for legal custody of the
infant upon | 3 |
| its acceptance of the infant.
| 4 |
| (c) Within 3 business days after assuming physical custody | 5 |
| of the infant,
the child-placing agency shall file a
petition
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| in the division of the
circuit court in which petitions for | 7 |
| adoption would normally be
heard. The petition shall allege | 8 |
| that the newborn infant has been relinquished
in accordance | 9 |
| with this Act and shall state that the child-placing agency
| 10 |
| intends to place the infant in an adoptive home.
| 11 |
| (d) If no licensed child-placing agency is able to accept | 12 |
| the
relinquished newborn infant, then the Department must | 13 |
| assume
responsibility for the infant as soon as practicable.
| 14 |
| (e) A custody order issued under subsection (b) shall | 15 |
| remain in
effect until a final adoption order based on the | 16 |
| relinquished newborn
infant's best interests is issued in | 17 |
| accordance with this Act and the Adoption
Act.
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| (f) When possible, the child-placing agency must place a
| 19 |
| relinquished newborn infant in a prospective adoptive home.
| 20 |
| (g) The Department or child-placing agency must initiate | 21 |
| proceedings to (i)
terminate the parental rights of the | 22 |
| relinquished newborn infant's
known or unknown parents, (ii) | 23 |
| appoint a guardian for the infant, and
(iii) obtain consent to | 24 |
| the infant's adoption in accordance with this
Act no sooner | 25 |
| than 60 days following the date of the initial
relinquishment | 26 |
| of the infant to the house of worship, hospital, police | 27 |
| station, fire station,
or
emergency medical facility.
| 28 |
| (h) Before filing a petition for termination of parental
| 29 |
| rights, the Department or child-placing agency must do the | 30 |
| following:
| 31 |
| (1) Search its Putative Father Registry for the purpose | 32 |
| of
determining the identity and location of the putative | 33 |
| father of
the relinquished newborn infant who is, or is | 34 |
| expected to be, the
subject of an adoption proceeding, in | 35 |
| order to provide notice of
the proceeding to the putative | 36 |
| father. At least one search of the
Registry must be |
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| conducted, at least 30 days after the
relinquished newborn | 2 |
| infant's estimated date of birth; earlier
searches may be | 3 |
| conducted, however. Notice to any potential
putative | 4 |
| father discovered in a search of the Registry according
to | 5 |
| the estimated age of the relinquished newborn infant must | 6 |
| be
in accordance with Section 12a of the Adoption Act.
| 7 |
| (2) Verify with law enforcement officials, using the | 8 |
| National Crime
Information Center,
that the relinquished | 9 |
| newborn infant is not a missing child.
| 10 |
| (Source: P.A. 92-408, eff. 8-17-01; 92-432, eff. 8-17-01; | 11 |
| 93-820, eff. 7-27-04 .)
| 12 |
| (325 ILCS 2/55)
| 13 |
| Sec. 55. Petition for return of custody.
| 14 |
| (a) A parent of a newborn infant relinquished
in accordance | 15 |
| with this Act may petition for the return of custody of
the | 16 |
| infant before the termination of parental
rights with respect | 17 |
| to the infant.
| 18 |
| (b) A parent of a newborn infant relinquished
in accordance | 19 |
| with this Act may petition for the return of custody of
the | 20 |
| infant by contacting the Department
for the purpose of | 21 |
| obtaining the name of the child-placing agency and then
filing
| 22 |
| a petition for return of custody in the circuit court in which | 23 |
| the
proceeding for the termination of parental rights is | 24 |
| pending.
| 25 |
| (c) If a petition for the termination of parental rights | 26 |
| has not
been filed by the Department or the child-placing | 27 |
| agency, the parent of the
relinquished newborn infant must | 28 |
| contact the Department, which must
notify the parent of the | 29 |
| appropriate court in which
the petition for return of custody | 30 |
| must be filed.
| 31 |
| (d) The circuit court may hold the proceeding for the | 32 |
| termination of
parental rights in abeyance for a period not to | 33 |
| exceed 60 days from the date
that the petition for return of | 34 |
| custody was filed without a
showing of good cause. During that | 35 |
| period:
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| (1) The court shall order genetic testing to establish | 2 |
| maternity
or
paternity, or both.
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| (2) The Department shall conduct a child protective | 4 |
| investigation and home
study to develop recommendations to | 5 |
| the court.
| 6 |
| (3) When indicated as a result of the Department's | 7 |
| investigation and home
study, further proceedings under | 8 |
| the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 as the court
determines | 9 |
| appropriate, may be conducted. However,
relinquishment of
| 10 |
| a newborn infant
in accordance with this Act does not | 11 |
| render the infant abused,
neglected, or abandoned solely | 12 |
| because the newborn infant was relinquished to a house of | 13 |
| worship,
hospital, police station, fire station, or | 14 |
| emergency medical facility in
accordance with this
Act.
| 15 |
| (e) Failure to file a petition for the return of custody of | 16 |
| a
relinquished newborn infant before the termination
of | 17 |
| parental rights
bars any future action asserting legal rights | 18 |
| with respect to the
infant unless the parent's act
of | 19 |
| relinquishment that led to the termination of parental rights
| 20 |
| involved fraud perpetrated against and not stemming from or | 21 |
| involving
the parent. No
action to void or revoke the | 22 |
| termination of parental rights of a parent
of a newborn infant | 23 |
| relinquished in accordance with
this Act, including an action | 24 |
| based on fraud, may be commenced after 12
months after the date | 25 |
| that the newborn infant was initially
relinquished to a house | 26 |
| of worship,
hospital, police station, fire station, or | 27 |
| emergency
medical
facility.
| 28 |
| (Source: P.A. 92-408, eff. 8-17-01; 92-432, eff. 8-17-01; | 29 |
| 93-820, eff. 7-27-04 .)
| 30 |
| (325 ILCS 2/65)
| 31 |
| Sec. 65. Evaluation.
| 32 |
| (a) The Department shall collect and analyze
information | 33 |
| regarding the relinquishment of newborn infants and placement | 34 |
| of
children under this Act. Houses of worship, police
Police | 35 |
| stations, fire stations, emergency medical
facilities, and
|
|
|
|
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LRB094 17347 DRJ 52642 b |
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| 1 |
| medical professionals accepting and providing services to a | 2 |
| newborn infant
under this Act shall report to the Department | 3 |
| data necessary for the Department
to evaluate and determine the | 4 |
| effect of this Act in the prevention of injury
or death of | 5 |
| newborn infants. Child-placing agencies shall report to the
| 6 |
| Department data necessary to evaluate and determine the | 7 |
| effectiveness of these
agencies in providing child protective | 8 |
| and child welfare services to newborn
infants relinquished | 9 |
| under this Act.
| 10 |
| (b) The information collected shall include,
but need not | 11 |
| be limited to: the number of newborn infants relinquished; the
| 12 |
| services provided to relinquished newborn infants; the outcome
| 13 |
| of care for the relinquished newborn infants; the number and | 14 |
| disposition of
cases of relinquished newborn infants subject to | 15 |
| placement; the number of
children accepted and served by | 16 |
| child-placing agencies; and the services
provided by | 17 |
| child-placing agencies and the disposition of the cases of the
| 18 |
| children placed under this Act.
| 19 |
| (c) The Department shall submit a report by
January 1, | 20 |
| 2002, and on January 1 of each
year thereafter, to the Governor | 21 |
| and General Assembly regarding the prevention
of injury or | 22 |
| death of newborn infants and the effect of placements of | 23 |
| children
under this Act. The report shall include, but need not | 24 |
| be limited to, a
summary of
collected data, an analysis of the | 25 |
| data and conclusions regarding the Act's
effectiveness, a | 26 |
| determination whether the purposes of the Act are being
| 27 |
| achieved,
and recommendations for changes that may be | 28 |
| considered necessary to improve the
administration and | 29 |
| enforcement of this Act.
| 30 |
| (Source: P.A. 92-408, eff. 8-17-01; 92-432, eff. 8-17-01; | 31 |
| 93-820, eff. 7-27-04 .)
| 32 |
| Section 10. The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act is | 33 |
| amended by changing Section 4 as follows:
| 34 |
| (325 ILCS 5/4) (from Ch. 23, par. 2054)
|
|
|
|
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| 1 |
| Sec. 4. Persons required to report; privileged | 2 |
| communications;
transmitting false report. Any physician, | 3 |
| resident, intern, hospital,
hospital administrator
and | 4 |
| personnel engaged in examination, care and treatment of | 5 |
| persons, surgeon,
dentist, dentist hygienist, osteopath, | 6 |
| chiropractor, podiatrist, physician
assistant, substance abuse | 7 |
| treatment personnel, funeral home
director or employee, | 8 |
| coroner, medical examiner, emergency medical technician,
| 9 |
| acupuncturist, crisis line or hotline personnel, school | 10 |
| personnel, educational
advocate assigned to a child pursuant to | 11 |
| the School Code, truant officers,
social worker, social | 12 |
| services administrator,
domestic violence program personnel, | 13 |
| registered nurse, licensed
practical nurse, genetic counselor,
| 14 |
| respiratory care practitioner, advanced practice nurse, home
| 15 |
| health aide, director or staff
assistant of a nursery school or | 16 |
| a child day care center, recreational program
or facility | 17 |
| personnel, law enforcement officer, licensed professional
| 18 |
| counselor, licensed clinical professional counselor, | 19 |
| registered psychologist
and
assistants working under the | 20 |
| direct supervision of a psychologist,
psychiatrist, or field | 21 |
| personnel of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family | 22 |
| Services
Public Aid ,
Public Health, Human Services (acting as | 23 |
| successor to the Department of Mental
Health and Developmental | 24 |
| Disabilities, Rehabilitation Services, or Public Aid),
| 25 |
| Corrections, Human Rights, or Children and Family Services, | 26 |
| supervisor and
administrator of general assistance under the | 27 |
| Illinois Public Aid Code,
probation officer, or any other | 28 |
| foster parent, homemaker or child care worker
having reasonable | 29 |
| cause to believe a child known to them in their professional
or | 30 |
| official capacity may be an abused child or a neglected child | 31 |
| shall
immediately report or cause a report to be made to the | 32 |
| Department.
| 33 |
| Any member of the clergy having reasonable cause to believe | 34 |
| that a child
known to that member of the clergy in his or her | 35 |
| professional capacity may be
an abused child as defined in item | 36 |
| (c) of the definition of "abused child" in
Section 3 of this |
|
|
|
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| 1 |
| Act shall immediately report or cause a report to be made to
| 2 |
| the Department.
| 3 |
| Any personnel of a house of worship that accepts the | 4 |
| relinquishment of a newborn infant pursuant to the Abandoned | 5 |
| Newborn Infant Protection Act shall immediately report the | 6 |
| relinquishment to the Department or cause such a report to be | 7 |
| made to the Department. As used in this paragraph, "house of | 8 |
| worship" has the meaning ascribed to that term in the Abandoned | 9 |
| Newborn Infant Protection Act.
| 10 |
| Whenever
such person is required to report under this Act | 11 |
| in his capacity as a member of
the staff of a medical or other | 12 |
| public or private institution, school, facility
or agency, or | 13 |
| as a member of the clergy, he shall
make report immediately to | 14 |
| the Department in accordance
with the provisions of this Act | 15 |
| and may also notify the person in charge of
such institution, | 16 |
| school, facility or agency, or church, synagogue, temple,
| 17 |
| mosque, or other religious institution, or his
designated agent | 18 |
| that such
report has been made. Under no circumstances shall | 19 |
| any person in charge of
such institution, school, facility or | 20 |
| agency, or church, synagogue, temple,
mosque, or other | 21 |
| religious institution, or his
designated agent to whom
such | 22 |
| notification has been made, exercise any control, restraint, | 23 |
| modification
or other change in the report or the forwarding of | 24 |
| such report to the
Department.
| 25 |
| The privileged quality of communication between any | 26 |
| professional
person required to report
and his patient or | 27 |
| client shall not apply to situations involving abused or
| 28 |
| neglected children and shall not constitute grounds for failure | 29 |
| to report
as required by this Act.
| 30 |
| A member of the clergy may claim the privilege under | 31 |
| Section 8-803 of the
Code of Civil Procedure.
| 32 |
| In addition to the above persons required to
report | 33 |
| suspected cases of abused or neglected children, any other | 34 |
| person
may make a report if such person has reasonable cause to | 35 |
| believe a child
may be an abused child or a neglected child.
| 36 |
| Any person who enters into
employment on and after July 1, |
|
|
|
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|
| 1 |
| 1986 and is mandated by virtue of that
employment to report | 2 |
| under this Act, shall sign a statement on a form
prescribed by | 3 |
| the Department, to the effect that the employee has knowledge
| 4 |
| and understanding of the reporting requirements of this Act. | 5 |
| The statement
shall be signed prior to commencement of the | 6 |
| employment. The signed
statement shall be retained by the | 7 |
| employer. The cost of printing,
distribution, and filing of the | 8 |
| statement shall be borne by the employer.
| 9 |
| The Department shall provide copies of this Act, upon | 10 |
| request, to all
employers employing persons who shall be | 11 |
| required under the provisions of
this Section to report under | 12 |
| this Act.
| 13 |
| Any person who knowingly transmits a false report to the | 14 |
| Department
commits the offense of disorderly conduct under | 15 |
| subsection (a)(7) of
Section 26-1 of the "Criminal Code of | 16 |
| 1961". Any person who violates this
provision a second or | 17 |
| subsequent time shall be guilty of a Class 3
felony.
| 18 |
| Any person who knowingly and willfully violates any | 19 |
| provision of this
Section other than a second or subsequent | 20 |
| violation of transmitting a
false report as described in the
| 21 |
| preceding paragraph, is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for
a | 22 |
| first violation and a Class 4 felony for a
second or subsequent | 23 |
| violation; except that if the person acted as part
of a plan or | 24 |
| scheme having as its object the
prevention of discovery of an | 25 |
| abused or neglected child by lawful authorities
for the
purpose | 26 |
| of protecting or insulating any person or entity from arrest or
| 27 |
| prosecution, the
person is guilty of a Class 4 felony for a | 28 |
| first offense and a Class 3 felony
for a second or
subsequent | 29 |
| offense (regardless of whether the second or subsequent offense
| 30 |
| involves any
of the same facts or persons as the first or other | 31 |
| prior offense).
| 32 |
| A child whose parent, guardian or custodian in good faith | 33 |
| selects and depends
upon spiritual means through prayer alone | 34 |
| for the treatment or cure of
disease or remedial care may be | 35 |
| considered neglected or abused, but not for
the sole reason | 36 |
| that his parent, guardian or custodian accepts and
practices |
|
|
|
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LRB094 17347 DRJ 52642 b |
|
| 1 |
| such beliefs.
| 2 |
| A child shall not be considered neglected or abused solely | 3 |
| because the
child is not attending school in accordance with | 4 |
| the requirements of
Article 26 of the School Code, as amended.
| 5 |
| (Source: P.A. 92-16, eff. 6-28-01; 92-801, eff. 8-16-02; | 6 |
| 93-137, eff. 7-10-03; 93-356, eff. 7-24-03; 93-431, eff. | 7 |
| 8-5-03; 93-1041, eff. 9-29-04; revised 12-15-05.)
|
|