20 ILCS 505/17

(20 ILCS 505/17) (from Ch. 23, par. 5017)

Sec. 17. Youth and Community Services Program. The Department of Human Services shall develop a State program for youth and community services which will assure that youth who come into contact or may come into contact with either the child welfare system or the juvenile justice system will have access to needed community, prevention, diversion, emergency, and independent living services. The term "youth" means a person under the age of 19 years. The term "homeless youth" means a youth who cannot be reunited with the youth's family and is not in a safe and stable living situation. This Section shall not be construed to require the Department of Human Services to provide services under this Section to any homeless youth who is at least 18 years of age but is younger than 19 years of age; however, the Department may, in its discretion, provide services under this Section to any such homeless youth.

(a) The goals of the program shall be to:

(1) maintain children and youths in their own community;

(2) eliminate unnecessary categorical funding of programs by funding more comprehensive and integrated programs;

(3) encourage local volunteers and voluntary associations in developing programs aimed at preventing and controlling juvenile delinquency;

(4) address voids in services and close service gaps;

(5) develop program models aimed at strengthening the relationships between youth and their families and aimed at developing healthy, independent lives for homeless youth;

(6) contain costs by redirecting funding to more comprehensive and integrated community-based services; and

(7) coordinate education, employment, training and other programs for youths with other State agencies.

(b) The duties of the Department under the program shall be to:

(1) design models for service delivery by local communities;

(2) test alternative systems for delivering youth services;

(3) develop standards necessary to achieve and maintain, on a statewide basis, more comprehensive and integrated community-based youth services;

(4) monitor and provide technical assistance to local boards and local service systems;

(5) assist local organizations in developing programs which address the problems of youths and their families through direct services, advocacy with institutions, and improvement of local conditions;

(6) (blank); and

(7) establish temporary emergency placements for youth in crisis as defined by the Children's Behavioral Health Transformation Team through comprehensive community-based youth services provider grants.

(A) Temporary emergency placements:

(i) must be licensed through the Department of Children and Family Services or, in the case of a foster home or host home, by the supervising child welfare agency;

(ii) must be strategically situated to meet regional need and minimize geographic disruption in consultation with the Children's Behavioral Health Transformation Officer and the Children's Behavioral Health Transformation Team; and

(iii) shall include Comprehensive Community-Based Youth Services program host homes, foster homes, homeless youth shelters, Department of Children and Family Services youth shelters, or other licensed placements for minor youth compliant with the Child Care Act of 1969 provided under the Comprehensive Community-Based Youth Services program.

(B) Beginning on August 11, 2023 (the effective date of Public Act 103-546), once sufficient capacity has been developed, temporary emergency placements must also include temporary emergency placement shelters provided under the Comprehensive Community-Based Youth Services program. Temporary emergency placement shelters shall be managed by Comprehensive Community-Based Youth Services provider organizations and shall be available to house youth receiving interim 24/7 crisis intervention services as defined by the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 and the Comprehensive Community-Based Youth Services program grant and the Department, and shall provide access to clinical supports for youth while staying at the shelter.

(C) Comprehensive Community-Based Youth Services organizations shall retain the sole authority to place youth in host homes and temporary emergency placement shelters provided under the Comprehensive Community-Based Youth Services program.

(D) Crisis youth, as defined by the Children's Behavioral Health Transformation Team, shall be prioritized in temporary emergency placements.

(E) Additional placement options may be authorized for crisis and non-crisis program youth with the permission of the youth's parent or legal guardian.

(F) While in a temporary emergency placement, the organization shall work with the parent, guardian, or custodian to effectuate the youth's return home or to an alternative long-term living arrangement. As necessary, the agency or association shall also work with the youth's local school district, the Department, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, and the Department of Juvenile Justice to identify immediate and long-term services, treatment, or placement.

Nothing in this Section shall be construed or applied in a manner that would conflict with, diminish, or infringe upon, any State agency's obligation to comply fully with requirements imposed under a court order or State or federal consent decree applicable to that agency.

(Source: P.A. 103-22, eff. 8-8-23; 103-546, eff. 8-11-23; 103-605, eff. 7-1-24.)