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Public Act 91-0812
HB4348 Enrolled LRB9112359LDdvA
AN ACT in relation to child safety, amending named Acts.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 500. The Children and Family Services Act is
amended by changing Sections 5 and 35.1 as follows:
(20 ILCS 505/5) (from Ch. 23, par. 5005)
Sec. 5. Direct child welfare services; Department of
Children and Family Services. To provide direct child
welfare services when not available through other public or
private child care or program facilities.
(a) For purposes of this Section:
(1) "Children" means persons found within the State
who are under the age of 18 years. The term also
includes persons under age 19 who:
(A) were committed to the Department pursuant
to the Juvenile Court Act or the Juvenile Court Act
of 1987, as amended, prior to the age of 18 and who
continue under the jurisdiction of the court; or
(B) were accepted for care, service and
training by the Department prior to the age of 18
and whose best interest in the discretion of the
Department would be served by continuing that care,
service and training because of severe emotional
disturbances, physical disability, social adjustment
or any combination thereof, or because of the need
to complete an educational or vocational training
program.
(2) "Homeless youth" means persons found within the
State who are under the age of 19, are not in a safe and
stable living situation and cannot be reunited with their
families.
(3) "Child welfare services" means public social
services which are directed toward the accomplishment of
the following purposes:
(A) protecting and promoting the health,
safety and welfare of children, including homeless,
dependent or neglected children;
(B) remedying, or assisting in the solution of
problems which may result in, the neglect, abuse,
exploitation or delinquency of children;
(C) preventing the unnecessary separation of
children from their families by identifying family
problems, assisting families in resolving their
problems, and preventing the breakup of the family
where the prevention of child removal is desirable
and possible when the child can be cared for at home
without endangering the child's health and safety;
(D) restoring to their families children who
have been removed, by the provision of services to
the child and the families when the child can be
cared for at home without endangering the child's
health and safety;
(E) placing children in suitable adoptive
homes, in cases where restoration to the biological
family is not safe, possible or appropriate;
(F) assuring safe and adequate care of
children away from their homes, in cases where the
child cannot be returned home or cannot be placed
for adoption. At the time of placement, the
Department shall consider concurrent planning, as
described in subsection (l-1) of this Section so
that permanency may occur at the earliest
opportunity. Consideration should be given so that
if reunification fails or is delayed, the placement
made is the best available placement to provide
permanency for the child;
(G) (blank);
(H) (blank); and
(I) placing and maintaining children in
facilities that provide separate living quarters for
children under the age of 18 and for children 18
years of age and older, unless a child 18 years of
age is in the last year of high school education or
vocational training, in an approved individual or
group treatment program, in a licensed shelter
facility, or secure child care facility. The
Department is not required to place or maintain
children:
(i) who are in a foster home, or
(ii) who are persons with a developmental
disability, as defined in the Mental Health and
Developmental Disabilities Code, or
(iii) who are female children who are
pregnant, pregnant and parenting or parenting,
or
(iv) who are siblings,
in facilities that provide separate living quarters
for children 18 years of age and older and for
children under 18 years of age.
(b) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to
authorize the expenditure of public funds for the purpose of
performing abortions.
(c) The Department shall establish and maintain
tax-supported child welfare services and extend and seek to
improve voluntary services throughout the State, to the end
that services and care shall be available on an equal basis
throughout the State to children requiring such services.
(d) The Director may authorize advance disbursements for
any new program initiative to any agency contracting with the
Department. As a prerequisite for an advance disbursement,
the contractor must post a surety bond in the amount of the
advance disbursement and have a purchase of service contract
approved by the Department. The Department may pay up to 2
months operational expenses in advance. The amount of the
advance disbursement shall be prorated over the life of the
contract or the remaining months of the fiscal year,
whichever is less, and the installment amount shall then be
deducted from future bills. Advance disbursement
authorizations for new initiatives shall not be made to any
agency after that agency has operated during 2 consecutive
fiscal years. The requirements of this Section concerning
advance disbursements shall not apply with respect to the
following: payments to local public agencies for child day
care services as authorized by Section 5a of this Act; and
youth service programs receiving grant funds under Section
17a-4.
(e) (Blank).
(f) (Blank).
(g) The Department shall establish rules and regulations
concerning its operation of programs designed to meet the
goals of child safety and protection, family preservation,
family reunification, and adoption, including but not limited
to:
(1) adoption;
(2) foster care;
(3) family counseling;
(4) protective services;
(5) (blank);
(6) homemaker service;
(7) return of runaway children;
(8) (blank);
(9) placement under Section 5-7 of the Juvenile
Court Act or Section 2-27, 3-28, 4-25 or 5-740 of the
Juvenile Court Act of 1987 in accordance with the federal
Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980; and
(10) interstate services.
Rules and regulations established by the Department shall
include provisions for training Department staff and the
staff of Department grantees, through contracts with other
agencies or resources, in alcohol and drug abuse screening
techniques approved by the Department of Human Services, as a
successor to the Department of Alcoholism and Substance
Abuse, for the purpose of identifying children and adults who
should be referred to an alcohol and drug abuse treatment
program for professional evaluation.
(h) If the Department finds that there is no appropriate
program or facility within or available to the Department for
a ward and that no licensed private facility has an adequate
and appropriate program or none agrees to accept the ward,
the Department shall create an appropriate individualized,
program-oriented plan for such ward. The plan may be
developed within the Department or through purchase of
services by the Department to the extent that it is within
its statutory authority to do.
(i) Service programs shall be available throughout the
State and shall include but not be limited to the following
services:
(1) case management;
(2) homemakers;
(3) counseling;
(4) parent education;
(5) day care; and
(6) emergency assistance and advocacy.
In addition, the following services may be made available
to assess and meet the needs of children and families:
(1) comprehensive family-based services;
(2) assessments;
(3) respite care; and
(4) in-home health services.
The Department shall provide transportation for any of
the services it makes available to children or families or
for which it refers children or families.
(j) The Department may provide categories of financial
assistance and education assistance grants, and shall
establish rules and regulations concerning the assistance and
grants, to persons who adopt physically or mentally
handicapped, older and other hard-to-place children who (i)
immediately prior to their adoption were legal wards of the
Department or (ii) were determined eligible for financial
assistance with respect to a prior adoption and who become
available for adoption because the prior adoption has been
dissolved and the parental rights of the adoptive parents
have been terminated or because the child's adoptive parents
have died. The Department may also provide categories of
financial assistance and education assistance grants, and
shall establish rules and regulations for the assistance and
grants, to persons appointed guardian of the person under
Section 5-7 of the Juvenile Court Act or Section 2-27, 3-28,
4-25 or 5-740 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 for children
who were wards of the Department for 12 months immediately
prior to the appointment of the guardian.
The amount of assistance may vary, depending upon the
needs of the child and the adoptive parents, as set forth in
the annual assistance agreement. Special purpose grants are
allowed where the child requires special service but such
costs may not exceed the amounts which similar services would
cost the Department if it were to provide or secure them as
guardian of the child.
Any financial assistance provided under this subsection
is inalienable by assignment, sale, execution, attachment,
garnishment, or any other remedy for recovery or collection
of a judgment or debt.
(j-5) The Department shall not deny or delay the
placement of a child for adoption if an approved family is
available either outside of the Department region handling
the case, or outside of the State of Illinois.
(k) The Department shall accept for care and training
any child who has been adjudicated neglected or abused, or
dependent committed to it pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act
or the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
(l) Before July 1, 2000, the Department may provide, and
beginning July 1, 2000, the Department shall offer family
preservation services, as defined in Section 8.2 of the
Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, to help families,
including adoptive and extended families. Family preservation
services shall be offered (i) to prevent the placement of
children in substitute care when the children can be cared
for at home or in the custody of the person responsible for
the children's welfare, (ii) to reunite children with their
families, or (iii) to maintain an adoptive placement. Family
preservation services shall only be offered when doing so
will not endanger the children's health or safety. With
respect to children who are in substitute care pursuant to
the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, family preservation services
shall not be offered if a goal other than those of
subdivisions (A), (B), or (B-1) of subsection (2) of Section
2-28 of that Act has been set. Nothing in this paragraph
shall be construed to create a private right of action or
claim on the part of any individual or child welfare agency.
The Department shall notify the child and his family of
the Department's responsibility to offer and provide family
preservation services as identified in the service plan. The
child and his family shall be eligible for services as soon
as the report is determined to be "indicated". The
Department may offer services to any child or family with
respect to whom a report of suspected child abuse or neglect
has been filed, prior to concluding its investigation under
Section 7.12 of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act.
However, the child's or family's willingness to accept
services shall not be considered in the investigation. The
Department may also provide services to any child or family
who is the subject of any report of suspected child abuse or
neglect or may refer such child or family to services
available from other agencies in the community, even if the
report is determined to be unfounded, if the conditions in
the child's or family's home are reasonably likely to subject
the child or family to future reports of suspected child
abuse or neglect. Acceptance of such services shall be
voluntary.
The Department may, at its discretion except for those
children also adjudicated neglected or dependent, accept for
care and training any child who has been adjudicated
addicted, as a truant minor in need of supervision or as a
minor requiring authoritative intervention, under the
Juvenile Court Act or the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, but no
such child shall be committed to the Department by any court
without the approval of the Department. A minor charged with
a criminal offense under the Criminal Code of 1961 or
adjudicated delinquent shall not be placed in the custody of
or committed to the Department by any court, except a minor
less than 13 years of age committed to the Department under
Section 5-710 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
(l-1) The legislature recognizes that the best interests
of the child require that the child be placed in the most
permanent living arrangement as soon as is practically
possible. To achieve this goal, the legislature directs the
Department of Children and Family Services to conduct
concurrent planning so that permanency may occur at the
earliest opportunity. Permanent living arrangements may
include prevention of placement of a child outside the home
of the family when the child can be cared for at home without
endangering the child's health or safety; reunification with
the family, when safe and appropriate, if temporary placement
is necessary; or movement of the child toward the most
permanent living arrangement and permanent legal status.
When determining reasonable efforts to be made with
respect to a child, as described in this subsection, and in
making such reasonable efforts, the child's health and safety
shall be the paramount concern.
When a child is placed in foster care, the Department
shall ensure and document that reasonable efforts were made
to prevent or eliminate the need to remove the child from the
child's home. The Department must make reasonable efforts to
reunify the family when temporary placement of the child
occurs unless otherwise required, pursuant to the Juvenile
Court Act of 1987. At any time after the dispositional
hearing where the Department believes that further
reunification services would be ineffective, it may request a
finding from the court that reasonable efforts are no longer
appropriate. The Department is not required to provide
further reunification services after such a finding.
A decision to place a child in substitute care shall be
made with considerations of the child's health, safety, and
best interests. At the time of placement, consideration
should also be given so that if reunification fails or is
delayed, the placement made is the best available placement
to provide permanency for the child.
The Department shall adopt rules addressing concurrent
planning for reunification and permanency. The Department
shall consider the following factors when determining
appropriateness of concurrent planning:
(1) the likelihood of prompt reunification;
(2) the past history of the family;
(3) the barriers to reunification being addressed
by the family;
(4) the level of cooperation of the family;
(5) the foster parents' willingness to work with
the family to reunite;
(6) the willingness and ability of the foster
family to provide an adoptive home or long-term
placement;
(7) the age of the child;
(8) placement of siblings.
(m) The Department may assume temporary custody of any
child if:
(1) it has received a written consent to such
temporary custody signed by the parents of the child or
by the parent having custody of the child if the parents
are not living together or by the guardian or custodian
of the child if the child is not in the custody of either
parent, or
(2) the child is found in the State and neither a
parent, guardian nor custodian of the child can be
located.
If the child is found in his or her residence without a
parent, guardian, custodian or responsible caretaker, the
Department may, instead of removing the child and assuming
temporary custody, place an authorized representative of the
Department in that residence until such time as a parent,
guardian or custodian enters the home and expresses a
willingness and apparent ability to ensure the child's health
and safety and resume permanent charge of the child, or until
a relative enters the home and is willing and able to ensure
the child's health and safety and assume charge of the child
until a parent, guardian or custodian enters the home and
expresses such willingness and ability to ensure the child's
safety and resume permanent charge. After a caretaker has
remained in the home for a period not to exceed 12 hours, the
Department must follow those procedures outlined in Section
2-9, 3-11, 4-8, or 5-415 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
The Department shall have the authority, responsibilities
and duties that a legal custodian of the child would have
pursuant to subsection (9) of Section 1-3 of the Juvenile
Court Act of 1987. Whenever a child is taken into temporary
custody pursuant to an investigation under the Abused and
Neglected Child Reporting Act, or pursuant to a referral and
acceptance under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 of a minor in
limited custody, the Department, during the period of
temporary custody and before the child is brought before a
judicial officer as required by Section 2-9, 3-11, 4-8, or
5-415 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, shall have the
authority, responsibilities and duties that a legal custodian
of the child would have under subsection (9) of Section 1-3
of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
The Department shall ensure that any child taken into
custody is scheduled for an appointment for a medical
examination.
A parent, guardian or custodian of a child in the
temporary custody of the Department who would have custody of
the child if he were not in the temporary custody of the
Department may deliver to the Department a signed request
that the Department surrender the temporary custody of the
child. The Department may retain temporary custody of the
child for 10 days after the receipt of the request, during
which period the Department may cause to be filed a petition
pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. If a petition is
so filed, the Department shall retain temporary custody of
the child until the court orders otherwise. If a petition is
not filed within the 10 day period, the child shall be
surrendered to the custody of the requesting parent, guardian
or custodian not later than the expiration of the 10 day
period, at which time the authority and duties of the
Department with respect to the temporary custody of the child
shall terminate.
(m-1) The Department may place children under 18 years
of age in a secure child care facility licensed by the
Department that cares for children who are in need of secure
living arrangements for their health, safety, and well-being
after a determination is made by the facility director and
the Director or the Director's designate prior to admission
to the facility subject to Section 2-27.1 of the Juvenile
Court Act of 1987. This subsection (m-1) does not apply to a
child who is subject to placement in a correctional facility
operated pursuant to Section 3-15-2 of the Unified Code of
Corrections, unless the child is a ward who was placed under
the care of the Department before being subject to placement
in a correctional facility and a court of competent
jurisdiction has ordered placement of the child in a secure
care facility.
(n) The Department may place children under 18 years of
age in licensed child care facilities when in the opinion of
the Department, appropriate services aimed at family
preservation have been unsuccessful and cannot ensure the
child's health and safety or are unavailable and such
placement would be for their best interest. Payment for
board, clothing, care, training and supervision of any child
placed in a licensed child care facility may be made by the
Department, by the parents or guardians of the estates of
those children, or by both the Department and the parents or
guardians, except that no payments shall be made by the
Department for any child placed in a licensed child care
facility for board, clothing, care, training and supervision
of such a child that exceed the average per capita cost of
maintaining and of caring for a child in institutions for
dependent or neglected children operated by the Department.
However, such restriction on payments does not apply in cases
where children require specialized care and treatment for
problems of severe emotional disturbance, physical
disability, social adjustment, or any combination thereof and
suitable facilities for the placement of such children are
not available at payment rates within the limitations set
forth in this Section. All reimbursements for services
delivered shall be absolutely inalienable by assignment,
sale, attachment, garnishment or otherwise.
(o) The Department shall establish an administrative
review and appeal process for children and families who
request or receive child welfare services from the
Department. Children who are wards of the Department and are
placed by private child welfare agencies, and foster families
with whom those children are placed, shall be afforded the
same procedural and appeal rights as children and families in
the case of placement by the Department, including the right
to an initial review of a private agency decision by that
agency. The Department shall insure that any private child
welfare agency, which accepts wards of the Department for
placement, affords those rights to children and foster
families. The Department shall accept for administrative
review and an appeal hearing a complaint made by (i) a child
or foster family concerning a decision following an initial
review by a private child welfare agency or (ii) a
prospective adoptive parent who alleges a violation of
subsection (j-5) of this Section. An appeal of a decision
concerning a change in the placement of a child shall be
conducted in an expedited manner.
(p) There is hereby created the Department of Children
and Family Services Emergency Assistance Fund from which the
Department may provide special financial assistance to
families which are in economic crisis when such assistance is
not available through other public or private sources and the
assistance is deemed necessary to prevent dissolution of the
family unit or to reunite families which have been separated
due to child abuse and neglect. The Department shall
establish administrative rules specifying the criteria for
determining eligibility for and the amount and nature of
assistance to be provided. The Department may also enter
into written agreements with private and public social
service agencies to provide emergency financial services to
families referred by the Department. Special financial
assistance payments shall be available to a family no more
than once during each fiscal year and the total payments to a
family may not exceed $500 during a fiscal year.
(q) The Department may receive and use, in their
entirety, for the benefit of children any gift, donation or
bequest of money or other property which is received on
behalf of such children, or any financial benefits to which
such children are or may become entitled while under the
jurisdiction or care of the Department.
The Department shall set up and administer no-cost,
interest-bearing savings accounts in appropriate financial
institutions ("individual accounts") for children for whom
the Department is legally responsible and who have been
determined eligible for Veterans' Benefits, Social Security
benefits, assistance allotments from the armed forces, court
ordered payments, parental voluntary payments, Supplemental
Security Income, Railroad Retirement payments, Black Lung
benefits, or other miscellaneous payments. Interest earned
by each individual account shall be credited to the account,
unless disbursed in accordance with this subsection.
In disbursing funds from children's individual accounts,
the Department shall:
(1) Establish standards in accordance with State
and federal laws for disbursing money from children's
individual accounts. In all circumstances, the
Department's "Guardianship Administrator" or his or her
designee must approve disbursements from children's
individual accounts. The Department shall be responsible
for keeping complete records of all disbursements for
each individual account for any purpose.
(2) Calculate on a monthly basis the amounts paid
from State funds for the child's board and care, medical
care not covered under Medicaid, and social services; and
utilize funds from the child's individual account, as
covered by regulation, to reimburse those costs.
Monthly, disbursements from all children's individual
accounts, up to 1/12 of $13,000,000, shall be deposited
by the Department into the General Revenue Fund and the
balance over 1/12 of $13,000,000 into the DCFS Children's
Services Fund.
(3) Maintain any balance remaining after
reimbursing for the child's costs of care, as specified
in item (2). The balance shall accumulate in accordance
with relevant State and federal laws and shall be
disbursed to the child or his or her guardian, or to the
issuing agency.
(r) The Department shall promulgate regulations
encouraging all adoption agencies to voluntarily forward to
the Department or its agent names and addresses of all
persons who have applied for and have been approved for
adoption of a hard-to-place or handicapped child and the
names of such children who have not been placed for adoption.
A list of such names and addresses shall be maintained by the
Department or its agent, and coded lists which maintain the
confidentiality of the person seeking to adopt the child and
of the child shall be made available, without charge, to
every adoption agency in the State to assist the agencies in
placing such children for adoption. The Department may
delegate to an agent its duty to maintain and make available
such lists. The Department shall ensure that such agent
maintains the confidentiality of the person seeking to adopt
the child and of the child.
(s) The Department of Children and Family Services may
establish and implement a program to reimburse Department and
private child welfare agency foster parents licensed by the
Department of Children and Family Services for damages
sustained by the foster parents as a result of the malicious
or negligent acts of foster children, as well as providing
third party coverage for such foster parents with regard to
actions of foster children to other individuals. Such
coverage will be secondary to the foster parent liability
insurance policy, if applicable. The program shall be funded
through appropriations from the General Revenue Fund,
specifically designated for such purposes.
(t) The Department shall perform home studies and
investigations and shall exercise supervision over visitation
as ordered by a court pursuant to the Illinois Marriage and
Dissolution of Marriage Act or the Adoption Act only if:
(1) an order entered by an Illinois court
specifically directs the Department to perform such
services; and
(2) the court has ordered one or both of the
parties to the proceeding to reimburse the Department for
its reasonable costs for providing such services in
accordance with Department rules, or has determined that
neither party is financially able to pay.
The Department shall provide written notification to the
court of the specific arrangements for supervised visitation
and projected monthly costs within 60 days of the court
order. The Department shall send to the court information
related to the costs incurred except in cases where the court
has determined the parties are financially unable to pay. The
court may order additional periodic reports as appropriate.
(u) Whenever the Department places a child in a licensed
foster home, group home, child care institution, or in a
relative home, the Department shall provide to the caretaker:
(1) available detailed information concerning the
child's educational and health history, copies of
immunization records (including insurance and medical
card information), a history of the child's previous
placements, if any, and reasons for placement changes
excluding any information that identifies or reveals the
location of any previous caretaker;
(2) a copy of the child's portion of the client
service plan, including any visitation arrangement, and
all amendments or revisions to it as related to the
child; and
(3) information containing details of the child's
individualized educational plan when the child is
receiving special education services.
The caretaker shall be informed of any known social or
behavioral information (including, but not limited to,
criminal background, fire setting, perpetuation of sexual
abuse, destructive behavior, and substance abuse) necessary
to care for and safeguard the child.
(u-5) Effective July 1, 1995, only foster care
placements licensed as foster family homes pursuant to the
Child Care Act of 1969 shall be eligible to receive foster
care payments from the Department. Relative caregivers who,
as of July 1, 1995, were approved pursuant to approved
relative placement rules previously promulgated by the
Department at 89 Ill. Adm. Code 335 and had submitted an
application for licensure as a foster family home may
continue to receive foster care payments only until the
Department determines that they may be licensed as a foster
family home or that their application for licensure is denied
or until September 30, 1995, whichever occurs first.
(v) The Department shall access criminal history record
information as defined in the Illinois Uniform Conviction
Information Act and information maintained in the
adjudicatory and dispositional record system as defined in
Section 2605-355 of the Department of State Police Law (20
ILCS 2605/2605-355) if the Department determines the
information is necessary to perform its duties under the
Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, the Child Care Act
of 1969, and the Children and Family Services Act. The
Department shall provide for interactive computerized
communication and processing equipment that permits direct
on-line communication with the Department of State Police's
central criminal history data repository. The Department
shall comply with all certification requirements and provide
certified operators who have been trained by personnel from
the Department of State Police. In addition, one Office of
the Inspector General investigator shall have training in the
use of the criminal history information access system and
have access to the terminal. The Department of Children and
Family Services and its employees shall abide by rules and
regulations established by the Department of State Police
relating to the access and dissemination of this information.
(w) Within 120 days of August 20, 1995 (the effective
date of Public Act 89-392), the Department shall prepare and
submit to the Governor and the General Assembly, a written
plan for the development of in-state licensed secure child
care facilities that care for children who are in need of
secure living arrangements for their health, safety, and
well-being. For purposes of this subsection, secure care
facility shall mean a facility that is designed and operated
to ensure that all entrances and exits from the facility, a
building or a distinct part of the building, are under the
exclusive control of the staff of the facility, whether or
not the child has the freedom of movement within the
perimeter of the facility, building, or distinct part of the
building. The plan shall include descriptions of the types
of facilities that are needed in Illinois; the cost of
developing these secure care facilities; the estimated number
of placements; the potential cost savings resulting from the
movement of children currently out-of-state who are projected
to be returned to Illinois; the necessary geographic
distribution of these facilities in Illinois; and a proposed
timetable for development of such facilities.
(Source: P.A. 90-11, eff. 1-1-98; 90-27, eff. 1-1-98; 90-28,
eff. 1-1-98; 90-362, eff. 1-1-98; 90-590, eff. 1-1-99;
90-608, eff. 6-30-98; 90-655, eff. 7-30-98; 91-239, eff.
1-1-00; 91-357, eff. 7-29-99; revised 8-6-99.)
(20 ILCS 505/35.1) (from Ch. 23, par. 5035.1)
Sec. 35.1. The case and clinical records of patients in
Department supervised facilities, wards of the Department,
children receiving or applying for child welfare services,
persons receiving or applying for other services of the
Department, and Department reports of injury or abuse to
children shall not be open to the general public. Such case
and clinical records and reports or the information contained
therein shall be disclosed by the Director of the Department
to juvenile authorities when necessary for the discharge of
their official duties who request information concerning the
minor and who certify in writing that the information will
not be disclosed to any other party except as provided under
law or order of court. For purposes of this Section,
"juvenile authorities" means: (i) a judge of the circuit
court and members of the staff of the court designated by the
judge; (ii) parties to the proceedings under the Juvenile
Court Act of 1987 and their attorneys; (iii) probation
officers and court appointed advocates for the juvenile
authorized by the judge hearing the case; (iv) any
individual, public or private agency having custody of the
child pursuant to court order; (v) any individual, public or
private agency providing education, medical or mental health
service to the child when the requested information is needed
to determine the appropriate service or treatment for the
minor; (vi) any potential placement provider when such
release is authorized by the court for the limited purpose of
determining the appropriateness of the potential placement;
(vii) law enforcement officers and prosecutors; (viii) adult
and juvenile prisoner review boards; (ix) authorized military
personnel; (x) individuals authorized by court; (xi) the
Illinois General Assembly or any committee or commission
thereof. This Section does not apply to the Department's
fiscal records, other records of a purely administrative
nature, or any forms, documents or other records required of
facilities subject to licensure by the Department except as
may otherwise be provided under the Child Care Act of 1969.
Nothing contained in this Act prevents the sharing or
disclosure of information or records relating or pertaining
to juveniles subject to the provisions of the Serious
Habitual Offender Comprehensive Action Program when that
information is used to assist in the early identification and
treatment of habitual juvenile offenders.
Nothing contained in this Act prevents the sharing or
disclosure of information or records relating or pertaining
to the death of a minor under the care of or receiving
services from the Department and under the jurisdiction of
the juvenile court with the juvenile court, the State's
Attorney, and the minor's attorney.
Nothing contained in this Section prohibits or prevents
any individual dealing with or providing services to a minor
from sharing information with another individual dealing with
or providing services to a minor for the purpose of
coordinating efforts on behalf of the minor. The sharing of
such information is only for the purpose stated herein and is
to be consistent with the intent and purpose of the
confidentiality provisions of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
This provision does not abrogate any recognized privilege.
Sharing information does not include copying of records,
reports or case files unless authorized herein.
Nothing in this Section prohibits or prevents the
re-disclosure of records, reports, or other information that
reveals malfeasance or nonfeasance on the part of the
Department, its employees, or its agents. Nothing in this
Section prohibits or prevents the Department or a party in a
proceeding under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 from copying
records, reports, or case files for the purpose of sharing
those documents with other parties to the litigation.
(Source: P.A. 90-15, eff. 6-13-97; 90-590, eff. 1-1-00.)
Section 505. The Child Death Review Team Act is amended
by changing Section 25 as follows:
(20 ILCS 515/25)
Sec. 25. Team access to information.
(a) The Department shall provide to a child death review
team, on the request of the team chairperson, all records and
information in the Department's possession that are relevant
to the team's review of a child death, including records and
information concerning previous reports or investigations of
suspected child abuse or neglect.
(b) A child death review team shall have access to all
records and information that are relevant to its the team's
review of a child death and in the possession of a State or
local governmental agency. These records and information
include, without limitation, birth certificates, all relevant
medical and mental health records, records of law enforcement
agency investigations, records of coroner or medical examiner
investigations, records of the Department of Corrections
concerning a person's parole, records of a probation and
court services department, and records of a social services
agency that provided services to the child or the child's
family.
(Source: P.A. 88-614, eff. 9-7-94.)
Section 510. The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting
Act is amended by changing Section 7.21 as follows:
(325 ILCS 5/7.21)
Sec. 7.21. Multidisciplinary Review Committee.
(a) The Department may establish multidisciplinary
review committees in each region of the State to assure that
mandated reporters have the ability to have a review
conducted on any situation where a child abuse or neglect
report made by them was "unfounded", and they have concerns
about the adequacy of the investigation. These committees
shall draw upon the expertise of the Child Death Review Teams
as necessary and practicable. Each committee will be
composed of the following: a health care professional, a
Department employee, a law enforcement official, a licensed
social worker, and a representative of the State's attorney's
office. In appointing members of a committee, primary
consideration shall be given to a prospective member's prior
experience in dealing with cases of suspected child abuse or
neglect.
(b) Whenever the Department determines that a reported
incident of child abuse or neglect from a mandated reporter
is "unfounded", the mandated reporter may request a review of
the investigation within 10 days of the notification of the
final finding. Whenever the Department determines that a
reported incident of child abuse or neglect from a mandated
reporter or any other reporter is "unfounded", the minor's
guardian ad litem appointed under the Juvenile Court Act of
1987 may request a review of the investigation within 10 days
of the notification of the final finding if the subject of
the report is also the minor for whom the guardian ad litem
has been appointed. The review of the investigation
requested by the guardian ad litem may be conducted by the
Regional Child Protection Manager.
A This review under this subsection will be conducted by
the committee, except those requests for review that are made
by the guardian ad litem, which shall be conducted by the
Regional Child Protection Manager. The Department shall make
available to the committee all information in the
Department's possession concerning the case. The committee
shall make recommendations to the Department as to the
adequacy of the investigation and of the accuracy of the
final finding determination. These findings shall be
forwarded to the Regional Child Protection Manager.
(c) The Department shall provide complete records of
these investigations to the committee. Records provided to
the committee and recommendation reports generated by the
committee shall not be public record.
(c-5) On or before October 1 of each year, the Department
shall prepare a report setting forth (i) the number of
investigations reviewed by each committee during the previous
fiscal year and (ii) the number of those investigations that
the committee found to be inadequate. The report shall also
include a summary of the committee's comments and a summary
of the corrective action, if any, that was taken in response
to the committee's recommendations. The report shall be a
public record. The Department shall submit the report to the
General Assembly and shall make the report available to the
public upon request.
(d) The Department shall adopt rules to implement this
Section.
(Source: P.A. 89-269, eff. 1-1-96; 90-239, eff. 7-28-97.)
Section 995. Severability. The provisions of this Act
are severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.
INDEX
Statutes amended in order of appearance
20 ILCS 505/5 from Ch. 23, par. 5005
20 ILCS 505/35.1 from Ch. 23, par. 5035.1
20 ILCS 515/25
325 ILCS 5/7.21
720 ILCS 5/11-9.3
720 ILCS 5/11-9.5 new
720 ILCS 5/12-21.6
730 ILCS 5/3-3-7 from Ch. 38, par. 1003-3-7
730 ILCS 5/art. 17 heading new
730 ILCS 5/3-17-5 new
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