Section 315.20  Definitions

 

"Administrative case review" means a review of permanency planning open to the participation of the parents of the child, conducted by a person who is not responsible for the case management of, or the delivery of services to, either the child or the parents who are the subjects of the review. (See 42 USC 675(6).) The administrative case review is also open to the participation of other professionals involved in assessing or treating the child, any legal representative of the parent or child, and the foster parents as specified in 89 Ill. Adm. Code 316 (Administrative Case Reviews and Court Hearings).

 

"Best interest of the child", as defined in the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, means consideration of the following factors:

 

the physical safety and welfare of the child, including food, shelter, health, and clothing;

 

the development of the child's identity;

 

the child's background and ties, including familial, cultural, and religious;

 

the child's sense of attachments, including:

 

where the child actually feels love, attachment, and a sense of being valued (as opposed to where adults believe the child should feel such love, attachment, and a sense of being valued);

 

the child's sense of security;

 

the child's sense of familiarity;

 

continuity of affection for the child;

 

the least disruptive placement alternative for the child;

 

the child's wishes and long-term goals;

 

the child's community ties, including church, school, and friends;

 

the child's need for permanence, which includes the child's need for stability and continuity of relationships with parent figures and with siblings and other relatives;

 

the uniqueness of every family and child;

 

the risks attendant to entering and being in substitute care; and

 

the preferences of the persons available to care for the child. [705 ILCS 405/1-3]

 

"Children for whom the Department is legally responsible" means children for whom the Department has temporary protective custody, custody or guardianship via court order, or children whose parents have signed an adoptive surrender or voluntary placement agreement with the Department.

 

"Client service plan" means a written plan on a form prescribed by the Department that guides all participants in the plan of intervention toward the permanency goals for the children.

 

"Concurrent planning" means a process whereby the Department or its service provider works toward family reunification with a family whose children has been removed from the home while, at the same time, developing an alternative plan, if reunification with the family cannot be attained.

 

"Contact between siblings" means contact between or among siblings who are residing apart from one another, and may include, but is not limited to:  telephone calls; video conferencing; in person visitation; sending/receiving cards, letters, emails, text messages, gifts, etc.; sharing photographs or information; use of any approved social media (e.g., Facebook); and any other agreed upon forms of communication technology.

 

"Family" means one or more adults and children, related by blood, marriage, civil union, or adoption and residing in the same household.

 

"Father" means a man presumed to be the natural father of a child if:

 

he and the child's natural mother are or have been married to each other, even though the marriage is or could be declared invalid, and the child is born or conceived during such marriage;

 

after the child's birth, he and the child's natural mother have married each other, even though the marriage is or could be declared invalid, and he is named, with his consent, as the child's father on the child's birth certificate pursuant to Section 12 of the Vital Records Act [410 ILCS 535/12];

 

he and the child's natural mother have signed an acknowledgment of paternity in accordance with rules adopted by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services under Section 10-17.7 of the Illinois Public Aid Code [305 ILCS 5/10-17.7];

 

he and the child's mother have signed an acknowledgement of parentage or, if the natural father is someone other than the one presumed to be the father under this Section, an acknowledgement of parentage and denial of paternity in accordance with Section 12 of the Vital Records Act.  [750 ILCS 45/5]

 

A man can rebut a presumption of paternity only as provided in Section 5(b) of the Illinois Parentage Act of 1984 [750 ILCS 45/5(b)].  Father also means a man who adopts a child or has been determined by court or administrative adjudication to be the child's father.

 

"Fictive kin" means any individual, unrelated by birth or marriage, who:

 

is shown to have significant and close personal or emotional ties with the child or the child's family prior to the child's placement with the individual; or

 

is the current foster parent of a child in the custody or guardianship of the Department pursuant to the Child and Family Services Act and the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, if the child has been placed in the home for at least one year and has established a significant and family-like relationship with the foster parent, and the foster parent has been identified by the Department as the child's permanent connection.  [20 ILCS 505/7(b)]

 

"Godparent" is a person who sponsors a child at baptism or one in whom the parents have entrusted a special duty that includes assisting the child if the parent cannot raise the child.  If the person is considered to be the child's godparent, in order for placement to occur, the same placement selection criteria as contained in 89 Ill. Adm. Code 301.60 (Placement Selection Criteria) must be met.  If the godparent is not a licensed foster parent, all the conditions currently in effect for placement with relatives in 89 Ill. Adm. Code 301.80 (Relative Home Placement) must be met.

 

"Guardian" means an individual person appointed by the court to assume the responsibilities of the guardianship of the person as defined in Section 1-3 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 [705 ILCS 405/1-3] or Article XI of the Probate Act of 1975 [755 ILCS 5].

 

"Individual Treatment Plan" or "ITP" or "Treatment Plan" as defined in 59 Ill. Adm. Code 132 (Medicaid Community Mental Health Services Program) means a written document developed by the appropriate service provider staff with the participation of the client with a mental illness and, if applicable, the client's guardian, which specifies the client's diagnosis, problems, and service needs to be  addressed, the intermediate objectives and long-term goals for the services and the planned interventions for achieving these goals.

 

"Individualized Education Plan/Program" or "IEP" means the document prepared by the local school district, as a result of a Multi-disciplinary Conference, that identifies the specific special education services that will be provided to the child.  The IEP also includes education goals, services, frequency,  quantity and duration.  IEP is further defined in 23 Ill. Adm. Code 226 (Special Education).

 

"Individualized Family Service Plan" or "IFSP" means a written working document developed for each child in order to facilitate the provisions of Early Intervention (EI) services.  The IFSP is created by the family, an inter-disciplinary team, the core EI agency, and the case manager (service coordinator).  The EI agency is responsible for coordinating the IFSP implementation.

 

"Minimum parenting standards" means that a parent or other person responsible for the child's welfare is able and willing to ensure that a child is healthy and safe, which includes ensuring that the child is adequately fed, clothed appropriately for the weather conditions, provided with adequate shelter, protected from physical, mental and emotional harm, and provided with necessary medical care and education required by law.

 

"Parents" means the child's legal parents whose rights have not been terminated.  Biological fathers are considered legal parents when paternity has been established as required by the definition in this Section.

 

"Permanency goal" means the desired outcome of intervention and service that is determined to be consistent with the health, safety, well-being, and best interests of the child. A permanent legal status is usually a component of the permanency goal.

 

"Permanent connection" means a family-like relationship, consistent with a child's best interests, health, safety and well-being, that provides:

 

safe, stable and committed parenting;

 

unconditional love and lifelong support; and

 

a permanent legal status between child and family.

 

For a child for whom the Department is legally responsible, a permanent connection may be the child's parents or another caregiver in the child's home of origin. When the child cannot be safely returned home, a permanent connection may be the current or former foster parent or relative caregiver, an individual identified as an adoptive or legal guardianship placement resource, or another individual from among the child's or family's lifelong connections with whom a child has developed a familial relationship.

 

"Permanent legal status" means a legally binding relationship between a child and a family as established by birth or by a court of law.

 

"Relative", for purposes of placement of children for whom the Department is legally responsible, means any person, 21 years of age or over, other than the parent, who:

 

is currently related to the child in any of the following ways by blood, adoption, marriage, or civil union:  grandparent, sibling, great-grandparent, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, first cousin, first cousin once removed (children of one's first cousin to oneself), second cousin (children of first cousins are second cousins to each other), godparent (as defined in this Section), great-uncle, or great-aunt; or

 

is the spouse, or party to a civil union, of such a relative; or

 

is the child's step-father, step-mother, step-grandfather, step-grandmother or adult step-brother or step-sister; or

 

is the partner, or adult child of a partner, in a civil union with the child's mother or father; or

 

is a fictive kin as defined in this Section.

 

Relative also includes a person related in any of the foregoing ways to a sibling of a child, even though the person is not related to the child, when the child and its sibling are placed together with that person.  For children who have been in the guardianship of the Department, have been adopted, and are subsequently returned to the temporary custody or guardianship of the Department, a "relative" may also include any person who would have qualified as a relative under this definition prior to the adoption, but only if the Department determines that it would be in the best interests of the child to consider this person a relative. [20 ILCS 505/7(b)]

 

"Service termination planning" means service planning that starts with the first contact with the family and that focuses on providing a smooth transition from Department guardianship or custody. It includes the receipt of child welfare services to discharge from guardianship or custody and the termination of Department funded services.

 

"Siblings" means children who have at least one parent in common.  Children continue to be considered siblings after parental rights are terminated, if parental rights were terminated while a petition under Article II of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 was pending.  Children continue to be considered siblings after one or more of the children are adopted or placed in private guardianship, if they were in the custody or guardianship of the Department pursuant to Article II of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 [705 ILCS 405] immediately prior to the adoption or guardianship.  Step-siblings may be considered "siblings" when the children enter into substitute care together, have a positive relationship and share at least one parent in common.

 

"Substitute care" means the care of children who require placement away from their families or private guardians.  Substitute care includes foster family care, care provided in a relative home placement as defined in 89 Ill. Adm. Code 301 (Placement and Visitation Services), Section 301.80 (Relative Home Placement), care provided in a group home, care provided in a maternity center or a child care, mental health or other institution, and care provided in an independent living arrangement.

 

"Termination of parental rights" means a court order that relieves the legal parents of parental responsibility for the child and revokes all legal rights with respect to the child.  The termination order also frees the child from all obligations of maintenance and obedience with respect to the legal parents.

 

"Visitation" means face-to-face contact:

 

between parents and their children who are in substitute care;

 

between siblings in substitute care who are placed apart from one another; or

 

between siblings in substitute care with siblings who are not in substitute care (e.g., emancipated, case closed due to independence, adopted, placed in private guardianship, living in home of parent, etc.).

 

(Source:  Amended at 42 Ill. Reg. 2204, effective January 17, 2018)