Section 316.20  Definitions

"Abusive or inappropriate language" for the purposes of this Part, means the use of harsh, violent, profane, or derogatory remarks intended to demean, humiliate, mock, insult, or belittle an individual. The remarks can include, but are not limited to, name calling, or slurs based on an individual's actual or perceived race, religion, sex, age, disability, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

"Administrative case review" or "ACR" means a review of permanency planning open to the participation of the parents of the youth in care, conducted by a person who is not responsible for the case management of, or the delivery of services to, either the youth in care or the parents who are the subjects of the review. (See 42 U.S.C. 675(6)). The administrative case review is also open to the participation of other professionals involved in assessing or treating the youth in care, any legal representative of the parent or youth in care, and the foster parents as specified in this Part.

"Administrative case reviewer" or "Reviewer" means a trained professional who is not responsible for the case management of, or delivery of services to, either the youth in care or the parents who are the subjects of the review.

"Caregiver" for the purposes of this Part, means a foster parent or relative caregiver who provides care for a youth in care, or a designated official employed by and present at the licensed childcare facility in which a youth in care is placed.

"Case plan" means a written plan on a form prescribed by the Department that guides all participants in the plan toward the permanency goals for children and youth in Department custody.

"Child welfare contributing agency" or "contributing agency" means a public or private entity that, by contract or agreement with the Department, which provides placement or child welfare case management (or any combination of these) to children and families.

"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.

"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 and 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.

"Culturally competent haircare" for purposes of the Part means the ability to understand and provide appropriate haircare for children based on knowledge of the norms, traditions, and experiences of a child's ethnic background.

""Department" means the Department of Children and Family Services.

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

"Fictive kin" means a person who is, unrelated to a child by birth, marriage, tribal custom or adoption who is shown to have significant and close personal or emotional ties with the child or the child's family.  [20 ILCS 505/4d]

"Haircare" means all care and practices related to the maintenance, health, and expression of hair, including, but not limited to, the daily maintenance routine, cutting, styling, or dying of hair as well as culturally specific practices, products, and techniques that reflect and respect diverse identities of youth in care as well as promote dignity and self-worth. [20 ILCS 505/7.3b (b)(1)]

"Normalcy parenting" means empowering a caregiver to approve or not approve a child's participation in appropriate extracurricular enrichment, cultural and social activities based on the caregiver's assessment using the reasonable and prudent parent standard, without prior approval of the Department, the caseworkers, or the court. The purpose of normalcy parenting and the reasonable and prudent parent standard is to allow the child's participation in extracurricular, enrichment, cultural and social activities that are appropriate for the child's normal growth and development.  (See 20 ILCS 505/7.3a)

"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 89 Ill. Adm. Code 315 (Permanency Planning).

"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.

"Qualified Residential Treatment Program" or "QRTP" means a program that has a trauma-informed treatment model that is designed to address the needs, including clinical needs as appropriate, of children with serious emotional or behavioral disorders or disturbances and, with respect to a child, is able to implement the treatment identified for the child by the independent assessment of the child required under 42 U.S.C. 675a(c);

has registered or licensed nursing staff and other licensed clinical staff who:

provide care within the scope of their practice as defined by state law;

are on-site according to a trauma informed treatment model; and

are available 24 hours a day and seven days a week;

to the extent appropriate, and in accordance with the child's best interests, facilitates participation of family members in the child's treatment program;

facilitates outreach to the family members of the child, including siblings, documents how the outreach is made (including contact information), and maintains contact information for any known biological family and fictive kin of the child;

documents how family members are integrated into the treatment process for the child, including post-discharge, and how sibling connections are maintained;

provides discharge planning and family-based aftercare support for at least six months post-discharge; and

is licensed in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 671(a)(10) and is accredited by any of the following independent, not-for-profit organizations:

The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF);

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO);

The Council on Accreditation (COA); and

Any other independent, not-for-profit accrediting organization approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. (42 U.S.C. 672(k)(1)-(4)) [225 ILCS 10/2.35]

"Reasonable and prudent parent standard" means the standard, characterized by careful and sensible parental decisions that maintain the child's health, safety, and best interests while at the same time supporting the child's emotional and developmental growth, that a caregiver shall use when determining whether to allow a child in out-of-home care to participate in extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and social activities. [20 ILCS 505/7.3a(b)]

"Relative", for purposes of placement of children for whom the Department is legally responsible, means a person who is:

related to a child by blood, marriage, tribal custom, adoption, or civil union; or

is related to a child's sibling in any of the foregoing ways even though the person is not related to the child when the child and the child's sibling are placed together with that person or fictive kin as defined in this Part.  For children who have been in the guardianship of the Department following the termination of their parents' parental rights, been adopted, or placed in subsidized or unsubsidized guardianship and are subsequently returned to the temporary custody or guardianship of the Department, "relative" includes any person who would have qualified as a relative under this definition prior to the termination of the parents' parental rights if the Department determines and documents, or the court finds that it would be in the child's best interests to consider this person a relative based upon the factors for determining best interests set forth in subsection (4.05) of Section 1-3 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. [20 ILCS 505/4d]

"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 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.  Substitute care includes: foster family care; care provided in a relative home placement (89 Ill. Adm. Code 301.80 (Relative Home Placement)); care provided in a group home; care provided in a maternity center or a childcare, mental health or other institution, licensed by the Department and care provided in an independent living arrangement.

"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.).

"Waiting room" for the purposes of this Part, means a virtual location on online video conferencing platforms where review participants can be temporarily placed until the reviewer allows them into the virtual meeting room.

"Youth in care" for the purposes of this Part, means a person placed in the temporary custody or guardianship of the Department pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. The Department is legally responsible for the youth; a youth in care includes 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.  [20 ILCS 505/4d]

(Source:  Amended at 50 Ill. Reg. 1021, effective January 7, 2026)