Section 401.450  Transportation of Children

a)         These requirements apply to any child welfare agency that provides or arranges for the transportation of children to or from their home, whether a permanent home or a foster family home, to other prearranged sites, e.g., to another placement, for visits with family members, to a physician or to another professional.

b)         The child welfare agency must insure that all persons who transport children on behalf of the agency hold a valid driver's license and have insurance, as required by the Illinois Vehicle Code [625 ILCS 5].  (Persons with a special driving permit are not considered to have a valid driver's license.)

c)         The child welfare agency shall ask all drivers to answer the following questions in writing and shall include the response to these questions in their personnel files.  Persons who answer "yes" to either of the questions in subsection (c)(1), (2) or (3) shall not be permitted to transport children.

1)         Has your driver's license been revoked or suspended within the past 3 years?

2)         Have you been convicted of driving under the influence, manslaughter, or reckless homicide in the past 3 years?

3)         Have you caused an accident that resulted in the death of any person within the past 5 years? (See 225 ILCS 10/5.1(a).)

d)         The child welfare agency shall adopt emergency procedures to be followed in the event of an accident, serious illness, or severe weather.  Copies of these procedures and other pertinent information shall be provided to all persons driving on behalf of the child welfare agency.

e)         Age-appropriate safety restraints that are federally approved and labeled as such shall be used at all times when transporting children in vehicles having a gross weight of less than 10,000 pounds, except that individual safety restraints are not required when children ride as passengers in taxicabs or common carriers or public utilities.

f)         No more than one child may be in each seat belt or safety restraint.

(Source:  Amended at 30 Ill. Reg. 2699, effective February 27, 2006)