Public Act 104-0107
 
SB1504 EnrolledLRB104 09130 KTG 19186 b

    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Children and Family Services Act is amended 
by changing Sections 5 and 35.10 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 505/5)
    (Text of Section before amendment by P.A. 103-1061)
    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 21 who:
            (A) were committed to the Department pursuant to 
        the Juvenile Court Act or the Juvenile Court Act of 
        1987 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 permanent family 
        arrangements, through guardianship or adoption, in 
        cases where restoration to the birth family is not 
        safe, possible, or appropriate;
            (F) at the time of placement, conducting 
        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) (Blank).
    (b-5) The Department shall adopt rules to establish a 
process for all licensed residential providers in Illinois to 
submit data as required by the Department if they contract or 
receive reimbursement for children's mental health, substance 
use, and developmental disability services from the Department 
of Human Services, the Department of Juvenile Justice, or the 
Department of Healthcare and Family Services. The requested 
data must include, but is not limited to, capacity, staffing, 
and occupancy data for the purpose of establishing State need 
and placement availability. 
    All information collected, shared, or stored pursuant to 
this subsection shall be handled in accordance with all State 
and federal privacy laws and accompanying regulations and 
rules, including without limitation the federal Health 
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (Public 
Law 104-191) and the Mental Health and Developmental 
Disabilities Confidentiality Act. 
    (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 screening techniques to identify substance 
use disorders, as defined in the Substance Use Disorder Act, 
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 for an assessment at an organization appropriately 
licensed by the Department of Human Services for substance use 
disorder treatment.
    (h) If the Department finds that there is no appropriate 
program or facility within or available to the Department for 
a youth in care and that no licensed private facility has an 
adequate and appropriate program or none agrees to accept the 
youth in care, the Department shall create an appropriate 
individualized, program-oriented plan for such youth in care. 
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 children with physical or mental 
disabilities, children who are older, or other hard-to-place 
children who (i) immediately prior to their adoption were 
youth in care 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 continue to provide financial 
assistance and education assistance grants for a child who was 
determined eligible for financial assistance under this 
subsection (j) in the interim period beginning when the 
child's adoptive parents died and ending with the finalization 
of the new adoption of the child by another adoptive parent or 
parents. 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 youth in care 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) 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, except 
that reunification services may be offered as provided in 
paragraph (F) of subsection (2) of Section 2-28 of that Act. 
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, except that when a child is the 
subject of an action under Article II of the Juvenile Court Act 
of 1987 and the child's service plan calls for services to 
facilitate achievement of the permanency goal, the court 
hearing the action under Article II of the Juvenile Court Act 
of 1987 may order the Department to provide the services set 
out in the plan, if those services are not provided with 
reasonable promptness and if those services are available.
    The Department shall notify the child and the child's 
family of the Department's responsibility to offer and provide 
family preservation services as identified in the service 
plan. The child and the child's 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 also provide services to any 
child or family after completion of a family assessment, as an 
alternative to an investigation, as provided under the 
"differential response program" provided for in subsection 
(a-5) of Section 7.4 of the Abused and Neglected Child 
Reporting Act.
    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. On and after January 1, 2015 (the 
effective date of Public Act 98-803) and before January 1, 
2017, a minor charged with a criminal offense under the 
Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012 or 
adjudicated delinquent shall not be placed in the custody of 
or committed to the Department by any court, except (i) a minor 
less than 16 years of age committed to the Department under 
Section 5-710 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, (ii) a minor 
for whom an independent basis of abuse, neglect, or dependency 
exists, which must be defined by departmental rule, or (iii) a 
minor for whom the court has granted a supplemental petition 
to reinstate wardship pursuant to subsection (2) of Section 
2-33 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. On and after January 1, 
2017, a minor charged with a criminal offense under the 
Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012 or 
adjudicated delinquent shall not be placed in the custody of 
or committed to the Department by any court, except (i) a minor 
less than 15 years of age committed to the Department under 
Section 5-710 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, (ii) a minor 
for whom an independent basis of abuse, neglect, or dependency 
exists, which must be defined by departmental rule, or (iii) a 
minor for whom the court has granted a supplemental petition 
to reinstate wardship pursuant to subsection (2) of Section 
2-33 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. An independent basis 
exists when the allegations or adjudication of abuse, neglect, 
or dependency do not arise from the same facts, incident, or 
circumstances which give rise to a charge or adjudication of 
delinquency. The Department shall assign a caseworker to 
attend any hearing involving a youth in the care and custody of 
the Department who is placed on aftercare release, including 
hearings involving sanctions for violation of aftercare 
release conditions and aftercare release revocation hearings. 
    As soon as is possible after August 7, 2009 (the effective 
date of Public Act 96-134), the Department shall develop and 
implement a special program of family preservation services to 
support intact, foster, and adoptive families who are 
experiencing extreme hardships due to the difficulty and 
stress of caring for a child who has been diagnosed with a 
pervasive developmental disorder if the Department determines 
that those services are necessary to ensure the health and 
safety of the child. The Department may offer services to any 
family whether or not a report has been filed under the Abused 
and Neglected Child Reporting Act. The Department may refer 
the child or family to services available from other agencies 
in the community 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 these services shall be voluntary. The Department shall 
develop and implement a public information campaign to alert 
health and social service providers and the general public 
about these special family preservation services. The nature 
and scope of the services offered and the number of families 
served under the special program implemented under this 
paragraph shall be determined by the level of funding that the 
Department annually allocates for this purpose. The term 
"pervasive developmental disorder" under this paragraph means 
a neurological condition, including, but not limited to, 
Asperger's Syndrome and autism, as defined in the most recent 
edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental 
Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association.
    (l-1) The General Assembly 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 General Assembly 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 the child's 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 the child 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 youth in care who was placed in 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, or 
garnishment or otherwise.
    (n-1) The Department shall provide or authorize child 
welfare services, aimed at assisting minors to achieve 
sustainable self-sufficiency as independent adults, for any 
minor eligible for the reinstatement of wardship pursuant to 
subsection (2) of Section 2-33 of the Juvenile Court Act of 
1987, whether or not such reinstatement is sought or allowed, 
provided that the minor consents to such services and has not 
yet attained the age of 21. The Department shall have 
responsibility for the development and delivery of services 
under this Section. An eligible youth may access services 
under this Section through the Department of Children and 
Family Services or by referral from the Department of Human 
Services. Youth participating in services under this Section 
shall cooperate with the assigned case manager in developing 
an agreement identifying the services to be provided and how 
the youth will increase skills to achieve self-sufficiency. A 
homeless shelter is not considered appropriate housing for any 
youth receiving child welfare services under this Section. The 
Department shall continue child welfare services under this 
Section to any eligible minor until the minor becomes 21 years 
of age, no longer consents to participate, or achieves 
self-sufficiency as identified in the minor's service plan. 
The Department of Children and Family Services shall create 
clear, readable notice of the rights of former foster youth to 
child welfare services under this Section and how such 
services may be obtained. The Department of Children and 
Family Services and the Department of Human Services shall 
disseminate this information statewide. The Department shall 
adopt regulations describing services intended to assist 
minors in achieving sustainable self-sufficiency as 
independent adults. 
    (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. 
Youth in care who are placed by private child welfare 
agencies, and foster families with whom those youth 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 
ensure that any private child welfare agency, which accepts 
youth in care 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. A court determination that a 
current foster home placement is necessary and appropriate 
under Section 2-28 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 does not 
constitute a judicial determination on the merits of an 
administrative appeal, filed by a former foster parent, 
involving a change of placement decision.
    (p) (Blank).
    (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, except that the benefits described in Section 
5.46 must be used and conserved consistent with the provisions 
under Section 5.46.
    The Department shall set up and administer no-cost, 
interest-bearing accounts in appropriate financial 
institutions 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 account shall 
be credited to the account, unless disbursed in accordance 
with this subsection.
    In disbursing funds from children's accounts, the 
Department shall:
        (1) Establish standards in accordance with State and 
    federal laws for disbursing money from children's 
    accounts. In all circumstances, the Department's 
    Guardianship Administrator or the Guardianship 
    Administrator's designee must approve disbursements from 
    children's accounts. The Department shall be responsible 
    for keeping complete records of all disbursements for each 
    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 account, as covered by 
    regulation, to reimburse those costs. Monthly, 
    disbursements from all children's 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 the child's 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 child or child with a disability 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) In addition to other information that must be 
provided, whenever the Department places a child with a 
prospective adoptive parent or parents, in a licensed foster 
home, group home, or child care institution, or in a relative 
home, the Department shall provide to the prospective adoptive 
parent or parents or other 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 children to be placed or currently 
in the home. The Department may prepare a written summary of 
the information required by this paragraph, which may be 
provided to the foster or prospective adoptive parent in 
advance of a placement. The foster or prospective adoptive 
parent may review the supporting documents in the child's file 
in the presence of casework staff. In the case of an emergency 
placement, casework staff shall at least provide known 
information verbally, if necessary, and must subsequently 
provide the information in writing as required by this 
subsection. 
    The information described in this subsection shall be 
provided in writing. In the case of emergency placements when 
time does not allow prior review, preparation, and collection 
of written information, the Department shall provide such 
information as it becomes available. Within 10 business days 
after placement, the Department shall obtain from the 
prospective adoptive parent or parents or other caretaker a 
signed verification of receipt of the information provided. 
Within 10 business days after placement, the Department shall 
provide to the child's guardian ad litem a copy of the 
information provided to the prospective adoptive parent or 
parents or other caretaker. The information provided to the 
prospective adoptive parent or parents or other caretaker 
shall be reviewed and approved regarding accuracy at the 
supervisory level. 
    (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 Illinois State Police Law 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 Illinois 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 Illinois 
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 Illinois State Police relating to the access and 
dissemination of this information.
    (v-1) Prior to final approval for placement of a child, 
the Department shall conduct a criminal records background 
check of the prospective foster or adoptive parent, including 
fingerprint-based checks of national crime information 
databases. Final approval for placement shall not be granted 
if the record check reveals a felony conviction for child 
abuse or neglect, for spousal abuse, for a crime against 
children, or for a crime involving violence, including rape, 
sexual assault, or homicide, but not including other physical 
assault or battery, or if there is a felony conviction for 
physical assault, battery, or a drug-related offense committed 
within the past 5 years.
    (v-2) Prior to final approval for placement of a child, 
the Department shall check its child abuse and neglect 
registry for information concerning prospective foster and 
adoptive parents, and any adult living in the home. If any 
prospective foster or adoptive parent or other adult living in 
the home has resided in another state in the preceding 5 years, 
the Department shall request a check of that other state's 
child abuse and neglect registry. 
    (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.
    (x) The Department shall conduct annual credit history 
checks to determine the financial history of children placed 
under its guardianship pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act of 
1987. The Department shall conduct such credit checks starting 
when a youth in care turns 12 years old and each year 
thereafter for the duration of the guardianship as terminated 
pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. The Department 
shall determine if financial exploitation of the child's 
personal information has occurred. If financial exploitation 
appears to have taken place or is presently ongoing, the 
Department shall notify the proper law enforcement agency, the 
proper State's Attorney, or the Attorney General.
    (y) Beginning on July 22, 2010 (the effective date of 
Public Act 96-1189), a child with a disability who receives 
residential and educational services from the Department shall 
be eligible to receive transition services in accordance with 
Article 14 of the School Code from the age of 14.5 through age 
21, inclusive, notwithstanding the child's residential 
services arrangement. For purposes of this subsection, "child 
with a disability" means a child with a disability as defined 
by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education 
Improvement Act of 2004. 
    (z) The Department shall access criminal history record 
information as defined as "background information" in this 
subsection and criminal history record information as defined 
in the Illinois Uniform Conviction Information Act for each 
Department employee or Department applicant. Each Department 
employee or Department applicant shall submit the employee's 
or applicant's fingerprints to the Illinois State Police in 
the form and manner prescribed by the Illinois State Police. 
These fingerprints shall be checked against the fingerprint 
records now and hereafter filed in the Illinois State Police 
and the Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal history 
records databases. The Illinois State Police shall charge a 
fee for conducting the criminal history record check, which 
shall be deposited into the State Police Services Fund and 
shall not exceed the actual cost of the record check. The 
Illinois State Police shall furnish, pursuant to positive 
identification, all Illinois conviction information to the 
Department of Children and Family Services. 
    For purposes of this subsection: 
    "Background information" means all of the following: 
        (i) Upon the request of the Department of Children and 
    Family Services, conviction information obtained from the 
    Illinois State Police as a result of a fingerprint-based 
    criminal history records check of the Illinois criminal 
    history records database and the Federal Bureau of 
    Investigation criminal history records database concerning 
    a Department employee or Department applicant. 
        (ii) Information obtained by the Department of 
    Children and Family Services after performing a check of 
    the Illinois State Police's Sex Offender Database, as 
    authorized by Section 120 of the Sex Offender Community 
    Notification Law, concerning a Department employee or 
    Department applicant. 
        (iii) Information obtained by the Department of 
    Children and Family Services after performing a check of 
    the Child Abuse and Neglect Tracking System (CANTS) 
    operated and maintained by the Department. 
    "Department employee" means a full-time or temporary 
employee coded or certified within the State of Illinois 
Personnel System. 
    "Department applicant" means an individual who has 
conditional Department full-time or part-time work, a 
contractor, an individual used to replace or supplement staff, 
an academic intern, a volunteer in Department offices or on 
Department contracts, a work-study student, an individual or 
entity licensed by the Department, or an unlicensed service 
provider who works as a condition of a contract or an agreement 
and whose work may bring the unlicensed service provider into 
contact with Department clients or client records. 
(Source: P.A. 102-538, eff. 8-20-21; 102-558, eff. 8-20-21; 
102-1014, eff. 5-27-22; 103-22, eff. 8-8-23; 103-50, eff. 
1-1-24; 103-546, eff. 8-11-23; 103-605, eff. 7-1-24.)
 
    (Text of Section after amendment by P.A. 103-1061)
    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 21 who:
            (A) were committed to the Department pursuant to 
        the Juvenile Court Act or the Juvenile Court Act of 
        1987 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 permanent family 
        arrangements, through guardianship or adoption, in 
        cases where restoration to the birth family is not 
        safe, possible, or appropriate;
            (F) at the time of placement, conducting 
        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;
            (F-1) preparing adolescents to successfully 
        transition to independence, including transition 
        planning for youth who qualify for a guardian as a 
        person with a disability under Article XIa of the 
        Probate Act of 1975; 
            (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) (Blank).
    (b-5) The Department shall adopt rules to establish a 
process for all licensed residential providers in Illinois to 
submit data as required by the Department if they contract or 
receive reimbursement for children's mental health, substance 
use, and developmental disability services from the Department 
of Human Services, the Department of Juvenile Justice, or the 
Department of Healthcare and Family Services. The requested 
data must include, but is not limited to, capacity, staffing, 
and occupancy data for the purpose of establishing State need 
and placement availability. 
    All information collected, shared, or stored pursuant to 
this subsection shall be handled in accordance with all State 
and federal privacy laws and accompanying regulations and 
rules, including without limitation the federal Health 
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (Public 
Law 104-191) and the Mental Health and Developmental 
Disabilities Confidentiality Act. 
    (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, and 
permanency, including, but not limited to:
        (1) reunification, guardianship, and adoption;
        (2) relative and licensed 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; and .
        (11) transition planning for youth aging out of care. 
    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 screening techniques to identify substance 
use disorders, as defined in the Substance Use Disorder Act, 
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 for an assessment at an organization appropriately 
licensed by the Department of Human Services for substance use 
disorder treatment.
    (h) If the Department finds that there is no appropriate 
program or facility within or available to the Department for 
a youth in care and that no licensed private facility has an 
adequate and appropriate program or none agrees to accept the 
youth in care, the Department shall create an appropriate 
individualized, program-oriented plan for such youth in care. 
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;
        (6) emergency assistance and advocacy; and
        (7) kinship navigator and relative caregiver supports. 
    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 or become subsidized guardians of 
children with physical or mental disabilities, children who 
are older, or other hard-to-place children who (i) immediately 
prior to their adoption or subsidized guardianship were youth 
in care 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 continue to provide financial 
assistance and education assistance grants for a child who was 
determined eligible for financial assistance under this 
subsection (j) in the interim period beginning when the 
child's adoptive parents died and ending with the finalization 
of the new adoption of the child by another adoptive parent or 
parents. 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 youth in care 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 or subsidized 
guardians, 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) 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 adoption or subsidized guardianship. 
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 (2.3) of Section 2-28 of that Act 
has been set, except that reunification services may be 
offered as provided in paragraph (F) of subsection (2.3) of 
Section 2-28 of that Act. 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, except that 
when a child is the subject of an action under Article II of 
the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 and the child's service plan 
calls for services to facilitate achievement of the permanency 
goal, the court hearing the action under Article II of the 
Juvenile Court Act of 1987 may order the Department to provide 
the services set out in the plan, if those services are not 
provided with reasonable promptness and if those services are 
available.
    The Department shall notify the child and the child's 
family of the Department's responsibility to offer and provide 
family preservation services as identified in the service 
plan. The child and the child's 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 also provide services to any 
child or family after completion of a family assessment, as an 
alternative to an investigation, as provided under the 
"differential response program" provided for in subsection 
(a-5) of Section 7.4 of the Abused and Neglected Child 
Reporting Act.
    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. On and after January 1, 2015 (the 
effective date of Public Act 98-803) and before January 1, 
2017, a minor charged with a criminal offense under the 
Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012 or 
adjudicated delinquent shall not be placed in the custody of 
or committed to the Department by any court, except (i) a minor 
less than 16 years of age committed to the Department under 
Section 5-710 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, (ii) a minor 
for whom an independent basis of abuse, neglect, or dependency 
exists, which must be defined by departmental rule, or (iii) a 
minor for whom the court has granted a supplemental petition 
to reinstate wardship pursuant to subsection (2) of Section 
2-33 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. On and after January 1, 
2017, a minor charged with a criminal offense under the 
Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012 or 
adjudicated delinquent shall not be placed in the custody of 
or committed to the Department by any court, except (i) a minor 
less than 15 years of age committed to the Department under 
Section 5-710 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, (ii) a minor 
for whom an independent basis of abuse, neglect, or dependency 
exists, which must be defined by departmental rule, or (iii) a 
minor for whom the court has granted a supplemental petition 
to reinstate wardship pursuant to subsection (2) of Section 
2-33 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. An independent basis 
exists when the allegations or adjudication of abuse, neglect, 
or dependency do not arise from the same facts, incident, or 
circumstances which give rise to a charge or adjudication of 
delinquency. The Department shall assign a caseworker to 
attend any hearing involving a youth in the care and custody of 
the Department who is placed on aftercare release, including 
hearings involving sanctions for violation of aftercare 
release conditions and aftercare release revocation hearings. 
    As soon as is possible, the Department shall develop and 
implement a special program of family preservation services to 
support intact, relative, foster, and adoptive families who 
are experiencing extreme hardships due to the difficulty and 
stress of caring for a child who has been diagnosed with a 
pervasive developmental disorder if the Department determines 
that those services are necessary to ensure the health and 
safety of the child. The Department may offer services to any 
family whether or not a report has been filed under the Abused 
and Neglected Child Reporting Act. The Department may refer 
the child or family to services available from other agencies 
in the community 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 these services shall be voluntary. The Department shall 
develop and implement a public information campaign to alert 
health and social service providers and the general public 
about these special family preservation services. The nature 
and scope of the services offered and the number of families 
served under the special program implemented under this 
paragraph shall be determined by the level of funding that the 
Department annually allocates for this purpose. The term 
"pervasive developmental disorder" under this paragraph means 
a neurological condition, including, but not limited to, 
Asperger's Syndrome and autism, as defined in the most recent 
edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental 
Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association.
    (l-1) The General Assembly recognizes that the best 
interests of the child require that the child be placed in the 
most permanent living arrangement that is an appropriate 
option for the child, consistent with the child's best 
interest, using the factors set forth in subsection (4.05) of 
Section 1-3 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 as soon as is 
practically possible. To achieve this goal, the General 
Assembly 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 appropriate living arrangement and 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. The Department shall make diligent efforts to 
place the child with a relative, document those diligent 
efforts, and document reasons for any failure or inability to 
secure such a relative placement. If the primary issue 
preventing an emergency placement of a child with a relative 
is a lack of resources, including, but not limited to, 
concrete goods, safety modifications, and services, the 
Department shall make diligent efforts to assist the relative 
in obtaining the necessary resources. No later than July 1, 
2025, the Department shall adopt rules defining what is 
diligent and necessary in providing supports to potential 
relative placements. At the time of placement, consideration 
should also be given so that if reunification fails or is 
delayed, the placement has the potential to be an appropriate 
permanent placement 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;
        (4.5) the child's wishes; 
        (5) the caregivers' willingness to work with the 
    family to reunite;
        (6) the willingness and ability of the caregivers' to 
    provide a permanent placement;
        (7) the age of the child;
        (8) placement of siblings; and
        (9) the wishes of the parent or parents unless the 
    parental preferences are contrary to the best interests of 
    the child. 
    (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 the child's 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 the child 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 youth in care who was placed in 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, or 
garnishment or otherwise.
    (n-1) The Department shall provide or authorize child 
welfare services, aimed at assisting minors to achieve 
sustainable self-sufficiency as independent adults, for any 
minor eligible for the reinstatement of wardship pursuant to 
subsection (2) of Section 2-33 of the Juvenile Court Act of 
1987, whether or not such reinstatement is sought or allowed, 
provided that the minor consents to such services and has not 
yet attained the age of 21. The Department shall have 
responsibility for the development and delivery of services 
under this Section. An eligible youth may access services 
under this Section through the Department of Children and 
Family Services or by referral from the Department of Human 
Services. Youth participating in services under this Section 
shall cooperate with the assigned case manager in developing 
an agreement identifying the services to be provided and how 
the youth will increase skills to achieve self-sufficiency. A 
homeless shelter is not considered appropriate housing for any 
youth receiving child welfare services under this Section. The 
Department shall continue child welfare services under this 
Section to any eligible minor until the minor becomes 21 years 
of age, no longer consents to participate, or achieves 
self-sufficiency as identified in the minor's service plan. 
The Department of Children and Family Services shall create 
clear, readable notice of the rights of former foster youth to 
child welfare services under this Section and how such 
services may be obtained. The Department of Children and 
Family Services and the Department of Human Services shall 
disseminate this information statewide. The Department shall 
adopt regulations describing services intended to assist 
minors in achieving sustainable self-sufficiency as 
independent adults. 
    (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. 
Youth in care who are placed by private child welfare 
agencies, and caregivers with whom those youth 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 
ensure that any private child welfare agency, which accepts 
youth in care for placement, affords those rights to children 
and caregivers with whom those children are placed. The 
Department shall accept for administrative review and an 
appeal hearing a complaint made by (i) a child or caregiver 
with whom the child is placed 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. A court determination that a 
current placement is necessary and appropriate under Section 
2-28 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 does not constitute a 
judicial determination on the merits of an administrative 
appeal, filed by a former caregiver, involving a change of 
placement decision. No later than July 1, 2025, the Department 
shall adopt rules to develop a reconsideration process to 
review: a denial of certification of a relative, a denial of 
placement with a relative, and a denial of visitation with an 
identified relative. Rules shall include standards and 
criteria for reconsideration that incorporate the best 
interests of the child under subsection (4.05) of Section 1-3 
of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, address situations where 
multiple relatives seek certification, and provide that all 
rules regarding placement changes shall be followed. The rules 
shall outline the essential elements of each form used in the 
implementation and enforcement of the provisions of this 
amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly. 
    (p) (Blank).
    (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, except that the benefits described in Section 
5.46 must be used and conserved consistent with the provisions 
under Section 5.46.
    The Department shall set up and administer no-cost, 
interest-bearing accounts in appropriate financial 
institutions 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 account shall 
be credited to the account, unless disbursed in accordance 
with this subsection.
    In disbursing funds from children's accounts, the 
Department shall:
        (1) Establish standards in accordance with State and 
    federal laws for disbursing money from children's 
    accounts. In all circumstances, the Department's 
    Guardianship Administrator or the Guardianship 
    Administrator's designee must approve disbursements from 
    children's accounts. The Department shall be responsible 
    for keeping complete records of all disbursements for each 
    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 account, as covered by 
    regulation, to reimburse those costs. Monthly, 
    disbursements from all children's 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 the child's 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 child or child with a disability 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 caregivers 
licensed, certified, or otherwise approved by the Department 
of Children and Family Services for damages sustained by the 
caregivers as a result of the malicious or negligent acts of 
children placed by the Department, as well as providing third 
party coverage for such caregivers with regard to actions of 
children placed by the Department to other individuals. Such 
coverage will be secondary to the caregiver's 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) In addition to other information that must be 
provided, whenever the Department places a child with a 
prospective adoptive parent or parents, in a licensed foster 
home, group home, or child care institution, in a relative 
home, or in a certified relative caregiver home, the 
Department shall provide to the caregiver, appropriate 
facility staff, or prospective adoptive parent or parents:
        (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 caregiver or adoptive parents;
        (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 caregiver, appropriate facility staff, or prospective 
adoptive parent or parents, 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 children to be placed or currently 
in the home or setting. The Department may prepare a written 
summary of the information required by this paragraph, which 
may be provided to the caregiver, appropriate facility staff, 
or prospective adoptive parent in advance of a placement. The 
caregiver, appropriate facility staff, or prospective adoptive 
parent may review the supporting documents in the child's file 
in the presence of casework staff. In the case of an emergency 
placement, casework staff shall at least provide known 
information verbally, if necessary, and must subsequently 
provide the information in writing as required by this 
subsection. 
    The information described in this subsection shall be 
provided in writing. In the case of emergency placements when 
time does not allow prior review, preparation, and collection 
of written information, the Department shall provide such 
information as it becomes available. Within 10 business days 
after placement, the Department shall obtain from the 
caregiver, appropriate facility staff, or prospective adoptive 
parent or parents a signed verification of receipt of the 
information provided. Within 10 business days after placement, 
the Department shall provide to the child's guardian ad litem 
a copy of the information provided to the caregiver, 
appropriate facility staff, or prospective adoptive parent or 
parents. The information provided to the caregiver, 
appropriate facility staff, or prospective adoptive parent or 
parents shall be reviewed and approved regarding accuracy at 
the supervisory level. 
    (u-5) Beginning July 1, 2025, certified relative caregiver 
homes under Section 3.4 of the Child Care Act of 1969 shall be 
eligible to receive foster care maintenance payments from the 
Department in an amount no less than payments made to licensed 
foster family homes. Beginning July 1, 2025, relative homes 
providing care to a child placed by the Department that are not 
a certified relative caregiver home under Section 3.4 of the 
Child Care Act of 1969 or a licensed foster family home shall 
be eligible to receive payments from the Department in an 
amount no less 90% of the payments made to licensed foster 
family homes and certified relative caregiver homes.
    (u-6) To assist relative and certified relative 
caregivers, no later than July 1, 2025, the Department shall 
adopt rules to implement a relative support program, as 
follows: 
        (1) For relative and certified relative caregivers, 
    the Department is authorized to reimburse or prepay 
    reasonable expenditures to remedy home conditions 
    necessary to fulfill the home safety-related requirements 
    of relative caregiver homes. 
        (2) The Department may provide short-term emergency 
    funds to relative and certified relative caregiver homes 
    experiencing extreme hardships due to the difficulty and 
    stress associated with adding youth in care as new 
    household members. 
        (3) Consistent with federal law, the Department shall 
    include in any State Plan made in accordance with the 
    Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, Titles 
    IV-E and XIX of the Social Security Act, and any other 
    applicable federal laws the provision of kinship navigator 
    program services. The Department shall apply for and 
    administer all relevant federal aid in accordance with 
    law. Federal funds acquired for the kinship navigator 
    program shall be used for the development, implementation, 
    and operation of kinship navigator program services. The 
    kinship navigator program services may provide 
    information, referral services, support, and assistance to 
    relative and certified relative caregivers of youth in 
    care to address their unique needs and challenges. Until 
    the Department is approved to receive federal funds for 
    these purposes, the Department shall publicly post on the 
    Department's website semi-annual updates regarding the 
    Department's progress in pursuing federal funding. 
    Whenever the Department publicly posts these updates on 
    its website, the Department shall notify the General 
    Assembly through the General Assembly's designee. 
    (u-7) To support finding permanency for children through 
subsidized guardianship and adoption and to prevent disruption 
in guardianship and adoptive placements, the Department shall 
establish and maintain accessible subsidized guardianship and 
adoption support services for all children under 18 years of 
age placed in guardianship or adoption who, immediately 
preceding the guardianship or adoption, were in the custody or 
guardianship of the Department under Article II of the 
Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
    The Department shall establish and maintain a toll-free 
number to respond to requests from the public about its 
subsidized guardianship and adoption support services under 
this subsection and shall staff the toll-free number so that 
calls are answered on a timely basis, but in no event more than 
one business day after the receipt of a request. These 
requests from the public may be made anonymously. To meet this 
obligation, the Department may utilize the same toll-free 
number the Department operates to respond to post-adoption 
requests under subsection (b-5) of Section 18.9 of the 
Adoption Act. The Department shall publicize information about 
the Department's subsidized guardianship support services and 
toll-free number as follows:
        (1) it shall post information on the Department's 
    website;
        (2) it shall provide the information to every licensed 
    child welfare agency and any entity providing subsidized 
    guardianship support services in Illinois courts;
        (3) it shall reference such information in the 
    materials the Department provides to caregivers pursuing 
    subsidized guardianship to inform them of their rights and 
    responsibilities under the Child Care Act of 1969 and this 
    Act;
        (4) it shall provide the information, including the 
    Department's Post Adoption and Guardianship Services 
    booklet, to eligible caregivers as part of its 
    guardianship training and at the time they are presented 
    with the Permanency Commitment form;
        (5) it shall include, in each annual notification 
    letter mailed to subsidized guardians, a short, 2-sided 
    flier or news bulletin in plain language that describes 
    access to post-guardianship services, how to access 
    services under the Family Support Program, formerly known 
    as the Individual Care Grant Program, the webpage address 
    to the Post Adoption and Guardianship Services booklet, 
    information on how to request that a copy of the booklet be 
    mailed; and
        (6) it shall ensure that kinship navigator programs of 
    this State, when established, have this information to 
    include in materials the programs provide to caregivers.
    No later than July 1, 2026, the Department shall provide a 
mechanism for the public to make information requests by 
electronic means. 
    The Department shall review and update annually all 
information relating to its subsidized guardianship support 
services, including its Post Adoption and Guardianship 
Services booklet, to include updated information on Family 
Support Program services eligibility and subsidized 
guardianship support services that are available through the 
medical assistance program established under Article V of the 
Illinois Public Aid Code or any other State program for mental 
health services. The Department and the Department of 
Healthcare and Family Services shall coordinate their efforts 
in the development of these resources.
    Every licensed child welfare agency and any entity 
providing kinship navigator programs funded by the Department 
shall provide the Department's website address and link to the 
Department's subsidized guardianship support services 
information set forth in subsection (d), including the 
Department's toll-free number, to every relative who is or 
will be providing guardianship placement for a child placed by 
the Department.
    (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 Illinois State Police Law 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 Illinois 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 Illinois 
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 Illinois State Police relating to the access and 
dissemination of this information.
    (v-1) Prior to final approval for placement of a child 
with a foster or adoptive parent, the Department shall conduct 
a criminal records background check of the prospective foster 
or adoptive parent, including fingerprint-based checks of 
national crime information databases. Final approval for 
placement shall not be granted if the record check reveals a 
felony conviction for child abuse or neglect, for spousal 
abuse, for a crime against children, or for a crime involving 
violence, including rape, sexual assault, or homicide, but not 
including other physical assault or battery, or if there is a 
felony conviction for physical assault, battery, or a 
drug-related offense committed within the past 5 years.
    (v-2) Prior to final approval for placement of a child 
with a foster or adoptive parent, the Department shall check 
its child abuse and neglect registry for information 
concerning prospective foster and adoptive parents, and any 
adult living in the home. If any prospective foster or 
adoptive parent or other adult living in the home has resided 
in another state in the preceding 5 years, the Department 
shall request a check of that other state's child abuse and 
neglect registry. 
    (v-3) Prior to the final approval of final placement of a 
related child in a certified relative caregiver home as 
defined in Section 2.37 of the Child Care Act of 1969, the 
Department shall ensure that the background screening meets 
the standards required under subsection (c) of Section 3.4 of 
the Child Care Act of 1969. 
    (v-4) Prior to final approval for placement of a child 
with a relative, as defined in Section 4d of this Act, who is 
not a licensed foster parent, has declined to seek approval to 
be a certified relative caregiver, or was denied approval as a 
certified relative caregiver, the Department shall: 
        (i) check the child abuse and neglect registry for 
    information concerning the prospective relative caregiver 
    and any other adult living in the home. If any prospective 
    relative caregiver or other adult living in the home has 
    resided in another state in the preceding 5 years, the 
    Department shall request a check of that other state's 
    child abuse and neglect registry; and 
        (ii) conduct a criminal records background check of 
    the prospective relative caregiver and all other adults 
    living in the home, including fingerprint-based checks of 
    national crime information databases. Final approval for 
    placement shall not be granted if the record check reveals 
    a felony conviction for child abuse or neglect, for 
    spousal abuse, for a crime against children, or for a 
    crime involving violence, including rape, sexual assault, 
    or homicide, but not including other physical assault or 
    battery, or if there is a felony conviction for physical 
    assault, battery, or a drug-related offense committed 
    within the past 5 years; provided however, that the 
    Department is empowered to grant a waiver as the 
    Department may provide by rule, and the Department 
    approves the request for the waiver based on a 
    comprehensive evaluation of the caregiver and household 
    members and the conditions relating to the safety of the 
    placement.
    No later than July 1, 2025, the Department shall adopt 
rules or revise existing rules to effectuate the changes made 
to this subsection (v-4). The rules shall outline the 
essential elements of each form used in the implementation and 
enforcement of the provisions of this amendatory Act of the 
103rd General Assembly. 
    (w) (Blank).
    (x) The Department shall conduct annual credit history 
checks to determine the financial history of children placed 
under its guardianship pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act of 
1987. The Department shall conduct such credit checks starting 
when a youth in care turns 12 years old and each year 
thereafter for the duration of the guardianship as terminated 
pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. The Department 
shall determine if financial exploitation of the child's 
personal information has occurred. If financial exploitation 
appears to have taken place or is presently ongoing, the 
Department shall notify the proper law enforcement agency, the 
proper State's Attorney, or the Attorney General.
    (y) Beginning on July 22, 2010 (the effective date of 
Public Act 96-1189), a child with a disability who receives 
residential and educational services from the Department shall 
be eligible to receive transition services in accordance with 
Article 14 of the School Code from the age of 14.5 through age 
21, inclusive, notwithstanding the child's residential 
services arrangement. For purposes of this subsection, "child 
with a disability" means a child with a disability as defined 
by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education 
Improvement Act of 2004. 
    (z) The Department shall access criminal history record 
information as defined as "background information" in this 
subsection and criminal history record information as defined 
in the Illinois Uniform Conviction Information Act for each 
Department employee or Department applicant. Each Department 
employee or Department applicant shall submit the employee's 
or applicant's fingerprints to the Illinois State Police in 
the form and manner prescribed by the Illinois State Police. 
These fingerprints shall be checked against the fingerprint 
records now and hereafter filed in the Illinois State Police 
and the Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal history 
records databases. The Illinois State Police shall charge a 
fee for conducting the criminal history record check, which 
shall be deposited into the State Police Services Fund and 
shall not exceed the actual cost of the record check. The 
Illinois State Police shall furnish, pursuant to positive 
identification, all Illinois conviction information to the 
Department of Children and Family Services. 
    For purposes of this subsection: 
    "Background information" means all of the following: 
        (i) Upon the request of the Department of Children and 
    Family Services, conviction information obtained from the 
    Illinois State Police as a result of a fingerprint-based 
    criminal history records check of the Illinois criminal 
    history records database and the Federal Bureau of 
    Investigation criminal history records database concerning 
    a Department employee or Department applicant. 
        (ii) Information obtained by the Department of 
    Children and Family Services after performing a check of 
    the Illinois State Police's Sex Offender Database, as 
    authorized by Section 120 of the Sex Offender Community 
    Notification Law, concerning a Department employee or 
    Department applicant. 
        (iii) Information obtained by the Department of 
    Children and Family Services after performing a check of 
    the Child Abuse and Neglect Tracking System (CANTS) 
    operated and maintained by the Department. 
    "Department employee" means a full-time or temporary 
employee coded or certified within the State of Illinois 
Personnel System. 
    "Department applicant" means an individual who has 
conditional Department full-time or part-time work, a 
contractor, an individual used to replace or supplement staff, 
an academic intern, a volunteer in Department offices or on 
Department contracts, a work-study student, an individual or 
entity licensed by the Department, or an unlicensed service 
provider who works as a condition of a contract or an agreement 
and whose work may bring the unlicensed service provider into 
contact with Department clients or client records. 
(Source: P.A. 102-538, eff. 8-20-21; 102-558, eff. 8-20-21; 
102-1014, eff. 5-27-22; 103-22, eff. 8-8-23; 103-50, eff. 
1-1-24; 103-546, eff. 8-11-23; 103-605, eff. 7-1-24; 103-1061, 
eff. 7-1-25.)
 
    (20 ILCS 505/35.10)
    Sec. 35.10. Successful transitions to and documents 
necessary for adult living. Documents necessary for adult 
living.  
    (a) The Department shall make reasonable efforts to 
develop an age and developmentally appropriate individualized 
youth-driven transition plan for each youth in care aged 15 
and over to help such youth develop and strengthen those life 
skills that lead to successful adult living. As applicable, 
based on the minor's age and developmental appropriateness, 
the youth-driven transition plan shall address the following 
areas:
        (1) assessment and development of life skills; 
        (2) education;
        (3) post high school goals;
        (4) driver's education;
        (5) participation in extracurricular activities;
        (6) internships;
        (7) employment;
        (8) housing;
        (9) mental and physical health and well-being;
        (10) financial stability;
        (11) connections to supportive adults and peers;
        (12) transition to adult services;
        (13) documents necessary for adult living as provided 
    in subsection (b); and
        (14) childcare and parenting supports.
    The Department shall include the youth-driven transition 
plan in the youth's service plan. The Department shall make 
reasonable efforts to assist the youth in accomplishing the 
plan, to develop strategies to resolve barriers, and to ensure 
the youth is aware of any post-case closure supports and 
services and how to access such supports and services. 
    (b) The Department shall assist a youth in care in 
identifying and obtaining documents necessary to function as 
an independent adult prior to the closure of the youth's case 
to terminate wardship as provided in Section 2-31 of the 
Juvenile Court Act of 1987. These necessary documents shall 
include, but not be limited to, any of the following:
        (1) State identification card or driver's license.
        (2) Social Security card.
        (3) Medical records, including, but not limited to, 
    health passport, dental records, immunization records, 
    name and contact information for all current medical, 
    dental, and mental health providers, and a signed 
    certification that the Department provided the youth with 
    education on executing a healthcare power of attorney.
        (4) Medicaid card or other health eligibility 
    documentation.
        (5) Certified copy of birth certificate.
        (6) Any applicable religious documents.
        (7) Voter registration card.
        (8) Immigration, citizenship, or naturalization 
    documentation, if applicable.
        (9) Death certificates of parents, if applicable.
        (10) Life book or compilation of personal history and 
    photographs.
        (11) List of known relatives and persons willing to 
    provide supports to the youth with relationships, 
    addresses, telephone numbers, and other contact 
    information, with the permission of the involved relative 
    or supportive person.
        (12) Resume.
        (13) Educational records, including list of schools 
    attended, and transcript, high school diploma, or State of 
    Illinois High School Diploma.
        (14) List of placements while in care.
        (15) List of community resources with referral 
    information, including the Midwest Adoption Center for 
    search and reunion services for former youth in care, 
    whether or not they were adopted, and the Illinois Chapter 
    of Foster Care Alumni of America.
        (16) All documents necessary to complete a Free 
    Application for Federal Student Aid form, if applicable, 
    or an application for State financial aid. 
        (17) If applicable, a final accounting of the account 
    maintained on behalf of the youth as provided under 
    Section 5.46. 
If a court determines that a youth in care no longer requires 
wardship of the court and orders the wardship terminated and 
all proceedings under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 
respecting the youth in care finally closed and discharged, 
the Department shall ensure that the youth in care receives a 
copy of the court's order. 
(Source: P.A. 102-70, eff. 1-1-22; 102-1014, eff. 5-27-22; 
102-1100, eff. 1-1-23; 103-154, eff. 6-30-23.)
 
    Section 10. The Juvenile Court Act of 1987 is amended by 
changing Sections 2-28, 2-33, and 5-745 and by adding Section 
2-28.2 as follows:
 
    (705 ILCS 405/2-28)
    Sec. 2-28. Court review. 
    (1) The court may require any legal custodian or guardian 
of the person appointed under this Act to report periodically 
to the court or may cite the legal custodian or guardian into 
court and require the legal custodian, guardian, or the legal 
custodian's or guardian's agency to make a full and accurate 
report of the doings of the legal custodian, guardian, or 
agency on behalf of the minor. The custodian or guardian, 
within 10 days after such citation, or earlier if the court 
determines it to be necessary to protect the health, safety, 
or welfare of the minor, shall make the report, either in 
writing verified by affidavit or orally under oath in open 
court, or otherwise as the court directs. Upon the hearing of 
the report the court may remove the custodian or guardian and 
appoint another in the custodian's or guardian's stead or 
restore the minor to the custody of the minor's parents or 
former guardian or custodian. However, custody of the minor 
shall not be restored to any parent, guardian, or legal 
custodian in any case in which the minor is found to be 
neglected or abused under Section 2-3 or dependent under 
Section 2-4 of this Act, unless the minor can be cared for at 
home without endangering the minor's health or safety and it 
is in the best interests of the minor, and if such neglect, 
abuse, or dependency is found by the court under paragraph (1) 
of Section 2-21 of this Act to have come about due to the acts 
or omissions or both of such parent, guardian, or legal 
custodian, until such time as an investigation is made as 
provided in paragraph (5) and a hearing is held on the issue of 
the fitness of such parent, guardian, or legal custodian to 
care for the minor and the court enters an order that such 
parent, guardian, or legal custodian is fit to care for the 
minor.
    (1.5) The public agency that is the custodian or guardian 
of the minor shall file a written report with the court no 
later than 15 days after a minor in the agency's care remains:
        (1) in a shelter placement beyond 30 days;
        (2) in a psychiatric hospital past the time when the 
    minor is clinically ready for discharge or beyond medical 
    necessity for the minor's health; or
        (3) in a detention center or Department of Juvenile 
    Justice facility solely because the public agency cannot 
    find an appropriate placement for the minor.
    The report shall explain the steps the agency is taking to 
ensure the minor is placed appropriately, how the minor's 
needs are being met in the minor's shelter placement, and if a 
future placement has been identified by the Department, why 
the anticipated placement is appropriate for the needs of the 
minor and the anticipated placement date. 
    (1.6) Within 30 days after placing a child in its care in a 
qualified residential treatment program, as defined by the 
federal Social Security Act, the Department of Children and 
Family Services shall prepare a written report for filing with 
the court and send copies of the report to all parties. Within 
20 days of the filing of the report, or as soon thereafter as 
the court's schedule allows but not more than 60 days from the 
date of placement, the court shall hold a hearing to consider 
the Department's report and determine whether placement of the 
child in a qualified residential treatment program provides 
the most effective and appropriate level of care for the child 
in the least restrictive environment and if the placement is 
consistent with the short-term and long-term goals for the 
child, as specified in the permanency plan for the child. The 
court shall approve or disapprove the placement. If 
applicable, the requirements of Sections 2-27.1 and 2-27.2 
must also be met. The Department's written report and the 
court's written determination shall be included in and made 
part of the case plan for the child. If the child remains 
placed in a qualified residential treatment program, the 
Department shall submit evidence at each status and permanency 
hearing: 
        (A) demonstrating that on-going assessment of the 
    strengths and needs of the child continues to support the 
    determination that the child's needs cannot be met through 
    placement in a foster family home, that the placement 
    provides the most effective and appropriate level of care 
    for the child in the least restrictive, appropriate 
    environment, and that the placement is consistent with the 
    short-term and long-term permanency goal for the child, as 
    specified in the permanency plan for the child; 
        (B) documenting the specific treatment or service 
    needs that should be met for the child in the placement and 
    the length of time the child is expected to need the 
    treatment or services; 
        (C) detailing the efforts made by the agency to 
    prepare the child to return home or to be placed with a fit 
    and willing relative, a legal guardian, or an adoptive 
    parent, or in a foster family home; and 
        (D) beginning July 1, 2025, documenting the 
    Department's efforts regarding ongoing family finding and 
    relative engagement required under Section 2-27.3; and . 
        (E) detailing efforts to ensure the minor is engaged 
    in age and developmentally appropriate activities to 
    develop life skills, which may include extracurricular 
    activities, coaching by caregivers, or instruction in 
    individual or group settings. For minors who have 
    participated in life skills assessments, the results of 
    such assessments and how the minor's identified needs are 
    being addressed. 
    (2) The first permanency hearing shall be conducted by the 
judge. Subsequent permanency hearings may be heard by a judge 
or by hearing officers appointed or approved by the court in 
the manner set forth in Section 2-28.1 of this Act. The initial 
hearing shall be held (a) within 12 months from the date 
temporary custody was taken, regardless of whether an 
adjudication or dispositional hearing has been completed 
within that time frame, (b) if the parental rights of both 
parents have been terminated in accordance with the procedure 
described in subsection (5) of Section 2-21, within 30 days of 
the order for termination of parental rights and appointment 
of a guardian with power to consent to adoption, or (c) in 
accordance with subsection (2) of Section 2-13.1. Subsequent 
permanency hearings shall be held every 6 months or more 
frequently if necessary in the court's determination following 
the initial permanency hearing, in accordance with the 
standards set forth in this Section, until the court 
determines that the plan and goal have been achieved. Once the 
plan and goal have been achieved, if the minor remains in 
substitute care, the case shall be reviewed at least every 6 
months thereafter, subject to the provisions of this Section, 
unless the minor is placed in the guardianship of a suitable 
relative or other person and the court determines that further 
monitoring by the court does not further the health, safety, 
or best interest of the child and that this is a stable 
permanent placement. The permanency hearings must occur within 
the time frames set forth in this subsection and may not be 
delayed in anticipation of a report from any source or due to 
the agency's failure to timely file its written report (this 
written report means the one required under the next paragraph 
and does not mean the service plan also referred to in that 
paragraph).
    The public agency that is the custodian or guardian of the 
minor, or another agency responsible for the minor's care, 
shall ensure that all parties to the permanency hearings are 
provided a copy of the most recent service plan prepared 
within the prior 6 months at least 14 days in advance of the 
hearing. If not contained in the agency's service plan, the 
agency shall also include a report setting forth the 
following:
        (A) any special physical, psychological, educational, 
    medical, emotional, or other needs of the minor or the 
    minor's family that are relevant to a permanency or 
    placement determination, and for any minor age 16 or over, 
    a written description of the programs and services that 
    will enable the minor to prepare for independent living; 
        (B) beginning July 1, 2025, a written description of 
    ongoing family finding and relative engagement efforts in 
    accordance with the requirements under Section 2-27.3 the 
    agency has undertaken since the most recent report to the 
    court to plan for the emotional and legal permanency of 
    the minor;
        (C) whether a minor is placed in a licensed child care 
    facility under a corrective plan by the Department due to 
    concerns impacting the minor's safety and well-being. The 
    report shall explain the steps the Department is taking to 
    ensure the safety and well-being of the minor and that the 
    minor's needs are met in the facility;
        (D) detail regarding what progress or lack of progress 
    the parent has made in correcting the conditions requiring 
    the child to be in care; whether the child can be returned 
    home without jeopardizing the child's health, safety, and 
    welfare, what permanency goal is recommended to be in the 
    best interests of the child, and the reasons for the 
    recommendation. If a permanency goal under paragraph (A), 
    (B), or (B-1) of subsection (2.3) have been deemed 
    inappropriate and not in the minor's best interest, the 
    report must include the following information:
            (i) confirmation that the caseworker has discussed 
        the permanency options and subsidies available for 
        guardianship and adoption with the minor's caregivers, 
        the minor's parents, as appropriate, and has discussed 
        the available permanency options with the minor in an 
        age-appropriate manner;
            (ii) confirmation that the caseworker has 
        discussed with the minor's caregivers, the minor's 
        parents, as appropriate, and the minor as 
        age-appropriate, the distinctions between guardianship 
        and adoption, including, but not limited to, that 
        guardianship does not require termination of the 
        parent's rights or the consent of the parent;
            (iii) a description of the stated preferences and 
        concerns, if any, the minor, the parent as 
        appropriate, and the caregiver expressed relating to 
        the options of guardianship and adoption, and the 
        reasons for the preferences;
            (iv) if the minor is not currently in a placement 
        that will provide permanency, identification of all 
        persons presently willing and able to provide 
        permanency to the minor through either guardianship or 
        adoption, and beginning July 1, 2025, if none are 
        available, a description of the efforts made in 
        accordance with Section 2-27.3; and
            (v) state the recommended permanency goal, why 
        that goal is recommended, and why the other potential 
        goals were not recommended. 
    The caseworker must appear and testify at the permanency 
hearing. If a permanency hearing has not previously been 
scheduled by the court, the moving party shall move for the 
setting of a permanency hearing and the entry of an order 
within the time frames set forth in this subsection.
    (2.3) At the permanency hearing, the court shall determine 
the permanency goal of the child. The court shall set one of 
the following permanency goals:
        (A) The minor will be returned home by a specific date 
    within 5 months.
        (B) The minor will be in short-term care with a 
    continued goal to return home within a period not to 
    exceed one year, where the progress of the parent or 
    parents is substantial giving particular consideration to 
    the age and individual needs of the minor.
        (B-1) The minor will be in short-term care with a 
    continued goal to return home pending a status hearing. 
    When the court finds that a parent has not made reasonable 
    efforts or reasonable progress to date, the court shall 
    identify what actions the parent and the Department must 
    take in order to justify a finding of reasonable efforts 
    or reasonable progress and shall set a status hearing to 
    be held not earlier than 9 months from the date of 
    adjudication nor later than 11 months from the date of 
    adjudication during which the parent's progress will again 
    be reviewed.
        If the court has determined that goals (A), (B), and 
    (B-1) are not appropriate and not in the minor's best 
    interest, the court may select one of the following goals: 
    (C), (D), (E), (F), or (G) for the minor as appropriate and 
    based on the best interests of the minor. The court shall 
    determine the appropriate goal for the minor based on best 
    interest factors and any considerations outlined in that 
    goal. 
        (C) The guardianship of the minor shall be transferred 
    to an individual or couple on a permanent basis. Prior to 
    changing the goal to guardianship, the court shall 
    consider the following: 
            (i) whether the agency has discussed adoption and 
        guardianship with the caregiver and what preference, 
        if any, the caregiver has as to the permanency goal;
            (ii) whether the agency has discussed adoption and 
        guardianship with the minor, as age-appropriate, and 
        what preference, if any, the minor has as to the 
        permanency goal;
            (iii) whether the minor is of sufficient age to 
        remember the minor's parents and if the child values 
        this familial identity;
            (iv) whether the minor is placed with a relative, 
        and beginning July 1, 2025, whether the minor is 
        placed in a relative home as defined in Section 4d of 
        the Children and Family Services Act or in a certified 
        relative caregiver home as defined in Section 2.36 of 
        the Child Care Act of 1969; and
            (v) whether the parent or parents have been 
        informed about guardianship and adoption, and, if 
        appropriate, what preferences, if any, the parent or 
        parents have as to the permanency goal. 
        (D) The minor will be in substitute care pending court 
    determination on termination of parental rights. Prior to 
    changing the goal to substitute care pending court 
    determination on termination of parental rights, the court 
    shall consider the following: 
            (i) whether the agency has discussed adoption and 
        guardianship with the caregiver and what preference, 
        if any, the caregiver has as to the permanency goal;
            (ii) whether the agency has discussed adoption and 
        guardianship with the minor, as age-appropriate, and 
        what preference, if any, the minor has as to the 
        permanency goal;
            (iii) whether the minor is of sufficient age to 
        remember the minor's parents and if the child values 
        this familial identity;
            (iv) whether the minor is placed with a relative, 
        and beginning July 1, 2025, whether the minor is 
        placed in a relative home as defined in Section 4d of 
        the Children and Family Services Act, in a certified 
        relative caregiver home as defined in Section 2.36 of 
        the Child Care Act of 1969;
            (v) whether the minor is already placed in a 
        pre-adoptive home, and if not, whether such a home has 
        been identified; and
            (vi) whether the parent or parents have been 
        informed about guardianship and adoption, and, if 
        appropriate, what preferences, if any, the parent or 
        parents have as to the permanency goal.
        (E) Adoption, provided that parental rights have been 
    terminated or relinquished.
        (F) Provided that permanency goals (A) through (E) 
    have been deemed inappropriate and not in the minor's best 
    interests, the minor over age 15 will be in substitute 
    care pending independence. In selecting this permanency 
    goal, the Department of Children and Family Services may 
    provide services to enable reunification and to strengthen 
    the minor's connections with family, fictive kin, and 
    other responsible adults, provided the services are in the 
    minor's best interest. The services shall be documented in 
    the service plan. 
        (G) The minor will be in substitute care because the 
    minor cannot be provided for in a home environment due to 
    developmental disabilities or mental illness or because 
    the minor is a danger to self or others, provided that 
    goals (A) through (E) have been deemed inappropriate and 
    not in the child's best interests.
    In selecting any permanency goal, the court shall indicate 
in writing the reasons the goal was selected and why the 
preceding goals were deemed inappropriate and not in the 
child's best interest. Where the court has selected a 
permanency goal other than (A), (B), or (B-1), the Department 
of Children and Family Services shall not provide further 
reunification services, except as provided in paragraph (F) of 
this subsection (2.3), but shall provide services consistent 
with the goal selected.
        (H) Notwithstanding any other provision in this 
    Section, the court may select the goal of continuing 
    foster care as a permanency goal if: 
            (1) The Department of Children and Family Services 
        has custody and guardianship of the minor; 
            (2) The court has deemed all other permanency 
        goals inappropriate based on the child's best 
        interest; 
            (3) The court has found compelling reasons, based 
        on written documentation reviewed by the court, to 
        place the minor in continuing foster care. Compelling 
        reasons include: 
                (a) the child does not wish to be adopted or to 
            be placed in the guardianship of the minor's 
            relative, certified relative caregiver, or foster 
            care placement; 
                (b) the child exhibits an extreme level of 
            need such that the removal of the child from the 
            minor's placement would be detrimental to the 
            child; or 
                (c) the child who is the subject of the 
            permanency hearing has existing close and strong 
            bonds with a sibling, and achievement of another 
            permanency goal would substantially interfere with 
            the subject child's sibling relationship, taking 
            into consideration the nature and extent of the 
            relationship, and whether ongoing contact is in 
            the subject child's best interest, including 
            long-term emotional interest, as compared with the 
            legal and emotional benefit of permanence; 
            (4) The child has lived with the relative, 
        certified relative caregiver, or foster parent for at 
        least one year; and 
            (5) The relative, certified relative caregiver, or 
        foster parent currently caring for the child is 
        willing and capable of providing the child with a 
        stable and permanent environment. 
    (2.4) The court shall set a permanency goal that is in the 
best interest of the child. In determining that goal, the 
court shall consult with the minor in an age-appropriate 
manner regarding the proposed permanency or transition plan 
for the minor. The court's determination shall include the 
following factors:
        (A) Age of the child.
        (B) Options available for permanence, including both 
    out-of-state and in-state placement options.
        (C) Current placement of the child and the intent of 
    the family regarding subsidized guardianship and adoption.
        (D) Emotional, physical, and mental status or 
    condition of the child.
        (E) Types of services previously offered and whether 
    or not the services were successful and, if not 
    successful, the reasons the services failed.
        (F) Availability of services currently needed and 
    whether the services exist.
        (G) Status of siblings of the minor.
        (H) If the minor is not currently in a placement 
    likely to achieve permanency, whether there is an 
    identified and willing potential permanent caregiver for 
    the minor, and if so, that potential permanent caregiver's 
    intent regarding guardianship and adoption. 
    The court shall consider (i) the permanency goal contained 
in the service plan, (ii) the appropriateness of the services 
contained in the plan and whether those services have been 
provided, (iii) whether reasonable efforts have been made by 
all the parties to the service plan to achieve the goal, and 
(iv) whether the plan and goal have been achieved. All 
evidence relevant to determining these questions, including 
oral and written reports, may be admitted and may be relied on 
to the extent of their probative value.
    The court shall make findings as to whether, in violation 
of Section 8.2 of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting 
Act, any portion of the service plan compels a child or parent 
to engage in any activity or refrain from any activity that is 
not reasonably related to remedying a condition or conditions 
that gave rise or which could give rise to any finding of child 
abuse or neglect. The services contained in the service plan 
shall include services reasonably related to remedy the 
conditions that gave rise to removal of the child from the home 
of the child's parents, guardian, or legal custodian or that 
the court has found must be remedied prior to returning the 
child home. Any tasks the court requires of the parents, 
guardian, or legal custodian or child prior to returning the 
child home must be reasonably related to remedying a condition 
or conditions that gave rise to or which could give rise to any 
finding of child abuse or neglect. 
    If the permanency goal is to return home, the court shall 
make findings that identify any problems that are causing 
continued placement of the children away from the home and 
identify what outcomes would be considered a resolution to 
these problems. The court shall explain to the parents that 
these findings are based on the information that the court has 
at that time and may be revised, should additional evidence be 
presented to the court. 
    The court shall review the Sibling Contact Support Plan 
developed or modified under subsection (f) of Section 7.4 of 
the Children and Family Services Act, if applicable. If the 
Department has not convened a meeting to develop or modify a 
Sibling Contact Support Plan, or if the court finds that the 
existing Plan is not in the child's best interest, the court 
may enter an order requiring the Department to develop, 
modify, or implement a Sibling Contact Support Plan, or order 
mediation. 
    The court shall review the Department's efforts to provide 
the minor with age and developmentally appropriate life 
skills. If the court finds the Department's efforts are not in 
the minor's best interest, the court may enter an order 
requiring the Department to develop, modify, or implement the 
service plan to develop the minor's life skills in an age and 
developmentally appropriate manner. 
    Beginning July 1, 2025, the court shall review the Ongoing 
Family Finding and Relative Engagement Plan required under 
Section 2-27.3. If the court finds that the plan is not in the 
minor's best interest, the court shall enter specific factual 
findings and order the Department to modify the plan 
consistent with the court's findings. 
    If the goal has been achieved, the court shall enter 
orders that are necessary to conform the minor's legal custody 
and status to those findings.
    If, after receiving evidence, the court determines that 
the services contained in the plan are not reasonably 
calculated to facilitate achievement of the permanency goal, 
the court shall put in writing the factual basis supporting 
the determination and enter specific findings based on the 
evidence. The court also shall enter an order for the 
Department to develop and implement a new service plan or to 
implement changes to the current service plan consistent with 
the court's findings. The new service plan shall be filed with 
the court and served on all parties within 45 days of the date 
of the order. The court shall continue the matter until the new 
service plan is filed. Except as authorized by subsection 
(2.5) of this Section and as otherwise specifically authorized 
by law, the court is not empowered under this Section to order 
specific placements, specific services, or specific service 
providers to be included in the service plan.
    A guardian or custodian appointed by the court pursuant to 
this Act shall file updated case plans with the court every 6 
months.
    Rights of wards of the court under this Act are 
enforceable against any public agency by complaints for relief 
by mandamus filed in any proceedings brought under this Act.
    (2.5) If, after reviewing the evidence, including evidence 
from the Department, the court determines that the minor's 
current or planned placement is not necessary or appropriate 
to facilitate achievement of the permanency goal, the court 
shall put in writing the factual basis supporting its 
determination and enter specific findings based on the 
evidence. If the court finds that the minor's current or 
planned placement is not necessary or appropriate, the court 
may enter an order directing the Department to implement a 
recommendation by the minor's treating clinician or a 
clinician contracted by the Department to evaluate the minor 
or a recommendation made by the Department. If the Department 
places a minor in a placement under an order entered under this 
subsection (2.5), the Department has the authority to remove 
the minor from that placement when a change in circumstances 
necessitates the removal to protect the minor's health, 
safety, and best interest. If the Department determines 
removal is necessary, the Department shall notify the parties 
of the planned placement change in writing no later than 10 
days prior to the implementation of its determination unless 
remaining in the placement poses an imminent risk of harm to 
the minor, in which case the Department shall notify the 
parties of the placement change in writing immediately 
following the implementation of its decision. The Department 
shall notify others of the decision to change the minor's 
placement as required by Department rule. 
    (3) Following the permanency hearing, the court shall 
enter a written order that includes the determinations 
required under subsections (2) and (2.3) of this Section and 
sets forth the following:
        (a) The future status of the minor, including the 
    permanency goal, and any order necessary to conform the 
    minor's legal custody and status to such determination; or
        (b) If the permanency goal of the minor cannot be 
    achieved immediately, the specific reasons for continuing 
    the minor in the care of the Department of Children and 
    Family Services or other agency for short-term placement, 
    and the following determinations:
            (i) (Blank).
            (ii) Whether the services required by the court 
        and by any service plan prepared within the prior 6 
        months have been provided and (A) if so, whether the 
        services were reasonably calculated to facilitate the 
        achievement of the permanency goal or (B) if not 
        provided, why the services were not provided.
            (iii) Whether the minor's current or planned 
        placement is necessary, and appropriate to the plan 
        and goal, recognizing the right of minors to the least 
        restrictive (most family-like) setting available and 
        in close proximity to the parents' home consistent 
        with the health, safety, best interest, and special 
        needs of the minor and, if the minor is placed 
        out-of-state, whether the out-of-state placement 
        continues to be appropriate and consistent with the 
        health, safety, and best interest of the minor.
            (iv) (Blank).
            (v) (Blank).
    If the court sets a permanency goal of independence or if 
the minor is 17 years of age or older, the court shall schedule 
a Successful Transition to Adulthood Review hearing in 
accordance with Section 2-28.2. 
    (4) The minor or any person interested in the minor may 
apply to the court for a change in custody of the minor and the 
appointment of a new custodian or guardian of the person or for 
the restoration of the minor to the custody of the minor's 
parents or former guardian or custodian.
    When return home is not selected as the permanency goal:
        (a) The Department, the minor, or the current foster 
    parent or relative caregiver seeking private guardianship 
    may file a motion for private guardianship of the minor. 
    Appointment of a guardian under this Section requires 
    approval of the court.
        (b) The State's Attorney may file a motion to 
    terminate parental rights of any parent who has failed to 
    make reasonable efforts to correct the conditions which 
    led to the removal of the child or reasonable progress 
    toward the return of the child, as defined in subdivision 
    (D)(m) of Section 1 of the Adoption Act or for whom any 
    other unfitness ground for terminating parental rights as 
    defined in subdivision (D) of Section 1 of the Adoption 
    Act exists.
        When parental rights have been terminated for a 
    minimum of 3 years and the child who is the subject of the 
    permanency hearing is 13 years old or older and is not 
    currently placed in a placement likely to achieve 
    permanency, the Department of Children and Family Services 
    shall make reasonable efforts to locate parents whose 
    rights have been terminated, except when the Court 
    determines that those efforts would be futile or 
    inconsistent with the subject child's best interests. The 
    Department of Children and Family Services shall assess 
    the appropriateness of the parent whose rights have been 
    terminated, and shall, as appropriate, foster and support 
    connections between the parent whose rights have been 
    terminated and the youth. The Department of Children and 
    Family Services shall document its determinations and 
    efforts to foster connections in the child's case plan. 
    Custody of the minor shall not be restored to any parent, 
guardian, or legal custodian in any case in which the minor is 
found to be neglected or abused under Section 2-3 or dependent 
under Section 2-4 of this Act, unless the minor can be cared 
for at home without endangering the minor's health or safety 
and it is in the best interest of the minor, and if such 
neglect, abuse, or dependency is found by the court under 
paragraph (1) of Section 2-21 of this Act to have come about 
due to the acts or omissions or both of such parent, guardian, 
or legal custodian, until such time as an investigation is 
made as provided in paragraph (5) and a hearing is held on the 
issue of the health, safety, and best interest of the minor and 
the fitness of such parent, guardian, or legal custodian to 
care for the minor and the court enters an order that such 
parent, guardian, or legal custodian is fit to care for the 
minor. If a motion is filed to modify or vacate a private 
guardianship order and return the child to a parent, guardian, 
or legal custodian, the court may order the Department of 
Children and Family Services to assess the minor's current and 
proposed living arrangements and to provide ongoing monitoring 
of the health, safety, and best interest of the minor during 
the pendency of the motion to assist the court in making that 
determination. In the event that the minor has attained 18 
years of age and the guardian or custodian petitions the court 
for an order terminating the minor's guardianship or custody, 
guardianship or custody shall terminate automatically 30 days 
after the receipt of the petition unless the court orders 
otherwise. No legal custodian or guardian of the person may be 
removed without the legal custodian's or guardian's consent 
until given notice and an opportunity to be heard by the court.
    When the court orders a child restored to the custody of 
the parent or parents, the court shall order the parent or 
parents to cooperate with the Department of Children and 
Family Services and comply with the terms of an after-care 
plan, or risk the loss of custody of the child and possible 
termination of their parental rights. The court may also enter 
an order of protective supervision in accordance with Section 
2-24.
    If the minor is being restored to the custody of a parent, 
legal custodian, or guardian who lives outside of Illinois, 
and an Interstate Compact has been requested and refused, the 
court may order the Department of Children and Family Services 
to arrange for an assessment of the minor's proposed living 
arrangement and for ongoing monitoring of the health, safety, 
and best interest of the minor and compliance with any order of 
protective supervision entered in accordance with Section 
2-24. 
    (5) Whenever a parent, guardian, or legal custodian files 
a motion for restoration of custody of the minor, and the minor 
was adjudicated neglected, abused, or dependent as a result of 
physical abuse, the court shall cause to be made an 
investigation as to whether the movant has ever been charged 
with or convicted of any criminal offense which would indicate 
the likelihood of any further physical abuse to the minor. 
Evidence of such criminal convictions shall be taken into 
account in determining whether the minor can be cared for at 
home without endangering the minor's health or safety and 
fitness of the parent, guardian, or legal custodian.
        (a) Any agency of this State or any subdivision 
    thereof shall cooperate with the agent of the court in 
    providing any information sought in the investigation.
        (b) The information derived from the investigation and 
    any conclusions or recommendations derived from the 
    information shall be provided to the parent, guardian, or 
    legal custodian seeking restoration of custody prior to 
    the hearing on fitness and the movant shall have an 
    opportunity at the hearing to refute the information or 
    contest its significance.
        (c) All information obtained from any investigation 
    shall be confidential as provided in Section 5-150 of this 
    Act.
(Source: P.A. 102-193, eff. 7-30-21; 102-489, eff. 8-20-21; 
102-813, eff. 5-13-22; 103-22, eff. 8-8-23; 103-154, eff. 
6-30-23; 103-171, eff. 1-1-24; 103-605, eff. 7-1-24; 103-1061, 
eff. 2-5-25.)
 
    (705 ILCS 405/2-28.2 new)
    Sec. 2-28.2. Successful Transition to Adulthood Review 
hearings.
    (a) The court shall conduct Successful Transition to 
Adulthood Review (STAR) hearings to review the Department's 
efforts to ensure the minor is provided with opportunities to 
engage in individualized future-focused planning towards 
adulthood, to develop age-appropriate daily living skills to 
live successfully as an adult, and if applicable, to be 
prepared to transition out of the care of the Department at age 
21.
    (b) The court shall conduct a STAR hearing for all minors 
for whom the court has entered a permanency goal of 
independence and for all minors who are 17 years of age or 
older. The minor's first STAR hearing shall be conducted 
within 6 months of the minor qualifying for a STAR hearing. 
Subsequent STAR hearings may be conducted contemporaneously 
with the minor's permanency hearing. At a minimum, the court 
shall conduct STAR hearings for eligible minors within 6 
months of the minor becoming eligible for a STAR hearing and 
annually thereafter. The court may schedule additional STAR 
hearings as necessary and in the minor's best interest.
    (c) Fourteen days in advance of the STAR hearing the 
Department shall provide the court with the youth's service 
plan that includes the following information:
        (1) a copy of the youth-driven transition plan 
    developed in accordance with Section 35.10 of the Children 
    and Family Services Act;
        (2) for youth 17 years of age and older, the ILO TLP 
    Quarterly Discharge Launch Plan, if applicable;
        (3) a description of the documents necessary for adult 
    living as provided in Section 35.10 of the Children and 
    Family Services Act that the minor has, the documents the 
    minor continues to need, and the Department's plan to 
    ensure the minor has such documents prior to case closure;
        (4) a description of the Department's efforts to 
    assist the youth in developing and maintaining connections 
    with supportive adults and a copy of the minor's Ongoing 
    Family Finding and Relative Engagement Plan developed in 
    accordance with Section 2-27.3; and
        (5) for youth who are likely to need a guardian as a 
    person with a disability, in accordance with Article XIa 
    of the Probate Act of 1975, a description of the 
    Department's efforts to obtain any necessary assessments.
    (d) At the STAR hearing the court shall:
        (1) review the Department's efforts to assist the 
    minor in developing and implementing an individualized 
    youth-driven plan to develop life skills that will lead to 
    successful adult living;
        (2) review the plan developed by the Department and 
    the minor to ensure that it is reasonably likely to ensure 
    the minor can live independent of supports from the 
    Department;
        (3) review the Department's efforts to assist the 
    minor in accomplishing the plan;
        (4) review the Department's efforts to ensure the 
    minor has documents necessary for adult living, as defined 
    in Section 35.10 of the Children and Family Services Act 
    prior to case closure;
        (5) review the Department's efforts to ensure that the 
    minor is aware of available supports and services 
    post-case closure and how to access such supports and 
    services; and
        (6) if applicable, review the Department's efforts to 
    obtain any needed assessments to determine whether the 
    youth may qualify for a guardian as a person with a 
    disability under Article XIa of the Probate Act of 1975.
    If the court finds that the youth-driven transition plan 
for the minor is not in the minor's best interest or will not 
be reasonably likely to result in the development of life 
skills necessary for adult living, the court shall make 
specific factual findings supporting its findings and order 
the Department to develop a new plan with the minor consistent 
with the court's findings. If the court finds that the 
Department has failed to make reasonable efforts to (i) assist 
the minor in developing and accomplishing a youth-driven 
transition plan or (ii) obtain any necessary assessments for 
minors to determine whether the youth may qualify for a 
guardian as a person with a disability under Article XIa of the 
Probate Act of 1975, then the court shall make specific 
factual findings and may enter such orders it deems necessary 
to ensure that the minor is developing necessary life skills 
and, when appropriate, is prepared to successfully transition 
to adulthood.
 
    (705 ILCS 405/2-33)
    Sec. 2-33. Supplemental petition to reinstate wardship. 
    (1) Any time prior to a minor's 18th birthday, pursuant to 
a supplemental petition filed under this Section, the court 
may reinstate wardship and open a previously closed case when:
        (a) wardship and guardianship under the Juvenile Court 
    Act of 1987 was vacated in conjunction with the 
    appointment of a private guardian under the Probate Act of 
    1975;
        (b) the minor is not presently a ward of the court 
    under Article II of this Act nor is there a petition for 
    adjudication of wardship pending on behalf of the minor; 
    and
        (c) it is in the minor's best interest that wardship 
    be reinstated.
    (2) Any time prior to a minor's 21st birthday, pursuant to 
a supplemental petition filed under this Section, the court 
may reinstate wardship and open a previously closed case when:
        (a) wardship and guardianship under this Act was 
    vacated pursuant to:
            (i) an order entered under subsection (2) of 
        Section 2-31 in the case of a minor over the age of 18;
            (ii) closure of a case under subsection (2) of 
        Section 2-31 in the case of a minor under the age of 18 
        who has been partially or completely emancipated in 
        accordance with the Emancipation of Minors Act; or
            (iii) an order entered under subsection (3) of 
        Section 2-31 based on the minor's attaining the age of 
        19 years before the effective date of this amendatory 
        Act of the 101st General Assembly;
        (b) the minor is not presently a ward of the court 
    under Article II of this Act nor is there a petition for 
    adjudication of wardship pending on behalf of the minor; 
    and
        (c) it is in the minor's best interest that wardship 
    be reinstated.
    (3) The supplemental petition must be filed in the same 
proceeding in which the original adjudication order was 
entered. Unless excused by court for good cause shown, the 
petitioner shall give notice of the time and place of the 
hearing on the supplemental petition, in person or by mail, to 
the minor, if the minor is 14 years of age or older, and to the 
parties to the juvenile court proceeding. Notice shall be 
provided at least 3 court days in advance of the hearing date.
    (3.5) Whenever a petition is filed to reinstate wardship 
pursuant to subsection (1), prior to granting the petition, 
the court may order the Department of Children and Family 
Services to assess the minor's current and proposed living 
arrangements and to provide ongoing monitoring of the health, 
safety, and best interest of the minor during the pendency of 
the petition to assist the court in making that determination. 
    (4) A minor who is the subject of a petition to reinstate 
wardship under this Section shall be provided with 
representation in accordance with Sections 1-5 and 2-17 of 
this Act.
    (5) Whenever a minor is committed to the Department of 
Children and Family Services for care and services following 
the reinstatement of wardship under this Section, the 
Department shall:
        (a) Within 30 days of such commitment, prepare and 
    file with the court a case plan which complies with the 
    federal Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 
    and is consistent with the health, safety and best 
    interests of the minor; and
        (b) Promptly refer the minor for such services as are 
    necessary and consistent with the minor's health, safety 
    and best interests. 
    (6) Whenever the court grants a petition to reinstate 
wardship under this Section, the court shall schedule the case 
for a permanency hearing in accordance with Section 2-28 and a 
Successful Transition to Adulthood Review hearing in 
accordance with Section 2-28.2, if applicable. 
(Source: P.A. 101-78, eff. 7-12-19; 102-489, eff. 8-20-21.)
 
    (705 ILCS 405/5-745)
    Sec. 5-745. Court review. 
    (1) The court may require any legal custodian or guardian 
of the person appointed under this Act, including the 
Department of Juvenile Justice for youth committed under 
Section 5-750 of this Act, to report periodically to the court 
or may cite the legal custodian or guardian into court and 
require the legal custodian or guardian, or the legal 
custodian's or guardian's agency, to make a full and accurate 
report of the doings of the legal custodian, guardian, or 
agency on behalf of the minor, including efforts to secure 
post-release placement of the youth after release from the 
Department's facilities. The legal custodian or guardian, 
within 10 days after the citation, shall make the report, 
either in writing verified by affidavit or orally under oath 
in open court, or otherwise as the court directs. Upon the 
hearing of the report the court may remove the legal custodian 
or guardian and appoint another in the legal custodian's or 
guardian's stead or restore the minor to the custody of the 
minor's parents or former guardian or legal custodian.
    (2) If the Department of Children and Family Services is 
appointed legal custodian or guardian of a minor under Section 
5-740 of this Act, the Department of Children and Family 
Services shall file updated case plans with the court every 6 
months. Every agency which has guardianship of a child shall 
file a supplemental petition for court review, or review by an 
administrative body appointed or approved by the court and 
further order within 18 months of the sentencing order and 
each 18 months thereafter. The petition shall state facts 
relative to the child's present condition of physical, mental 
and emotional health as well as facts relative to the minor's 
present custodial or foster care. The petition shall be set 
for hearing and the clerk shall mail 10 days notice of the 
hearing by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the 
person or agency having the physical custody of the child, the 
minor and other interested parties unless a written waiver of 
notice is filed with the petition.
    If the minor is in the custody of the Illinois Department 
of Children and Family Services, pursuant to an order entered 
under this Article, the court shall conduct permanency 
hearings as set out in subsections (1), (2), (2.3), (2.4), and 
(3) of Section 2-28 of Article II of this Act and Successful 
Transition to Adulthood Review hearings as set out in Section 
2-28.2 of Article II of this Act. 
    Rights of wards of the court under this Act are 
enforceable against any public agency by complaints for relief 
by mandamus filed in any proceedings brought under this Act.
    (3) The minor or any person interested in the minor may 
apply to the court for a change in custody of the minor and the 
appointment of a new custodian or guardian of the person or for 
the restoration of the minor to the custody of the minor's 
parents or former guardian or custodian. In the event that the 
minor has attained 18 years of age and the guardian or 
custodian petitions the court for an order terminating the 
minor's guardianship or custody, guardianship or legal custody 
shall terminate automatically 30 days after the receipt of the 
petition unless the court orders otherwise. No legal custodian 
or guardian of the person may be removed without the legal 
custodian's or guardian's consent until given notice and an 
opportunity to be heard by the court.
    (4) If the minor is committed to the Department of 
Juvenile Justice under Section 5-750 of this Act, the 
Department shall notify the court in writing of the occurrence 
of any of the following:
        (a) a critical incident involving a youth committed to 
    the Department; as used in this paragraph (a), "critical 
    incident" means any incident that involves a serious risk 
    to the life, health, or well-being of the youth and 
    includes, but is not limited to, an accident or suicide 
    attempt resulting in serious bodily harm or 
    hospitalization, psychiatric hospitalization, alleged or 
    suspected abuse, or escape or attempted escape from 
    custody, filed within 10 days of the occurrence;
        (b) a youth who has been released by the Prisoner 
    Review Board but remains in a Department facility solely 
    because the youth does not have an approved aftercare 
    release host site, filed within 10 days of the occurrence;
        (c) a youth, except a youth who has been adjudicated a 
    habitual or violent juvenile offender under Section 5-815 
    or 5-820 of this Act or committed for first degree murder, 
    who has been held in a Department facility for over one 
    consecutive year; or
        (d) if a report has been filed under paragraph (c) of 
    this subsection, a supplemental report shall be filed 
    every 6 months thereafter.
The notification required by this subsection (4) shall contain 
a brief description of the incident or situation and a summary 
of the youth's current physical, mental, and emotional health 
and the actions the Department took in response to the 
incident or to identify an aftercare release host site, as 
applicable. Upon receipt of the notification, the court may 
require the Department to make a full report under subsection 
(1) of this Section.
    (5) With respect to any report required to be filed with 
the court under this Section, the Independent Juvenile 
Ombudsperson shall provide a copy to the minor's court 
appointed guardian ad litem, if the Department has received 
written notice of the appointment, and to the minor's 
attorney, if the Department has received written notice of 
representation from the attorney. If the Department has a 
record that a guardian has been appointed for the minor and a 
record of the last known address of the minor's court 
appointed guardian, the Independent Juvenile Ombudsperson 
shall send a notice to the guardian that the report is 
available and will be provided by the Independent Juvenile 
Ombudsperson upon request. If the Department has no record 
regarding the appointment of a guardian for the minor, and the 
Department's records include the last known addresses of the 
minor's parents, the Independent Juvenile Ombudsperson shall 
send a notice to the parents that the report is available and 
will be provided by the Independent Juvenile Ombudsperson upon 
request.
(Source: P.A. 103-22, eff. 8-8-23; 103-1061, eff. 2-5-25.)
 
    Section 95. No acceleration or delay. Where this Act makes 
changes in a statute that is represented in this Act by text 
that is not yet or no longer in effect (for example, a Section 
represented by multiple versions), the use of that text does 
not accelerate or delay the taking effect of (i) the changes 
made by this Act or (ii) provisions derived from any other 
Public Act.
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 
2026.