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90_HB2886
20 ILCS 105/4.01 from Ch. 23, par. 6104.01
Amends the Illinois Act on the Aging. Requires the
Department on Aging to study and develop plans for the
State's provision of services to the increasing number of
elderly in the 21st century. Effective immediately.
LRB9011036JMmb
LRB9011036JMmb
1 AN ACT to amend the Illinois Act on the Aging by changing
2 Section 4.01.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Illinois Act on the Aging is amended by
6 changing Section 4.01 as follows:
7 (20 ILCS 105/4.01) (from Ch. 23, par. 6104.01)
8 Sec. 4.01. Additional powers and duties of the
9 Department. In addition to powers and duties otherwise
10 provided by law, the Department shall have the following
11 powers and duties:
12 (1) To evaluate all programs, services, and facilities
13 for the aged and for minority senior citizens within the
14 State and determine the extent to which present public or
15 private programs, services and facilities meet the needs of
16 the aged.
17 (2) To coordinate and evaluate all programs, services,
18 and facilities for the Aging and for minority senior citizens
19 presently furnished by State agencies and make appropriate
20 recommendations regarding such services, programs and
21 facilities to the Governor and/or the General Assembly.
22 (3) To function as the sole State agency to develop a
23 comprehensive plan to meet the needs of the State's senior
24 citizens and the State's minority senior citizens.
25 (4) To receive and disburse State and federal funds made
26 available directly to the Department including those funds
27 made available under the Older Americans Act and the Senior
28 Community Service Employment Program for providing services
29 for senior citizens and minority senior citizens or for
30 purposes related thereto, and shall develop and administer
31 any State Plan for the Aging required by federal law.
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1 (5) To solicit, accept, hold, and administer in behalf
2 of the State any grants or legacies of money, securities, or
3 property to the State of Illinois for services to senior
4 citizens and minority senior citizens or purposes related
5 thereto.
6 (6) To provide consultation and assistance to
7 communities, area agencies on aging, and groups developing
8 local services for senior citizens and minority senior
9 citizens.
10 (7) To promote community education regarding the
11 problems of senior citizens and minority senior citizens
12 through institutes, publications, radio, television and the
13 local press.
14 (8) To cooperate with agencies of the federal government
15 in studies and conferences designed to examine the needs of
16 senior citizens and minority senior citizens and to prepare
17 programs and facilities to meet those needs.
18 (9) To establish and maintain information and referral
19 sources throughout the State when not provided by other
20 agencies.
21 (10) To provide the staff support as may reasonably be
22 required by the Council and the Coordinating Committee of
23 State Agencies Serving Older Persons.
24 (11) To make and enforce rules and regulations necessary
25 and proper to the performance of its duties.
26 (12) To establish and fund programs or projects or
27 experimental facilities that are specially designed as
28 alternatives to institutional care.
29 (13) To develop a training program to train the
30 counselors presently employed by the Department's aging
31 network to provide Medicare beneficiaries with counseling and
32 advocacy in Medicare, private health insurance, and related
33 health care coverage plans. The Department shall report to
34 the General Assembly on the implementation of the training
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1 program on or before December 1, 1986.
2 (14) To make a grant to an institution of higher
3 learning to study the feasibility of establishing and
4 implementing an affirmative action employment plan for the
5 recruitment, hiring, training and retraining of persons 60 or
6 more years old for jobs for which their employment would not
7 be precluded by law.
8 (15) To present one award annually in each of the
9 categories of community service, education, the performance
10 and graphic arts, and the labor force to outstanding Illinois
11 senior citizens and minority senior citizens in recognition
12 of their individual contributions to either community
13 service, education, the performance and graphic arts, or the
14 labor force. The awards shall be presented to four senior
15 citizens and minority senior citizens selected from a list of
16 44 nominees compiled annually by the Department. Nominations
17 shall be solicited from senior citizens' service providers,
18 area agencies on aging, senior citizens' centers, and senior
19 citizens' organizations. The Department shall consult with
20 the Coordinating Committee of State Agencies Serving Older
21 Persons to determine which of the nominees shall be the
22 recipient in each category of community service. The
23 Department shall establish a central location within the
24 State to be designated as the Senior Illinoisans Hall of Fame
25 for the public display of all the annual awards, or replicas
26 thereof.
27 (16) To establish multipurpose senior centers through
28 area agencies on aging and to fund those new and existing
29 multipurpose senior centers through area agencies on aging,
30 the establishment and funding to begin in such areas of the
31 State as the Department shall designate by rule and as
32 specifically appropriated funds become available.
33 (17) To develop the content and format of the
34 acknowledgment regarding non-recourse reverse mortgage loans
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1 under Section 6.1 of the Illinois Banking Act; to provide
2 independent consumer information on reverse mortgages and
3 alternatives; and to refer consumers to independent
4 counseling services with expertise in reverse mortgages.
5 (18) To develop a pamphlet in English and Spanish which
6 may be used by physicians licensed to practice medicine in
7 all of its branches pursuant to the Medical Practice Act of
8 1987, pharmacists licensed pursuant to the Pharmacy Practice
9 Act and Illinois residents 65 years of age or older for the
10 purpose of assisting physicians, pharmacists, and patients in
11 monitoring prescriptions provided by various physicians and
12 to aid persons 65 years of age or older in complying with
13 directions for proper use of pharmaceutical prescriptions.
14 The pamphlet may provide space for recording information
15 including but not limited to the following:
16 (a) name and telephone number of the patient;
17 (b) name and telephone number of the prescribing
18 physician;
19 (c) date of prescription;
20 (d) name of drug prescribed;
21 (e) directions for patient compliance; and
22 (f) name and telephone number of dispensing
23 pharmacy.
24 In developing the pamphlet, the Department shall consult
25 with the Illinois State Medical Society, the Center for
26 Minority Health Services, the Illinois Pharmacists
27 Association and senior citizens organizations. The
28 Department shall distribute the pamphlets to physicians,
29 pharmacists and persons 65 years of age or older or various
30 senior citizen organizations throughout the State.
31 (19) To conduct a study by April 1, 1994 of the
32 feasibility of implementing the Senior Companion Program
33 throughout the State for the fiscal year beginning July 1,
34 1994.
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1 (20) With respect to contracts in effect on July 1,
2 1994, the Department shall increase the grant amounts so that
3 the reimbursement rates paid through the community care
4 program for chore housekeeping services and homemakers are at
5 the same rate, which shall be the higher of the 2 rates
6 currently paid. With respect to all contracts entered into,
7 renewed, or extended on or after July 1, 1994, the
8 reimbursement rates paid through the community care program
9 for chore housekeeping services and homemakers shall be the
10 same.
11 (21) From funds appropriated to the Department from the
12 Meals on Wheels Fund, a special fund in the State treasury
13 that is hereby created, and in accordance with State and
14 federal guidelines and the intrastate funding formula, to
15 make grants to area agencies on aging, designated by the
16 Department, for the sole purpose of delivering meals to
17 homebound persons 60 years of age and older.
18 (22) To distribute, through its area agencies on aging,
19 information alerting seniors on safety issues regarding
20 emergency weather conditions, including extreme heat and
21 cold, flooding, tornadoes, electrical storms, and other
22 severe storm weather. The information shall include all
23 necessary instructions for safety and all emergency telephone
24 numbers of organizations that will provide additional
25 information and assistance.
26 (23) To develop guidelines for the organization and
27 implementation of Volunteer Services Credit Programs to be
28 administered by Area Agencies on Aging or community based
29 senior service organizations. The Department shall hold
30 public hearings on the proposed guidelines for public
31 comment, suggestion, and determination of public interest.
32 The guidelines shall be based on the findings of other states
33 and of community organizations in Illinois that are currently
34 operating volunteer services credit programs or demonstration
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1 volunteer services credit programs. The Department shall
2 offer guidelines for all aspects of the programs including,
3 but not limited to, the following:
4 (a) types of services to be offered by volunteers;
5 (b) types of services to be received upon the
6 redemption of service credits;
7 (c) issues of liability for the volunteers and the
8 administering organizations;
9 (d) methods of tracking service credits earned and
10 service credits redeemed;
11 (e) issues of time limits for redemption of service
12 credits;
13 (f) methods of recruitment of volunteers;
14 (g) utilization of community volunteers, community
15 service groups, and other resources for delivering
16 services to be received by service credit program
17 clients;
18 (h) accountability and assurance that services will
19 be available to individuals who have earned service
20 credits; and
21 (i) volunteer screening and qualifications.
22 The Department shall submit a written copy of the guidelines
23 to the General Assembly by July 1, 1998.
24 (24) To study the State's possible responses to the
25 challenge in the provision of services presented by the
26 increasing number of elderly citizens projected for the 21st
27 century and to develop plans for the implementation of the
28 most appropriate response.
29 (Source: P.A. 89-249, eff. 8-4-95; 89-580, eff. 1-1-97;
30 90-251, eff. 1-1-98.)
31 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
32 becoming law.
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