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91_SB1388enr
SB1388 Enrolled LRB9109824RCks
1 AN ACT to amend the Adoption Act by changing Section 6.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Adoption Act is amended by changing
5 Section 6 as follows:
6 (750 ILCS 50/6) (from Ch. 40, par. 1508)
7 Sec. 6. A. Investigation; all cases. Within 10 days
8 after the filing of a petition for the adoption or standby
9 adoption of a child other than a related child, the court
10 shall appoint a child welfare agency approved by the
11 Department of Children and Family Services, or a person
12 deemed competent by the court, or in Cook County the Court
13 Services Division of the Cook County Department of Public
14 Aid, or the Department of Children and Family Services if the
15 court determines that no child welfare agency is available or
16 that the petitioner is financially unable to pay for the
17 investigation, to investigate accurately, fully and promptly,
18 the allegations contained in the petition; the character,
19 reputation, health and general standing in the community of
20 the petitioners; the religious faith of the petitioners and,
21 if ascertainable, of the child sought to be adopted; and
22 whether the petitioners are proper persons to adopt the child
23 and whether the child is a proper subject of adoption. The
24 investigation required under this Section shall include a
25 criminal background check with a review of fingerprints by
26 State and federal authorities. The criminal background check
27 required by this Section shall include a listing of when,
28 where and by whom the criminal background check was prepared.
29 The criminal background check required by this Section shall
30 not be more than two years old.
31 Neither a clerk of the circuit court nor a judge may
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1 require that a criminal background check or fingerprint
2 review be filed with, or at the same time as, an initial
3 petition for adoption.
4 B. Investigation; foreign-born child. In the case of a
5 child born outside the United States or a territory thereof,
6 in addition to the investigation required under subsection
7 (A) of this Section, a post-placement investigation shall be
8 conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Child
9 Care Act of 1969, the Interstate Compact on the Placement of
10 Children, and regulations of the foreign placing agency and
11 the supervising agency.
12 The requirements of a post-placement investigation shall
13 be deemed to have been satisfied if a valid final order or
14 judgment of adoption has been entered by a court of competent
15 jurisdiction in a country other than the United States or a
16 territory thereof with respect to such child and the
17 petitioners.
18 C. Report of investigation. The court shall determine
19 whether the costs of the investigation shall be charged to
20 the petitioners. The information obtained as a result of such
21 investigation shall be presented to the court in a written
22 report. The results of the criminal background check required
23 under subsection (A) shall be provided to the court for its
24 review. The court may, in its discretion, weigh the
25 significance of the results of the criminal background check
26 against the entirety of the background of the petitioners.
27 The Court, in its discretion, may accept the report of the
28 investigation previously made by a licensed child welfare
29 agency, if made within one year prior to the entry of the
30 judgment. Such report shall be treated as confidential and
31 withheld from inspection unless findings adverse to the
32 petitioners or to the child sought to be adopted are
33 contained therein, and in that event the court shall inform
34 the petitioners of the relevant portions pertaining to the
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1 adverse findings. In no event shall any facts set forth in
2 the report be considered at the hearing of the proceeding,
3 unless established by competent evidence. The report shall be
4 filed with the record of the proceeding. If the file
5 relating to the proceeding is not impounded, the report shall
6 be impounded by the clerk of the court and shall be made
7 available for inspection only upon order of the court.
8 D. Related adoption. Such investigation shall not be
9 made when the petition seeks to adopt a related child or an
10 adult unless the court, in its discretion, shall so order. In
11 such an event the court may appoint a person deemed competent
12 by the court.
13 (Source: P.A. 91-429, eff. 1-1-00; 91-572, eff. 1-1-00;
14 revised 10-19-99.)
15 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
16 becoming law.
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