Public Act 102-0545
 
SB2177 EnrolledLRB102 17317 KTG 22803 b


  
    AN ACT concerning children.
  
 
    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 Section 7.3a as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 505/7.3a)
    Sec. 7.3a. Normalcy parenting for children in foster care; 
participation in childhood activities. 
    (a) Legislative findings. 
        (1) Every day parents make important decisions about 
    their child's
participation in extracurricular activities. 
    Caregivers for children in out-of-home
care are faced with 
    making the same decisions.
        (2) When a caregiver makes decisions, he or she must 
    consider applicable laws, rules, and regulations to 
    safeguard the health, safety, and  best interests of a 
    child in out-of-home care.
        (3) Participation in extracurricular activities is 
    important to a child's
well-being, not only emotionally, 
    but also in developing valuable life skills.
        (4) The General Assembly recognizes the importance of 
    making every effort to normalize
the lives of children in 
    out-of-home care and to empower a caregiver
to approve or 
    not approve a child's participation in appropriate 
    extracurricular activities based on
the caregiver's own 
    assessment using the reasonable and prudent
parent 
    standard, without prior approval of the Department, the

    caseworker, or the court. 
        (5) Nothing in this Section shall be presumed to 
    discourage or diminish the engagement of families and 
    guardians in the child's life activities. 
    (b) Definitions. As used in this Section:
    "Appropriate activities" means activities or items that 
are generally
accepted as suitable for children of the same 
chronological age or
developmental level of maturity. 
Appropriateness is based on the development
of cognitive, 
emotional, physical, and behavioral capacity that is
typical 
for an age or age group, taking into account the individual 
child's cognitive, emotional, physical, and behavioral 
development.
    "Caregiver" means a person with whom the child is placed 
in
out-of-home care or a designated official for child care 
facilities
licensed by the Department as
defined in the Child 
Care Act of 1969. 
    "Reasonable and prudent parent standard" means the 
standard
characterized by careful and sensible parental 
decisions that maintain
the child's health, safety, and best 
interests while at the same time
supporting the child's 
emotional and developmental growth that a
caregiver shall use 
when determining whether to allow a child in out-of-home care 
to participate in extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and 
social
activities. 
    (c) Requirements for decision-making. 
        (1) Each child who comes into the care and custody of 
    the Department
is fully entitled to participate in 
    appropriate extracurricular,
enrichment, cultural, and 
    social activities in a manner that allows that child to 
    participate in his or her community to the fullest extent 
    possible.
        (2) Caregivers must use the reasonable and prudent 
    parent standard
in determining whether to give permission 
    for a child in out-of-home
care to participate in 
    appropriate extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and 
    social activities.
Caregivers are expected to promote and 
    support a child's participation in such activities. When 
    using the reasonable and prudent parent standard, the

    caregiver shall consider: 
            (A) the child's age, maturity, and developmental 
        level to promote the
overall health, safety, and best 
        interests of the child;
            (B) the best interest of the child based on 
        information known by the
caregiver;
            (C) the importance and fundamental value of 
        encouraging the child's emotional and
developmental 
        growth gained through participation in activities in 
        his or her community;
            (D) the importance and fundamental value of 
        providing the child with the most family-like
living 
        experience possible; and
            (E) the behavioral history of the child and the 
        child's ability to safely
participate in the proposed 
        activity. 
        (3) A caregiver is not liable for harm
caused to a 
    child in out-of-home care who participates in an activity 
    approved by
the caregiver, provided that the caregiver has 
    acted as a reasonable
and prudent parent in permitting the 
    child to engage in the activity. 
    (c-5) No youth in care shall be required to store his or 
her belongings in plastic bags or in similar forms of 
disposable containers, including, but not limited to, trash 
bags, paper or plastic shopping bags, or pillow cases when 
relocating from one placement type to another placement type 
or when discharged from the custody or guardianship of the 
Department. The Department shall ensure that each youth in 
care has appropriate baggage and other items to store his or 
her belongings  when moving through the State's child welfare 
system. As used in this subsection, "purchase of service 
agency" means any entity that contracts with the Department to 
provide services that are consistent with the purposes of this 
Act. 
    (d) Rulemaking. The Department shall adopt, by rule,

procedures no later than June 1, 2017 that promote and protect 
the ability
of children to participate in appropriate 
extracurricular,
enrichment, cultural, and social activities.

(Source: P.A. 99-839, eff. 8-19-16.)