Public Act 095-0076
 		





HB0734 Enrolled
LRB095 07140 DRJ 27267 b






    AN ACT concerning aging.

 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:


 
    Section 5. The Elder Abuse and Neglect Act is amended  by 
changing Section 3 as follows:
 



    (320 ILCS 20/3)  (from Ch. 23, par. 6603)



    Sec. 3. Responsibilities. 

    (a) The Department shall establish,
design and manage a 
program of response and services for persons 60 years
of age 
and
older who have been, or are alleged to be, victims of 
abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, or self-neglect.  The 
Department
shall contract with or fund or, contract with and 
fund, regional
administrative
agencies, provider
agencies, or 
both, for the provision of those
functions, and, contingent on 
adequate funding, with attorneys or legal
services provider 
agencies for the
provision of legal assistance pursuant to this 
Act.

    (b) Each regional administrative agency shall designate 
provider
agencies within its planning and service area with 
prior approval by the
Department on Aging, monitor the use of 
services, provide technical
assistance to the provider 
agencies and be involved in program development
activities.

    (c) Provider agencies shall assist, to the extent possible, 
eligible
adults who need agency
services to allow them to 
continue to function independently.  Such
assistance shall 
include but not be limited to receiving reports of alleged
or 
suspected abuse, neglect, financial exploitation,
or 
self-neglect, conducting face-to-face assessments of
such 
reported cases, determination of substantiated cases, referral 
of
substantiated cases for necessary support services,

referral of criminal conduct to law enforcement in accordance 
with Department
guidelines,
and provision of case
work and 
follow-up services on substantiated cases. In the case of a 
report of alleged or suspected abuse or neglect that places an 
eligible adult at risk of injury or death, a provider agency 
shall respond to the report on an emergency basis in accordance 
with guidelines established by the Department by 
administrative rule and shall ensure that it is capable of 
responding to such a report 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. 
A provider agency may use an on-call system to respond to 
reports of alleged or suspected abuse or neglect after hours 
and on weekends.


    (d) By January 1, 2008, the Department on Aging, in 
cooperation with  an Elder Self-Neglect Steering Committee, 
shall by rule develop protocols, procedures, and policies for 
(i) responding to reports of possible self-neglect, (ii) 
protecting the autonomy, rights, privacy, and privileges of 
adults during investigations of possible self-neglect and 
consequential judicial proceedings regarding competency, (iii) 
collecting and sharing relevant information and data among the 
Department, provider agencies, regional administrative 
agencies, and relevant seniors, (iv) developing working 
agreements between provider agencies and law enforcement, 
where practicable, and (v) developing procedures for 
collecting data regarding incidents of self-neglect.  The Elder 
Self-Neglect Steering Committee shall be comprised of one 
person selected by the Elder Abuse Advisory Committee of the 
Department on Aging; 3 persons selected, on the request of the 
Director of Aging, by State or regional organizations that 
advocate for the rights of seniors, at least one of whom shall 
be a legal assistance attorney who represents seniors in 
competency proceedings; 2 persons selected, on the request of 
the Director of Aging, by statewide organizations that 
represent social workers and other persons who provide direct 
intervention and care to housebound seniors who are likely to 
neglect themselves; an expert on geropsychiatry, appointed by 
the Secretary of Human Services; an expert on issues of 
physical health associated with seniors, appointed by the 
Director of Public Health; one representative of a law 
enforcement agency; one representative of the Chicago 
Department on Aging; and 3 other persons selected by the 
Director of Aging, including an expert from an institution of 
higher education who is familiar with the relevant areas of 
data collection and study.

(Source: P.A. 94-1064, eff. 1-1-07.)