Public Act 098-0808
 
HB5598 EnrolledLRB098 20085 KTG 55345 b


  
    AN ACT concerning State government.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  


 
    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the 
Custody Relinquishment Prevention Act.
 
    Section 5. Purpose.   This Act establishes a pathway for 
families on the verge of seeking services for their child's 
serious mental illness or serious emotional disturbance 
through relinquishment of parental custody to the Department of 
Children and Family Services, despite the absence of abuse or 
neglect, to receive services through the appropriate State 
child-serving agency. This pathway shall be outlined in an 
interagency agreement between all the relevant State agencies.
 
    Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
    "Family income" means the sum of a family's annual earnings 
and cash benefits from all sources before taxes, less payments 
made for child support.
    "Serious mental illness" means a diagnosis set forth in the 
most current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 
of Mental Disorders (DSM).
    "Serious emotional disturbance" means a diagnosable 
mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder in a child or youth 
that resulted in functional impairment which substantially 
interferes with or limits his or her role or functioning in 
family, school, or community activities.
    "Child or youth at risk of custody relinquishment" means a 
child or youth whose parents or guardians refuse to take the 
child or youth home from a hospital or similar treatment 
facility because the parents or guardians have a reasonable 
belief that the child or youth will harm himself or herself or 
other family members upon the child or youth's return home, and 
there is no evidence of abuse or neglect.
 
    Section 15. Interagency agreement.     In order to intercept 
and divert children and youth at risk of custody relinquishment 
to the Department of Children and Family Services, within 180 
days after the effective date of this Act, the Department of 
Children of Family Services, the Department of Human Services, 
the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, the Illinois 
State Board of Education, the Department of Juvenile Justice, 
and the Department of Public Health shall enter into an 
interagency agreement for the purpose of preventing children 
and youth who are not otherwise abused or neglected from 
entering the custody or guardianship of the Department of 
Children and Family Services solely for purposes of receiving 
services for a serious mental illness or serious emotional 
disturbance.
    The intergovernmental agreement shall require the agencies 
listed in this Section to establish an interagency clinical 
team to review cases of children and youth who are at risk of 
relinquishment who are at a hospital or other similar treatment 
facility, and to connect the child or youth and his or her 
family with the appropriate services, treatment, and support to 
stabilize the child or youth's serious mental illness or 
serious emotional disturbance and prevent custody 
relinquishment to the Department of Children and Family 
Services.
    The interagency agreement, among other things, shall 
address all of the following: 
        (1) Requiring families with private health insurance 
    to exhaust their private insurance coverage.
        (2) Establishing cost sharing for services received 
    for families whose income exceeds the federal poverty level 
    that would qualify them for Medicaid, based on the family's 
    ability to pay.
        (3) For children or youth who are not otherwise 
    Medicaid eligible, performing a crisis stabilization 
    assessment and developing a care plan for the child or 
    youth and the family with the goal of determining what 
    services are necessary to (i) stabilize the child or youth 
    and (ii) prevent custody relinquishment to the Department 
    of Children and Family Services when there is no abuse or 
    neglect.
        (4) Set criteria for short-term crisis stabilization 
    services, including intensive community-based services or 
    a short-term residential placement, as the child or youth's 
    treatment plan is being developed.
 
    Section 20. Outcomes and data reported annually to the 
General Assembly. 
    (a) The Department of Children and Family Services shall 
submit an annual report to the General Assembly which includes 
the following with respect to the time period covered by the 
report:
        (1) The number of children and youth who were 
    relinquished to the Department of Children and Family 
    Services for purposes of receiving treatment for their 
    serious mental illness or serious emotional disturbance.
        (2) The length of treatment and the status of children 
    and youth at the termination of services.
    (b) The interagency agreement required under Section 15 
shall require reporting to the General Assembly with respect to 
the following criteria:
        (1) The number of children and youth who were 
    intercepted during the reporting period and the services 
    they were connected with to prevent custody relinquishment 
    and to stabilize the child or youth.        
        (2) The duration of the services the child or youth 
    received in order to stabilize his or her serious mental 
    illness or serious emotional disturbance.
        (3) Following the connection to services through the 
    most appropriate State agency to address the child or 
    youth's needs, the number of families that failed to 
    stabilize and turned to the Department of Children and 
    Family Services for services, and that relinquished 
    custody or whose child was adjudicated a dependent minor 
    pursuant to subdivision (c) of paragraph (1) of Section 2-4 
    of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.