HB3619 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB104 08292 JRC 18343 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB3619

Introduced 2/18/2025, by Rep. Anne Stava-Murray

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act

Creates the Keeping Children Safe from Family Violence Act. Prohibits a court from ordering family reunification treatments, programs, or services that, as a condition of enrollment or participation, require or result in any of the following: (i) a no contact order, (ii) an overnight, out-of-state, or multiday stay, (iii) a transfer of physical or legal custody of the child, (iv) the use of private youth transporters or private transportation agents engaged in the use of force, threat of force, physical obstruction, acutely distressing circumstances, or circumstances that place the safety of the child at risk, or (v) the use of threats of physical force, undue coercion, verbal abuse, isolation from the child's family, community, or other sources of support, or other acutely distressing circumstances. Applies the Act to any proceeding involving the support, custody, visitation, allocation of parental responsibilities, education, parentage, property interest, or general welfare of a child. Provides that the Act does not affect the authority granted to the courts and the Department of Children and Family Services under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning civil law.

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 Keeping Children Safe Act.

Section 5. Legislative findings.

(a) The General Assembly finds and declares the following:

(1) Approximately one in 15 children in the United States is exposed to domestic violence each year.

(2) Most child abuse in America is perpetrated in the family and by a parent, and intimate partner violence and child abuse overlap in the same families at rates between 30% and 60%. A child's risk of abuse increases after a perpetrator of intimate partner violence separates from a domestic partner, even when the perpetrator has not previously directly abused the child. Children in the United States who have witnessed intimate partner violence are approximately 4 times more likely to experience direct child maltreatment than children who have not witnessed intimate partner violence.

(3) More than 75% of child sexual abuse in America is perpetrated by a family member or a person known to the child. Data from the United States Department of Justice shows that family members are 49%, or almost one-half, of the perpetrators of crimes against child sex assault victims younger than 6 years of age.

(4) Research suggests that a child's exposure to an abuser is among the strongest indicators of risk of incest victimization. One national study found that female children with fathers who are abusers of their mothers were 6 and one-half times more likely to experience father-daughter incest than female children who do not have abusive fathers.

(5) Child abuse is a major public health issue in the United States. Total lifetime financial costs associated with just one year of confirmed cases of child maltreatment, including child physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, and neglect, result in $124,000,000,000 in annual costs to the economy of the United States, or approximately 1% of the gross domestic product of the United States.

(6) On April 13, 2023, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls called for a ban on highly traumatizing reunification treatments promoted through unlicensed, unregulated, for-profit industries, which result in children being isolated through extended no-contact orders from the other parent, family, friends, schools, and communities.

(b) It is the intent of the General Assembly to do the following:

(1) Increase the priority given to child safety in any State court proceeding that affects or may affect the custody and care of children.

(2) To prohibit Illinois courts from ordering reunification treatments, programs, or services, including, but not limited to, camps, therapeutic vacations, workshops, and parenting programs, that cut off the relationship with a parent or sequester the child from extended family, friends, and community under acutely distressing circumstances, such as using professional transport agents that force a child into a threat-based, coercive environment to address, repair, or remediate the relationship with the other parent whom the child is rejecting or resisting.

(3) Ensure that persons involved in cases containing domestic violence or child abuse allegations receive trauma-informed and culturally appropriate training on the dynamics, signs, and impact of domestic violence and child abuse, including child sexual abuse.

(4) Ensure training is designed to improve the ability of judges and attorneys, court employees involved in family law proceedings covered under this Act, and those persons appointed by a court to assist the court in resolving these family law proceedings to recognize and respond to child abuse, domestic violence, and trauma in family victims.

(5) Ensure training that is designed to improve the ability of these persons who perform duties in domestic violence or child custody matters to prioritize children and make appropriate custody decisions in the best interest of child safety and well-being and that are culturally responsive and appropriate for diverse communities.

(6) Move Illinois toward becoming eligible for additional grant funding through the United States Department of Justice's STOP Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program, as appropriated for states that meet the requirements of the federal Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022 (Division W of Public Law 117-103).

(c) The General Assembly does not intend, by passage of this bill, to discriminate against parents or children based on either a parent's or the child's actual or perceived sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, race, color, ancestry, national origin, ethnic group identification, age, religion, marital or parental status, physical or mental disability or genetic information, or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics.

Section 10. Certain reunification efforts prohibited.

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a court may not order family reunification treatments, programs, or services, including, but not limited to, camps, workshops, therapeutic vacations, or educational programs, that, as a condition of enrollment or participation, require or result in any of the following:

(1) A no contact order.

(2) An overnight, out-of-state, or multiday stay.

(3) A transfer of physical or legal custody of the child.

(4) The use of private youth transporters or private transportation agents engaged in the use of force, threat of force, physical obstruction, acutely distressing circumstances, or circumstances that place the safety of the child at risk.

(5) The use of threats of physical force, undue coercion, verbal abuse, isolation from the child's family, community, or other sources of support, or other acutely distressing circumstances.

(b) This Section applies to any proceeding involving the support, custody, visitation, allocation of parental responsibilities, education, parentage, property interest, or general welfare of a child.

(c) This Section does not affect the authority granted to the courts and the Department of Children and Family Services under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.

Section 15. Training of court personnel.

(a) The Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts is encouraged and authorized to establish judicial training programs for individuals who perform duties in domestic violence or child custody matters, including, but not limited to, judges, attorneys, court personnel who are assigned to or working in cases involving domestic violence or child custody matters, and any person employed by the court or attorneys who perform duties in domestic violence or child custody matters to include, but not be limited to, guardians ad litem, custody evaluators, mediators, expert witnesses in these matters, child custody recommending counselors, and others who are deemed appropriate by the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts.

(b)(1) The training program described in this Section shall be an ongoing training and education program designed to improve the ability of courts to recognize and respond to child physical abuse, child sexual abuse, domestic violence, and trauma in family victims, particularly children, and to make appropriate custody decisions that prioritize child safety and well-being and are culturally sensitive and appropriate for diverse communities.

(2) The training program described in this Section shall include a domestic violence session in any orientation session conducted for newly appointed or elected judges, an annual training session on domestic violence, and periodic updates in all aspects of domestic violence, including, but not limited to:

(A) Child sexual abuse.

(B) Physical abuse.

(C) Emotional abuse.

(D) Coercive control.

(E) Implicit and explicit bias related to parties involved in domestic violence cases.

(F) Trauma.

(G) Long-term and short-term impacts of domestic violence and child abuse on children.

(H) The detriment to children of residing with a person who perpetrates domestic violence.

(I) That domestic violence can occur without a party seeking or obtaining a restraining order, without a substantiated finding by a child protective service of abuse, or without other documented evidence of abuse.

(J) Victim and perpetrator behavioral patterns and relationship dynamics within the cycle of violence.

Section 20. Judicial reporting of training.

(a) The Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts must report to the General Assembly and the relevant policy committees, on or before January 1, 2027, and each January thereafter, on the trainings for judges and other personnel as required under this Section. The report must include both of the following:

(1) The titles of the training courses being offered.

(2) The number of judges and other court personnel that participated in each training.

(3) The nature and extent of the training.

(4) The length of the training.

(5) Any other documentation regarding the training, implementation, and feedback of the training.