HB4694 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB104 17780 RTM 31212 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB4694

Introduced , by Rep. Michelle Mussman

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

55 ILCS 80/2.5
55 ILCS 80/4	from Ch. 23, par. 1804

Amends the Child Advocacy Center Act. Provides that Multidisciplinary Team Members shall work together, share information, and maintain confidentiality throughout the investigative process. Provides that Multidisciplinary Team members shall coordinate, communicate, and keep nonoffending parents, caregivers, and their families aware of the status of child abuse investigations. Provides that Children's Advocacy Centers shall be (rather than may be) established to coordinate the activities of the various agencies involved in the investigation, prosecution, and treatment of child maltreatment. Provides that every Child Advocacy Center shall include a multidisciplinary systems approach that includes all Multidisciplinary Team members as equal partners in the investigation of child maltreatment. Provides that an investigation into child maltreatment shall include a comprehensive interagency notification procedure for all Multidisciplinary Team partners. Provides that the investigation shall also include a policy that mandates every Multidisciplinary Team member has access to records related to every child abuse investigation and that ensures all information is shared in a confidential manner. Provides that the Children's Advocacy Center of Illinois shall convene an annual meeting of statewide leadership from each MDT discipline to review data, discuss and analyze findings, and work collaboratively to identify service gaps and opportunities for process improvement. Provides the Children's Advocacy Center of Illinois shall create a report that summarizes the discussion at the annual meeting. Requires the Children's Advocacy Center of Illinois to share the report with the leadership of MDT partners and other agencies. Makes other changes.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning local government.

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

Section 5. The Children's Advocacy Center Act is amended by changing Sections 2.5 and 4 as follows:

(55 ILCS 80/2.5)

Sec. 2.5. Definitions. As used in this Section:

"Accreditation" means the process in which certification of competency, authority, or credibility is presented by standards set by the National Children's Alliance to ensure effective, efficient and consistent delivery of services by a CAC.

"Child maltreatment" includes any act or occurrence, as defined in Section 5 of the Criminal Code of 2012, under the Children and Family Services Act or the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 involving either a child victim or child witness.

"Children's Advocacy Center" or "CAC" is a child-focused, trauma-informed, facility-based program in which representatives from law enforcement, child protection, prosecution, mental health, forensic interviewing, medical, and victim advocacy disciplines collaborate to interview children, meet with a child's parent or parents, caregivers, and family members, and make team decisions about the investigation, prosecution, safety, treatment, and support services for child maltreatment cases.

"Children's Advocacy Centers of Illinois" or "CACI" is a state chapter of the National Children's Alliance ("NCA") and organizing entity for Children's Advocacy Centers in the State of Illinois. It defines membership and engages member CACs in the NCA accreditation process and collecting and sharing of data, and provides training, leadership, and technical assistance to existing and emerging CACs in the State.

"Electronic recording" includes a motion picture, audiotape, videotape, or digital recording.

"Forensic interview" means an interview between a trained forensic interviewer, as defined by NCA standards, and a child in which the interviewer obtains information from children in an unbiased and fact finding manner that is developmentally appropriate and culturally sensitive to support accurate and fair decision making by the multidisciplinary team in the criminal justice and child protection systems. Whenever practical, all parties involved in investigating reports of child maltreatment shall observe the interview, which shall be electronically recorded.

"Forensic interview transcription" means a verbatim transcript of a forensic interview for the purpose of translating the interview into another language.

"Multidisciplinary team" or "MDT" means a group of professionals working collaboratively under a written protocol, who represent various disciplines from the point of a report of child maltreatment to assure the most effective coordinated response possible for every child. MDT members shall work together, share information, and maintain confidentiality throughout the investigative process. Employees from each participating entity shall be included on the MDT. A CAC's MDT must include professionals involved in the coordination, investigation, and prosecution and treatment of child abuse investigations cases, including the CAC's staff, participating law enforcement agencies, the county state's attorney, and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, and specialized medical and mental health providers must include professionals involved in the delivery of services to victims of child maltreatment and non-offending parent or parents, caregiver, and their families. MDT members shall coordinate, communicate, and keep nonoffending parents and caregivers and their families aware of the status of the investigation.

"National Children's Alliance" or "NCA" means the professional membership organization dedicated to helping local communities respond to allegations of child abuse in an effective and efficient manner. NCA provides training, support, technical assistance and leadership on a national level to state and local CACs and communities responding to reports of child maltreatment. NCA is the national organization that provides the standards for CAC accreditation.

"Protocol" means a written methodology defining the responsibilities of each of the MDT members in the investigation and prosecution of child maltreatment within a defined jurisdiction. Written protocols are signed documents and are reviewed and/or updated annually, at a minimum, by a CAC's Advisory Board.

(Source: P.A. 101-81, eff. 7-12-19; 101-236, eff. 1-1-20.)

(55 ILCS 80/4) (from Ch. 23, par. 1804)

Sec. 4. Children's Advocacy Center.

(a) Children's Advocacy Centers shall A CAC may be established to coordinate the activities of the various agencies involved in the investigation, prosecution and treatment of child maltreatment. The individual county or regional Advisory Board shall set the written protocol of the CAC within the appropriate jurisdiction. The operation of the CAC may be funded through public or private grants, contracts, donations, fees, and other available sources under this Act. Each CAC shall operate to the best of its ability in accordance with available funding. In counties in which a referendum has been adopted under Section 5 of this Act, the Advisory Board, by the majority vote of its members, shall submit a proposed annual budget for the operation of the CAC to the county board, which shall appropriate funds and levy a tax sufficient to operate the CAC. The county board in each county in which a referendum has been adopted shall establish a Children's Advocacy Center Fund and shall deposit the net proceeds of the tax authorized by Section 6 of this Act in that Fund, which shall be kept separate from all other county funds and shall only be used for the purposes of this Act.

(b) The Advisory Board shall pay from the Children's Advocacy Center Fund or from other available funds the salaries of all employees of the Center and the expenses of acquiring a physical plant for the Center by construction or lease and maintaining the Center, including the expenses of administering the coordination of the investigation, prosecution and treatment referral of child maltreatment under the provisions of the protocol adopted pursuant to this Act.

(b-1) Recognizing the pivotal role of CACs in providing comprehensive support to trafficked children and youth, each CAC shall:

(1) ensure that each county's multi-disciplinary team protocol includes a response to allegations of human trafficking;

(2) increase the capacity of each multi-disciplinary team to identify, assess, and serve trafficked children and youth;

(3) facilitate collaboration between the CAC, law enforcement, child welfare agencies, health care providers, and other pertinent stakeholders to ensure a synchronized and trauma-informed response to trafficked children and youth;

(4) ensure all CAC employees and contractors treating, interviewing, or coming in contact with victims receive training on victim-centered, trauma-informed response to child and youth victims of human trafficking, including identifying and addressing the unique needs of trafficked children and youth, thereby enabling access to appropriate support services and legal remedies; and

(5) work with the Department of Human Services to establish standards for victim-centered, trauma-informed training for CACs and members of multi-disciplinary teams.

(c) Every CAC shall include at least the following components:

(1) A multidisciplinary, coordinated systems approach that includes all MDT members as equal partners in to the investigation of child maltreatment, which shall include, at a minimum:

(i) a comprehensive an interagency notification procedure for all MDT partners;

(ii) a policy on multidisciplinary team collaboration and communication that mandates every requires MDT member has access to records related to every child abuse investigation and shares all members share information in a confidential manner for pertinent to investigations and the safety of children;

(iii) (blank);

(iv) a description of the role each agency has in responding to a referral for services in an individual case;

(v) a dispute resolution process between the involved agencies when a conflict arises on how to proceed on the referral of a particular case;

(vi) a process for the CAC to assist in the forensic interview of children that witness alleged crimes;

(vii) a child-friendly, trauma informed space for children and their non-offending family members;

(viii) an MDT approach including law enforcement, prosecution, medical, mental health, victim advocacy, the Department of Children and Family Services, school personnel, if appropriate, and other community resources;

(ix) medical evaluation on-site or off-site through referral;

(x) mental health services on-site or off-site through referral;

(xi) on-site forensic interviews;

(xii) culturally competent services;

(xiii) case tracking and review;

(xiv) case staffing on each investigation;

(xv) effective organizational capacity; and

(xvi) a policy or procedure to familiarize a child and his or her non-offending family members or guardians with the court process as well as preparations for testifying in court, if necessary;

(2) A safe, separate space with assigned personnel designated for the investigation and coordination of child maltreatment cases;

(3) A multidisciplinary case review process for purposes of decision-making, problem solving, systems coordination, and information sharing;

(4) A comprehensive client tracking system to receive and coordinate information concerning child maltreatment cases from each participating agency;

(5) Multidisciplinary specialized training for all professionals involved with the victims and non-offending family members in child maltreatment cases; and

(6) A process for evaluating the effectiveness of the CAC and its operations.

(d) In the event that a CAC has been established as provided in this Section, the Advisory Board of that CAC may, by a majority vote of the members, authorize the CAC to coordinate the activities of the various agencies involved in the investigation, prosecution, and treatment referral in cases of serious or fatal injury to a child. For CACs receiving funds under Section 5 or 6 of this Act, the Advisory Board shall provide for the financial support of these activities in a manner similar to that set out in subsections (a) and (b) of this Section and shall be allowed to submit a budget that includes support for physical abuse and neglect activities to the County Board, which shall appropriate funds that may be available under Section 5 of this Act. In cooperation with the Department of Children and Family Services Child Death Review Teams, the Department of Children and Family Services Office of the Inspector General, and other stakeholders, this protocol must be initially implemented in selected counties to the extent that State appropriations or funds from other sources for this purpose allow.

(e) CACI may also provide technical assistance and guidance to the Advisory Boards.

(e-5) CACI shall convene an annual meeting of statewide leadership from each MDT discipline to review data, discuss and analyze findings, and work collaboratively to identify service gaps and opportunities for process improvement. CACI shall create a report that summarizes discussion at the annual meeting and shall share the report with the leadership of MDT partners and other agencies.

(f) In this Section:

"Child" or "children" refers to persons under 18 years of age.

"Youth" means persons between the ages of 18 and 24 years.

(Source: P.A. 104-159, eff. 1-1-26.)