HB5505 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB104 18023 KTG 31462 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB5505

Introduced 2/13/2026, by Rep. Edgar González, Jr.

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

20 ILCS 105/4.02i new
320 ILCS 20/4	from Ch. 23, par. 6604
755 ILCS 45/4-5	from Ch. 110 1/2, par. 804-5

Amends the Illinois Act on the Aging. Provides that the Department on Aging shall require all provider agencies to administer annual enhanced training for all covered aides regarding all of the following: (1) ethical boundaries and conflicts of interest; (2) the fiduciary duties of an agent under the Illinois Power of Attorney Act; and (3) recognizing and reporting signs of financial exploitation and self-neglect. Provides that a covered aide shall not serve as the agent for a program participant in the Community Care Program unless all of the following conditions are met: (1) the family caregiver discloses the dual role in writing to the provider agency and the Department; (2) the participant undergoes a cognitive capacity assessment by a qualified physician or clinical psychologist confirming the participant understands the dual role and, if the participant lacks capacity, the dual role is permitted only if the agency designation was executed prior to the loss of capacity; and (3) the family caregiver agrees to comply with an administrative oversight mechanism. Amends the Adult Protective Services Act. Provides that a covered aide operating as an agent carries an enhanced duty to report. Amends the Illinois Power of Attorney Act. Allows a covered aide to serve as a health care agent for a program participant in the Community Care Program if the requirements of the Illinois Act on the Aging are met.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning State government.

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

Section 5. The Illinois Act on the Aging is amended by adding Section 4.02i as follows:

(20 ILCS 105/4.02i new)

Sec. 4.02i. Mandatory training and ethics; covered aide training.

(a) As used in this Section:

"Covered aide" means a homemaker or home care aide employed by a provider agency under the Community Care Program.

"Dual role" means a situation in which a covered aide also serves as the agent for the program participant under the Illinois Power of Attorney Act.

"Family caregiver" means a covered aide who is the child, sibling, grandchild, spouse, or niece or nephew of the program participant.

(b) The Department shall require all provider agencies to administer enhanced training for all covered aides regarding:

(1) ethical boundaries and conflicts of interest;

(2) the fiduciary duties of an agent under the Illinois Power of Attorney Act; and

(3) recognizing and reporting signs of financial exploitation and self-neglect.

(c) The enhanced training required under this Section must be completed annually. Failure to complete the training shall disqualify a covered aide from eligibility for the exception outlined in subsection (d).

(d) A covered aide shall not serve as the agent for a program participant unless all of the following conditions are met:

(1) the family caregiver discloses the dual role in writing to the provider agency and the Department;

(2) the participant undergoes a cognitive capacity assessment by a qualified physician or clinical psychologist confirming the participant understands the dual role and, if the participant lacks capacity, the dual role is permitted only if the agency designation was executed prior to the loss of capacity; and

(3) the family caregiver agrees to one of the following oversight mechanisms:

(A) regular submission of financial statements to at least one other adult family member not residing in the participant's home;

(B) engagement of a professional fiduciary or elder law attorney to review expenditures quarterly; or

(C) for participants with assets below a threshold established by the Department, excluding the primary residence, a simplified annual report filed directly with the Area Agency on Aging.

(e) Subject to appropriation, the Department shall establish a pilot program in coordination with Area Agencies on Aging to connect participants lacking family support with vetted, professional fiduciaries or volunteer agents.

(f) The Department shall prioritize grants to legal aid organizations to provide pro bono assistance to participants in drafting Power of Attorney documents and establishing the family councils described in this Section.

Section 10. The Adult Protective Services Act is amended by changing Section 4 as follows:

(320 ILCS 20/4) (from Ch. 23, par. 6604)

Sec. 4. Reports of abuse, abandonment, or neglect.

(a) Any person who suspects the abuse, abandonment, neglect, financial exploitation, or self-neglect of an eligible adult may report this suspicion or information about the suspicious death of an eligible adult to an agency designated to receive such reports under this Act or to the Department.

(a-5) If any mandated reporter has reason to believe that an eligible adult, who because of a disability or other condition or impairment is unable to seek assistance for himself or herself, has, within the previous 12 months, been subjected to abuse, abandonment, neglect, or financial exploitation, the mandated reporter shall, within 24 hours after developing such belief, report this suspicion to an agency designated to receive such reports under this Act or to the Department. The agency designated to receive such reports under this Act or the Department may establish a manner in which a mandated reporter can make the required report through an Internet reporting tool. Information sent and received through the Internet reporting tool is subject to the same rules in this Act as other types of confidential reporting established by the designated agency or the Department. Whenever a mandated reporter is required to report under this Act in his or her capacity as a member of the staff of a medical or other public or private institution, facility, or agency, he or she shall make a report to an agency designated to receive such reports under this Act or to the Department in accordance with the provisions of this Act and may also notify the person in charge of the institution, facility, or agency or his or her designated agent that the report has been made. Under no circumstances shall any person in charge of such institution, facility, or agency, or his or her designated agent to whom the notification has been made, exercise any control, restraint, modification, or other change in the report or the forwarding of the report to an agency designated to receive such reports under this Act or to the Department. The privileged quality of communication between any professional person required to report and his or her patient or client shall not apply to situations involving abused, abandoned, neglected, or financially exploited eligible adults and shall not constitute grounds for failure to report as required by this Act.

(a-6) If a mandated reporter has reason to believe that the death of an eligible adult may be the result of abuse or neglect, the matter shall be reported to an agency designated to receive such reports under this Act or to the Department for subsequent referral to the appropriate law enforcement agency and the coroner or medical examiner in accordance with subsection (c-5) of Section 3 of this Act.

(a-7) A person making a report under this Act in the belief that it is in the alleged victim's best interest shall be immune from criminal or civil liability or professional disciplinary action on account of making the report, notwithstanding any requirements concerning the confidentiality of information with respect to such eligible adult which might otherwise be applicable.

(a-9) Law enforcement officers shall continue to report incidents of alleged abuse pursuant to the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986, notwithstanding any requirements under this Act.

(a-10) Any covered aide authorized to act as an agent under subsection (d) of Section 4.02i of the Illinois Act on the Aging carries an enhanced duty to report. If a family caregiver serving as an agent fails to report a known instance of financial exploitation by a third party, that failure shall be grounds for immediate revocation of the dual role and potential referral to the specialized elder abuse units of local law enforcement. In this subsection, "covered aide", "dual role", and "family caregiver" have the meanings given in Section 4.02i of the Illinois Act on the Aging.

(b) Any person, institution or agency participating in the making of a report, providing information or records related to a report, assessment, or services, or participating in the investigation of a report under this Act in good faith, or taking photographs or x-rays as a result of an authorized assessment, shall have immunity from any civil, criminal or other liability in any civil, criminal or other proceeding brought in consequence of making such report or assessment or on account of submitting or otherwise disclosing such photographs or x-rays to any agency designated to receive reports of alleged or suspected abuse, abandonment, or neglect. Any person, institution or agency authorized by the Department to provide assessment, intervention, or administrative services under this Act shall, in the good faith performance of those services, have immunity from any civil, criminal or other liability in any civil, criminal, or other proceeding brought as a consequence of the performance of those services. For the purposes of any civil, criminal, or other proceeding, the good faith of any person required to report, permitted to report, or participating in an investigation of a report of alleged or suspected abuse, abandonment, neglect, financial exploitation, or self-neglect shall be presumed.

(c) The identity of a person making a report of alleged or suspected abuse, abandonment, neglect, financial exploitation, or self-neglect or a report concerning information about the suspicious death of an eligible adult under this Act may be disclosed by the Department or other agency provided for in this Act only with such person's written consent or by court order, but is otherwise confidential.

(d) The Department shall by rule establish a system for filing and compiling reports made under this Act.

(e) Any physician who willfully fails to report as required by this Act shall be referred to the Illinois State Medical Disciplinary Board for action in accordance with subdivision (A)(22) of Section 22 of the Medical Practice Act of 1987. Any dentist or dental hygienist who willfully fails to report as required by this Act shall be referred to the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation for possible disciplinary action. Any optometrist who willfully fails to report as required by this Act shall be referred to the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation for action in accordance with paragraph (15) of subsection (a) of Section 24 of the Illinois Optometric Practice Act of 1987. Any other mandated reporter required by this Act to report suspected abuse, abandonment, neglect, or financial exploitation who willfully fails to report the same is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

(Source: P.A. 102-244, eff. 1-1-22; 103-329, eff. 1-1-24; 103-626, eff. 1-1-25.)

Section 15. The Illinois Power of Attorney Act is amended by changing Section 4-5 as follows:

(755 ILCS 45/4-5) (from Ch. 110 1/2, par. 804-5)

Sec. 4-5. Limitations on health care agencies. Neither the attending physician nor any other health care provider or health care professional may act as agent under a health care agency; except that (i) however, a person who is not administering health care to the patient may act as health care agent for the patient even though the person is a physician or otherwise licensed, certified, authorized, or permitted by law to administer health care in the ordinary course of business or the practice of a profession and (ii) a covered aide may serve as health care agent for a program participant in the Community Care Program if the requirements of subsection (d) of Section 4.02i of the Illinois Act on the Aging are met by the covered aide.

(Source: P.A. 98-1113, eff. 1-1-15.)