SB0506eng 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB0506 Engrossed LRB094 06274 DRJ 36345 b

AN ACT concerning children.

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 Shaken Baby Prevention Act.

Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:

"Department" means the Department of Public Health.

"Director" means the Director of Public Health.

"Parent" means a biological mother or father, foster-mother or father, adoptive mother or father, or step-mother or step-father.

"Primary caregiver" means any person who is not a parent, but who provides temporary care to an infant or child, including but not limited to, a babysitter, child care provider, extended family member, nanny, or custodian.

"Shaken baby" means the vigorous shaking of an infant or a young child that may result in bleeding inside the head and cause one or more of the following conditions: irreversible brain damage; blindness, retinal hemorrhage, or eye damage; cerebral palsy; hearing loss; spinal cord injury, including paralysis; seizures; learning disability; central nervous system injury; closed head injury; rib fracture; subdural hematoma; or death.

Section 10. Shaken Baby Prevention Program. Subject to appropriation, the Director shall establish a statewide Shaken Baby Prevention Program to educate parents and primary caregivers about the dangers of shaken baby and to provide alternative techniques to venting anger and frustration. The program shall allow for voluntary participation and use multimedia educational vehicles, such as a video recording, to target the parents and primary caregivers of babies from birth through 3 years of age. Parents of newborns may choose to sign a participation form and fill out an evaluation form to record their participation in the program after viewing the multimedia educational materials. The Director, or the Director's designee, shall develop companion written materials, a program participation form, and an evaluation form. The Director shall designate and enter into contracts with experts, health care providers, and other State agencies to design and implement the program in all hospitals and child care facilities.

Section 15. Local health departments. Local health departments shall assist the Director in implementing and administering the Shaken Baby Prevention Program in local hospitals and child care facilities. Local health departments' specific duties may include, but are not limited to, distributing the multimedia program materials and assisting in the collection of the data on program participation and the program evaluation forms for the Department's annual report required under Section 25.

Section 20. Responsibilities of hospitals, health care providers, and child care providers.

(a) Every hospital, maternal or pediatric health care provider, and child care provider shall encourage parents and primary caregivers to participate in the voluntary Shaken Baby Prevention Program by:

(1) informing parents of all newborn children about the program;

(2) making available to parents the shaken baby awareness and prevention multimedia materials provided by the Department;

(3) making program participation forms developed by the Department available for signing by parents after viewing the multimedia materials; and

(4) keeping all program participation forms and evaluation forms on file.

(b) Hospitals and, as applicable, health care providers and child care providers shall report to the Department by no later than the first of November of each year: (i) the total number of births that occurred at the hospital that year; (ii) the total number of viewings of the shaken baby multimedia educational materials; and (iii) the total number of Shaken Baby Prevention Program participation forms signed at the hospital or other facility. All evaluation forms filled out during the year shall be forwarded to the Department with that data.

Section 25. Annual report. The Department shall make an annual report to the General Assembly of its findings and recommendations concerning the effectiveness, impact, and benefits derived from the Shaken Baby Prevention Program. The report shall contain evaluations of the program and recommendations for legislation deemed necessary and proper. The Department shall submit the report on or before the first day of January, beginning in 2007.

Section 90. The Criminal Code of 1961 is amended by adding Section 12-36 as follows:

(720 ILCS 5/12-36 new)

Sec. 12-36. Reckless assault of a child.

(a) A person is guilty of reckless assault of a child when, being 18 years of age or older, he or she recklessly shakes a child less than 12 years of age in a vigorous manner that causes subdural hemorrhaging, intercranial hemorrhaging, or retinal hemorrhaging in the child.

(b) Sentence. Reckless assault of a child is a Class 2 felony.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January 1, 2006.