HB2942ham002 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Patricia R. Bellock

Filed: 3/24/2011

09700HB2942ham002 LRB097 09211 KTG 53332 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2942

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2942 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 5. The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act is amended by changing Section 7.21 as follows:

(325 ILCS 5/7.21)

Sec. 7.21. Review of unfounded reports. Multidisciplinary Review Committee.

(a) Whenever the Department determines that a reported incident of child abuse or neglect from a reporter is "unfounded", the reporter may request an appeal of the investigation within 10 days of the notification of the final finding. Whenever the Department determines that any reported incident of child abuse or neglect is "unfounded", the minor's guardian ad litem appointed under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 may request an appeal of the investigation within 10 days of the notification of the final finding and receipt of the investigative packet, if the subject of the report is also the minor for whom the guardian ad litem has been appointed. Appeals under this subsection will be conducted by a neutral third party. The neutral third party shall make recommendations to the Department as to the adequacy of the investigation and the accuracy of the final finding determination. The Department may establish multidisciplinary review committees in each region of the State to assure that mandated reporters have the ability to have a review conducted on any situation where a child abuse or neglect report made by them was "unfounded", and they have concerns about the adequacy of the investigation. These committees shall draw upon the expertise of the Child Death Review Teams as necessary and practicable. Each committee will be composed of the following: a health care professional, a Department employee, a law enforcement official, a licensed social worker, and a representative of the State's attorney's office. In appointing members of a committee, primary consideration shall be given to a prospective member's prior experience in dealing with cases of suspected child abuse or neglect.

(b) (Blank). Whenever the Department determines that a reported incident of child abuse or neglect from a mandated reporter is "unfounded", the mandated reporter may request a review of the investigation within 10 days of the notification of the final finding. Whenever the Department determines that a reported incident of child abuse or neglect from a mandated reporter or any other reporter is "unfounded", the minor's guardian ad litem appointed under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 may request a review of the investigation within 10 days of the notification of the final finding if the subject of the report is also the minor for whom the guardian ad litem has been appointed. The review of the investigation requested by the guardian ad litem may be conducted by the Regional Child Protection Manager.

A review under this subsection will be conducted by the committee, except those requests for review that are made by the guardian ad litem, which shall be conducted by the Regional Child Protection Manager. The Department shall make available to the committee all information in the Department's possession concerning the case. The committee shall make recommendations to the Department as to the adequacy of the investigation and of the accuracy of the final finding determination. These findings shall be forwarded to the Regional Child Protection Manager.

(c) The Department shall provide complete records of these investigations to the committee. Records provided to the committee and recommendation reports generated by the committee shall not be public record.

(c-5) On or before October 1 of each year, the Department shall prepare a report setting forth (i) the number of investigations appealed reviewed by each committee during the previous fiscal year and (ii) the number of those investigations that the committee found to be inadequate, and (iii) the number of recommendations to reverse final findings. The report shall also include a summary of the committee's comments and a summary of the corrective action, if any, that was taken in response to the committee's recommendations. The report shall be a public record. The Department shall submit the report to the General Assembly and shall make the report available to the public upon request.

(d) The Department shall adopt rules to implement this Section by October 1, 2011. The rules may limit the rights of a reporter to appeal unfounded cases when the reporter has been determined to be engaging in harassing conduct.

(Source: P.A. 90-239, eff. 7-28-97; 91-812, eff. 6-13-00.)".