SB1670sam001 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Sen. Heather A. Steans

Filed: 4/21/2015

09900SB1670sam001 LRB099 06240 KTG 34617 a

AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1670

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1670 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 5. The Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act is amended by changing Sections 10, 20, 35, 50, 60, and 65 as follows:

(325 ILCS 2/10)

Sec. 10. Definitions. In this Act:

"Abandon" has the same meaning as in the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act.

"Abused child" has the same meaning as in the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act.

"Child-placing agency" means a licensed public or private agency that receives a child for the purpose of placing or arranging for the placement of the child in a foster family home or other facility for child care, apart from the custody of the child's parents.

"Department" or "DCFS" means the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

"Emergency medical facility" means a freestanding emergency center or trauma center, as defined in the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act.

"Emergency medical professional" includes licensed physicians, and any emergency medical technician, emergency medical technician-intermediate, advanced emergency medical technician, paramedic, trauma nurse specialist, and pre-hospital registered nurse, as defined in the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act.

"Fire station" means a fire station within the State with at least one staff person.

"Foundling record" means the record required for infants of unknown parentage in Section 13 of the Vital Records Act.

"Hospital" has the same meaning as in the Hospital Licensing Act.

"Hospital birth" means any birth that occurs in a hospital or emergency medical facility.

"Legal custody" means the relationship created by a court order in the best interest of a newborn infant that imposes on the infant's custodian the responsibility of physical possession of the infant, the duty to protect, train, and discipline the infant, and the duty to provide the infant with food, shelter, education, and medical care, except as these are limited by parental rights and responsibilities.

"Neglected child" has the same meaning as in the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act.

"Newborn infant" means a child who a licensed physician reasonably believes is 30 days old or less at the time the child is initially relinquished to a hospital, police station, fire station, or emergency medical facility, and who is not an abused or a neglected child.

"Police station" means a municipal police station, a county sheriff's office, a campus police department located on any college or university owned or controlled by the State or any private college or private university that is not owned or controlled by the State when employees of the campus police department are present, or any of the district headquarters of the Illinois State Police.

"Relinquish" means to bring a newborn infant, who a licensed physician reasonably believes is 30 days old or less, to a hospital, police station, fire station, or emergency medical facility and to leave the infant with personnel of the facility, if the person leaving the infant does not express an intent to return for the infant or states that he or she will not return for the infant. In the case of a mother who gives birth to an infant in a hospital, the mother's act of leaving that newborn infant at the hospital (i) without expressing an intent to return for the infant or (ii) stating that she will not return for the infant is not a "relinquishment" under this Act.

"Temporary protective custody" means the temporary placement of a newborn infant within a hospital or other medical facility out of the custody of the infant's parent.

(Source: P.A. 97-293, eff. 8-11-11; 98-973, eff. 8-15-14.)

(325 ILCS 2/20)

Sec. 20. Procedures with respect to relinquished newborn infants.

(a) Hospitals. Every hospital must accept and provide all necessary emergency services and care to a relinquished newborn infant, in accordance with this Act. The hospital shall examine a relinquished newborn infant and perform tests that, based on reasonable medical judgment, are appropriate in evaluating whether the relinquished newborn infant was abused or neglected.

The act of relinquishing a newborn infant serves as implied consent for the hospital and its medical personnel and physicians on staff to treat and provide care for the infant.

The hospital shall be deemed to have temporary protective custody of a relinquished newborn infant brought to a hospital by a relinquishing person or who has been brought to a hospital after relinquishment at a fire station, police station, or emergency medical facility. The hospital shall have such protective custody until the infant is discharged to the custody of a child-placing agency or the Department. During this time of temporary protective custody of the infant, the hospital shall complete a foundling record with respect to the infant pursuant to Section 13 of the Vital Records Act.

(b) Fire stations, police stations, and emergency medical facilities. Every fire station, police station, and emergency medical facility must accept and provide all necessary emergency services and care to a relinquished newborn infant, in accordance with this Act.

The act of relinquishing a newborn infant serves as implied consent for the fire station, police station, or emergency medical facility and its emergency medical professionals to treat and provide care for the infant, to the extent that those emergency medical professionals are trained to provide those services.

After the relinquishment of a newborn infant to a fire station, police station, or emergency medical facility, the fire station, police station, or emergency medical facility's personnel must arrange for the transportation of the infant to the nearest hospital as soon as transportation can be arranged.

If the parent of a newborn infant returns to reclaim the child within 72 hours after relinquishing the child to a fire station or emergency medical facility, the fire station or emergency medical facility must inform the parent of the name and location of the hospital to which the infant was transported.

(c) If a parent of a newborn infant or any other person returns to reclaim the infant after relinquishing the infant to a hospital, fire station, police station, or emergency medical facility, the hospital, fire station, police station, or emergency medical facility shall inform the parent or other person that he or she must contact the Department and shall provide the parent or other person with the toll-free telephone number established by the Department for the sole purpose of receiving calls made pursuant to this Section and for providing the parent or person relinquishing the infant with the name of the hospital or licensed child-placing agency to which the infant has been taken. The Department shall adopt rules necessary to create this dedicated toll-free telephone number within 120 days of the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly. The rules shall require that any call placed to the toll-free telephone number shall be returned within one hour from the time the call was placed. Police stations. Every police station must accept a relinquished newborn infant, in accordance with this Act. After the relinquishment of a newborn infant to a police station, the police station must arrange for the transportation of the infant to the nearest hospital as soon as transportation can be arranged. The act of relinquishing a newborn infant serves as implied consent for the hospital to which the infant is transported and that hospital's medical personnel and physicians on staff to treat and provide care for the infant.

If the parent of a newborn infant returns to reclaim the infant within 72 hours after relinquishing the infant to a police station, the police station must inform the parent of the name and location of the hospital to which the infant was transported.

(Source: P.A. 92-408, eff. 8-17-01; 92-432, eff. 8-17-01; 93-820, eff. 7-27-04.)

(325 ILCS 2/35)

Sec. 35. Information for relinquishing person.

(a) A hospital, police station, fire station, or emergency medical facility that receives a newborn infant relinquished in accordance with this Act must offer an information packet to the relinquishing person and, if possible, must clearly inform the relinquishing person that his or her acceptance of the information is completely voluntary. The information packet must include all of the following:

(1) (Blank).

(2) Written notice of the following:

(A) No sooner than 30 days following the date of No sooner than 60 days following the date of the initial relinquishment of the infant to a hospital, police station, fire station, or emergency medical facility, the child-placing agency or the Department will commence proceedings for the termination of parental rights and placement of the infant for adoption.

(B) Failure of a parent of the infant to contact the Department and petition for the return of custody of the infant before termination of parental rights bars any future action asserting legal rights with respect to the infant.

(3) A resource list of providers of counseling services including grief counseling, pregnancy counseling, and counseling regarding adoption and other available options for placement of the infant.

Upon request of a parent, the Department of Public Health shall provide the application forms for the Illinois Adoption Registry and Medical Information Exchange.

(b) The information packet given to a relinquishing parent in accordance with this Act shall include, in addition to other information required under this Act, the following:

(1) A brochure (with a self-mailer attached) that describes this Act and the rights of birth parents, including an optional section for the parent to complete and mail to the Department of Children and Family Services, that shall ask for basic anonymous background information about the relinquished child. This brochure shall be maintained by the Department on its website.

(2) A brochure that describes the Illinois Adoption Registry, including a toll-free number and website information. This brochure shall be maintained on the Office of Vital Records website.

(3) A brochure describing postpartum health information for the mother.

The information packet shall be designed in coordination between the Office of Vital Records and the Department of Children and Family Services, with the exception of the resource list of providers of counseling services and adoption agencies, which shall be provided by the hospital, fire station, police station, sheriff's office, or emergency medical facility.

(Source: P.A. 96-1114, eff. 7-20-10; 97-333, eff. 8-12-11.)

(325 ILCS 2/50)

Sec. 50. Child-placing agency procedures.

(a) The Department's State Central Registry must maintain a list of licensed child-placing agencies willing to take legal custody of newborn infants relinquished in accordance with this Act. The child-placing agencies on the list must be contacted by the Department on a rotating basis upon notice from a hospital that a newborn infant has been relinquished in accordance with this Act.

(b) Upon notice from the Department that a newborn infant has been relinquished in accordance with this Act, a child-placing agency must accept the newborn infant if the agency has the accommodations to do so. The child-placing agency must seek an order for legal custody of the infant upon its acceptance of the infant.

(c) Within 3 business days after assuming physical custody of the infant, the child-placing agency shall file a petition in the division of the circuit court in which petitions for adoption would normally be heard. The petition shall allege that the newborn infant has been relinquished in accordance with this Act and shall state that the child-placing agency intends to place the infant in an adoptive home.

(d) If no licensed child-placing agency is able to accept the relinquished newborn infant, then the Department must assume responsibility for the infant as soon as practicable.

(e) A custody order issued under subsection (b) shall remain in effect until a final adoption order based on the relinquished newborn infant's best interests is issued in accordance with this Act and the Adoption Act.

(f) When possible, the child-placing agency must place a relinquished newborn infant in a prospective adoptive home.

(g) The Department or child-placing agency must initiate proceedings to (i) terminate the parental rights of the relinquished newborn infant's known or unknown parents, (ii) appoint a guardian for the infant, and (iii) obtain consent to the infant's adoption in accordance with this Act no sooner than 30 days no sooner than 60 days following the date of the initial relinquishment of the infant to the hospital, police station, fire station, or emergency medical facility.

(g-5) No court order terminating the parental rights of the relinquished newborn infant's known or unknown parents shall be entered sooner than 60 days after the date of the initial relinquishment of the infant to the hospital, fire station, police station, or emergency medical facility.

(h) Before filing a petition for termination of parental rights, the Department or child-placing agency must do the following:

(1) Search its Putative Father Registry for the purpose of determining the identity and location of the putative father of the relinquished newborn infant who is, or is expected to be, the subject of an adoption proceeding, in order to provide notice of the proceeding to the putative father. At least one search of the Registry must be conducted, at least 30 days after the relinquished newborn infant's estimated date of birth; earlier searches may be conducted, however. Notice to any potential putative father discovered in a search of the Registry according to the estimated age of the relinquished newborn infant must be in accordance with Section 12a of the Adoption Act.

(2) Verify with law enforcement officials, using the National Crime Information Center, that the relinquished newborn infant is not a missing child.

(Source: P.A. 92-408, eff. 8-17-01; 92-432, eff. 8-17-01; 93-820, eff. 7-27-04.)

(325 ILCS 2/60)

Sec. 60. Department's duties. The Department must implement a public information program to promote safe placement alternatives for newborn infants. The public information program must inform the public of the following:

(1) The relinquishment alternative provided for in this Act, which results in the adoption of a newborn infant under 30 7 days of age and which provides for the parent's anonymity, if the parent so chooses.

(2) The alternative of adoption through a public or private agency, in which the parent's identity may or may not be known to the agency, but is kept anonymous from the adoptive parents, if the birth parent so desires, and which allows the parent to be actively involved in the child's adoption plan.

The public information program may include, but need not be limited to, the following elements:

(i) Educational and informational materials in print, audio, video, electronic or other media.

(ii) Establishment of a web site.

(iii) Public service announcements and advertisements.

(iv) Establishment of toll-free telephone hotlines to provide information.

(Source: P.A. 94-941, eff. 6-26-06.)

(325 ILCS 2/65)

Sec. 65. Evaluation.

(a) The Department shall collect and analyze information regarding the relinquishment of newborn infants and placement of children under this Act. Police stations, fire stations, emergency medical facilities, and medical professionals accepting and providing services to a newborn infant under this Act shall report to the Department data necessary for the Department to evaluate and determine the effect of this Act in the prevention of injury or death of newborn infants. Child-placing agencies shall report to the Department data necessary to evaluate and determine the effectiveness of these agencies in providing child protective and child welfare services to newborn infants relinquished under this Act.

(b) The information collected shall include, but need not be limited to: the number of newborn infants relinquished; the services provided to relinquished newborn infants; the outcome of care for the relinquished newborn infants; the number and disposition of cases of relinquished newborn infants subject to placement; the number of children accepted and served by each child-placing agency agencies; the name of each child-placing agency which provided services; the number of infants relinquished at each location, listed by location, including the number of infants relinquished at a hospital, fire station, police station, and emergency medical facility; and the services provided by child-placing agencies and the disposition of the cases of the children placed under this Act.

(c) The Department shall submit a report by January 1, 2002, and on January 1 of each year thereafter, to the Governor and General Assembly regarding the prevention of injury or death of newborn infants and the effect of placements of children under this Act. The report shall include, but need not be limited to, a summary of collected data, an analysis of the data and conclusions regarding the Act's effectiveness, a determination whether the purposes of the Act are being achieved, and recommendations for changes that may be considered necessary to improve the administration and enforcement of this Act.

(Source: P.A. 92-408, eff. 8-17-01; 92-432, eff. 8-17-01; 93-820, eff. 7-27-04.)".