SB1762 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB099 10388 KTG 30615 b

99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2015 and 2016
SB1762

Introduced 2/20/2015, by Sen. Julie A. Morrison

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

5 ILCS 120/1.02	from Ch. 102, par. 41.02
5 ILCS 140/2	from Ch. 116, par. 202
325 ILCS 5/7.3d new

Amends the Open Meetings Act and the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that "public body" does not include the Child Care Facility Investigation Workgroup established under the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. Amends the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. Provides that on or before January 1, 2016, the Department of Children and Family Services shall convene a multi-disciplinary child care facility investigation workgroup to identify areas for improvement in the quality of investigations of child abuse and neglect. Sets forth the composition of the workgroup. Requires the Department to provide to the workgroup, upon request, all records and information in the Department's possession relevant to the workgroup's review of reports of abuse or neglect made to the Department's State-wide toll free telephone number, and relevant to the workgroup's review of investigations of allegations of abuse or neglect of children or adult residents who are in child care facilities licensed by the Department under the Child Care Act of 1969, transitional living programs, or unlicensed foster homes. Requires the workgroup to review indicated and unfounded reports of child abuse or neglect. Provides that meetings of the workgroup shall be closed to the public and are not subject to the Open Meetings Act; and that records and information provided to the workgroup and records maintained by the workgroup are confidential and are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act. Contains provisions concerning reporting requirements for both the workgroup and the Department.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning children.

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

Section 1. The Open Meetings Act is amended by changing Section 1.02 as follows:

(5 ILCS 120/1.02) (from Ch. 102, par. 41.02)

Sec. 1.02. For the purposes of this Act:

"Meeting" means any gathering, whether in person or by video or audio conference, telephone call, electronic means (such as, without limitation, electronic mail, electronic chat, and instant messaging), or other means of contemporaneous interactive communication, of a majority of a quorum of the members of a public body held for the purpose of discussing public business or, for a 5-member public body, a quorum of the members of a public body held for the purpose of discussing public business.

Accordingly, for a 5-member public body, 3 members of the body constitute a quorum and the affirmative vote of 3 members is necessary to adopt any motion, resolution, or ordinance, unless a greater number is otherwise required.

"Public body" includes all legislative, executive, administrative or advisory bodies of the State, counties, townships, cities, villages, incorporated towns, school districts and all other municipal corporations, boards, bureaus, committees or commissions of this State, and any subsidiary bodies of any of the foregoing including but not limited to committees and subcommittees which are supported in whole or in part by tax revenue, or which expend tax revenue, except the General Assembly and committees or commissions thereof. "Public body" includes tourism boards and convention or civic center boards located in counties that are contiguous to the Mississippi River with populations of more than 250,000 but less than 300,000. "Public body" includes the Health Facilities and Services Review Board. "Public body" does not include a child death review team or the Illinois Child Death Review Teams Executive Council established under the Child Death Review Team Act, an ethics commission acting under the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, a regional youth advisory board or the Statewide Youth Advisory Board established under the Department of Children and Family Services Statewide Youth Advisory Board Act, the Department of Children and Family Services' Child Care Facility Investigation Workgroup established under Section 7.3d of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, or the Illinois Independent Tax Tribunal.

(Source: P.A. 97-1129, eff. 8-28-12; 98-806, eff. 1-1-15.)

Section 5. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by changing Section 2 as follows:

(5 ILCS 140/2) (from Ch. 116, par. 202)

Sec. 2. Definitions. As used in this Act:

(a) "Public body" means all legislative, executive, administrative, or advisory bodies of the State, state universities and colleges, counties, townships, cities, villages, incorporated towns, school districts and all other municipal corporations, boards, bureaus, committees, or commissions of this State, any subsidiary bodies of any of the foregoing including but not limited to committees and subcommittees thereof, and a School Finance Authority created under Article 1E of the School Code. "Public body" does not include a child death review team or the Illinois Child Death Review Teams Executive Council established under the Child Death Review Team Act, or a regional youth advisory board or the Statewide Youth Advisory Board established under the Department of Children and Family Services Statewide Youth Advisory Board Act, or the Department of Children and Family Services' Child Care Facility Investigation Workgroup established under Section 7.3d of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act.

(b) "Person" means any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, organization or association, acting individually or as a group.

(c) "Public records" means all records, reports, forms, writings, letters, memoranda, books, papers, maps, photographs, microfilms, cards, tapes, recordings, electronic data processing records, electronic communications, recorded information and all other documentary materials pertaining to the transaction of public business, regardless of physical form or characteristics, having been prepared by or for, or having been or being used by, received by, in the possession of, or under the control of any public body.

(c-5) "Private information" means unique identifiers, including a person's social security number, driver's license number, employee identification number, biometric identifiers, personal financial information, passwords or other access codes, medical records, home or personal telephone numbers, and personal email addresses. Private information also includes home address and personal license plates, except as otherwise provided by law or when compiled without possibility of attribution to any person.

(c-10) "Commercial purpose" means the use of any part of a public record or records, or information derived from public records, in any form for sale, resale, or solicitation or advertisement for sales or services. For purposes of this definition, requests made by news media and non-profit, scientific, or academic organizations shall not be considered to be made for a "commercial purpose" when the principal purpose of the request is (i) to access and disseminate information concerning news and current or passing events, (ii) for articles of opinion or features of interest to the public, or (iii) for the purpose of academic, scientific, or public research or education.

(d) "Copying" means the reproduction of any public record by means of any photographic, electronic, mechanical or other process, device or means now known or hereafter developed and available to the public body.

(e) "Head of the public body" means the president, mayor, chairman, presiding officer, director, superintendent, manager, supervisor or individual otherwise holding primary executive and administrative authority for the public body, or such person's duly authorized designee.

(f) "News media" means a newspaper or other periodical issued at regular intervals whether in print or electronic format, a news service whether in print or electronic format, a radio station, a television station, a television network, a community antenna television service, or a person or corporation engaged in making news reels or other motion picture news for public showing.

(g) "Recurrent requester", as used in Section 3.2 of this Act, means a person that, in the 12 months immediately preceding the request, has submitted to the same public body (i) a minimum of 50 requests for records, (ii) a minimum of 15 requests for records within a 30-day period, or (iii) a minimum of 7 requests for records within a 7-day period. For purposes of this definition, requests made by news media and non-profit, scientific, or academic organizations shall not be considered in calculating the number of requests made in the time periods in this definition when the principal purpose of the requests is (i) to access and disseminate information concerning news and current or passing events, (ii) for articles of opinion or features of interest to the public, or (iii) for the purpose of academic, scientific, or public research or education.

For the purposes of this subsection (g), "request" means a written document (or oral request, if the public body chooses to honor oral requests) that is submitted to a public body via personal delivery, mail, telefax, electronic mail, or other means available to the public body and that identifies the particular public record the requester seeks. One request may identify multiple records to be inspected or copied.

(h) "Voluminous request" means a request that: (i) includes more than 5 individual requests for more than 5 different categories of records or a combination of individual requests that total requests for more than 5 different categories of records in a period of 20 business days; or (ii) requires the compilation of more than 500 letter or legal-sized pages of public records unless a single requested record exceeds 500 pages. "Single requested record" may include, but is not limited to, one report, form, e-mail, letter, memorandum, book, map, microfilm, tape, or recording.

"Voluminous request" does not include a request made by news media and non-profit, scientific, or academic organizations if the principal purpose of the request is: (1) to access and disseminate information concerning news and current or passing events; (2) for articles of opinion or features of interest to the public; or (3) for the purpose of academic, scientific, or public research or education.

For the purposes of this subsection (h), "request" means a written document, or oral request, if the public body chooses to honor oral requests, that is submitted to a public body via personal delivery, mail, telefax, electronic mail, or other means available to the public body and that identifies the particular public record or records the requester seeks. One request may identify multiple individual records to be inspected or copied.

(Source: P.A. 97-579, eff. 8-26-11; 98-806, eff. 1-1-15; 98-1129, eff. 12-3-14; revised 12-19-14.)

Section 10. The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act is amended by adding Section 7.3d as follows:

(325 ILCS 5/7.3d new)

Sec. 7.3d. Child care facility investigation workgroup.

(a) Legislative findings. The Department is charged with the responsibility of investigating reports of abuse and neglect of children and adult residents who are in child care facilities statewide. Children in the care of the Department who are placed in child care facilities licensed by the Department, transitional living programs, or unlicensed foster homes are particularly vulnerable to abuse and neglect. The safety and well-being of the children of this State depends in part on the quality of investigations of allegations of abuse or neglect in these living environments.

(b) Workgroup. On or before January 1, 2016, the Department shall convene a multi-disciplinary child care facility investigation workgroup to identify areas for improvement in the quality of investigations of allegations of child abuse or neglect. The workgroup shall consist of at least one member from each of the following categories:

(1) A representative of the Department, including at least one individual who is familiar with existing rules, procedures, and policies of the Department related to investigations of child abuse or neglect.

(2) A representative of a child advocacy organization.

(3) A representative of a parent advocacy organization.

(4) A representative of a child welfare agency specializing in foster care.

(5) A representative of the Multidisciplinary Pediatric Education and Evaluation Consortium.

(6) A representative of a child welfare agency specializing in residential treatment.

(7) A licensed mental health professional who has experience in working with abused and neglected children.

(c) Records and information. The Department shall provide to the workgroup, upon request, all records and information in the Department's possession relevant to the workgroup's review of reports of abuse or neglect made to the Department's State-wide, toll free telephone number established under Section 7.6, and relevant to the workgroup's review of investigations of allegations of abuse or neglect of children or adult residents who are in child care facilities licensed by the Department under the Child Care Act of 1969, transitional living programs, or unlicensed foster homes.

(d) Review of indicated and unfounded reports. The workgroup shall review randomly selected samples of indicated and unfounded reports, including investigations of allegations of abuse or neglect of children or adult residents who are in child care facilities licensed by the Department under the Child Care Act of 1969, transitional living programs, or unlicensed foster homes. The workgroup shall also review a random sample of records of calls made to the Department's State-wide, toll free telephone number established under Section 7.6 where investigations were not initiated, including those referred to licensing or taken for information only.

(e) Confidentiality.

(1) Meetings of the workgroup shall be closed to the public and are not subject to the Open Meetings Act, as provided in that Act.

(2) Records and information provided to the workgroup and records maintained by the workgroup are confidential and are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, as provided in that Act.

(3) All reports and recommendations of the workgroup shall be written in a manner that protects the confidentiality of all persons referenced in any documents reviewed.

(f) Report. The workgroup shall prepare and provide a report to the General Assembly no later than January 1, 2017. The report shall:

(1) identify areas of needed improvement in the manner and quality of investigations of allegations of abuse or neglect of children or adult residents who are in child care facilities licensed by the Department under the Child Care Act of 1969, transitional living programs, or unlicensed foster homes;

(2) make recommendations regarding needed amendments to existing laws and rules and procedures of the Department to improve the manner and quality of investigations of allegations of abuse or neglect of children or adult residents who are in child care facilities licensed by the Department under the Child Care Act of 1969, transitional living programs, or unlicensed foster homes.

(g) Implementation. No later than March 1, 2017, the Department shall implement the workgroup's recommendations, as feasible and appropriate, and shall submit a written report to the General Assembly that explains the Department's decision to implement or to not implement each of the workgroup's recommendations.