HB3515 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB100 10168 HEP 20349 b

100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB3515

Introduced , by Rep. Peter Breen

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

5 ILCS 140/7.5
210 ILCS 28/30
320 ILCS 20/7.5
320 ILCS 20/15

Amends the Freedom of Information Act. In a Section concerning statutory exemptions, removes references to specified records and information protected under the following Acts: the Abuse Prevention Review Team Act; Brian's Law; and the Adult Protective Services Act. Makes corresponding changes in the Abuse Prevention Review Team Act, Brian's Law, and the Adult Protective Services Act.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning government.

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

Section 5. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by changing Section 7.5 as follows:

(5 ILCS 140/7.5)

Sec. 7.5. Statutory exemptions. To the extent provided for by the statutes referenced below, the following shall be exempt from inspection and copying:

(a) All information determined to be confidential under Section 4002 of the Technology Advancement and Development Act.

(b) Library circulation and order records identifying library users with specific materials under the Library Records Confidentiality Act.

(c) Applications, related documents, and medical records received by the Experimental Organ Transplantation Procedures Board and any and all documents or other records prepared by the Experimental Organ Transplantation Procedures Board or its staff relating to applications it has received.

(d) Information and records held by the Department of Public Health and its authorized representatives relating to known or suspected cases of sexually transmissible disease or any information the disclosure of which is restricted under the Illinois Sexually Transmissible Disease Control Act.

(e) Information the disclosure of which is exempted under Section 30 of the Radon Industry Licensing Act.

(f) Firm performance evaluations under Section 55 of the Architectural, Engineering, and Land Surveying Qualifications Based Selection Act.

(g) Information the disclosure of which is restricted and exempted under Section 50 of the Illinois Prepaid Tuition Act.

(h) Information the disclosure of which is exempted under the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, and records of any lawfully created State or local inspector general's office that would be exempt if created or obtained by an Executive Inspector General's office under that Act.

(i) Information contained in a local emergency energy plan submitted to a municipality in accordance with a local emergency energy plan ordinance that is adopted under Section 11-21.5-5 of the Illinois Municipal Code.

(j) Information and data concerning the distribution of surcharge moneys collected and remitted by wireless carriers under the Wireless Emergency Telephone Safety Act.

(k) Law enforcement officer identification information or driver identification information compiled by a law enforcement agency or the Department of Transportation under Section 11-212 of the Illinois Vehicle Code.

(l) (Blank). Records and information provided to a residential health care facility resident sexual assault and death review team or the Executive Council under the Abuse Prevention Review Team Act.

(m) Information provided to the predatory lending database created pursuant to Article 3 of the Residential Real Property Disclosure Act, except to the extent authorized under that Article.

(n) Defense budgets and petitions for certification of compensation and expenses for court appointed trial counsel as provided under Sections 10 and 15 of the Capital Crimes Litigation Act. This subsection (n) shall apply until the conclusion of the trial of the case, even if the prosecution chooses not to pursue the death penalty prior to trial or sentencing.

(o) Information that is prohibited from being disclosed under Section 4 of the Illinois Health and Hazardous Substances Registry Act.

(p) Security portions of system safety program plans, investigation reports, surveys, schedules, lists, data, or information compiled, collected, or prepared by or for the Regional Transportation Authority under Section 2.11 of the Regional Transportation Authority Act or the St. Clair County Transit District under the Bi-State Transit Safety Act.

(q) Information prohibited from being disclosed by the Personnel Records Review Act.

(r) Information prohibited from being disclosed by the Illinois School Student Records Act.

(s) Information the disclosure of which is restricted under Section 5-108 of the Public Utilities Act.

(t) All identified or deidentified health information in the form of health data or medical records contained in, stored in, submitted to, transferred by, or released from the Illinois Health Information Exchange, and identified or deidentified health information in the form of health data and medical records of the Illinois Health Information Exchange in the possession of the Illinois Health Information Exchange Authority due to its administration of the Illinois Health Information Exchange. The terms "identified" and "deidentified" shall be given the same meaning as in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Public Law 104-191, or any subsequent amendments thereto, and any regulations promulgated thereunder.

(u) (Blank). Records and information provided to an independent team of experts under Brian's Law.

(v) Names and information of people who have applied for or received Firearm Owner's Identification Cards under the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act or applied for or received a concealed carry license under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act, unless otherwise authorized by the Firearm Concealed Carry Act; and databases under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act, records of the Concealed Carry Licensing Review Board under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act, and law enforcement agency objections under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act.

(w) Personally identifiable information which is exempted from disclosure under subsection (g) of Section 19.1 of the Toll Highway Act.

(x) Information which is exempted from disclosure under Section 5-1014.3 of the Counties Code or Section 8-11-21 of the Illinois Municipal Code.

(y) (Blank). Confidential information under the Adult Protective Services Act and its predecessor enabling statute, the Elder Abuse and Neglect Act, including information about the identity and administrative finding against any caregiver of a verified and substantiated decision of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation of an eligible adult maintained in the Registry established under Section 7.5 of the Adult Protective Services Act.

(z) (Blank). Records and information provided to a fatality review team or the Illinois Fatality Review Team Advisory Council under Section 15 of the Adult Protective Services Act.

(aa) Information which is exempted from disclosure under Section 2.37 of the Wildlife Code.

(bb) Information which is or was prohibited from disclosure by the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.

(cc) Recordings made under the Law Enforcement Officer-Worn Body Camera Act, except to the extent authorized under that Act.

(dd) Information that is prohibited from being disclosed under Section 45 of the Condominium and Common Interest Community Ombudsperson Act.

(ee) (dd) Information that is exempted from disclosure under Section 30.1 of the Pharmacy Practice Act.

(Source: P.A. 98-49, eff. 7-1-13; 98-63, eff. 7-9-13; 98-756, eff. 7-16-14; 98-1039, eff. 8-25-14; 98-1045, eff. 8-25-14; 99-78, eff. 7-20-15; 99-298, eff. 8-6-15; 99-352, eff. 1-1-16; 99-642, eff. 7-28-16; 99-776, eff. 8-12-16; 99-863, eff. 8-19-16; revised 9-1-16.)

Section 10. The Abuse Prevention Review Team Act is amended by changing Section 30 as follows:

(210 ILCS 28/30)

Sec. 30. Public access to information.

(a) Meetings of the review teams and the Executive Council shall be closed to the public. Meetings of the review teams and the Executive Council are not subject to the Open Meetings Act, as provided in that Act.

(b) Records and information provided to a review team and the Executive Council, and records maintained by a review team or the Executive Council, are confidential and not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, as provided in that Act. Nothing contained in this subsection (b) prevents the sharing or disclosure of records, other than those produced by a review team or the Executive Council, relating or pertaining to the sexual assault or death of a resident.

(c) Members of a review team and the Executive Council are not subject to examination, in any civil or criminal proceeding, concerning information presented to members of the review team or the Executive Council or opinions formed by members of the review team or the Executive Council based on that information. A person may, however, be examined concerning information provided to a review team or the Executive Council that is otherwise available to the public.

(d) Records and information produced by a review team and the Executive Council are not subject to discovery or subpoena and are not admissible as evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding. Those records and information are, however, subject to discovery or a subpoena, and are admissible as evidence, to the extent they are otherwise available to the public.

(Source: P.A. 93-577, eff. 8-21-03.)

Section 15. The Adult Protective Services Act is amended by changing Sections 7.5 and 15 as follows:

(320 ILCS 20/7.5)

Sec. 7.5. Registry.

(a) To protect individuals receiving in-home and community-based services, the Department on Aging shall establish an Adult Protective Service Registry that will be hosted by the Department of Public Health on its website effective January 1, 2015, and, if practicable, shall propose rules for the Registry by January 1, 2015.

(a-5) The Registry shall identify caregivers against whom a verified and substantiated finding was made under this Act of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation.

The information in the Registry shall be confidential except as specifically authorized in this Act and shall not be deemed a public record.

(a-10) Reporting to the Registry. The Department on Aging shall report to the Registry the identity of the caregiver when a verified and substantiated finding of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation of an eligible adult under this Act is made against a caregiver, and all appeals, challenges, and reviews, if any, have been completed and a finding for placement on the Registry has been sustained or upheld.

A finding against a caregiver that is placed in the Registry shall preclude that caregiver from providing direct care, as defined in this Section, in a position with or that is regulated by or paid with public funds from the Department on Aging, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, the Department of Human Services, or the Department of Public Health or with an entity or provider licensed, certified, or regulated by or paid with public funds from any of these State agencies.

(b) Definitions. As used in this Section:

"Direct care" includes, but is not limited to, direct access to a person aged 60 or older or to an adult with disabilities aged 18 through 59, his or her living quarters, or his or her personal, financial, or medical records for the purpose of providing nursing care or assistance with feeding, dressing, movement, bathing, toileting, other personal needs and activities of daily living or instrumental activities of daily living, or assistance with financial transactions.

"Participant" means an individual who uses the services of an in-home care program funded through the Department on Aging, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, the Department of Human Services, or the Department of Public Health.

(c) Access to and use of the Registry. Access to the Registry shall be limited to the Department on Aging, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, the Department of Human Services, and the Department of Public Health and providers of direct care as described in subsection (a-10) of this Section. These State agencies and providers shall not hire, compensate either directly or on behalf of a participant, or utilize the services of any person seeking to provide direct care without first conducting an online check of whether the person has been placed on the Registry. These State agencies and providers shall maintain a copy of the results of the online check to demonstrate compliance with this requirement. These State agencies and providers are prohibited from retaining, hiring, compensating either directly or on behalf of a participant, or utilizing the services of a person to provide direct care if the online check of the person reveals a verified and substantiated finding of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation that has been placed on the Registry or when the State agencies or providers otherwise gain knowledge of such placement on the Registry. Failure to comply with this requirement may subject such a provider to corrective action by the appropriate regulatory agency or other lawful remedies provided under the applicable licensure, certification, or regulatory laws and rules.

(d) Notice to caregiver. The Department on Aging shall establish rules concerning notice to the caregiver in cases of a verified and substantiated finding of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation against him or her that may make him or her eligible for placement on the Registry.

(e) Notification to eligible adults, guardians, or agents. As part of its investigation, the Department on Aging shall notify an eligible adult, or an eligible adult's guardian or agent, that his or her caregiver's name may be placed on the Registry based on a finding as described in subsection (a-10) of this Section.

(f) Notification to employer. The Department on Aging shall notify the appropriate State agency or provider of direct care, as described in subsection (a-10), when there is a verified and substantiated finding of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation in a case under this Act that is reported on the Registry and that involves one of its caregivers. That State agency or provider is prohibited from retaining or compensating that individual in a position that involves direct care, and if there is an imminent risk of danger to the victim or an imminent risk of misuse of personal, medical, or financial information, that caregiver shall immediately be barred from providing direct care to the victim pending the outcome of any challenge, appeal, criminal prosecution, or other type of collateral action.

(g) Challenges and appeals. The Department on Aging shall establish, by rule, procedures concerning challenges and appeals to placement on the Registry pursuant to legislative intent. The Department shall not make any report to the Registry pending challenges or appeals.

(h) Caregiver's rights to collateral action. The Department on Aging shall not make any report to the Registry if a caregiver notifies the Department in writing that he or she is formally challenging an adverse employment action resulting from a verified and substantiated finding of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation by complaint filed with the Illinois Civil Service Commission, or by another means which seeks to enforce the caregiver's rights pursuant to any applicable collective bargaining agreement. If an action taken by an employer against a caregiver as a result of such a finding is overturned through an action filed with the Illinois Civil Service Commission or under any applicable collective bargaining agreement after that caregiver's name has already been sent to the Registry, the caregiver's name shall be removed from the Registry.

(i) Removal from Registry. At any time after a report to the Registry, but no more than once in each successive 3-year period thereafter, for a maximum of 3 such requests, a caregiver may request removal of his or her name from the Registry in relationship to a single incident. The caregiver shall bear the burden of establishing, by a preponderance of the evidence, that removal of his or her name from the Registry is in the public interest. Upon receiving such a request, the Department on Aging shall conduct an investigation and consider any evidentiary material provided. The Department shall issue a decision either granting or denying removal to the caregiver and report it to the Registry. The Department shall, by rule, establish standards and a process for requesting the removal of a name from the Registry.

(j) Referral of Registry reports to health care facilities. In the event an eligible adult receiving services from a provider agency changes his or her residence from a domestic living situation to that of a health care or long term care facility, the provider agency shall use reasonable efforts to promptly inform the facility and the appropriate Regional Long Term Care Ombudsman about any Registry reports relating to the eligible adult. For purposes of this Section, a health care or long term care facility includes, but is not limited to, any residential facility licensed, certified, or regulated by the Department of Public Health, Healthcare and Family Services, or Human Services.

(k) The Department on Aging and its employees and agents shall have immunity, except for intentional willful and wanton misconduct, from any liability, civil, criminal, or otherwise, for reporting information to and maintaining the Registry.

(Source: P.A. 98-49, eff. 1-1-14; 98-756, eff. 7-16-14; 98-1039, eff. 8-25-14; 99-78, eff. 7-20-15.)

(320 ILCS 20/15)

Sec. 15. Fatality review teams.

(a) State policy.

(1) Both the State and the community maintain a commitment to preventing the abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation of at-risk adults. This includes a charge to bring perpetrators of crimes against at-risk adults to justice and prevent untimely deaths in the community.

(2) When an at-risk adult dies, the response to the death by the community, law enforcement, and the State must include an accurate and complete determination of the cause of death, and the development and implementation of measures to prevent future deaths from similar causes.

(3) Multidisciplinary and multi-agency reviews of deaths can assist the State and counties in developing a greater understanding of the incidence and causes of premature deaths and the methods for preventing those deaths, improving methods for investigating deaths, and identifying gaps in services to at-risk adults.

(4) Access to information regarding the deceased person and his or her family by multidisciplinary and multi-agency fatality review teams is necessary in order to fulfill their purposes and duties.

(a-5) Definitions. As used in this Section:

"Advisory Council" means the Illinois Fatality Review Team Advisory Council.

"Review Team" means a regional interagency fatality review team.

(b) The Director, in consultation with the Advisory Council, law enforcement, and other professionals who work in the fields of investigating, treating, or preventing abuse or neglect of at-risk adults, shall appoint members to a minimum of one review team in each of the Department's planning and service areas. Each member of a review team shall be appointed for a 2-year term and shall be eligible for reappointment upon the expiration of the term. A review team's purpose in conducting review of at-risk adult deaths is: (i) to assist local agencies in identifying and reviewing suspicious deaths of adult victims of alleged, suspected, or substantiated abuse or neglect in domestic living situations; (ii) to facilitate communications between officials responsible for autopsies and inquests and persons involved in reporting or investigating alleged or suspected cases of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation of at-risk adults and persons involved in providing services to at-risk adults; (iii) to evaluate means by which the death might have been prevented; and (iv) to report its findings to the appropriate agencies and the Advisory Council and make recommendations that may help to reduce the number of at-risk adult deaths caused by abuse and neglect and that may help to improve the investigations of deaths of at-risk adults and increase prosecutions, if appropriate.

(b-5) Each such team shall be composed of representatives of entities and individuals including, but not limited to:

(1) the Department on Aging;

(2) coroners or medical examiners (or both);

(3) State's Attorneys;

(4) local police departments;

(5) forensic units;

(6) local health departments;

(7) a social service or health care agency that provides services to persons with mental illness, in a program whose accreditation to provide such services is recognized by the Division of Mental Health within the Department of Human Services;

(8) a social service or health care agency that provides services to persons with developmental disabilities, in a program whose accreditation to provide such services is recognized by the Division of Developmental Disabilities within the Department of Human Services;

(9) a local hospital, trauma center, or provider of emergency medicine;

(10) providers of services for eligible adults in domestic living situations; and

(11) a physician, psychiatrist, or other health care provider knowledgeable about abuse and neglect of at-risk adults.

(c) A review team shall review cases of deaths of at-risk adults occurring in its planning and service area (i) involving blunt force trauma or an undetermined manner or suspicious cause of death; (ii) if requested by the deceased's attending physician or an emergency room physician; (iii) upon referral by a health care provider; (iv) upon referral by a coroner or medical examiner; (v) constituting an open or closed case from an adult protective services agency, law enforcement agency, State's Attorney's office, or the Department of Human Services' Office of the Inspector General that involves alleged or suspected abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation; or (vi) upon referral by a law enforcement agency or State's Attorney's office. If such a death occurs in a planning and service area where a review team has not yet been established, the Director shall request that the Advisory Council or another review team review that death. A team may also review deaths of at-risk adults if the alleged abuse or neglect occurred while the person was residing in a domestic living situation.

A review team shall meet not less than 4 times a year to discuss cases for its possible review. Each review team, with the advice and consent of the Department, shall establish criteria to be used in discussing cases of alleged, suspected, or substantiated abuse or neglect for review and shall conduct its activities in accordance with any applicable policies and procedures established by the Department.

(c-5) The Illinois Fatality Review Team Advisory Council, consisting of one member from each review team in Illinois, shall be the coordinating and oversight body for review teams and activities in Illinois. The Director may appoint to the Advisory Council any ex-officio members deemed necessary. Persons with expertise needed by the Advisory Council may be invited to meetings. The Advisory Council must select from its members a chairperson and a vice-chairperson, each to serve a 2-year term. The chairperson or vice-chairperson may be selected to serve additional, subsequent terms. The Advisory Council must meet at least 4 times during each calendar year.

The Department may provide or arrange for the staff support necessary for the Advisory Council to carry out its duties. The Director, in cooperation and consultation with the Advisory Council, shall appoint, reappoint, and remove review team members.

The Advisory Council has, but is not limited to, the following duties:

(1) To serve as the voice of review teams in Illinois.

(2) To oversee the review teams in order to ensure that the review teams' work is coordinated and in compliance with State statutes and the operating protocol.

(3) To ensure that the data, results, findings, and recommendations of the review teams are adequately used in a timely manner to make any necessary changes to the policies, procedures, and State statutes in order to protect at-risk adults.

(4) To collaborate with the Department in order to develop any legislation needed to prevent unnecessary deaths of at-risk adults.

(5) To ensure that the review teams' review processes are standardized in order to convey data, findings, and recommendations in a usable format.

(6) To serve as a link with review teams throughout the country and to participate in national review team activities.

(7) To provide the review teams with the most current information and practices concerning at-risk adult death review and related topics.

(8) To perform any other functions necessary to enhance the capability of the review teams to reduce and prevent at-risk adult fatalities.

The Advisory Council may prepare an annual report, in consultation with the Department, using aggregate data gathered by review teams and using the review teams' recommendations to develop education, prevention, prosecution, or other strategies designed to improve the coordination of services for at-risk adults and their families.

In any instance where a review team does not operate in accordance with established protocol, the Director, in consultation and cooperation with the Advisory Council, must take any necessary actions to bring the review team into compliance with the protocol.

(d) Any document or oral or written communication shared within or produced by the review team relating to a case discussed or reviewed by the review team is confidential and is not admissible as evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding, except for use by a State's Attorney's office in prosecuting a criminal case against a caregiver. Those records and information are, however, subject to discovery or subpoena, and are admissible as evidence, to the extent they are otherwise available to the public.

Any document or oral or written communication provided to a review team by an individual or entity, and created by that individual or entity solely for the use of the review team, is confidential, is not subject to disclosure to or discoverable by another party, and is not admissible as evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding, except for use by a State's Attorney's office in prosecuting a criminal case against a caregiver. Those records and information are, however, subject to discovery or subpoena, and are admissible as evidence, to the extent they are otherwise available to the public.

Each entity or individual represented on the fatality review team may share with other members of the team information in the entity's or individual's possession concerning the decedent who is the subject of the review or concerning any person who was in contact with the decedent, as well as any other information deemed by the entity or individual to be pertinent to the review. Any such information shared by an entity or individual with other members of the review team is confidential. The intent of this paragraph is to permit the disclosure to members of the review team of any information deemed confidential or privileged or prohibited from disclosure by any other provision of law. Release of confidential communication between domestic violence advocates and a domestic violence victim shall follow subsection (d) of Section 227 of the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986 which allows for the waiver of privilege afforded to guardians, executors, or administrators of the estate of the domestic violence victim. This provision relating to the release of confidential communication between domestic violence advocates and a domestic violence victim shall exclude adult protective service providers.

A coroner's or medical examiner's office may share with the review team medical records that have been made available to the coroner's or medical examiner's office in connection with that office's investigation of a death.

Members of a review team and the Advisory Council are not subject to examination, in any civil or criminal proceeding, concerning information presented to members of the review team or the Advisory Council or opinions formed by members of the review team or the Advisory Council based on that information. A person may, however, be examined concerning information provided to a review team or the Advisory Council.

(d-5) Meetings of the review teams and the Advisory Council may be closed to the public under the Open Meetings Act. Records and information provided to a review team and the Advisory Council, and records maintained by a team or the Advisory Council, are exempt from release under the Freedom of Information Act.

(e) A review team's recommendation in relation to a case discussed or reviewed by the review team, including, but not limited to, a recommendation concerning an investigation or prosecution, may be disclosed by the review team upon the completion of its review and at the discretion of a majority of its members who reviewed the case.

(e-5) The State shall indemnify and hold harmless members of a review team and the Advisory Council for all their acts, omissions, decisions, or other conduct arising out of the scope of their service on the review team or Advisory Council, except those involving willful or wanton misconduct. The method of providing indemnification shall be as provided in the State Employee Indemnification Act.

(f) The Department, in consultation with coroners, medical examiners, and law enforcement agencies, shall use aggregate data gathered by and recommendations from the Advisory Council and the review teams to create an annual report and may use those data and recommendations to develop education, prevention, prosecution, or other strategies designed to improve the coordination of services for at-risk adults and their families. The Department or other State or county agency, in consultation with coroners, medical examiners, and law enforcement agencies, also may use aggregate data gathered by the review teams to create a database of at-risk individuals.

(g) The Department shall adopt such rules and regulations as it deems necessary to implement this Section.

(Source: P.A. 98-49, eff. 7-1-13; 98-1039, eff. 8-25-14; 99-78, eff. 7-20-15; 99-530, eff. 1-1-17.)