101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB2766

 

Introduced , by Rep. Frances Ann Hurley

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act
5 ILCS 140/7.5
20 ILCS 2605/2605-99 new
50 ILCS 705/10.17-2 new
50 ILCS 740/12.2 new

    Creates the First Responders Suicide Prevention Act. Provides that emergency services personnel and public safety personnel may refer any person to an employee assistance program or peer support counselor within the emergency services provider or law enforcement agency, or if those services are not available within the agency, to another employee assistance program or peer support counseling program that is available. Provides that any communication made by a participant or counselor in a peer support counseling session conducted by a law enforcement agency or by an emergency services provider for public safety personnel or emergency services personnel and any oral or written information conveyed in the peer support counseling session is confidential and may not be disclosed by any person participating in the peer support counseling session. Provides that any oral communication or written information made or conveyed by a participant or counselor in a peer support session, including an employee assistance program, is not admissible in any judicial proceeding, arbitration proceeding, or other adjudicatory proceeding. Amends the Department of State Police Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois, Illinois Police Training Act, and the Illinois Fire Protection Training Act to require training programs for police and fire fighters to recognize signs of work-related cumulative stress and other related issues that may lead to suicide and offer appropriate solutions for intervention. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.


LRB101 09370 SLF 54468 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB2766LRB101 09370 SLF 54468 b

1    AN ACT concerning first responders.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the First
5Responders Suicide Prevention Act.
 
6    Section 5. Legislative findings. The General Assembly
7finds that:
8    (1) This State's first responders are tasked with work that
9is highly stressful where one continually faces the impact of
10murder, violence, accidents, serious injury, and death. The day
11in and day out impact of these situations wreak havoc
12personally and professionally on those who serve their
13communities. Work as a first responder is a combination of
14extreme boredom with incidents of mind-numbing terror. No
15person, no matter how highly trained or well-adjusted, is
16immune to the long-term impact of cumulative stress or sudden
17critical incidents.
18    (2) Since September 11, 2001, the role of first responders
19has changed dramatically. First responders have become the
20teachers, advocates, counselors, enforcement, and safety to
21those they serve, yet year after year, police and fire fighters
22always rank at the top for the most stressful jobs in this
23country. The demands of shift work, change in politics and

 

 

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1public policy, and having to make life changing decisions
2within seconds are all contributing factors in the mental
3health and welfare of our public servants. Alcoholism, divorce,
4depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),
5stress-related health issues, and suicide among first
6responders are constantly well above the national average. The
7health and well-being of first responders not only affect the
8officer or fire fighter, but those who work closely around the
9first responder and the public he or she serves and protects.
10    (3) The purpose of this Act is to allow agencies to train
11personnel in peer counseling. This allows fire fighters and law
12enforcement officers to have access to trained persons within
13their respective fields to speak to and seek guidance during
14difficult and challenging times in their careers and lives.
15Most first responders feel comfortable speaking to others
16within their profession that have experienced similar
17situations. Allowing this type of counseling gives public
18servants the ability to seek help during trying times with the
19confidence of knowing their issue is held in confidence with
20someone who understands. No longer should these public servants
21have to suffer in silence.
22    (4) Maintaining an emotional and mentally healthy class of
23first responders should be a priority goal to achieve. Healthy
24fire fighters and police make better decisions, increase
25productivity, create better work environments, and respond to
26society in a much more open and effective manner.
 

 

 

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1    Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
2    "Emergency services provider" means any public employer
3that employs persons to provide fire fighting services.
4    "Emergency services personnel" means any employee of an
5emergency services provider who is engaged in providing fire
6fighting services.
7    "Employee assistance program" means a program established
8by a law enforcement agency or emergency services provider to
9provide counseling support services to employees of the law
10enforcement agency or emergency services provider, including
11peer support counselors who have received training in
12counseling and moral support.
13    "Law enforcement agency" means any county sheriff,
14municipal police department, police department established by
15a university, Department of State Police, Department of
16Corrections, Department of Children and Family Services,
17Division of Probation Services of the Supreme Court, the Office
18of the Statewide 9-1-1 Administrator, and other local or county
19agency comprised of county probation officers, corrections
20employees, or 9-1-1 telecommunicators or emergency medical
21dispatchers.
22    "Peer support counseling session" means communication with
23a counselor through an employee assistance program or a trained
24peer support counselor designated by the emergency services
25provider or law enforcement agency.

 

 

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1    "Public safety personnel" means any employee of a law
2enforcement agency.
 
3    Section 15. Establishment of employee assistance program;
4applicability.
5    (a) This Act applies to peer support counseling sessions
6conducted by an employee or other person who:
7        (1) has been designated by a law enforcement agency or
8    emergency services provider or by an employee assistance
9    program to act as a counselor; and
10        (2) has received training in counseling to provide
11    emotional and moral support to public safety personnel or
12    emergency services personnel who have been involved in
13    emotionally traumatic incidents by reason of their
14    employment that may affect their ability to execute their
15    respective duties.
16    (b) An emergency services provider or law enforcement
17agency may establish an employee assistance program to assist
18emergency services personnel and public safety personnel,
19including designating a person within the emergency services
20provider or law enforcement agency to act as a peer support
21counselor. An emergency services provider or law enforcement
22agency shall give appropriate training in counseling to provide
23emotional and moral support to persons designated as a peer
24support counselor. Emergency services personnel and public
25safety personnel may refer any person to an employee assistance

 

 

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1program or peer support counselor within the emergency services
2provider or law enforcement agency, or if those services are
3not available within the agency, to another employee assistance
4program or peer support counseling program that is available.
 
5    Section 20. Confidentiality; exemptions.
6    (a) Any communication made by a participant or counselor in
7a peer support counseling session conducted by a law
8enforcement agency or by an emergency services provider for
9public safety personnel or emergency services personnel and any
10oral or written information conveyed in the peer support
11counseling session is confidential and may not be disclosed by
12any person participating in the peer support counseling
13session.
14    (b) Any communication relating to a peer support counseling
15session made confidential under this Section that is made
16between counselors, between counselors and the supervisors or
17staff of an employee assistance program, or between the
18supervisor or staff of an employee assistance program, is
19confidential and may not be disclosed.
20    (c) This Section does not prohibit any communications
21between counselors who conduct peer support counseling
22sessions or any communications between counselors and the
23supervisors or staff of an employee assistance program.
24    (d) This Section does not apply to:
25        (1) any threat of suicide or homicide made by a

 

 

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1    participant in a peer counseling session or any information
2    conveyed in a peer support counseling session related to a
3    threat of suicide or homicide;
4        (2) any information relating to the abuse of children
5    or of the elderly or other information that is required to
6    be reported by law; or
7        (3) any admission of criminal conduct.
8    (e) All communications, notes, records, and reports
9arising out of a peer support counseling session are not
10subject to disclosure under Section 7.5 of the Freedom of
11Information Act.
 
12    Section 25. Judicial proceedings.
13    (a) Any oral communication or written information made or
14conveyed by a participant or counselor in a peer support
15session, including an employee assistance program, is not
16admissible in any judicial proceeding, arbitration proceeding,
17or other adjudicatory proceeding. Communications and
18information made confidential may not be disclosed by the
19participants in any judicial proceeding, administrative
20proceeding, arbitration proceeding, or other adjudicatory
21proceeding. The limitations on disclosure imposed by this
22Section include disclosure during any discovery conducted as a
23part of an adjudicatory proceeding.
24    (b) Nothing in this Section limits the discovery or
25introduction into evidence, knowledge acquired by any public

 

 

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1safety personnel or emergency services personnel from
2observations made during the course of employment or material
3or information acquired during the course of employment that is
4otherwise subject to discovery in evidence.
 
5    Section 105. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by
6changing Section 7.5 as follows:
 
7    (5 ILCS 140/7.5)
8    Sec. 7.5. Statutory exemptions. To the extent provided for
9by the statutes referenced below, the following shall be exempt
10from inspection and copying:
11        (a) All information determined to be confidential
12    under Section 4002 of the Technology Advancement and
13    Development Act.
14        (b) Library circulation and order records identifying
15    library users with specific materials under the Library
16    Records Confidentiality Act.
17        (c) Applications, related documents, and medical
18    records received by the Experimental Organ Transplantation
19    Procedures Board and any and all documents or other records
20    prepared by the Experimental Organ Transplantation
21    Procedures Board or its staff relating to applications it
22    has received.
23        (d) Information and records held by the Department of
24    Public Health and its authorized representatives relating

 

 

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1    to known or suspected cases of sexually transmissible
2    disease or any information the disclosure of which is
3    restricted under the Illinois Sexually Transmissible
4    Disease Control Act.
5        (e) Information the disclosure of which is exempted
6    under Section 30 of the Radon Industry Licensing Act.
7        (f) Firm performance evaluations under Section 55 of
8    the Architectural, Engineering, and Land Surveying
9    Qualifications Based Selection Act.
10        (g) Information the disclosure of which is restricted
11    and exempted under Section 50 of the Illinois Prepaid
12    Tuition Act.
13        (h) Information the disclosure of which is exempted
14    under the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, and
15    records of any lawfully created State or local inspector
16    general's office that would be exempt if created or
17    obtained by an Executive Inspector General's office under
18    that Act.
19        (i) Information contained in a local emergency energy
20    plan submitted to a municipality in accordance with a local
21    emergency energy plan ordinance that is adopted under
22    Section 11-21.5-5 of the Illinois Municipal Code.
23        (j) Information and data concerning the distribution
24    of surcharge moneys collected and remitted by carriers
25    under the Emergency Telephone System Act.
26        (k) Law enforcement officer identification information

 

 

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1    or driver identification information compiled by a law
2    enforcement agency or the Department of Transportation
3    under Section 11-212 of the Illinois Vehicle Code.
4        (l) Records and information provided to a residential
5    health care facility resident sexual assault and death
6    review team or the Executive Council under the Abuse
7    Prevention Review Team Act.
8        (m) Information provided to the predatory lending
9    database created pursuant to Article 3 of the Residential
10    Real Property Disclosure Act, except to the extent
11    authorized under that Article.
12        (n) Defense budgets and petitions for certification of
13    compensation and expenses for court appointed trial
14    counsel as provided under Sections 10 and 15 of the Capital
15    Crimes Litigation Act. This subsection (n) shall apply
16    until the conclusion of the trial of the case, even if the
17    prosecution chooses not to pursue the death penalty prior
18    to trial or sentencing.
19        (o) Information that is prohibited from being
20    disclosed under Section 4 of the Illinois Health and
21    Hazardous Substances Registry Act.
22        (p) Security portions of system safety program plans,
23    investigation reports, surveys, schedules, lists, data, or
24    information compiled, collected, or prepared by or for the
25    Regional Transportation Authority under Section 2.11 of
26    the Regional Transportation Authority Act or the St. Clair

 

 

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1    County Transit District under the Bi-State Transit Safety
2    Act.
3        (q) Information prohibited from being disclosed by the
4    Personnel Record Records Review Act.
5        (r) Information prohibited from being disclosed by the
6    Illinois School Student Records Act.
7        (s) Information the disclosure of which is restricted
8    under Section 5-108 of the Public Utilities Act.
9        (t) All identified or deidentified health information
10    in the form of health data or medical records contained in,
11    stored in, submitted to, transferred by, or released from
12    the Illinois Health Information Exchange, and identified
13    or deidentified health information in the form of health
14    data and medical records of the Illinois Health Information
15    Exchange in the possession of the Illinois Health
16    Information Exchange Authority due to its administration
17    of the Illinois Health Information Exchange. The terms
18    "identified" and "deidentified" shall be given the same
19    meaning as in the Health Insurance Portability and
20    Accountability Act of 1996, Public Law 104-191, or any
21    subsequent amendments thereto, and any regulations
22    promulgated thereunder.
23        (u) Records and information provided to an independent
24    team of experts under the Developmental Disability and
25    Mental Health Safety Act (also known as Brian's Law).
26        (v) Names and information of people who have applied

 

 

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1    for or received Firearm Owner's Identification Cards under
2    the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act or applied for
3    or received a concealed carry license under the Firearm
4    Concealed Carry Act, unless otherwise authorized by the
5    Firearm Concealed Carry Act; and databases under the
6    Firearm Concealed Carry Act, records of the Concealed Carry
7    Licensing Review Board under the Firearm Concealed Carry
8    Act, and law enforcement agency objections under the
9    Firearm Concealed Carry Act.
10        (w) Personally identifiable information which is
11    exempted from disclosure under subsection (g) of Section
12    19.1 of the Toll Highway Act.
13        (x) Information which is exempted from disclosure
14    under Section 5-1014.3 of the Counties Code or Section
15    8-11-21 of the Illinois Municipal Code.
16        (y) Confidential information under the Adult
17    Protective Services Act and its predecessor enabling
18    statute, the Elder Abuse and Neglect Act, including
19    information about the identity and administrative finding
20    against any caregiver of a verified and substantiated
21    decision of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation of an
22    eligible adult maintained in the Registry established
23    under Section 7.5 of the Adult Protective Services Act.
24        (z) Records and information provided to a fatality
25    review team or the Illinois Fatality Review Team Advisory
26    Council under Section 15 of the Adult Protective Services

 

 

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1    Act.
2        (aa) Information which is exempted from disclosure
3    under Section 2.37 of the Wildlife Code.
4        (bb) Information which is or was prohibited from
5    disclosure by the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
6        (cc) Recordings made under the Law Enforcement
7    Officer-Worn Body Camera Act, except to the extent
8    authorized under that Act.
9        (dd) Information that is prohibited from being
10    disclosed under Section 45 of the Condominium and Common
11    Interest Community Ombudsperson Act.
12        (ee) Information that is exempted from disclosure
13    under Section 30.1 of the Pharmacy Practice Act.
14        (ff) Information that is exempted from disclosure
15    under the Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act.
16        (gg) Information that is prohibited from being
17    disclosed under Section 7-603.5 of the Illinois Vehicle
18    Code.
19        (hh) Records that are exempt from disclosure under
20    Section 1A-16.7 of the Election Code.
21        (ii) Information which is exempted from disclosure
22    under Section 2505-800 of the Department of Revenue Law of
23    the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois.
24        (jj) Information and reports that are required to be
25    submitted to the Department of Labor by registering day and
26    temporary labor service agencies but are exempt from

 

 

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1    disclosure under subsection (a-1) of Section 45 of the Day
2    and Temporary Labor Services Act.
3        (kk) Information prohibited from disclosure under the
4    Seizure and Forfeiture Reporting Act.
5        (ll) Information the disclosure of which is restricted
6    and exempted under Section 5-30.8 of the Illinois Public
7    Aid Code.
8        (mm) (ll) Records that are exempt from disclosure under
9    Section 4.2 of the Crime Victims Compensation Act.
10        (nn) (ll) Information that is exempt from disclosure
11    under Section 70 of the Higher Education Student Assistance
12    Act.
13        (oo) Communications, notes, records, and reports
14    arising out of a peer support counseling session prohibited
15    from disclosure under the First Responders Suicide
16    Prevention Act.
17(Source: P.A. 99-78, eff. 7-20-15; 99-298, eff. 8-6-15; 99-352,
18eff. 1-1-16; 99-642, eff. 7-28-16; 99-776, eff. 8-12-16;
1999-863, eff. 8-19-16; 100-20, eff. 7-1-17; 100-22, eff. 1-1-18;
20100-201, eff. 8-18-17; 100-373, eff. 1-1-18; 100-464, eff.
218-28-17; 100-465, eff. 8-31-17; 100-512, eff. 7-1-18; 100-517,
22eff. 6-1-18; 100-646, eff. 7-27-18; 100-690, eff. 1-1-19;
23100-863, eff. 8-14-18; 100-887, eff. 8-14-18; revised
2410-12-18.)
 
25    Section 110. The Department of State Police Law of the

 

 

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1Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is amended by adding
2Section 2605-99 as follows:
 
3    (20 ILCS 2605/2605-99 new)
4    Sec. 2605-99. Training; suicide prevention. The
5Department, in consultation with a statewide association who
6represents public pension funds under Article 3 and Article 4
7of the Illinois Pension Code, shall conduct or approve a 2-day
8in-service training program for State Police officers in
9job-related stress management and suicide prevention. The
10in-service training program shall train State Police officers
11to recognize signs of work-related cumulative stress and other
12related issues that may lead to suicide and offer appropriate
13solutions for intervention. This in-service training program
14shall be completed every 2 years by each State Police officer.
15The Department shall establish the training program on or
16before January 1, 2020.
 
17    Section 115. The Illinois Police Training Act is amended by
18adding Section 10.17-2 as follows:
 
19    (50 ILCS 705/10.17-2 new)
20    Sec. 10.17-2. Training; suicide prevention. The Board, in
21consultation with a statewide association who represents
22public pension funds under Article 3 and Article 4 of the
23Illinois Pension Code, shall conduct or approve a 2-day

 

 

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1in-service training program for law enforcement officers in
2job-related stress management and suicide prevention. The
3in-service training program shall train law enforcement
4officers of local government agencies to recognize signs of
5work-related cumulative stress and other related issues that
6may lead to suicide and offer appropriate solutions for
7intervention. This in-service training program shall be
8completed every 2 years by each local law enforcement officer.
9The Board shall establish the training program on or before
10January 1, 2020.
 
11    Section 120. The Illinois Fire Protection Training Act is
12amended by adding Section 12.2 as follows:
 
13    (50 ILCS 740/12.2 new)
14    Sec. 12.2. Training; suicide prevention. The Office, in
15consultation with a statewide association who represents
16public pension funds under Article 3 and Article 4 of the
17Illinois Pension Code, shall conduct or approve a 2-day
18in-service training program for permanent fire protection
19personnel in job-related stress management and suicide
20prevention. The in-service training program shall train fire
21fighters to recognize signs of work-related cumulative stress
22and other related issues that may lead to suicide and offer
23appropriate solutions for intervention. This in-service
24training program shall be completed every 2 years by each

 

 

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1permanent fire protection personnel. The Office shall
2establish the training program on or before January 1, 2020.
 
3    Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
4becoming law.