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1 | AN ACT concerning local government.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Children's Advocacy Center Act is amended by | |||||||||||||||||||||
5 | adding Section 4.5 as follows: | |||||||||||||||||||||
6 | (55 ILCS 80/4.5 new) | |||||||||||||||||||||
7 | Sec. 4.5. Sexual abuse interviews at schools. | |||||||||||||||||||||
8 | (a) As used in this Section, "alleged incidents of sexual | |||||||||||||||||||||
9 | abuse" is limited to: incidents of sexual abuse which are | |||||||||||||||||||||
10 | alleged to have been perpetrated by school personnel; if the | |||||||||||||||||||||
11 | alleged sexual abuse occurs on school grounds or during a | |||||||||||||||||||||
12 | school activity; or when school personnel became aware of | |||||||||||||||||||||
13 | alleged sexual abuse of a child which occurs outside of school | |||||||||||||||||||||
14 | grounds or a school activity. | |||||||||||||||||||||
15 | (b) The General Assembly finds: | |||||||||||||||||||||
16 | (1) multiple interviews of a child regarding incidents | |||||||||||||||||||||
17 | of sexual abuse can induce significant trauma for the | |||||||||||||||||||||
18 | child; | |||||||||||||||||||||
19 | (2) it is desirable to prevent multiple interviews of a | |||||||||||||||||||||
20 | child at a school; and | |||||||||||||||||||||
21 | (3) it is important to recognize the role of CACs in | |||||||||||||||||||||
22 | conducting developmentally appropriate forensic | |||||||||||||||||||||
23 | interviews. |
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1 | (c) Schools in a county with an accredited CAC shall not | ||||||
2 | proceed with interviews of a student regarding an alleged | ||||||
3 | incident of sexual abuse, regardless of whether the student is | ||||||
4 | a victim, witness, or alleged perpetrator, until the school | ||||||
5 | receives written approval from an appropriate law enforcement | ||||||
6 | agency or the Department of Children and Family Services. The | ||||||
7 | restrictions of this subsection shall apply only after school | ||||||
8 | personnel becomes aware that the incident which is being | ||||||
9 | investigated is sexual in nature. | ||||||
10 | (d) If an appropriate law enforcement agency gives written | ||||||
11 | approval to a school under subsection (b), it shall also notify | ||||||
12 | the Department of Children and Family Services of the approval. | ||||||
13 | If the Department of Children and Family Services gives written | ||||||
14 | approval to a school under subsection (b), it shall also notify | ||||||
15 | the appropriate law enforcement agency of the approval. If | ||||||
16 | either the appropriate law enforcement agency or the Department | ||||||
17 | of Children and Family Services objects to the written approval | ||||||
18 | granted to a school by the other entity, then the objecting | ||||||
19 | entity shall notify the school as soon as possible and the | ||||||
20 | school, upon receipt of the notification, shall not proceed | ||||||
21 | with an interview under subsection (c) until it receives | ||||||
22 | written approval from both the appropriate law enforcement | ||||||
23 | agency and the Department of Children and Family Services. | ||||||
24 | (e) The CAC's multidisciplinary team may grant the | ||||||
25 | investigating body of the school permission to view the | ||||||
26 | digitally recorded forensic interview for the purposes of their |
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1 | internal investigation if it meets the following requirements: | ||||||
2 | (1) it serves the purpose of removing the requirement of | ||||||
3 | further interviews of the child; and (2) if consent for the | ||||||
4 | viewing is given by the child and parent or guardian. | ||||||
5 | (f) This Section applies to all public schools operated | ||||||
6 | under the School Code, including public schools located in | ||||||
7 | cities having a population of more than 500,000, a school | ||||||
8 | operated pursuant to an agreement with a public school | ||||||
9 | district, alternative schools operated by third parties, an | ||||||
10 | alternative learning opportunities program, a public school | ||||||
11 | administered by a local public agency or the Department of | ||||||
12 | Human Services, charter schools operating under the authority | ||||||
13 | of Article 27A of the School Code, and schools recognized by | ||||||
14 | the Illinois State Board of Education. | ||||||
15 | Section 10. The School Code is amended by adding Section | ||||||
16 | 10-23.14 as follows: | ||||||
17 | (105 ILCS 5/10-23.14 new) | ||||||
18 | Sec. 10-23.14. Sexual abuse interviews at schools. To adopt | ||||||
19 | and implement a policy addressing sexual abuse interviews at | ||||||
20 | school consistent with Section 4.5 of the Children's Advocacy | ||||||
21 | Center Act.
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22 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, | ||||||
23 | 2019.
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