Rep. Fred Crespo
Filed: 4/8/2019
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1 | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3304
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2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3304, AS AMENDED, by | ||||||
3 | replacing everything after the enacting clause with the | ||||||
4 | following:
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5 | "Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Sections | ||||||
6 | 10-20.69, 22-85, and 34-18.61 as follows: | ||||||
7 | (105 ILCS 5/10-20.69 new) | ||||||
8 | Sec. 10-20.69. Sexual abuse investigations at schools. | ||||||
9 | Each school district must adopt and implement a policy | ||||||
10 | addressing sexual abuse investigations at schools consistent | ||||||
11 | with Section 22-85. | ||||||
12 | (105 ILCS 5/22-85 new) | ||||||
13 | Sec. 22-85. Sexual abuse at schools. | ||||||
14 | (a) The General Assembly finds that: | ||||||
15 | (1) investigation of a child regarding an incident of |
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1 | sexual abuse can induce significant trauma for the child; | ||||||
2 | (2) it is desirable to prevent multiple interviews of a | ||||||
3 | child at a school; and | ||||||
4 | (3) it is important to recognize the role of Children's | ||||||
5 | Advocacy Centers in conducting developmentally appropriate | ||||||
6 | investigations. | ||||||
7 | (b) In this Section: | ||||||
8 | "Alleged incident of sexual abuse" is limited to: (i) an | ||||||
9 | incident of sexual abuse of a child that is alleged to have | ||||||
10 | been perpetrated by school personnel, including a school vendor | ||||||
11 | or volunteer; (ii) an alleged incident of sexual abuse of a | ||||||
12 | child that occurred on school grounds or during a school | ||||||
13 | activity; or (iii) when school personnel became aware of an | ||||||
14 | alleged incident of sexual abuse of a child perpetrated by | ||||||
15 | school personnel, a school vendor, or a school volunteer that | ||||||
16 | occurred outside of school grounds or a school activity. | ||||||
17 | "Appropriate law enforcement agency" means a law | ||||||
18 | enforcement agency whose employees have been involved, in some | ||||||
19 | capacity, with an investigation of a particular alleged | ||||||
20 | incident of sexual abuse. | ||||||
21 | (c) If a mandated reporter within a school has knowledge of | ||||||
22 | an alleged incident of sexual abuse, the reporter must call the | ||||||
23 | Department of Children and Family Services' hotline | ||||||
24 | immediately after obtaining the minimal information necessary | ||||||
25 | to make a report, including the names of the affected parties | ||||||
26 | and the allegations. The State Board of Education must develop |
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1 | and make available materials detailing the information that is | ||||||
2 | necessary to enable notification to the Department of Children | ||||||
3 | and Family Services of an alleged incident of sexual abuse. | ||||||
4 | Each school must ensure that mandated reporters review the | ||||||
5 | State Board of Education's materials under this subsection at | ||||||
6 | least once annually. | ||||||
7 | (d) For schools in a county with an accredited Children's | ||||||
8 | Advocacy Center, every alleged incident of sexual abuse that is | ||||||
9 | reported to the Department of Children and Family Services' | ||||||
10 | hotline or a law enforcement agency must be referred by the | ||||||
11 | entity that received the report to the local Children's | ||||||
12 | Advocacy Center pursuant to that county's multidisciplinary | ||||||
13 | team's protocol under the Children's Advocacy Center Act for | ||||||
14 | investigating child sexual abuse allegations. | ||||||
15 | (e) A county's local Children's Advocacy Center must, at a | ||||||
16 | minimum, do both of the following regarding a referred case of | ||||||
17 | an alleged incident of sexual abuse: | ||||||
18 | (1) Coordinate the investigation of the alleged | ||||||
19 | incident, as governed by the local Children's Advocacy | ||||||
20 | Center's existing multidisciplinary team protocol and | ||||||
21 | according to National Children's Alliance accreditation | ||||||
22 | standards. | ||||||
23 | (2) Facilitate communication between the | ||||||
24 | multidisciplinary team investigating the alleged incident | ||||||
25 | of sexual abuse and, if applicable, the referring school's | ||||||
26 | (i) Title IX officer, or his or her designee, (ii) student |
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1 | resource officer, and (iii) investigating body. This | ||||||
2 | facilitation of communication must, at a minimum, ensure | ||||||
3 | that all applicable parties have each other's contact | ||||||
4 | information. | ||||||
5 | (f) After an alleged incident of sexual abuse is reported | ||||||
6 | to the Department of Children and Family Services or a law | ||||||
7 | enforcement agency and while the criminal and child abuse | ||||||
8 | investigations related to that alleged incident are being | ||||||
9 | conducted by the local multidisciplinary team, the school | ||||||
10 | relevant to the alleged incident of sexual abuse must comply | ||||||
11 | with both of the following: | ||||||
12 | (1) It may not interview the alleged victim until after | ||||||
13 | the completion of the forensic interview of that victim is | ||||||
14 | conducted at a Children's Advocacy Center. | ||||||
15 | (2) It must inform the multidisciplinary team | ||||||
16 | conducting the investigation of any and all information | ||||||
17 | gathered pertaining to an alleged incident of sexual abuse. | ||||||
18 | (g) After completion of a forensic interview, the | ||||||
19 | multidisciplinary team must notify the school relevant to the | ||||||
20 | alleged incident of sexual abuse of its completion. | ||||||
21 | (h) To the greatest extent possible considering student | ||||||
22 | safety and Title IX compliance, school personnel must view | ||||||
23 | electronic recordings of a forensic interview of an alleged | ||||||
24 | victim of an incident of sexual abuse instead of interviewing | ||||||
25 | the alleged victim. School personnel must be granted viewing | ||||||
26 | access to the electronic recording of a forensic interview |
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1 | conducted at an accredited Children's Advocacy Center for an | ||||||
2 | alleged incident of sexual abuse only if the school receives | ||||||
3 | (i) approval from the multidisciplinary team investigating the | ||||||
4 | case and (ii) informed consent by a child over the age of 13 or | ||||||
5 | the child's parent or guardian. Each county's local Children's | ||||||
6 | Advocacy Center and multidisciplinary team must create a | ||||||
7 | protocol for the approval and viewing process. At no time may | ||||||
8 | the electronic recording of a forensic interview be given to a | ||||||
9 | school's representatives without a court's protective order. | ||||||
10 | The school's viewing of the electronic recording of a forensic | ||||||
11 | interview may be granted only if it is used as a substitute for | ||||||
12 | interviewing the alleged victim of sexual abuse. | ||||||
13 | (i) If, during the course of its internal investigation, | ||||||
14 | the school determines that it needs to interview the alleged | ||||||
15 | victim to successfully complete its investigation and the | ||||||
16 | victim is under 18 years of age, a child advocate must be made | ||||||
17 | available to the student and must be present during the | ||||||
18 | school's interview. A child advocate may be a school social | ||||||
19 | worker, a school psychologist, or a person in a position the | ||||||
20 | State Board of Education has identified as an appropriate | ||||||
21 | advocate for the student during a school's investigation into | ||||||
22 | an alleged incident of sexual abuse. | ||||||
23 | (j) The Department of Children and Family Services must | ||||||
24 | notify the relevant school when an agency investigation of an | ||||||
25 | alleged incident of sexual abuse is complete. The notification | ||||||
26 | must include information on the outcome of that investigation. |
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1 | (k) The appropriate law enforcement agency must notify the | ||||||
2 | relevant school when an agency investigation of an alleged | ||||||
3 | incident of sexual abuse is complete. The notification must | ||||||
4 | include information on the outcome of that investigation. | ||||||
5 | (l) This Section applies to all schools operating under | ||||||
6 | this Code, including, but not limited to, public schools | ||||||
7 | located in cities having a population of more than 500,000, a | ||||||
8 | school 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, and non-public schools recognized by the State | ||||||
14 | Board of Education. | ||||||
15 | (105 ILCS 5/34-18.61 new) | ||||||
16 | Sec. 34-18.61. Sexual abuse investigations at schools. The | ||||||
17 | school district must adopt and implement a policy addressing | ||||||
18 | sexual abuse investigations at schools consistent with Section | ||||||
19 | 22-85.
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20 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, | ||||||
21 | 2019.".
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