101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB4886

 

Introduced 2/18/2020, by Rep. Steven Reick - Jim Durkin - Jonathan Carroll, Margo McDermed, Daniel Swanson, et al.

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
See Index

    Creates the McHenry County Children and Family Services Agency Division in the Counties Code (referred to as AJ's Law). Establishes a county children and family services agency in McHenry County for a 5-year period to replace the operations of the Department of Children and Family Services within that county. Provides that the McHenry County children and family services agency shall have all powers and duties of the Department under the Children and Family Services Act and the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. Provides for the appointment of an executive director and employment of employees. Provides for requirements for operation of the county children and family services agency, including unit-based multidisciplinary teams. Provides for State funding of the agency after submission of a budget to the Department each year. Provides for transfer of power and duties back to the Department should the county children and family services agency cease operators after the initial 5-year period. Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning local government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by adding Division
55-45 as follows:
 
6    (55 ILCS 5/Div. 5-45 heading new)
7
Division 5-45. McHenry County Children
8
and Family Services Agency

 
9    (55 ILCS 5/5-45001 new)
10    Sec. 5-45001. Reference to Division. This Division may be
11referred to as AJ's Law.
 
12    (55 ILCS 5/5-45005 new)
13    Sec. 5-45005. Definitions. As used in this Division:
14    "Agency" means the McHenry County children and family
15services agency.
16    "County" means McHenry County.
17    "County board" means the McHenry County Board.
18    "Department" means the Department of Children and Family
19Services.
 
20    (55 ILCS 5/5-45010 new)

 

 

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1    Sec. 5-45010. McHenry County children and family services
2agency; Department transfer of duties.
3    (a) The McHenry County children and family services agency
4is established. The agency shall begin operating no earlier
5than 90 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of
6the 101st General Assembly. Once operations begin, the agency
7shall be a full-time agency of the county whose personnel,
8other than consultants, clinicians, or part-time clerical
9staff, shall devote full time during business hours to agency
10duties.
11    The county shall give the Department at least 45 days'
12notice as to the date the agency will begin operations. The
13agency will operate for at least 5 full years after the date
14the agency began its operations.
15    (b) On the date the county provided notice to the
16Department under subsection (a) that it would begin its agency
17operations, the Department's powers and duties under the
18Children and Family Services Act and the Abused and Neglected
19Child Reporting Act are assumed by the agency. Duties under
20these Acts include, but are not limited to, maintaining and
21managing: current services offered under the Acts; a crisis
22line or hotline; and the files transferred from the Department
23and created by the agency. The agency may modify their duties
24under the Acts if those changes are in the best interests of
25the children and families in the county and by reporting such
26changes to the Department no earlier than 30 days before any

 

 

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1such change.
2    (c) Once powers and duties are assumed by the agency under
3this Section, the agency shall perform its work in accordance
4with Department criteria, including any needed revised
5criteria based upon changes to the agency's duties reported to
6the Department under subsection (b).
 
7    (55 ILCS 5/5-45015 new)
8    Sec. 5-45015. Agency duties; investigatory functions. The
9agency shall protect the health, safety, and best interests of
10children in all situations in which children are vulnerable to
11child abuse or neglect, offer protective services in order to
12prevent any further harm to the child and to other children in
13the same environment or family, stabilize the home environment,
14and preserve family life whenever possible.
15    The agency shall employ policies and procedures to protect
16children from being abused and neglected as provided for in the
17Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, including, but not
18limited to, being responsible for receiving and investigating
19reports of adult resident abuse or neglect. In performing any
20of these duties, the agency may utilize protective services of
21voluntary agencies as are available.
 
22    (55 ILCS 5/5-45020 new)
23    Sec. 5-45020. Executive director; appointment. The county
24board chairperson shall appoint an executive director of the

 

 

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1agency, with the advice and consent of the county board. The
2executive director shall possess such qualifications as
3prescribed by the county board. The executive director of the
4agency may appoint such professional employees who meet the
5qualification requirements of the agency as allowed by the
6funds available to the agency.
 
7    (55 ILCS 5/5-45025 new)
8    Sec. 5-45025. Employees; facilities.
9    (a) All investigators and employees of the agency shall be
10employees of the county with the same qualifications and
11accreditation as required under the statutes, rules,
12procedures, and standards governing investigators and
13employees the Department. Current employees or contractors of
14the Department may be employed or contracted by the agency as
15deemed appropriate by the executive director, including those
16employees and investigators employed by the State within the
17facilities of the Department within the county. Agency
18employees shall be enrolled in such benefits and pension
19programs as deemed appropriate by the executive director that
20would be commensurate with county employees within other county
21agencies and departments. County employees of the agency shall
22be eligible for the same training eligible to for similar roles
23as State employees or contractors of the Department.
24    (b) The agency may lease or purchase facilities to operate
25the agency and to house its employees and contractors,

 

 

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1including leasing or purchasing facilities from the
2Department.
 
3    (55 ILCS 5/5-45030 new)
4    Sec. 5-45030. Operations. The agency will be operated as
5recommended in the February 2016 report, "The Urgent Need in
6Illinois for Unit-Based Multidisciplinary Teams to Investigate
7Child Abuse", published by the Illinois Children's Justice Task
8Force.
9    The agency may contract with the State, units of local
10government, providers, contractors, and servicers in order to
11provide its services with the highest standards as determined
12by the executive director and the agency, including contracts
13with pediatric child abuse physicians and neglect centers of
14excellence.
 
15    (55 ILCS 5/5-45035 new)
16    Sec. 5-45035. Agency funding; continuing appropriation.
17    (a) No later than 45 days after the effective date of this
18amendatory Act of the 101st General assembly and each year
19thereafter no later than 45 days before the anniversary of the
20date the agency began operations, the executive director shall
21prepare a budget and file the proposed budget with the Director
22of the Department. Each budget shall be no less than the total
23amount of all appropriations that were used by the Department
24in the county in the fiscal year immediately preceding the date

 

 

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1the agency began its operations.
2    On the date the agency begins its operations under
3subsection (a) of Section 5-45010, the Department shall make
4grants to the county for use by the agency in amounts equal to
5the moneys the Department was appropriated or otherwise
6received that the Department would have used for the remainder
7of the current fiscal year in the county. The grants, including
8those amounts appropriated and transferred to the Department
9under subsection (b), shall be distributed to the county no
10later than 14 days after the Department receives the applicable
11moneys and shall continue indefinitely unless the agency ceases
12operations under Section 5-45045. For moneys in possession of
13the Department designated for use in the county on the date the
14agency begins its operations, those moneys shall be distributed
15to the county no later than 14 days after the agency began its
16operations.
17    (b) For the 5 State fiscal years immediately following the
18date the agency begins its operations under subsection (a) of
19Section 5-45010:
20        (1) The Governor shall submit to the General Assembly a
21    proposed budget for the Department for use by the county in
22    which total General Revenue Fund appropriations are no less
23    than the total amount of all appropriations that were used
24    by the Department in the county in the fiscal year
25    immediately preceding the date the agency began its
26    operations. In addition, the Governor shall specify the

 

 

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1    total amount of funds to be transferred from all Funds to
2    the Department for use by the county during the budget
3    year, which shall be no less than the total amount of all
4    appropriations that were used by the Department in the
5    county in the fiscal year immediately preceding the date
6    the agency began its operations. The Governor may submit a
7    proposed budget in which the total appropriated and
8    transferred amounts the Department for use by the county
9    are less than the total amount of all appropriations that
10    were used by the Department in the county in the fiscal
11    year immediately preceding the date the agency began its
12    operations if the Governor declares in writing to the
13    General Assembly the reason for the lesser amounts.
14        (2) The General Assembly shall appropriate amounts for
15    the Department for use by the county for each fiscal year
16    so that the total appropriation from all Funds is no less
17    than the total amount of appropriations that were used by
18    the Department in the county in the fiscal year immediately
19    preceding the date the agency began its operations. In
20    addition, the General Assembly shall legislatively
21    transfer to the Department for use by the county for the
22    fiscal year a total amount that is no less than the total
23    amount of all appropriations that were used by the
24    Department in the county in the fiscal year immediately
25    preceding the date the agency began its operations. The
26    General Assembly may appropriate or transfer lesser

 

 

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1    amounts if it declares by Joint Resolution the reason for
2    the lesser amounts.
 
3    (55 ILCS 5/5-45040 new)
4    Sec. 5-45040. Reporting; accountability.
5    (a) The agency shall issue annual reports to the
6Department, the Governor, and the General Assembly no later
7than 30 days after each anniversary of the date the agency
8began its operations. The report shall detail the agency's
9performance according to standard performance metrics,
10including, but not limited to: time of response to hotline
11reports; time of communication of hotline reports among various
12county stakeholders, including law enforcement; number and
13quality of indicated reports as measured against the
14Department's last baseline established in the county before the
15date the agency began its operations; caseload management by
16investigators as measured against the Department's last
17baseline established in the county before the date the agency
18began its operations; and other metrics as may be recommended
19by the executive director of the agency, the Director of the
20Department, or the Office of the Inspector General of the
21Department.
22    (b) The Office of the Inspector General of the Department
23has the authority to investigate any agency matter that would
24otherwise fall within the Inspector General's authority if
25those matters involved the Department.
 

 

 

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1    (55 ILCS 5/5-45045 new)
2    Sec. 5-45045. Agency ceasing operations.
3    (a) No earlier than 5 years after the agency began
4operations, the county may cease operations under this Section.
5Before ceasing operations, the county shall give the Department
6no less than 90 days' notice of the date the agency will cease
7operations. On the date agency ceases operations, the
8Department will resume its powers and duties under the Children
9and Family Services Act and the Abused and Neglected Child
10Reporting Act and cease all grants to the county under this
11Division.
12    For moneys in possession of the agency from grants from the
13Department on the date the agency ceases operations, those
14moneys shall be distributed to the Department no later than 14
15days after the agency ceases its operations.
16    (b) The agency shall cease operations on the date of repeal
17of this Division under Section 5-45050 if the General Assembly
18has not repealed that Section. On that date, the Department
19shall resume its powers and duties and the agency shall
20distribute moneys as provided in subsection (a).
 
21    (55 ILCS 5/5-45050 new)
22    Sec. 5-45050. Repeal. This Act is repealed 6 years after
23the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 101st General
24Assembly.
 

 

 

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1    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
2becoming law.

 

 

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1 INDEX
2 Statutes amended in order of appearance
3    55 ILCS 5/Div. 5-45
4    heading new
5    55 ILCS 5/5-45001 new
6    55 ILCS 5/5-45005 new
7    55 ILCS 5/5-45010 new
8    55 ILCS 5/5-45015 new
9    55 ILCS 5/5-45020 new
10    55 ILCS 5/5-45025 new
11    55 ILCS 5/5-45030 new
12    55 ILCS 5/5-45035 new
13    55 ILCS 5/5-45040 new
14    55 ILCS 5/5-45045 new
15    55 ILCS 5/5-45050 new