101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB5417

 

Introduced , by Rep. Terri Bryant - Grant Wehrli - Amy Grant

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
325 ILCS 5/4

    Amends the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. In a provision requiring all mandated reporters to complete mandated reporter training, provides that the required in-person or web-based training shall include information on the process for reporting suspected child abuse or neglect utilizing the Department of Children and Family Services' Online Reporting System for Mandated Reporters.


LRB101 18100 KTG 67539 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB5417LRB101 18100 KTG 67539 b

1    AN ACT concerning children.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act is
5amended by changing Section 4 as follows:
 
6    (325 ILCS 5/4)
7    Sec. 4. Persons required to report; privileged
8communications; transmitting false report.
9    (a) The following persons are required to immediately
10report to the Department when they have reasonable cause to
11believe that a child known to them in their professional or
12official capacities may be an abused child or a neglected
13child:
14        (1) Medical personnel, including any: physician
15    licensed to practice medicine in any of its branches
16    (medical doctor or doctor of osteopathy); resident;
17    intern; medical administrator or personnel engaged in the
18    examination, care, and treatment of persons; psychiatrist;
19    surgeon; dentist; dental hygienist; chiropractic
20    physician; podiatric physician; physician assistant;
21    emergency medical technician; acupuncturist; registered
22    nurse; licensed practical nurse; advanced practice
23    registered nurse; genetic counselor; respiratory care

 

 

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1    practitioner; home health aide; or certified nursing
2    assistant.
3        (2) Social services and mental health personnel,
4    including any: licensed professional counselor; licensed
5    clinical professional counselor; licensed social worker;
6    licensed clinical social worker; licensed psychologist or
7    assistant working under the direct supervision of a
8    psychologist; associate licensed marriage and family
9    therapist; licensed marriage and family therapist; field
10    personnel of the Departments of Healthcare and Family
11    Services, Public Health, Human Services, Human Rights, or
12    Children and Family Services; supervisor or administrator
13    of the General Assistance program established under
14    Article VI of the Illinois Public Aid Code; social services
15    administrator; or substance abuse treatment personnel.
16        (3) Crisis intervention personnel, including any:
17    crisis line or hotline personnel; or domestic violence
18    program personnel.
19        (4) Education personnel, including any: school
20    personnel (including administrators and certified and
21    non-certified school employees); personnel of institutions
22    of higher education; educational advocate assigned to a
23    child in accordance with the School Code; member of a
24    school board or the Chicago Board of Education or the
25    governing body of a private school (but only to the extent
26    required under subsection (d)); or truant officer.

 

 

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1        (5) Recreation or athletic program or facility
2    personnel.
3        (6) Child care personnel, including any: early
4    intervention provider as defined in the Early Intervention
5    Services System Act; director or staff assistant of a
6    nursery school or a child day care center; or foster
7    parent, homemaker, or child care worker.
8        (7) Law enforcement personnel, including any: law
9    enforcement officer; field personnel of the Department of
10    Juvenile Justice; field personnel of the Department of
11    Corrections; probation officer; or animal control officer
12    or field investigator of the Department of Agriculture's
13    Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare.
14        (8) Any funeral home director; funeral home director
15    and embalmer; funeral home employee; coroner; or medical
16    examiner.
17        (9) Any member of the clergy.
18        (10) Any physician, physician assistant, registered
19    nurse, licensed practical nurse, medical technician,
20    certified nursing assistant, licensed social worker,
21    licensed clinical social worker, or licensed professional
22    counselor of any office, clinic, or any other physical
23    location that provides abortions, abortion referrals, or
24    contraceptives.
25    (b) When 2 or more persons who work within the same
26workplace and are required to report under this Act share a

 

 

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1reasonable cause to believe that a child may be an abused or
2neglected child, one of those reporters may be designated to
3make a single report. The report shall include the names and
4contact information for the other mandated reporters sharing
5the reasonable cause to believe that a child may be an abused
6or neglected child. The designated reporter must provide
7written confirmation of the report to those mandated reporters
8within 48 hours. If confirmation is not provided, those
9mandated reporters are individually responsible for
10immediately ensuring a report is made. Nothing in this Section
11precludes or may be used to preclude any person from reporting
12child abuse or child neglect.
13    (c)(1) As used in this Section, "a child known to them in
14their professional or official capacities" means:
15        (A) the mandated reporter comes into contact with the
16    child in the course of the reporter's employment or
17    practice of a profession, or through a regularly scheduled
18    program, activity, or service;
19        (B) the mandated reporter is affiliated with an agency,
20    institution, organization, school, school district,
21    regularly established church or religious organization, or
22    other entity that is directly responsible for the care,
23    supervision, guidance, or training of the child; or
24        (C) a person makes a specific disclosure to the
25    mandated reporter that an identifiable child is the victim
26    of child abuse or child neglect, and the disclosure happens

 

 

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1    while the mandated reporter is engaged in his or her
2    employment or practice of a profession, or in a regularly
3    scheduled program, activity, or service.
4    (2) Nothing in this Section requires a child to come before
5the mandated reporter in order for the reporter to make a
6report of suspected child abuse or child neglect.
7    (d) If an allegation is raised to a school board member
8during the course of an open or closed school board meeting
9that a child who is enrolled in the school district of which he
10or she is a board member is an abused child as defined in
11Section 3 of this Act, the member shall direct or cause the
12school board to direct the superintendent of the school
13district or other equivalent school administrator to comply
14with the requirements of this Act concerning the reporting of
15child abuse. For purposes of this paragraph, a school board
16member is granted the authority in his or her individual
17capacity to direct the superintendent of the school district or
18other equivalent school administrator to comply with the
19requirements of this Act concerning the reporting of child
20abuse.
21    Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, if an
22employee of a school district has made a report or caused a
23report to be made to the Department under this Act involving
24the conduct of a current or former employee of the school
25district and a request is made by another school district for
26the provision of information concerning the job performance or

 

 

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1qualifications of the current or former employee because he or
2she is an applicant for employment with the requesting school
3district, the general superintendent of the school district to
4which the request is being made must disclose to the requesting
5school district the fact that an employee of the school
6district has made a report involving the conduct of the
7applicant or caused a report to be made to the Department, as
8required under this Act. Only the fact that an employee of the
9school district has made a report involving the conduct of the
10applicant or caused a report to be made to the Department may
11be disclosed by the general superintendent of the school
12district to which the request for information concerning the
13applicant is made, and this fact may be disclosed only in cases
14where the employee and the general superintendent have not been
15informed by the Department that the allegations were unfounded.
16An employee of a school district who is or has been the subject
17of a report made pursuant to this Act during his or her
18employment with the school district must be informed by that
19school district that if he or she applies for employment with
20another school district, the general superintendent of the
21former school district, upon the request of the school district
22to which the employee applies, shall notify that requesting
23school district that the employee is or was the subject of such
24a report.
25    (e) Whenever such person is required to report under this
26Act in his capacity as a member of the staff of a medical or

 

 

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1other public or private institution, school, facility or
2agency, or as a member of the clergy, he shall make report
3immediately to the Department in accordance with the provisions
4of this Act and may also notify the person in charge of such
5institution, school, facility or agency, or church, synagogue,
6temple, mosque, or other religious institution, or his
7designated agent that such report has been made. Under no
8circumstances shall any person in charge of such institution,
9school, facility or agency, or church, synagogue, temple,
10mosque, or other religious institution, or his designated agent
11to whom such notification has been made, exercise any control,
12restraint, modification or other change in the report or the
13forwarding of such report to the Department.
14    (f) In addition to the persons required to report suspected
15cases of child abuse or child neglect under this Section, any
16other person may make a report if such person has reasonable
17cause to believe a child may be an abused child or a neglected
18child.
19    (g) The privileged quality of communication between any
20professional person required to report and his patient or
21client shall not apply to situations involving abused or
22neglected children and shall not constitute grounds for failure
23to report as required by this Act or constitute grounds for
24failure to share information or documents with the Department
25during the course of a child abuse or neglect investigation. If
26requested by the professional, the Department shall confirm in

 

 

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1writing that the information or documents disclosed by the
2professional were gathered in the course of a child abuse or
3neglect investigation.
4    The reporting requirements of this Act shall not apply to
5the contents of a privileged communication between an attorney
6and his or her client or to confidential information within the
7meaning of Rule 1.6 of the Illinois Rules of Professional
8Conduct relating to the legal representation of an individual
9client.
10    A member of the clergy may claim the privilege under
11Section 8-803 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
12    (h) Any office, clinic, or any other physical location that
13provides abortions, abortion referrals, or contraceptives
14shall provide to all office personnel copies of written
15information and training materials about abuse and neglect and
16the requirements of this Act that are provided to employees of
17the office, clinic, or physical location who are required to
18make reports to the Department under this Act, and instruct
19such office personnel to bring to the attention of an employee
20of the office, clinic, or physical location who is required to
21make reports to the Department under this Act any reasonable
22suspicion that a child known to him or her in his or her
23professional or official capacity may be an abused child or a
24neglected child.
25    (i) Any person who enters into employment on and after July
261, 1986 and is mandated by virtue of that employment to report

 

 

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1under this Act, shall sign a statement on a form prescribed by
2the Department, to the effect that the employee has knowledge
3and understanding of the reporting requirements of this Act. On
4and after January 1, 2019, the statement shall also include
5information about available mandated reporter training
6provided by the Department. The statement shall be signed prior
7to commencement of the employment. The signed statement shall
8be retained by the employer. The cost of printing,
9distribution, and filing of the statement shall be borne by the
10employer.
11    (j) Persons required to report child abuse or child neglect
12as provided under this Section must complete an initial
13mandated reporter training within 3 months of their date of
14engagement in a professional or official capacity as a mandated
15reporter, or within the time frame of any other applicable
16State law that governs training requirements for a specific
17profession, and at least every 3 years thereafter. The initial
18requirement only applies to the first time they engage in their
19professional or official capacity. In lieu of training every 3
20years, medical personnel, as listed in paragraph (1) of
21subsection (a), must meet the requirements described in
22subsection (k).
23    The trainings shall be in-person or web-based, and shall
24include, at a minimum, information on the following topics: (i)
25indicators for recognizing child abuse and child neglect, as
26defined under this Act; (ii) the process for reporting

 

 

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1suspected child abuse and child neglect in Illinois as required
2by this Act and the required documentation, including the
3process for reporting suspected child abuse or neglect
4utilizing the Department's Online Reporting System for
5Mandated Reporters; (iii) responding to a child in a
6trauma-informed manner; and (iv) understanding the response of
7child protective services and the role of the reporter after a
8call has been made. Child-serving organizations are encouraged
9to provide in-person annual trainings.
10    The mandated reporter training shall be provided through
11the Department, through an entity authorized to provide
12continuing education for professionals licensed through the
13Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, the State
14Board of Education, the Illinois Law Enforcement Training
15Standards Board, or the Department of State Police, or through
16an organization approved by the Department to provide mandated
17reporter training. The Department must make available a free
18web-based training for reporters.
19    Each mandated reporter shall report to his or her employer
20and, when applicable, to his or her licensing or certification
21board that he or she received the mandated reporter training.
22The mandated reporter shall maintain records of completion.
23    Beginning January 1, 2021, if a mandated reporter receives
24licensure from the Department of Financial and Professional
25Regulation or the State Board of Education, and his or her
26profession has continuing education requirements, the training

 

 

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1mandated under this Section shall count toward meeting the
2licensee's required continuing education hours.
3    (k)(1) Medical personnel, as listed in paragraph (1) of
4subsection (a), who work with children in their professional or
5official capacity, must complete mandated reporter training at
6least every 6 years. Such medical personnel, if licensed, must
7attest at each time of licensure renewal on their renewal form
8that they understand they are a mandated reporter of child
9abuse and neglect, that they are aware of the process for
10making a report, that they know how to respond to a child in a
11trauma-informed manner, and that they are aware of the role of
12child protective services and the role of a reporter after a
13call has been made.
14    (2) In lieu of repeated training, medical personnel, as
15listed in paragraph (1) of subsection (a), who do not work with
16children in their professional or official capacity, may
17instead attest each time at licensure renewal on their renewal
18form that they understand they are a mandated reporter of child
19abuse and neglect, that they are aware of the process for
20making a report, that they know how to respond to a child in a
21trauma-informed manner, and that they are aware of the role of
22child protective services and the role of a reporter after a
23call has been made. Nothing in this paragraph precludes medical
24personnel from completing mandated reporter training and
25receiving continuing education credits for that training.
26    (l) The Department shall provide copies of this Act, upon

 

 

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1request, to all employers employing persons who shall be
2required under the provisions of this Section to report under
3this Act.
4    (m) Any person who knowingly transmits a false report to
5the Department commits the offense of disorderly conduct under
6subsection (a)(7) of Section 26-1 of the Criminal Code of 2012.
7A violation of this provision is a Class 4 felony.
8    Any person who knowingly and willfully violates any
9provision of this Section other than a second or subsequent
10violation of transmitting a false report as described in the
11preceding paragraph, is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for a
12first violation and a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent
13violation; except that if the person acted as part of a plan or
14scheme having as its object the prevention of discovery of an
15abused or neglected child by lawful authorities for the purpose
16of protecting or insulating any person or entity from arrest or
17prosecution, the person is guilty of a Class 4 felony for a
18first offense and a Class 3 felony for a second or subsequent
19offense (regardless of whether the second or subsequent offense
20involves any of the same facts or persons as the first or other
21prior offense).
22    (n) A child whose parent, guardian or custodian in good
23faith selects and depends upon spiritual means through prayer
24alone for the treatment or cure of disease or remedial care may
25be considered neglected or abused, but not for the sole reason
26that his parent, guardian or custodian accepts and practices

 

 

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1such beliefs.
2    (o) A child shall not be considered neglected or abused
3solely because the child is not attending school in accordance
4with the requirements of Article 26 of the School Code, as
5amended.
6    (p) Nothing in this Act prohibits a mandated reporter who
7reasonably believes that an animal is being abused or neglected
8in violation of the Humane Care for Animals Act from reporting
9animal abuse or neglect to the Department of Agriculture's
10Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare.
11    (q) A home rule unit may not regulate the reporting of
12child abuse or neglect in a manner inconsistent with the
13provisions of this Section. This Section is a limitation under
14subsection (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois
15Constitution on the concurrent exercise by home rule units of
16powers and functions exercised by the State.
17    (r) For purposes of this Section "child abuse or neglect"
18includes abuse or neglect of an adult resident as defined in
19this Act.
20(Source: P.A. 100-513, eff. 1-1-18; 100-1071, eff. 1-1-19;
21101-564, eff. 1-1-20.)