HB3471 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB103 29952 KTG 56367 b

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB3471

Introduced 2/17/2023, by Rep. Tom Weber

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

325 ILCS 5/7.3

from Ch. 23, par. 2057.3

Amends the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. In a provision requiring the Department of Children and Family Services to allow law enforcement personnel to concurrently investigate with the Department reports of suspected child abuse or neglect, provides that the Department's completed investigative report shall be shared with the office of the State's Attorney of the involved county, if requested, to the extent such disclosure is permitted by current law and regulation, and subject to any and all existing and applicable requirements to maintain the information shared as confidential. Provides that nothing prohibits the office of the State's Attorney of the involved county from concurrently conducting an additional, independent investigation of the same incidents and allegations investigated by the Department. Provides that at the commencement of the State's Attorney's independent investigation, the State's Attorney, in his or her official capacity as a mandated reporter, shall notify the Department of the independent investigation by making a report by telephone to the Department's central register on the single, State-wide, toll-free telephone number established under the Act. Provides that upon completion of the independent investigation, the State's Attorney shall share his or her findings and determinations with the Department.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning children.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Reference to Act. This Act may be referred to as the AJ Freund Act.

Section 5. The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act is amended by changing Section 7.3 as follows:

(325 ILCS 5/7.3) (from Ch. 23, par. 2057.3)

Sec. 7.3. (a) The Department shall be the sole agency responsible for receiving and investigating reports of child abuse or neglect made under this Act, including reports of adult resident abuse or neglect as defined in this Act, except where investigations by other agencies may be required with respect to reports alleging the abuse or neglect of a child by a person who is not the child's parent, a member of the child's immediate family, a person responsible for the child's welfare, an individual residing in the same home as the child, or a paramour of the child's parent, the death of a child, serious injury to a child or sexual abuse to a child made pursuant to Sections 4.1 or 7 of this Act, and except that the Department may delegate the performance of the investigation to the Illinois State Police, a law enforcement agency and to those private social service agencies which have been designated for this purpose by the Department prior to July 1, 1980.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the Department shall adopt rules expressly allowing law enforcement personnel to investigate reports of suspected child abuse or neglect concurrently with the Department, without regard to whether the Department determines a report to be "indicated" or "unfounded" or deems a report to be "undetermined". Upon any determination, the complete investigative report shall be shared with the office of the State's Attorney of the involved county, if requested, to the extent such disclosure is permitted by current law and regulation, and subject to any and all existing and applicable requirements to maintain the information shared as confidential. Nothing shall prohibit the office of the State's Attorney of the involved county from concurrently conducting an additional, independent investigation of the same incidents and allegations investigated by the Department. At the commencement of the State's Attorney's independent investigation, the State's Attorney, in his or her official capacity as a mandated reporter, shall notify the Department of the independent investigation by making a report by telephone to the central register established under Section 7.7 on the single, State-wide, toll-free telephone number established in Section 7.6. Upon completion of the independent investigation, the State's Attorney shall share his or her findings and determinations with the Department.

(c) By June 1, 2016, the Department shall adopt rules that address and set forth criteria and standards relevant to investigations of reports of abuse or neglect committed by any agency, as defined in Section 3 of this Act, or person working for an agency responsible for the welfare of a child or adult resident.

(Source: P.A. 101-583, eff. 1-1-20; 102-538, eff. 8-20-21.)