HB5669 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB103 39672 KTG 70066 b

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB5669

Introduced , by Rep. Barbara Hernandez

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

20 ILCS 505/46 new
750 ILCS 50/5	from Ch. 40, par. 1507
750 ILCS 50/9	from Ch. 40, par. 1511

Provides that the amendatory Act may be referred to as the Reuniting Family Initiative Act. Amends the Children and Family Services Act. Creates the Family Advocacy Initiating Recovery (F.A.I.R.) Pilot Program within the Department of Children and Family Services. Provides that the F.A.I.R. pilot shall operate for a 2-year period and that the Department shall partner with peer-led organizations to assess the Department's performance and management of child placement and parental termination cases that involve a parent with a substance use disorder. Provides that the purpose of the F.A.I.R. pilot is to: (i) create a system of continuing safe care for mothers and families involved in the Department's parental termination and child placement case process in order to resolve decades-old family reunification failures by the Department; and (ii) ensure transparency between the Department and those peer-led organizations advocating on behalf of mothers and families. Contains provisions concerning the development of guidelines and best practices on how to create a sustainable pathway to family reunification in child placement cases; family needs assessments; reporting requirements; and other matters. Amends the Adoption Act. Provides that a petition to adopt a child may include an adoption contact agreement under which a petitioner may request an agreement for contact between a child and the child's birth parent or parents. Provides that the adoption contact agreement may include provisions for contact, visitation, or the exchange of information, and the grounds, if any, on which the adoptive parent or parents may decline to permit visits or cease providing contact or information. Provides that if the child is 12 years old or older, the court may not order an adoption contact agreement unless the child consents to all terms of the agreement. Provides that in DCFS cases a consent to adopt or surrender a child is not valid unless the legal mother has received pre-consent counseling or refused to participate in pre-consent counseling.

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. This Act may be referred to as the Reuniting Family Initiative Act.

Section 5. Purpose. The purpose of this Act is to:

(1) Trauma prevention. Prevent unnecessary harm to children stemming from the removal or separation from their families and homes exacerbated by failed family reunification at the hand of the Department of Children and Family Services.

(2) Security net. Ensure family reunification is at the forefront of the Department of Children and Family Services' case termination processes.

(3) Safeguards. Provide family reunification precautionary measures for mothers separated from their children due to a substance use disorder or incarceration.

(4) Anti-punitive. Protect mothers against penalization for addiction and compulsive behavior resulting from the challenges of a substance use disorder.

(5) Reform. Present necessary changes to the Department's Recovery Matrix Rubric relating to the substantial progress and timelines of recovering mothers needed to successfully reunite with their removed children.

(6) Equal access. Require the Department of Children and Family Services to make readily available the Recovery Matrix Rubric of involved mothers to independent agencies and peer-led organizations advocating for family reunification on behalf of recovering mothers.

(7) Post-adoption relationships. Create a limited post-adoption contact option for families who face the permanent loss of custody of their children through adoption due either to involuntary action (the termination of parental rights by court order) or voluntary action (the willful surrender of legal custody of the child) by the family.

(8) Service planning. Create an advocacy pilot program that promotes continued safe and productive care planning geared towards family reunification by utilizing peer-led organizations to provide child welfare services to separated families (biological mothers, biological parents, or legal guardians and children) independent of the Department of Children and Family Services.

(9) Healthy conditions. Enhance family stability within affected families through evaluations and recommendations made to the Department of Children and Family Services by independent non-profit agencies or peer-led organizations.

(10) Integrity. Afford transparency to families involved in case termination processes by the Department of Children and Family Services, while also ensuring transparency between the Department of Children and Family Services and the independent agencies or peer-led organizations advocating for family reunification on behalf of involved families.

Section 10. The Children and Family Services Act is amended by adding Section 46 as follows:

(20 ILCS 505/46 new)

Sec. 46. Family Advocacy Initiating Recovery (F.A.I.R.) Pilot Program.

(a) Definitions. As used in this Section:

"Department" or "DCFS" means the Department of Children and Family Services.

"Infant" means a person in the early stage of development and yet not of full age and who for whatever reason has become involved in a DCFS parental termination or adoption case.

"Parent" means one or both biological parents, the biological mother, or the biological father, separated from her, his, or their biological underage child due to the Department of Children and Family Services seeking placement under Section 2-27, 3-28, 4-25, or 5-740 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 or the termination of parental rights under Section 2-29 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.

"Underage child" means a child under 18 years old who for whatever reason has become involved in a DCFS parental termination or adoption case.

"Legal guardian" means a person who has legal custody of an underage child with the authority assigned by a court to make decisions concerning the underage child's protection, education, care, discipline, and any other matters related to the child's care and custody.

"Family" means the biological parent or parents or the legal guardian of an underage child who is involved in a DCFS parental termination or adoption case. "Family" also means the dynamic bond between the underage child and family.

"Home" means a safe dwelling for an underage child, a mother, parents, or a legal guardian where the health dynamic of the parent-child bond is cultivated.

"Safety" means the absence or reduction of threats of severe harm to an underage child in the presence and under the care of sufficient parental protective capacity.

"Removed" means a physical, psychological, and social separation of an underage child from the family and home by the Department. "Removed" also means being temporarily or permanently placed in the DCFS foster care or adoption system.

"Service plan" means a written action plan issued on families by the Department with set expectations, conditions, and timelines required for successful case termination.

"Independent" means to operate without the influence of or under the ruling or control of the Department.

"Peer-led organization" means an entity whose chief executive officer or executive director, chief operating officer, or any other individual responsible for day-to-day services publicly identify as individuals with lived experience resulting from being system-justice involved and the entity, program, or services operate as an alternative to traditional institutions.

"System-justice involved" means to be legally, socially, and economically, or familial affected in a negative manner by the separation or removal of families through efforts of the Department or to be legally, socially, and economically, or familial affected by a substance use disorder and have an underage child removed or separated from the home by the Department.

"Advocacy" means the act of speaking in favor of, recommending, arguing for a cause, supporting, or defending, or pleading on behalf of a mother by a peer-led organization in all stages of a DCFS parental termination or child placement case.

"Successful" means the achievement of desired visions and planned goals of case termination ending in family reunification.

"Case" means a set of circumstances or conditions that are part of a situation relating to the relationship between the family and an underage child requiring investigation or action by the Department.

"Termination" means to bring to a close a case either through family reunification or adoption or the foster care system.

"Placement means" to commence a case by the Department against families.

"Reunification" means to return an underage child to the family or home from which the underage child was removed.

"Family reunification" means a successful case termination with the objective of reuniting an underage child with the family back home.

"Adoption" means the act or process whereby a person legally assumes the parenting of another, usually a child under the legal age of adulthood.

"Contact agreement" means a legal binder mandating the adoptive parents to provide the family with post-adoption contact with the underage child through protective measures.

"Post-adoption contact" means ongoing interaction between the family and underage child through frequent visits (in-person and video visits), and ongoing communication (telephone and video calls, text and written messages, and emails), as well as the exchange of information between the family and adoptive parent regarding the physical, psychological, social, and moral well-being and health of the underage child.

"Protective measures" means calculated steps taken with all precautionary actions, procedures, or installations conceived or undertaken to guard or defend from harm to underage children, family, home, and everyone else involved in family reunification and adoption processes.

"Prospective or adoptive parent" means a person other than the biological parent who becomes the parent of an underage child through an adoption process.

"Foster care system" means a temporary arrangement in which trained caregivers, including kinship or relative caregivers, provide for the care of an underage child when the biological parent or parents are unable to care for the child.

"Addiction" means an illness or disease characterized by intense cravings of something, loss of control over its use, and continuing involvement with it despite adverse consequences usually resulting from unresolved trauma, mental health struggles, or genetic predisposition.

"Substance" means alcohol, cannabis, or any other illegal drug or substance prohibited under the Illinois Controlled Substances Act.

"Substance use disorder" has the same meaning ascribed to that term in the Substance Use Disorder Act.

"Recovery" means (i) in the case of mothers suffering from a substance use disorder, a lifelong and cyclical process, with relapse often part of that process; and (ii) in the case of mothers in labor, the process of physical and psychological healing from complications resulting after giving birth.

"Recovery Matrix Rubric" means a 9 to 12 month system used by the Department in all child placement cases where a substance use disorder has been determined by allegations or when indicated on the substance use screen CFS 440-5, which tracks the baseline progresses of participant parents from the lack of to the substantial progress in substance use disorder treatment and visitation and parenting responsibilities.

"F.A.I.R. pilot" means the Family Advocacy Initiating Recovery Pilot Program, which is a peer-led social services pilot program for mothers and families involved in DCFS placement cases involving underage children.

"Transparency" means clear communication without maliciously withholding facts relating to mothers and families involved with the Department and the circumstances, conditions, set expectations and timelines of DCFS child placement and parental termination cases.

"Assessment" means to evaluate and outline the situation and long-term needs of mothers and families involved in DCFS child placement and parental termination cases.

(b) Establishment of program. The Family Advocacy Initiating Recovery (F.A.I.R.) Pilot Program is created within the Department as an independent peer-led family reunification services program. The F.A.I.R. pilot shall operate for a 2-year period beginning on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly or as soon as practicable. The Department shall partner with peer-led organizations to assess the Department's performance and management of child placement and parental termination cases that involve a parent with a substance use disorder. One peer-led organization shall lead efforts to form a hub of like-minded peer-led organizations and lead initiatives to successfully execute perimeters of the pilot program, with the mandated obligation of frequently reporting findings and progress to the appropriate legislative committees in both chambers of the General Assembly. The purpose of the F.A.I.R. pilot is to:

(1) create a system of continuing safe care for mothers and families involved in the Department's parental termination and child placement case process in order to resolve decades-old family reunification failures by the Department; and

(2) ensure transparency between the Department and those peer-led organizations advocating on behalf of mothers and families.

(c) Under the F.A.I.R. pilot, the Department shall provide peer-led organizations with access to review:

(1) the Department's data on the demographics of mothers who tested for a substance at the time of labor and delivery;

(2) the rates of child placement and parental termination cases resulting in family reunification, adoption, or foster care;

(3) the Department's child placement and parental termination case process for affected families with later changes of termination goals and objectives; and

(4) data on the ages of underage children transferred to the foster care system due to the mothers' substance use disorder or incarceration.

(d) As to each child placement case reviewed under the F.A.I.R. pilot, the Department shall provide the peer-led organizations with:

(1) The Department's realistic reasons for removing the child from the child's mother, family, or home; as well as full disclosure on all progress made (partial and substantial) or any lack of progress made by the mother or family involved in the child placement case.

(2) The Department's realistic reasons for reuniting the child with the child's mother or family; as well as full disclosure on all progress made (partial and substantial) or any lack of progress made by the mother or family involved in the child placement case;

The Department shall collaborate with the peer-led organizations on the development of Department guidelines and best practices on how to create a sustainable pathway to family reunification in child placement cases.

(e) To ensure Department transparency and accountability, the Department and the peer-led organizations shall utilize experts in addiction and system-justice involvement to create adequate service plans for those children and families involved in child placement or parental termination cases reviewed under the F.A.I.R. pilot.

(f) Peer-led organizations participating in the F.A.I.R. pilot shall be permitted to conduct family needs assessments on pending child placement and parental termination cases to ensure that mothers with a substance use disorder are given the opportunity to meet timelines, conditions, and expectations as set forth by the Department's Recovery Matrix Rubric and Service Plan.

(g) Parenting groups shall participate in the F.A.I.R. pilot to provide treatment and recovery services to a family experiencing the negative effects of substance use and addiction leading to the removal of an underage child from the home and a disruption in the child's dynamic bond with family.

(h) Under the F.A.I.R. pilot, the Department shall contact participating peer-led organizations whenever the Department opens a new child placement or parental termination case involving an allegation of child abuse or neglect due to a mother or other relative having a substance use disorder or a pending criminal case that is likely to led to incarceration. The peer-led organizations shall be contacted by the Department within 24 hours after the Department opens the case but no later than the commencement date of a Department investigation into an allegation of child abuse or neglect.

(i) Reporting requirements. Beginning 3 months after the start of the F.A.I.R. pilot, and every 3 months thereafter until the pilot ends, the Department and participating peer-led organizations shall jointly submit to the General Assembly a detailed report of their collaborative and individual findings on:

(1) racial disproportionalities and disparities in child placement and parental termination cases reviewed under the F.A.I.R. pilot;

(2) the Department's success rate in reuniting children with their families; and

(3) recommendations on how to help families in crisis avert child removal or the termination of parental rights.

The detailed report shall include assessment reports on the success of the F.A.I.R. pilot in implementing its stated goals.

Section 15. The Adoption Act is amended by changing Sections 5 and 9 as follows:

(750 ILCS 50/5) (from Ch. 40, par. 1507)

Sec. 5. Petition, contents, verification, filing.

A. A proceeding to adopt a child, other than a related child, shall be commenced by the filing of a petition within 30 days after such child has become available for adoption, provided that such petition may be filed at a later date by leave of court upon a showing that the failure to file such petition within such 30 day period was not due to the petitioners' culpable negligence or their wilful disregard of the provisions of this Section. In the case of a child born outside the United States or a territory thereof, if the prospective adoptive parents of such child have been appointed guardians of such child by a court of competent jurisdiction in a country other than the United States or a territory thereof, such parents shall file a petition as provided in this Section within 30 days after entry of the child into the United States. A petition to adopt an adult or a related child may be filed at any time. A petition for adoption may include more than one person sought to be adopted.

B. A petition to adopt a child other than a related child shall state:

(a) The full names of the petitioners and, if minors, their respective ages;

(b) The place of residence of the petitioners and the length of residence of each in the State of Illinois immediately preceding the filing of the petition;

(c) When the petitioners acquired, or intend to acquire, custody of the child, and the name and address of the persons or agency from whom the child was or will be received;

(d) The name, the place and date of birth if known, and the sex of the child sought to be adopted;

(e) The relationship, if any, of the child to each petitioner;

(f) The names, if known, and the place of residence, if known, of the parents; and whether such parents are minors, or otherwise under any legal disability. The names and addresses of the parents shall be omitted and they shall not be made parties defendant to the petition if (1) the rights of the parents have been terminated by a court of competent jurisdiction, or (2) the child has been surrendered to an agency, or (3) the parent or parents have been served with the notice provided in Section 12a of this Act and said parent or parents have filed a disclaimer of paternity as therein provided or have failed to file such declaration of paternity or a request for notice as provided in said Section, or (4) the parent is a putative father or legal father of the child who has waived his parental rights by signing a waiver as provided in subsection S of Section 10;

(g) If it is alleged that the child has no living parent, then the name of the guardian, if any, of such child and the court which appointed such guardian;

(h) If it is alleged that the child has no living parent and that no guardian of such child is known to petitioners, then the name of a near relative, if known, shall be set forth, or an allegation that no near relative is known and on due inquiry cannot be ascertained by petitioners;

(i) The name to be given the child or adult;

(j) That the person or agency, having authority to consent under Section 8 of this Act, has consented, or has indicated willingness to consent, to the adoption of the child by the petitioners, or that the person having authority to consent is an unfit person and the ground therefor, or that no consent is required under paragraph (f) of Section 8 of this Act;

(k) Whatever orders, judgments or decrees have heretofore been entered by any court affecting (1) adoption or custody of the child, or (2) the adoptive, custodial or parental rights of either petitioner, including the prior denial of any petition for adoption pertaining to such child, or to the petitioners, or either of them.

C. A petition to adopt a related child shall include the information specified in sub-paragraphs (a), (b), (d), (e), (f), (i) and (k) of paragraph B and a petition to adopt an adult shall contain the information required by sub-paragraphs (a), (b) and (i) of paragraph B in addition to the name, place, date of birth and sex of such adult.

C-1. A petition to adopt a related child may seek to use an adoption contact agreement.

(a) Legislative findings and intent. The General Assembly finds that allowing birth parents and their children to maintain contact under an adoption contact agreement would serve to solve those problems stemming from separated families and broken homes and to eradicate the impact such problems have on underage children, the family, and society. Fewer traumatic experiences translate into less risk of violence and incarceration. Oftentimes an underage child may experience racial, ethnic, or cultural differences with adoptive parents that could be alleviated by allowing the child to maintain some contact and communication with his or her birth parents. An adoption contact agreement would serve as a protective measure for an underage child against alienation and later in life abandonment issues. An adoption contact agreement would also serve as a protective measure for a birth parent who is recovering from a substance use disorder or another addiction-related illness and cannot support, nurture, or rear an underage child, but who desires to maintain a supportive role in the child's life. It is the intent of the General Assembly to not punish families coping with substance use and other addiction-related issues but rather to protect everyone involved while maintaining the traditional roles of family and the natural home.

(b) "Adoption contact agreement" means a legal agreement between the petitioner and a child's birth parent or parents that includes arrangements that allow contact between a child and the child's birth parent or parents after the child's adoption has been completed.

(c) A petitioner may request an adoption contract agreement for contact between a child and the child's birth parent or parents. An adoption contact agreement may include provisions for contact, visitation, or the exchange of information, and the grounds, if any, on which the adoptive parent or parents may decline to permit visits or cease providing contact or information. An adoption contact agreement may also include at least 2 or more contact visits per month between the child and the child's birth family. The adoption contact agreement shall also provide the child with as much communication with the birth parent or parents as is in the child's best interests.

(d) The court shall include the adoption contact agreement in the judgment of adoption if the court finds the adoption contact agreement to be in the child's best interests after considering the child's wishes and any other relevant information.

(e) Upon the request of any signatory to the adoption contact agreement, the court may void the agreement if it is in the child's best interests.

(f) If the related child is 12 years old or older, the court may not order an adoption contact agreement unless the child consents to all terms of the adoption contact agreement.

(g) The court may use its contempt powers to enforce an adoption contact agreement.

(h) The parties may negotiate amendments to an adoption contact agreement at any time and may seek judicial approval of the changes.

(i) Upon request of any signatory to the adoption contact agreement, a court may order an evaluation of the adoption contact agreement's effectiveness that may include mental health examinations of the signatories and child.

D. The petition shall be verified by the petitioners.

E. Upon the filing of the petition the petitioners shall furnish the Clerk of the Court in which the petition is pending such information not contained in such petition as shall be necessary to enable the Clerk of such Court to complete a certificate of adoption as hereinafter provided.

F. A petition for standby adoption shall conform to the requirements of this Act with respect to petition contents, verification, and filing. The petition for standby adoption shall also state the facts concerning the consent of the child's parent to the standby adoption. A petition for standby adoption shall include the information in paragraph B if the petitioner seeks to adopt a child other than a related child. A petition for standby adoption shall include the information in paragraph C if the petitioner seeks to adopt a related child or adult.

G. A petition for adoption to re-adopt a child after an intercountry adoption shall include the information specified in sub-paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (i) and (k) of paragraph B.

(Source: P.A. 99-49, eff. 7-15-15.)

(750 ILCS 50/9) (from Ch. 40, par. 1511)

Sec. 9. Time for signing a waiver, consent, or surrender.

A. A consent or a surrender signed not less than 72 hours after the birth of the child is irrevocable except as provided in Section 11 of this Act.

B. No consent or surrender shall be signed within the 72 hour period immediately following the birth of the child. For DCFS cases, a consent or surrender from a legal mother is not valid unless the legal mother has received pre-consent counseling or refused to participate in pre-consent counseling. The Department of Children and Family Services shall make pre-consent counseling available to a legal mother by delegating this responsibility to an entity outside the Department. After the delegation, the Department may not interfere with the services provided in the counseling. The cost of pre-consent counseling shall be borne by the petitioner or petitioners. The Department shall by rule provide a formula for the petitioner or petitioners to be assessed the cost of pre-consent counseling based on the ability of the petitioner or petitioners to pay part of this expense. If the petitioner or petitioners do not have the ability to pay for these services, the Department shall pay them.

C. A consent or a surrender may be signed by the father prior to the birth of the child. Such consent or surrender shall be revoked if, within 72 hours after the birth of the child, the father who gave such consent or surrender, notifies in writing the person, agency or court representative who acknowledged the surrender or consent or any individual representing or connected with such person, agency or court representative of the revocation of the consent or surrender.

D. Any consent or surrender signed in accordance with paragraph C above which is not revoked within 72 hours after the birth of the child is irrevocable except as provided in Section 11 of this Act.

E. Consent may be given to a standby adoption by a parent whose consent is required pursuant to Section 8 of this Act to become effective when the consenting parent of the child dies or that parent requests that the final judgment of adoption be entered.

F. A waiver as provided in subsection S of Section 10 of this Act may be signed by a putative father or legal father of the child at any time prior to or after the birth of the child. A waiver is irrevocable except as provided in Section 11 of this Act.

(Source: P.A. 97-493, eff. 8-22-11.)