093_HB3804

 
                                     LRB093 11633 RLC 15081 b

 1        AN ACT in relation to minors.

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

 4        Section  5.  The Juvenile Court Act of 1987 is amended by
 5    changing Section 2-27 as follows:

 6        (705 ILCS 405/2-27) (from Ch. 37, par. 802-27)
 7        Sec. 2-27. Placement; legal custody or guardianship.
 8        (1)  If the court determines  and  puts  in  writing  the
 9    factual  basis  supporting  the  determination of whether the
10    parents, guardian, or legal custodian of a minor  adjudged  a
11    ward  of  the  court are unfit or are unable, for some reason
12    other  than  financial  circumstances  alone,  to  care  for,
13    protect, train or discipline the minor or are unwilling to do
14    so, and that the health, safety, and  best  interest  of  the
15    minor will be jeopardized if the minor remains in the custody
16    of  his  or her parents, guardian or custodian, the court may
17    at this hearing and at any later point:
18             (a)  place the minor in the custody  of  a  suitable
19        relative or other person as legal custodian or guardian;
20             (a-5)  with   the  approval  of  the  Department  of
21        Children and Family Services,  place  the  minor  in  the
22        subsidized  guardianship  of a suitable relative or other
23        person as legal guardian; "subsidized guardianship" means
24        a private guardianship arrangement for children for  whom
25        the  permanency  goals  of  return home and adoption have
26        been ruled  out  and  who  meet  the  qualifications  for
27        subsidized  guardianship  as defined by the Department of
28        Children and Family Services in administrative rules;
29             (b)  place the minor under  the  guardianship  of  a
30        probation officer;
31             (c)  commit  the  minor  to  an  agency  for care or
 
                            -2-      LRB093 11633 RLC 15081 b
 1        placement, except an institution under the  authority  of
 2        the  Department  of  Corrections  or of the Department of
 3        Children and Family Services;
 4             (d)  commit the minor to the Department of  Children
 5        and  Family  Services  for  care  and service; however, a
 6        minor charged with a criminal offense under the  Criminal
 7        Code  of  1961  or  adjudicated  delinquent  shall not be
 8        placed in the custody of or committed to  the  Department
 9        of  Children  and  Family Services by any court, except a
10        minor less than 13 years of  age  and  committed  to  the
11        Department  of Children and Family Services under Section
12        5-710 of this Act. The  Department  shall  be  given  due
13        notice of the pendency of the action and the Guardianship
14        Administrator  of  the  Department of Children and Family
15        Services shall be appointed guardian of the person of the
16        minor. Whenever the Department seeks to discharge a minor
17        from its care and service, the Guardianship Administrator
18        shall  petition  the  court  for  an  order   terminating
19        guardianship.    The   Guardianship   Administrator   may
20        designate one or more other officers of  the  Department,
21        appointed  as Department officers by administrative order
22        of the  Department  Director,  authorized  to  affix  the
23        signature  of the Guardianship Administrator to documents
24        affecting the guardian-ward relationship of children  for
25        whom  he or she has been appointed guardian at such times
26        as he or she is unable to perform the duties  of  his  or
27        her office. The signature authorization shall include but
28        not  be  limited  to  matters  of  consent  of  marriage,
29        enlistment   in  the  armed  forces,  legal  proceedings,
30        adoption,  major  medical  and  surgical  treatment   and
31        application     for     driver's    license.    Signature
32        authorizations made pursuant to the  provisions  of  this
33        paragraph  shall be filed with the Secretary of State and
34        the Secretary of State shall provide upon payment of  the
 
                            -3-      LRB093 11633 RLC 15081 b
 1        customary  fee,  certified copies of the authorization to
 2        any court or individual who requests a copy.
 3        (1.5)  In making a determination under this Section,  the
 4    court  shall  also consider whether, based on health, safety,
 5    and the best interests of the minor,
 6             (a)  appropriate   services    aimed    at    family
 7        preservation  and family reunification services have been
 8        provided to the extent and  in  a  manner  that  has  not
 9        succeeded  unsuccessful in rectifying the conditions that
10        have led to a finding of unfitness or inability  to  care
11        for, protect, train, or discipline the minor, or
12             (b)  no  family preservation or family reunification
13        services would be appropriate,
14    and  if  the  petition  or  amended  petition  contained   an
15    allegation  that  the parent is an unfit person as defined in
16    subdivision (D) of Section 1 of the  Adoption  Act,  and  the
17    order  of  adjudication  recites  that parental unfitness was
18    established by  clear  and  convincing  evidence,  the  court
19    shall,  when  appropriate  and  in  the  best interest of the
20    minor,  enter  an  order  terminating  parental  rights   and
21    appointing  a  guardian  with power to consent to adoption in
22    accordance with Section 2-29. The Department of Children  and
23    Family  Services,  or  the  agency responsible, must submit a
24    report to the court  documenting  the  services  offered  and
25    provided   to   preserve   or   reunify   the   family,   and
26    substantiating any determination of the success or failure of
27    such services, and the court shall determine if such evidence
28    is clear and convincing that such services will fail.
29        When  making  a  placement, the court, wherever possible,
30    shall require the Department of Children and Family  Services
31    to  select a person holding the same religious belief as that
32    of the minor or a private agency  controlled  by  persons  of
33    like  religious  faith  of  the  minor  and shall require the
34    Department to otherwise comply with Section 7 of the Children
 
                            -4-      LRB093 11633 RLC 15081 b
 1    and Family Services Act in placing the  child.  In  addition,
 2    whenever  alternative  plans for placement are available, the
 3    court shall ascertain and consider, to the extent appropriate
 4    in the particular case, the  views  and  preferences  of  the
 5    minor.
 6        (2)  When  a  minor is placed with a suitable relative or
 7    other person pursuant to item  (a)  of  subsection  (1),  the
 8    court  shall  appoint  him  or  her  the  legal  custodian or
 9    guardian of  the  person  of  the  minor.  When  a  minor  is
10    committed  to  any agency, the court shall appoint the proper
11    officer or  representative  thereof  as  legal  custodian  or
12    guardian  of  the  person  of the minor. Legal custodians and
13    guardians of the person of  the  minor  have  the  respective
14    rights  and duties set forth in subsection (9) of Section 1-3
15    except as otherwise  provided  by  order  of  court;  but  no
16    guardian  of  the person may consent to adoption of the minor
17    unless that  authority  is  conferred  upon  him  or  her  in
18    accordance  with Section 2-29. An agency whose representative
19    is appointed guardian of the person or legal custodian of the
20    minor may place the minor in any child care facility, but the
21    facility must be licensed under the Child Care Act of 1969 or
22    have been approved by the Department of Children  and  Family
23    Services  as  meeting  the  standards  established  for  such
24    licensing.  No  agency  may  place  a minor adjudicated under
25    Sections 2-3 or 2-4 in  a  child  care  facility  unless  the
26    placement is in compliance with the rules and regulations for
27    placement under this Section promulgated by the Department of
28    Children  and Family Services under Section 5 of the Children
29    and Family Services  Act.  Like  authority  and  restrictions
30    shall  be  conferred  by the court upon any probation officer
31    who has been appointed guardian of the person of a minor.
32        (3)  No placement by  any  probation  officer  or  agency
33    whose  representative  is appointed guardian of the person or
34    legal custodian of a minor may be made in any  out  of  State
 
                            -5-      LRB093 11633 RLC 15081 b
 1    child  care  facility  unless it complies with the Interstate
 2    Compact on the  Placement  of  Children.   Placement  with  a
 3    parent, however, is not subject to that Interstate Compact.
 4        (4)  The  clerk  of  the  court  shall issue to the legal
 5    custodian or guardian of the person a certified copy  of  the
 6    order  of  court, as proof of his authority. No other process
 7    is necessary as authority for the keeping of the minor.
 8        (5)  Custody or guardianship granted under  this  Section
 9    continues  until  the  court otherwise directs, but not after
10    the minor reaches the age of 19 years except as set forth  in
11    Section 2-31.
12        (6)  (Blank).
13    (Source: P.A. 90-27, eff. 1-1-98; 90-28, eff. 1-1-98; 90-512,
14    eff.  8-22-97;  90-590,  eff.  1-1-99;  90-608, eff. 6-30-98;
15    90-655, eff. 7-30-98; 91-357, eff. 7-29-99.)