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1 | AN ACT concerning children.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act is | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | amended by changing Sections 20, 35, and 50 as follows: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
6 | (325 ILCS 2/20)
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7 | Sec. 20. Procedures with respect to relinquished newborn
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8 | infants.
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9 | (a) Hospitals. Every hospital must accept and
provide all | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 | necessary emergency services and care to a relinquished
newborn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | infant, in accordance with this Act.
The hospital shall examine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | a relinquished newborn infant and perform tests
that, based on | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | reasonable medical judgment, are appropriate in evaluating
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14 | whether the relinquished newborn infant was abused or | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | neglected.
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16 | The act of relinquishing a newborn infant serves as implied
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17 | consent for the hospital and its medical personnel and | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | physicians on
staff to treat and provide care for the
infant.
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19 | The hospital shall be deemed to have temporary protective | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | custody of a
relinquished newborn
infant until the infant is | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | discharged to the custody of a
child-placing agency or the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
22 | Department.
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23 | If the parent of a newborn infant comes to the hospital, |
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1 | where his or her newborn infant has been transported after the | ||||||
2 | parent relinquished the infant to a fire station, emergency | ||||||
3 | medical facility, or police station, to reclaim the
infant | ||||||
4 | within 72 hours of relinquishing the infant, the hospital must | ||||||
5 | return the infant to the parent or, if the infant has already | ||||||
6 | been discharged to the Department or child-placing agency, | ||||||
7 | inform
the parent of the name, location, and contact number of | ||||||
8 | the Department or child-placing agency.
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9 | (b) Fire stations and emergency medical facilities. Every | ||||||
10 | fire
station and emergency medical facility must accept and
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11 | provide all necessary emergency services and care to a | ||||||
12 | relinquished
newborn infant, in accordance with this Act.
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13 | The act of relinquishing a newborn infant serves as implied
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14 | consent for the fire station or emergency medical facility and
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15 | its emergency medical professionals to treat and provide care | ||||||
16 | for the
infant, to the extent that those emergency medical | ||||||
17 | professionals are trained
to
provide those services.
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18 | After the relinquishment of a newborn infant to a fire | ||||||
19 | station or
emergency medical facility, the fire station or | ||||||
20 | emergency medical
facility's personnel must arrange for the | ||||||
21 | transportation of the
infant to the nearest hospital as soon as
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22 | transportation can be arranged.
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23 | If the parent of a newborn infant returns to reclaim the
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24 | child within 72 hours after relinquishing the child to a fire | ||||||
25 | station or
emergency
medical facility, the fire station or | ||||||
26 | emergency medical facility must inform
the parent of the name |
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1 | and location of the hospital to which the infant was
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2 | transported.
If the parent of a newborn infant returns to | ||||||
3 | reclaim the child within 72 hours after relinquishing the child | ||||||
4 | to a fire station or emergency medical facility and before the | ||||||
5 | fire station or emergency medical facility has transported the | ||||||
6 | child to the nearest hospital, the child must be returned to | ||||||
7 | the parent.
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8 | A fire station or emergency medical facility may not | ||||||
9 | disclose any information concerning the relinquishing of the | ||||||
10 | infant except to the hospital to which the infant is being | ||||||
11 | transferred, to medical personnel involved in the transfer of | ||||||
12 | the child to the hospital, or to the parent of the child.
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13 | (c) Police stations. Every police station must accept a | ||||||
14 | relinquished
newborn
infant, in accordance with this Act. After | ||||||
15 | the relinquishment of a newborn
infant to a
police station, the | ||||||
16 | police station must arrange for the transportation of the
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17 | infant to the
nearest hospital as soon as transportation can be | ||||||
18 | arranged.
The act of relinquishing a
newborn infant serves as | ||||||
19 | implied consent for the hospital to which the infant
is
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20 | transported and that hospital's medical personnel and | ||||||
21 | physicians on staff to
treat and
provide care for the infant.
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22 | If the parent of a newborn infant returns to reclaim the | ||||||
23 | infant within 72
hours after
relinquishing the infant to a | ||||||
24 | police station,
the police station must inform the parent of | ||||||
25 | the
name and location of the hospital to which the infant was | ||||||
26 | transported.
If the parent of a newborn infant returns to |
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1 | reclaim the child within 72 hours after relinquishing the child | ||||||
2 | to a police station and before the police station has | ||||||
3 | transported the child to the nearest hospital, the child must | ||||||
4 | be returned to the parent.
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5 | A police station may not disclose any information | ||||||
6 | concerning the relinquishing of the infant except to the | ||||||
7 | hospital to which the infant is being transferred, to medical | ||||||
8 | personnel involved in the transfer of the child to the | ||||||
9 | hospital, or to the parent of the child.
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10 | (Source: P.A. 92-408, eff. 8-17-01; 92-432, eff. 8-17-01; | ||||||
11 | 93-820, eff. 7-27-04 .)
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12 | (325 ILCS 2/35)
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13 | Sec. 35. Information for relinquishing person. A hospital, | ||||||
14 | police
station, fire station,
or emergency
medical facility | ||||||
15 | that receives a newborn infant relinquished in accordance with
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16 | this
Act must offer an information packet to the relinquishing | ||||||
17 | person and, if
possible, must clearly inform the relinquishing | ||||||
18 | person that his or her
acceptance of the
information is | ||||||
19 | completely voluntary, that registration with the Illinois
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20 | Adoption Registry and Medical Information Exchange is | ||||||
21 | voluntary, that the
person will remain anonymous if he or she | ||||||
22 | completes a Denial of Information
Exchange, and that the person | ||||||
23 | has the option to provide medical information
only and still | ||||||
24 | remain anonymous , and of any other rights of the parent granted | ||||||
25 | under this Act . The
information packet must include all of
the |
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1 | following:
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2 | (1) All Illinois Adoption Registry and Medical | ||||||
3 | Information Exchange
application forms, including the | ||||||
4 | Medical Information
Exchange Questionnaire and
the web | ||||||
5 | site address and toll-free phone number of the Registry.
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6 | (2) Written notice of the following:
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7 | (A) No sooner than 60 days following the date of | ||||||
8 | the
initial relinquishment of the infant to a hospital, | ||||||
9 | police station,
fire station, or emergency medical | ||||||
10 | facility, the child-placing agency or the
Department | ||||||
11 | will
commence proceedings for the termination of
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12 | parental rights and placement of the infant for
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13 | adoption.
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14 | (B) Failure of a parent of the
infant to contact | ||||||
15 | the Department and
petition for the return of custody | ||||||
16 | of the
infant before termination of parental rights
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17 | bars any future action asserting legal rights
with | ||||||
18 | respect to the infant.
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19 | (C) A parent has the right to return and reclaim an | ||||||
20 | abandoned infant within 72-hours of relinquishing the | ||||||
21 | infant.
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22 | (3) A resource list of providers of counseling
services | ||||||
23 | including grief counseling, pregnancy counseling, and
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24 | counseling regarding adoption and other available options | ||||||
25 | for placement of the
infant.
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26 | Upon request, the Department of Public Health shall provide |
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1 | the
application forms for the Illinois Adoption Registry and | ||||||
2 | Medical Information
Exchange to hospitals, police stations, | ||||||
3 | fire stations, and emergency
medical facilities.
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4 | (Source: P.A. 92-408, eff. 8-17-01; 92-432, eff. 8-17-01; | ||||||
5 | 93-820, eff. 7-27-04 .)
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6 | (325 ILCS 2/50)
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7 | Sec. 50. Child-placing agency procedures.
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8 | (a) The Department's
State Central Registry must maintain a | ||||||
9 | list of licensed child-placing
agencies willing to take legal | ||||||
10 | custody of newborn infants relinquished
in accordance with this | ||||||
11 | Act. The
child-placing agencies on the list must be contacted | ||||||
12 | by the
Department on a rotating basis upon notice from a | ||||||
13 | hospital
that a newborn infant has been
relinquished in | ||||||
14 | accordance with this Act.
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15 | (b) Upon notice from the Department that a newborn infant | ||||||
16 | has
been relinquished in accordance with this Act, a | ||||||
17 | child-placing
agency must accept the newborn infant if the | ||||||
18 | agency has the accommodations to
do
so. The
child-placing | ||||||
19 | agency must seek an order for legal custody of the
infant upon | ||||||
20 | its acceptance of the infant.
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21 | (b-5) Upon notice by the hospital or parent of the intent | ||||||
22 | of the parent to reclaim the child within 72 hours after | ||||||
23 | relinquishing the child, the child-placing agency must make | ||||||
24 | arrangements to return the child to the parent as soon as | ||||||
25 | possible.
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1 | (c) Within 3 business days after assuming physical custody | ||||||
2 | of the infant,
the child-placing agency shall file a
petition
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3 | in the division of the
circuit court in which petitions for | ||||||
4 | adoption would normally be
heard. The petition shall allege | ||||||
5 | that the newborn infant has been relinquished
in accordance | ||||||
6 | with this Act and shall state that the child-placing agency
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7 | intends to place the infant in an adoptive home.
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8 | (d) If no licensed child-placing agency is able to accept | ||||||
9 | the
relinquished newborn infant, then the Department must | ||||||
10 | assume
responsibility for the infant as soon as practicable.
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11 | (e) A custody order issued under subsection (b) shall | ||||||
12 | remain in
effect until a final adoption order based on the | ||||||
13 | relinquished newborn
infant's best interests is issued in | ||||||
14 | accordance with this Act and the Adoption
Act.
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15 | (f) When possible, the child-placing agency must place a
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16 | relinquished newborn infant in a prospective adoptive home.
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17 | (g) The Department or child-placing agency must initiate | ||||||
18 | proceedings to (i)
terminate the parental rights of the | ||||||
19 | relinquished newborn infant's
known or unknown parents, (ii) | ||||||
20 | appoint a guardian for the infant, and
(iii) obtain consent to | ||||||
21 | the infant's adoption in accordance with this
Act no sooner | ||||||
22 | than 60 days following the date of the initial
relinquishment | ||||||
23 | of the infant to the hospital, police station, fire station,
or
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24 | emergency medical facility.
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25 | (h) Before filing a petition for termination of parental
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26 | rights, the Department or child-placing agency must do the |
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1 | following:
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2 | (1) Search its Putative Father Registry for the purpose | ||||||
3 | of
determining the identity and location of the putative | ||||||
4 | father of
the relinquished newborn infant who is, or is | ||||||
5 | expected to be, the
subject of an adoption proceeding, in | ||||||
6 | order to provide notice of
the proceeding to the putative | ||||||
7 | father. At least one search of the
Registry must be | ||||||
8 | conducted, at least 30 days after the
relinquished newborn | ||||||
9 | infant's estimated date of birth; earlier
searches may be | ||||||
10 | conducted, however. Notice to any potential
putative | ||||||
11 | father discovered in a search of the Registry according
to | ||||||
12 | the estimated age of the relinquished newborn infant must | ||||||
13 | be
in accordance with Section 12a of the Adoption Act.
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14 | (2) Verify with law enforcement officials, using the | ||||||
15 | National Crime
Information Center,
that the relinquished | ||||||
16 | newborn infant is not a missing child.
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17 | (Source: P.A. 92-408, eff. 8-17-01; 92-432, eff. 8-17-01; | ||||||
18 | 93-820, eff. 7-27-04 .)
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19 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
20 | becoming law.
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