Full Text of HB0617 95th General Assembly
HB0617 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
|
|
|
95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008 HB0617
Introduced 2/5/2007, by Rep. Ron Stephens - Thomas Holbrook SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
|
|
Amends the Children and Family Services Act. Requires the Director to report to the Inspector General concerning completed investigations where abuse or neglect is indicated. Requires continuing reports on actions taken and completed. Authorizes the IG to recommend sanctions against agency staff for actions taken or failed to be taken. Requires public disclosure. Requires the appropriation to the IG to be separate from the appropriation to the Department. Makes other changes.
|
| |
|
|
| FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY | |
|
|
A BILL FOR
|
|
|
|
|
HB0617 |
|
LRB095 05208 RCE 25282 b |
|
| 1 |
| AN ACT concerning State government.
| 2 |
| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 |
| represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 |
| Section 5. The Children and Family Services Act is amended | 5 |
| by changing Section 35.5 as follows:
| 6 |
| (20 ILCS 505/35.5)
| 7 |
| Sec. 35.5. Inspector General.
| 8 |
| (a) The Governor shall appoint, and the Senate shall | 9 |
| confirm, an Inspector
General who shall
have the authority to | 10 |
| conduct investigations into allegations of or incidents
of | 11 |
| possible misconduct, misfeasance, malfeasance, or violations | 12 |
| of rules,
procedures, or laws by any employee, foster parent, | 13 |
| service provider, or
contractor of the Department of Children | 14 |
| and Family Services. The Inspector
General shall make | 15 |
| recommendations
to the Director of Children and Family Services | 16 |
| concerning sanctions or
disciplinary actions against | 17 |
| Department
employees or providers of service under contract to | 18 |
| the Department. The Director of Children and Family Services | 19 |
| shall, within 10 calendar days after the transmittal date of a | 20 |
| completed investigation where abuse or neglect is indicated, | 21 |
| provide a complete report on the case to the Inspector General. | 22 |
| The complete report shall include a written and concise | 23 |
| statement of actions taken to protect the child who is the |
|
|
|
HB0617 |
- 2 - |
LRB095 05208 RCE 25282 b |
|
| 1 |
| subject of the abuse or neglect report, to prevent | 2 |
| re-occurrence, and to eliminate problems identified together | 3 |
| with implementation and completion dates for all such actions. | 4 |
| The Inspector General shall review the case and the report of | 5 |
| the investigation and may recommend additional corrective | 6 |
| action. The Director shall provide the Inspector General with | 7 |
| an implementation report to the Inspector General on the status | 8 |
| of corrective actions implemented, and shall continue sending | 9 |
| updated implementation reports every 7 calendar days until | 10 |
| corrective action is completed. The Inspector General shall | 11 |
| review any implementation plan that takes more than 30 days. | 12 |
| The Inspector General may recommend to the Director sanctions | 13 |
| to be imposed against agency staff for any actions taken, or | 14 |
| not taken, that may have affected the outcome of the case, or | 15 |
| jeopardized the protection of the child or children who were | 16 |
| the subject of an investigation. The Director shall provide a | 17 |
| written response to the Inspector General indicating the status | 18 |
| of any sanctions or disciplinary actions against employees or | 19 |
| providers of service involving any case for which a report was | 20 |
| submitted under this subsection. In any case, information | 21 |
| included in the reports to the Inspector General and Department | 22 |
| responses shall be subject to the public disclosure | 23 |
| requirements of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. | 24 |
| Any
investigation
conducted by the Inspector General shall be | 25 |
| independent and separate from the
investigation mandated by the | 26 |
| Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. The
Inspector General |
|
|
|
HB0617 |
- 3 - |
LRB095 05208 RCE 25282 b |
|
| 1 |
| shall be appointed for a term of 4 years. The Inspector
General | 2 |
| shall function independently within the Department of Children | 3 |
| and Family Services with respect to
be independent of the | 4 |
| operations of the Office of Inspector General, including the | 5 |
| performance of investigations and issuance of findings and | 6 |
| recommendations,
Department and shall
report to the Director of | 7 |
| Children and Family Services and the Governor and
perform other
| 8 |
| duties the Director may designate. The appropriation for the | 9 |
| Office of Inspector General shall be separate from the overall | 10 |
| appropriation for the Department of Children and Family | 11 |
| Services. The Inspector General shall adopt rules
as necessary | 12 |
| to carry out the
functions, purposes, and duties of the office | 13 |
| of Inspector General in the
Department of Children and Family | 14 |
| Services, in accordance with the Illinois
Administrative | 15 |
| Procedure Act and any other applicable law.
| 16 |
| (b) The Inspector
General shall have access to all | 17 |
| information and personnel necessary to perform
the duties of | 18 |
| the office. To minimize duplication of efforts, and to assure
| 19 |
| consistency and conformance with the requirements and | 20 |
| procedures established in
the B.H. v. Suter consent decree and | 21 |
| to share resources
when appropriate, the Inspector General | 22 |
| shall coordinate his or her
activities with the Bureau of | 23 |
| Quality Assurance within the Department.
| 24 |
| (c) The Inspector General shall be the primary liaison | 25 |
| between the
Department and the Department of State Police with | 26 |
| regard to investigations
conducted under the Inspector |
|
|
|
HB0617 |
- 4 - |
LRB095 05208 RCE 25282 b |
|
| 1 |
| General's auspices.
If the Inspector General determines that a | 2 |
| possible criminal act
has been committed,
or that special | 3 |
| expertise is required in the investigation, he or she shall
| 4 |
| immediately notify the Department of State Police.
All | 5 |
| investigations conducted by the Inspector General shall be
| 6 |
| conducted in a manner designed to ensure the preservation of | 7 |
| evidence for
possible use in a criminal prosecution.
| 8 |
| (d) The Inspector General may recommend to the Department | 9 |
| of Children and
Family Services, the Department of Public | 10 |
| Health, or any other appropriate
agency, sanctions to be | 11 |
| imposed against service providers under the
jurisdiction of or | 12 |
| under contract with the Department for the protection of
| 13 |
| children in the custody or under the guardianship of the | 14 |
| Department who
received services from those providers. The | 15 |
| Inspector General may seek the
assistance of the Attorney | 16 |
| General or any of the several State's Attorneys in
imposing | 17 |
| sanctions.
| 18 |
| (e) The Inspector General shall at all times be granted | 19 |
| access to any foster
home, facility, or program operated for or | 20 |
| licensed or funded by the
Department.
| 21 |
| (f) Nothing in this Section shall limit investigations by | 22 |
| the Department of
Children and Family Services that may | 23 |
| otherwise be required by law or that may
be necessary in that | 24 |
| Department's capacity as the central administrative
authority | 25 |
| for child welfare.
| 26 |
| (g) The Inspector General shall have the power to subpoena |
|
|
|
HB0617 |
- 5 - |
LRB095 05208 RCE 25282 b |
|
| 1 |
| witnesses and
compel the production of books and papers | 2 |
| pertinent to an investigation
authorized by this Act. The power | 3 |
| to subpoena or to compel the
production of books and papers, | 4 |
| however, shall not extend to the person or
documents of a
labor | 5 |
| organization or its representatives insofar as the person or | 6 |
| documents of
a labor organization relate to the function of | 7 |
| representing an employee subject
to investigation under this | 8 |
| Act. Any person who fails to appear in response to
a subpoena | 9 |
| or to answer any question or produce any books or papers | 10 |
| pertinent
to an investigation under this Act, except as | 11 |
| otherwise provided in this
Section, or who knowingly gives | 12 |
| false testimony in relation to an investigation
under this Act | 13 |
| is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
| 14 |
| (h) The Inspector General shall provide to the General | 15 |
| Assembly and the
Governor, no later than January 1 of each | 16 |
| year, a summary of reports and
investigations made under this | 17 |
| Section for the prior fiscal year. The
summaries shall detail | 18 |
| the imposition of sanctions and the final disposition
of those | 19 |
| recommendations. The summaries shall not contain any | 20 |
| confidential or
identifying information concerning the | 21 |
| subjects of the reports and
investigations. The summaries also | 22 |
| shall include detailed recommended
administrative actions and | 23 |
| matters for consideration by the General Assembly.
| 24 |
| (Source: P.A. 90-512, eff. 8-22-97.)
|
|