Full Text of HB0653 95th General Assembly
HB0653 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008 HB0653
Introduced 2/6/2007, by Rep. Sara Feigenholtz SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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325 ILCS 2/20 |
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325 ILCS 2/35 |
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325 ILCS 2/50 |
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Amends the Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act. Provides that if the parent of a newborn infant comes to the hospital, where his or her newborn infant has been transported after the parent relinquished the infant to a fire station, emergency medical facility, or police station, to reclaim the
infant within 72 hours of relinquishing the infant, the hospital must return the infant to the parent or, if the infant has already been discharged to the Department or child-placing agency, inform
the parent of the name, location, and contact number of the Department or child-placing agency. Provides that the information packet given to a parent who is relinquishing a newborn child shall include written notice that a parent has the right to return and reclaim an abandoned infant within 72-hours of relinquishing the infant. Prohibits a fire station, emergency medical facility, or police station from disclosing any information concerning the relinquishing of the infant except to the hospital to which the infant is being transferred, to medical personnel involved in the transfer of the child to the hospital, or to the parent of the child. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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HB0653 |
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LRB095 06670 LCT 26780 b |
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| AN ACT concerning children.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| 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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| Sec. 20. Procedures with respect to relinquished newborn
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| infants.
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| (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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| whether the relinquished newborn infant was abused or | 15 |
| neglected.
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| The act of relinquishing a newborn infant serves as implied
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| 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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| 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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| If the parent of a newborn infant comes to the hospital, |
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HB0653 |
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LRB095 06670 LCT 26780 b |
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| 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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| (b) Fire stations and emergency medical facilities. Every | 10 |
| fire
station and emergency medical facility must accept and
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| provide all necessary emergency services and care to a | 12 |
| relinquished
newborn infant, in accordance with this Act.
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| The act of relinquishing a newborn infant serves as implied
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| consent for the fire station or emergency medical facility and
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| 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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| 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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| transportation can be arranged.
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| If the parent of a newborn infant returns to reclaim the
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| 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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LRB095 06670 LCT 26780 b |
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| and location of the hospital to which the infant was
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| 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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| 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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| (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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| 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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| transported and that hospital's medical personnel and | 21 |
| physicians on staff to
treat and
provide care for the infant.
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| 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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LRB095 06670 LCT 26780 b |
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| 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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| 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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| (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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| (325 ILCS 2/35)
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| 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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| 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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| 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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LRB095 06670 LCT 26780 b |
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| following:
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| (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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| (2) Written notice of the following:
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| (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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| parental rights and placement of the infant for
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| adoption.
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| (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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| bars any future action asserting legal rights
with | 18 |
| respect to the infant.
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| (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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| (3) A resource list of providers of counseling
services | 23 |
| including grief counseling, pregnancy counseling, and
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| counseling regarding adoption and other available options | 25 |
| for placement of the
infant.
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| Upon request, the Department of Public Health shall provide |
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| 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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| (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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| (325 ILCS 2/50)
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| Sec. 50. Child-placing agency procedures.
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| (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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| (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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| (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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LRB095 06670 LCT 26780 b |
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| (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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| 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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| intends to place the infant in an adoptive home.
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| (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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| (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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| (f) When possible, the child-placing agency must place a
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| relinquished newborn infant in a prospective adoptive home.
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| (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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| emergency medical facility.
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| (h) Before filing a petition for termination of parental
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| rights, the Department or child-placing agency must do the |
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| following:
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| (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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| (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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| (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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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 20 |
| becoming law.
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