Full Text of SB0047 95th General Assembly
SB0047eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning public aid.
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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 Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by | 5 |
| changing Sections 9A-11 and 12-4.33 as follows:
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| (305 ILCS 5/9A-11) (from Ch. 23, par. 9A-11)
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| Sec. 9A-11. Child Care.
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| (a) The General Assembly recognizes that families with | 9 |
| children need child
care in order to work. Child care is | 10 |
| expensive and families with low incomes,
including those who | 11 |
| are transitioning from welfare to work, often struggle to
pay | 12 |
| the costs of day care. The
General Assembly understands the | 13 |
| importance of helping low income working
families become and | 14 |
| remain self-sufficient. The General Assembly also believes
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| that it is the responsibility of families to share in the costs | 16 |
| of child care.
It is also the preference of the General | 17 |
| Assembly that all working poor
families should be treated | 18 |
| equally, regardless of their welfare status.
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| (b) To the extent resources permit, the Illinois Department | 20 |
| shall provide
child care services to parents or other relatives | 21 |
| as defined by rule who are
working or participating in | 22 |
| employment or Department approved
education or training | 23 |
| programs. At a minimum, the Illinois Department shall
cover the |
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| following categories of families:
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| (1) recipients of TANF under Article IV participating | 3 |
| in work and training
activities as specified in the | 4 |
| personal plan for employment and
self-sufficiency;
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| (2) families transitioning from TANF to work;
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| (3) families at risk of becoming recipients of TANF;
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| (4) families with special needs as defined by rule; and
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| (5) working families with very low incomes as defined | 9 |
| by rule.
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| The Department shall specify by rule the conditions of | 11 |
| eligibility, the
application process, and the types, amounts, | 12 |
| and duration of services.
Eligibility for
child care benefits | 13 |
| and the amount of child care provided may vary based on
family | 14 |
| size, income,
and other factors as specified by rule.
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| In determining income eligibility for child care benefits, | 16 |
| the Department
annually, at the beginning of each fiscal year, | 17 |
| shall
establish, by rule, one income threshold for each family | 18 |
| size, in relation to
percentage of State median income for a | 19 |
| family of that size, that makes
families with incomes below the | 20 |
| specified threshold eligible for assistance
and families with | 21 |
| incomes above the specified threshold ineligible for
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| assistance. The specified threshold must be no less than 50% of | 23 |
| the
then-current State median income for each family size.
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| In determining eligibility for
assistance, the Department | 25 |
| shall not give preference to any category of
recipients
or give | 26 |
| preference to individuals based on their receipt of benefits |
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| under this
Code.
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| The Department shall allocate $7,500,000 annually for a | 3 |
| test program for
families who are income-eligible for child | 4 |
| care assistance, who
are not recipients of TANF under Article | 5 |
| IV, and who need child care assistance
to participate in | 6 |
| education and training activities. The
Department shall | 7 |
| specify by rule the conditions of eligibility for this test
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| program.
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| Nothing in this Section shall be
construed as conferring | 10 |
| entitlement status to eligible families.
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| The Illinois
Department is authorized to lower income | 12 |
| eligibility ceilings, raise parent
co-payments, create waiting | 13 |
| lists, or take such other actions during a fiscal
year as are | 14 |
| necessary to ensure that child care benefits paid under this
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| Article do not exceed the amounts appropriated for those child | 16 |
| care benefits.
These changes may be accomplished by emergency | 17 |
| rule under Section 5-45 of the
Illinois Administrative | 18 |
| Procedure Act, except that the limitation on the number
of | 19 |
| emergency rules that may be adopted in a 24-month period shall | 20 |
| not apply.
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| The Illinois Department may contract with other State | 22 |
| agencies or child care
organizations for the administration of | 23 |
| child care services.
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| (c) Payment shall be made for child care that otherwise | 25 |
| meets the
requirements of this Section and applicable standards | 26 |
| of State and local
law and regulation, including any |
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| requirements the Illinois Department
promulgates by rule in | 2 |
| addition to the licensure
requirements
promulgated by the | 3 |
| Department of Children and Family Services and Fire
Prevention | 4 |
| and Safety requirements promulgated by the Office of the State
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| Fire Marshal and is provided in any of the following:
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| (1) a child care center which is licensed or exempt | 7 |
| from licensure
pursuant to Section 2.09 of the Child Care | 8 |
| Act of 1969;
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| (2) a licensed child care home or home exempt from | 10 |
| licensing;
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| (3) a licensed group child care home;
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| (4) other types of child care, including child care | 13 |
| provided
by relatives or persons living in the same home as | 14 |
| the child, as determined by
the Illinois Department by | 15 |
| rule.
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| (b-5) Solely for the purposes of coverage under the | 17 |
| Illinois Public Labor Relations Act, child and day care home | 18 |
| providers, including licensed and license exempt, | 19 |
| participating in the Department's child care assistance | 20 |
| program shall be considered to be public employees and the | 21 |
| State of Illinois shall be considered to be their employer as | 22 |
| of the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th | 23 |
| General Assembly, but not before. The State shall engage in | 24 |
| collective bargaining with an exclusive representative of | 25 |
| child and day care home providers participating in the child | 26 |
| care assistance program concerning their terms and conditions |
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| of employment that are within the State's control. Nothing in | 2 |
| this subsection shall be understood to limit the right of | 3 |
| families receiving services defined in this Section to select | 4 |
| child and day care home providers or supervise them within the | 5 |
| limits of this Section. The State shall not be considered to be | 6 |
| the employer of child and day care home providers for any | 7 |
| purposes not specifically provided in this amendatory Act of | 8 |
| the 94th General Assembly, including but not limited to, | 9 |
| purposes of vicarious liability in tort and purposes of | 10 |
| statutory retirement or health insurance benefits. Child and | 11 |
| day care home providers shall not be covered by the State | 12 |
| Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971. | 13 |
| In according child and day care home providers and their | 14 |
| selected representative rights under the Illinois Public Labor | 15 |
| Relations Act, the State intends that the State action | 16 |
| exemption to application of federal and State antitrust laws be | 17 |
| fully available to the extent that their activities are | 18 |
| authorized by this amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly.
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| (d) The Illinois Department shall, by rule, require | 20 |
| co-payments for
child care services by any parent, including | 21 |
| parents whose only income is from
assistance under this Code. | 22 |
| The co-payment shall be assessed based on a
sliding scale based | 23 |
| on family income, family size, and the number of
children in | 24 |
| care. Co-payments shall not be increased due solely to a change
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| in the methodology for counting family income.
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| (e) (Blank).
The Illinois Department shall conduct a market |
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| rate survey based on
the cost of care and other relevant | 2 |
| factors which shall be completed by July 1,
1998.
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| (f) The Illinois Department shall, by rule, set rates to be | 4 |
| paid for the
various types of child care. Child care may be | 5 |
| provided through one of the
following methods:
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| (1) arranging the child care through eligible | 7 |
| providers by use of
purchase of service contracts or | 8 |
| vouchers;
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| (2) arranging with other agencies and community | 10 |
| volunteer groups for
non-reimbursed child care;
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| (3) (blank); or
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| (4) adopting such other arrangements as the Department | 13 |
| determines
appropriate.
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| (f-5) (Blank).
The Illinois Department, in consultation | 15 |
| with its Child Care and Development Advisory Council, shall | 16 |
| develop a comprehensive plan to revise the State's rates for | 17 |
| the various types of child care. The plan shall be completed no | 18 |
| later than January 1, 2005 and shall include: | 19 |
| (1) Base reimbursement rates that are adequate to | 20 |
| provide children receiving child care services from | 21 |
| the Department equal access to quality child care, | 22 |
| utilizing data from the most current market rate | 23 |
| survey. | 24 |
| (2) A tiered reimbursement rate system that | 25 |
| financially rewards providers of child care services | 26 |
| that meet defined benchmarks of higher-quality care. |
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| (3) Consideration of revisions to existing county | 2 |
| groupings and age classifications, utilizing data from | 3 |
| the most current market rate survey. | 4 |
| (4) Consideration of special rates for certain | 5 |
| types of care such as caring for a child with a | 6 |
| disability.
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| (g) Families eligible for assistance under this Section | 8 |
| shall be given the
following options:
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| (1) receiving a child care certificate issued by the | 10 |
| Department or a
subcontractor of the Department that may be | 11 |
| used by the parents as payment for
child care and | 12 |
| development services only; or
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| (2) if space is available, enrolling the child with a | 14 |
| child care provider
that has a purchase of service contract | 15 |
| with the Department or a subcontractor
of the Department | 16 |
| for the provision of child care and development services.
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| The Department may identify particular priority | 18 |
| populations for whom they may
request special | 19 |
| consideration by a provider with purchase of service
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| contracts, provided that the providers shall be permitted | 21 |
| to maintain a balance
of clients in terms of household | 22 |
| incomes and families and children with special
needs, as | 23 |
| defined by rule.
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| (Source: P.A. 93-361, eff. 9-1-03; 93-1062, eff. 12-23-04; | 25 |
| 94-320, eff. 1-1-06.)
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| (305 ILCS 5/12-4.33)
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| Sec. 12-4.33. Welfare reform research and accountability.
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| (a) The Illinois Department shall collect and report
upon | 4 |
| all data in connection with federally funded or assisted | 5 |
| welfare programs
as federal law may require, including, but not | 6 |
| limited to, Section 411 of the
Personal Responsibility and Work | 7 |
| Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 and its
implementing | 8 |
| regulations and any amendments thereto as may from time to time | 9 |
| be
enacted.
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| (b) In addition to and on the same schedule as the data | 11 |
| collection required
by federal law and subsection (a), the | 12 |
| Department shall collect and report on
further information with | 13 |
| respect to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
("TANF") | 14 |
| program, as follows:
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| (1) With respect to denials of applications for | 16 |
| benefits, all of the same
information about the family | 17 |
| required under the federal law, plus the specific
reason or | 18 |
| reasons for denial of the application.
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| (2) With respect to all terminations of benefits, all | 20 |
| of the same
information as required under the federal law, | 21 |
| plus the specific reason
or reasons for the termination.
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| (c) The Department shall collect all of the same data as | 23 |
| set forth in
subsections (a) and (b), and report it on the same | 24 |
| schedule, with respect to
all cash assistance benefits provided | 25 |
| to families that are not funded from the
TANF program
federal | 26 |
| block grant or are not otherwise required to be included in the |
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| data
collection and reporting in subsections (a) and (b).
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| (d) Whether or not reports under this Section must be | 3 |
| submitted to the
federal government, they shall be considered | 4 |
| public and they shall be promptly
made available to
the public | 5 |
| at the end of
each fiscal year, free of charge upon request. | 6 |
| The data underlying the reports
shall be made available to
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| academic institutions and public policy organizations
involved | 8 |
| in the study of welfare issues or programs
and redacted to | 9 |
| conform with applicable privacy
laws. The cost shall be no more | 10 |
| than that incurred by the Department in
assembling and | 11 |
| delivering the data.
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| (e) (Blank).
The Department shall, in addition to the | 13 |
| foregoing data collection and
reporting activities, seek a | 14 |
| university to conduct, at no cost to the
Department, a | 15 |
| longitudinal study of the implementation of TANF and related
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| welfare reforms. The study shall select subgroups representing | 17 |
| important
sectors of the
assistance population, including type | 18 |
| of area of residence (city, suburban,
small town, rural), | 19 |
| English proficiency, level of education, literacy, work
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| experience, number of adults in the home, number of children in | 21 |
| the home, teen
parentage, parents before and after the age of | 22 |
| 18, and other such subgroups.
For each subgroup, the study | 23 |
| shall assemble a statistically valid sample of
cases entering | 24 |
| the TANF program at least 6 months after its implementation | 25 |
| date
and prior to July 1, 1998. The study shall continue until | 26 |
| December 31, 2004.
The Department shall report to the General |
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| Assembly and the Governor by March 1
of each year, beginning | 2 |
| March 1, 1999, the interim findings of the
study with respect | 3 |
| to each subgroup, and by March 1, 2005, the final findings
with | 4 |
| respect to each subgroup.
The reports shall be available to the | 5 |
| public upon request.
No later than November 1, 1997, the
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| Department, in consultation with an advisory panel of | 7 |
| specialists in welfare
policy, social science, and other | 8 |
| relevant fields shall devise the study and
identify the factors | 9 |
| to be studied. The study shall, however, at least include
the | 10 |
| following features:
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| (1) Demographic breakdowns including, but not limited | 12 |
| to, race, gender,
and
number of children in the household | 13 |
| at the beginning of Department
services.
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| (2) The Department shall obtain permission to conduct | 15 |
| the study from the
subjects of the study and guarantee | 16 |
| their privacy according to the privacy
laws. To facilitate | 17 |
| this permission, the study may be designed to refer to
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| subjects by pseudonyms or codes and shall in any event | 19 |
| guarantee anonymity to
the subjects without limiting | 20 |
| access by outsiders to the data (other than
identities) | 21 |
| generated by the study.
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| (3) The subjects of the study shall be followed after | 23 |
| denial or
termination of assistance, to the extent | 24 |
| feasible. The evaluator shall
attempt to maintain personal | 25 |
| contact with the subjects of the study, and employ
such | 26 |
| methods as meetings, telephone contacts, written surveys, |
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| and computer
matches with other data bases to accomplish | 2 |
| this purpose.
The intent of this feature of the study is to | 3 |
| discover the paths
people take after leaving welfare and | 4 |
| the patterns of return to welfare,
including the factors | 5 |
| that may influence
these paths and patterns.
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| (4) The study shall examine the influence of various | 7 |
| employability,
education, and training programs upon | 8 |
| employment, earnings, job tenure, and
cycling between | 9 |
| welfare and work.
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| (5) The study shall examine the influence of various | 11 |
| supportive
services such as child care (including type and | 12 |
| cost), transportation, and
payment of initial employment | 13 |
| expenses upon employment, earnings, job tenure,
and | 14 |
| cycling between welfare and work.
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| (6) The study shall examine the frequency of unplanned | 16 |
| occurrences in
subjects' lives, such as illness or injury, | 17 |
| family member's illness
or injury, car breakdown, strikes, | 18 |
| natural disasters, evictions, loss of other
sources of | 19 |
| income, domestic violence, and crime, and their impact upon
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| employment, earnings, job tenure, and cycling between | 21 |
| welfare and work.
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| (7) The study shall examine the wages and other | 23 |
| compensation, including
health benefits and what they cost | 24 |
| the employee, received by subjects who
obtain employment, | 25 |
| the type and characteristics of jobs, the hours and time of
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| day of work, union status, and the relationships of such |
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| factors to earnings,
job tenure, and cycling between | 2 |
| welfare and work.
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| (8) The study shall examine the reasons for subjects' | 4 |
| job loss, the
availability of Unemployment Insurance, the | 5 |
| reasons for a subject's
return to welfare, programs or | 6 |
| services utilized by subjects in the search for
another | 7 |
| job, the characteristics of the subjects' next job, and the
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| relationships of these factors to re-employment, earnings, | 9 |
| job tenure on the
new job, and cycling between welfare and | 10 |
| work.
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| (9) The study shall examine the impact of mandatory | 12 |
| work requirements,
including the types of work activities | 13 |
| to which the subjects were assigned, and
the links between | 14 |
| the requirements and the activities and
sanctions, | 15 |
| employment, earnings, job tenure, and cycling between | 16 |
| welfare and
work.
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| (10) The study shall identify all sources and amounts | 18 |
| of reported
household non-wage income and examine the | 19 |
| influence of the sources and amounts
of non-wage | 20 |
| non-welfare income on employment, earnings, job tenure, | 21 |
| and cycling
between welfare and work.
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| (11) The study shall examine sanctions, including | 23 |
| child support
enforcement and paternity establishment | 24 |
| sanctions, the reasons sanctions are
threatened, the | 25 |
| number threatened, the number imposed, and the reasons
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| sanctions are not imposed or are ended, such as cooperation |
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| achieved or good
cause established.
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| (12) The study shall track the subjects' usage of TANF | 3 |
| benefits over
the course of the lifetime 60-month limit of | 4 |
| TANF eligibility, including
patterns of usage, | 5 |
| relationships between consecutive usage of large numbers | 6 |
| of
months and other factors, status of all study subjects | 7 |
| with respect to the time
limit as of each report, | 8 |
| characteristics of subjects exhausting the eligibility
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| limit, types of exceptions granted to the 60-month limit, | 10 |
| and numbers of cases
within each type of exception.
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| (13) The study shall track subjects' participation in | 12 |
| other public
systems, including the public schools, the | 13 |
| child welfare system, the criminal
justice system, | 14 |
| homeless and food services, and others and attempt to | 15 |
| identify
the positive or negative ripple effects in these | 16 |
| systems of welfare policies,
systems, and procedures.
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| (f) (Blank).
The Department shall cooperate in any | 18 |
| appropriate study by an
independent
expert
of the impact upon | 19 |
| Illinois resident non-citizens of the denial or termination
of | 20 |
| assistance under the Supplemental Security Income, Food | 21 |
| Stamps, TANF,
Medicaid, and Title XX social services programs | 22 |
| pursuant to the changes enacted
in the federal Personal | 23 |
| Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act
of | 24 |
| 1996. The purpose of such a study must be to examine the | 25 |
| immediate and
long-term
effects on this population and on the | 26 |
| State of the denial or termination of
these forms of |
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| assistance, including the impact on the individuals, the
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| alternate means they find to obtain support and care, and the | 3 |
| impact on
state and local spending and human services delivery | 4 |
| systems. An appropriate
study shall
select a statistically | 5 |
| valid sample of persons denied or terminated from each
type of | 6 |
| benefits and attempt to track them until December 31, 2000. Any
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| reports from the study received by the Department shall be made | 8 |
| available to
the General Assembly and the Governor upon | 9 |
| request, and a final report shall be
submitted upon completion.
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| These reports shall be available to the public upon request.
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| (Source: P.A. 90-74, eff. 7-8-97.)
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| (305 ILCS 5/3-2.5 rep.)
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| (305 ILCS 5/4-17 rep.)
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| (305 ILCS 5/9-13 rep.)
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| (305 ILCS 5/9-4 rep.)
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| (305 ILCS 5/9A-14 rep.)
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| Section 10. The Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by | 18 |
| repealing Sections 3-2.5, 4-17, 9-13, 9-4, and 9A-14.
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January | 20 |
| 1, 2008.
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