Full Text of HB2935 101st General Assembly
HB2935enr 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning courts.
| 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 1-5 as follows:
| 6 | | (705 ILCS 405/1-5) (from Ch. 37, par. 801-5)
| 7 | | Sec. 1-5. Rights of parties to proceedings.
| 8 | | (1) Except as provided in this Section and paragraph (2) of | 9 | | Sections
2-22, 3-23, 4-20, 5-610 or 5-705, the minor who is the | 10 | | subject of the
proceeding
and his or her parents, guardian, | 11 | | legal custodian or responsible relative who are
parties | 12 | | respondent have the right to be present, to be heard, to | 13 | | present
evidence material to the proceedings, to cross-examine | 14 | | witnesses, to
examine pertinent court files and records and | 15 | | also, although proceedings
under this Act are not intended to | 16 | | be adversary in character, the right to
be represented by | 17 | | counsel. At the request of any party financially unable
to | 18 | | employ counsel, with the exception of a foster parent permitted | 19 | | to
intervene under this Section, the court shall appoint the | 20 | | Public Defender or
such other counsel as the case may require.
| 21 | | Counsel appointed for the minor and any indigent party shall | 22 | | appear at all
stages of the trial court proceeding, and such | 23 | | appointment shall continue
through the permanency hearings and
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| 1 | | termination of parental rights proceedings subject to | 2 | | withdrawal , vacating of appointment, or
substitution pursuant | 3 | | to Supreme Court Rules or the Code of Civil Procedure.
| 4 | | Following the dispositional hearing, the court may require | 5 | | appointed counsel,
other than counsel for the minor or counsel | 6 | | for the guardian ad litem,
to withdraw his or her appearance | 7 | | upon failure of the party for whom counsel
was appointed under | 8 | | this Section to attend any subsequent proceedings.
| 9 | | No hearing on any petition or motion filed under this Act | 10 | | may be
commenced unless
the minor who is the subject of the | 11 | | proceeding is represented by counsel.
Notwithstanding the | 12 | | preceding sentence, if a guardian ad litem has been
appointed | 13 | | for the minor under Section 2-17 of this
Act and the guardian | 14 | | ad litem is a licensed attorney at law of this State, or
in the | 15 | | event that a court appointed special advocate has been | 16 | | appointed as
guardian ad litem and counsel has been appointed | 17 | | to represent the court
appointed special advocate, the
court | 18 | | may not require the appointment of counsel to represent the
| 19 | | minor unless the court finds that the minor's interests are in | 20 | | conflict with
what the guardian ad litem determines to be in | 21 | | the best interest of the
minor. Each
adult respondent shall be | 22 | | furnished a written "Notice of Rights" at
or before the first | 23 | | hearing at which he or she appears.
| 24 | | (1.5) The Department shall maintain
a system of response to | 25 | | inquiry made by parents or putative
parents as to whether their | 26 | | child is under the custody or guardianship of the
Department; |
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| 1 | | and if so, the Department shall direct the parents or putative
| 2 | | parents to the appropriate court of jurisdiction, including | 3 | | where inquiry may
be made of the clerk of the court regarding | 4 | | the case number and the next
scheduled court date of the | 5 | | minor's case.
Effective notice and the means of accessing | 6 | | information shall be given to the
public on a continuing basis
| 7 | | by the
Department.
| 8 | | (2) (a) Though not appointed guardian or legal custodian or | 9 | | otherwise made
a party to the proceeding, any current or | 10 | | previously appointed foster parent
or relative caregiver, or | 11 | | representative of an agency or association
interested in the | 12 | | minor has
the right to be heard by the court, but does not | 13 | | thereby become a party
to the proceeding.
| 14 | | In addition to the foregoing right to be heard by the | 15 | | court, any current
foster parent or relative caregiver of a | 16 | | minor and the agency designated
by the court or the
Department | 17 | | of Children and Family Services as custodian of the minor who
| 18 | | is alleged to be or has been adjudicated an abused or neglected | 19 | | minor under
Section 2-3 or a
dependent minor under Section 2-4 | 20 | | of this Act has the right to and shall be
given adequate notice | 21 | | at all stages of any hearing or proceeding under this
Act.
| 22 | | Any foster parent or relative caregiver who is denied his | 23 | | or her
right to be heard under this
Section may bring a | 24 | | mandamus action under Article XIV of the Code of Civil
| 25 | | Procedure against the court or any public agency to enforce | 26 | | that right. The
mandamus action may be brought immediately upon |
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| 1 | | the denial of those rights but
in no event later than 30 days | 2 | | after the foster parent has been denied the
right to be heard.
| 3 | | (b) If after an adjudication that a minor is abused or | 4 | | neglected as provided
under Section 2-21 of this Act and a | 5 | | motion has been
made to restore the
minor to any parent, | 6 | | guardian, or legal custodian found by the court to have
caused | 7 | | the neglect or to have inflicted the abuse on the minor, a | 8 | | foster parent
may file a motion to intervene in the proceeding | 9 | | for
the sole purpose of
requesting that the minor be placed | 10 | | with the foster parent, provided that the
foster parent (i) is | 11 | | the current foster parent of the minor or (ii) has
previously | 12 | | been a foster parent for the minor for one year or more, has a
| 13 | | foster care license or is eligible for a license or is not | 14 | | required to have a license, and is not the subject of any
| 15 | | findings of abuse or neglect of any child. The juvenile court | 16 | | may only enter
orders placing a minor with a specific foster | 17 | | parent under this subsection
(2)(b) and nothing in this Section | 18 | | shall be construed to confer any
jurisdiction or authority on | 19 | | the juvenile court to issue any other orders
requiring the | 20 | | appointed guardian or custodian of a minor to place the minor | 21 | | in
a designated foster home or facility. This Section is not | 22 | | intended to
encompass any matters that are within the
scope or | 23 | | determinable under the administrative and appeal process | 24 | | established
by rules of the Department of Children and Family | 25 | | Services under Section
5(o) of the Children and Family Services | 26 | | Act. Nothing in this Section shall
relieve the court of its |
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| 1 | | responsibility, under Section 2-14(a) of
this Act to act in a | 2 | | just and speedy manner to reunify families where it is
the best | 3 | | interests of the minor and the child can be cared for at home
| 4 | | without endangering the child's health or safety and, if | 5 | | reunification is not
in the best
interests of the minor, to | 6 | | find another permanent home for the minor. Nothing
in this | 7 | | Section, or in any order issued by the court with respect to | 8 | | the
placement of a minor with a foster parent, shall impair the | 9 | | ability of the
Department of Children and Family Services, or | 10 | | anyone else authorized under
Section 5 of the Abused and | 11 | | Neglected Child Reporting Act, to remove a minor
from the home | 12 | | of a foster parent if the Department of Children and Family
| 13 | | Services or the person removing the minor has reason to believe | 14 | | that the
circumstances or conditions of the minor are such that | 15 | | continuing in the
residence or care of the foster parent will | 16 | | jeopardize the child's health and
safety or present an imminent | 17 | | risk of harm to that
minor's life.
| 18 | | (c) If a foster parent has had the minor who is the subject | 19 | | of the
proceeding under Article II in his or her home for more | 20 | | than one year on or
after July 3, 1994 and if the minor's
| 21 | | placement is being terminated from that foster parent's home, | 22 | | that foster
parent shall have standing and intervenor status | 23 | | except in those
circumstances where the Department of Children | 24 | | and Family Services or anyone
else authorized under Section 5 | 25 | | of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act
has removed the | 26 | | minor from the foster parent because of a reasonable belief
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| 1 | | that the circumstances or conditions of the minor are such that | 2 | | continuing in
the residence or care of the foster parent will | 3 | | jeopardize the child's health
or safety or presents an imminent | 4 | | risk of harm to
the minor's life.
| 5 | | (d) The court may grant standing to any foster parent
if | 6 | | the court finds that it is in the best interest of the child | 7 | | for the foster
parent to have standing and intervenor status.
| 8 | | (3) Parties respondent are entitled to notice in compliance | 9 | | with Sections
2-15 and 2-16, 3-17 and 3-18, 4-14 and 4-15 or | 10 | | 5-525 and 5-530, as appropriate.
At the first appearance before | 11 | | the court by the minor, his
parents, guardian, custodian or | 12 | | responsible relative, the court shall explain
the nature of the | 13 | | proceedings and inform the parties of their rights under the
| 14 | | first 2 paragraphs of this Section.
| 15 | | If the child is alleged to be abused, neglected or | 16 | | dependent, the court
shall
admonish the parents that if the | 17 | | court declares the child to be a ward of the
court and
awards | 18 | | custody or guardianship to the Department of Children and | 19 | | Family
Services, the parents must cooperate with the Department | 20 | | of Children and Family
Services, comply with the terms of the | 21 | | service plans, and correct the
conditions that require the | 22 | | child to be in care, or risk termination of their
parental | 23 | | rights.
| 24 | | Upon an adjudication of wardship of
the court under | 25 | | Sections 2-22, 3-23, 4-20 or 5-705, the court shall inform
the | 26 | | parties of their right to appeal therefrom as well as from any |
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| 1 | | other
final judgment of the court.
| 2 | | When the court finds that a child is an abused, neglected, | 3 | | or dependent
minor under
Section 2-21, the court shall admonish | 4 | | the parents that the parents must
cooperate with
the Department | 5 | | of Children and Family Services, comply with the terms of the
| 6 | | service plans, and correct the conditions that require the | 7 | | child to be in care,
or risk termination of
their parental
| 8 | | rights.
| 9 | | When the court declares a child to be a ward of the court | 10 | | and awards
guardianship to the Department of Children and | 11 | | Family Services under Section
2-22, the court shall admonish | 12 | | the parents,
guardian,
custodian, or responsible relative that | 13 | | the parents must cooperate with the
Department of Children and | 14 | | Family Services, comply
with the terms of the service plans, | 15 | | and correct the conditions that require
the child to be in | 16 | | care, or risk termination of their parental
rights.
| 17 | | (4) No sanction may be applied against the minor who is the | 18 | | subject of
the proceedings by reason of his refusal or failure | 19 | | to testify in the course
of any hearing held prior to final | 20 | | adjudication under Section 2-22, 3-23, 4-20
or 5-705.
| 21 | | (5) In the discretion of the court, the minor may be | 22 | | excluded from any
part or parts of a dispositional hearing and, | 23 | | with the consent of the parent
or parents, guardian, counsel or | 24 | | a guardian ad litem, from any part or parts
of an adjudicatory | 25 | | hearing.
| 26 | | (6) The general public except for the news media and the |
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| 1 | | crime victim, as defined in Section 3 of the Rights of Crime | 2 | | Victims and Witnesses Act, shall be
excluded from any hearing | 3 | | and, except for the persons specified in this
Section only | 4 | | persons, including representatives of agencies and
| 5 | | associations, who in the opinion of the court have a direct | 6 | | interest in the
case or in the work of the court shall be | 7 | | admitted to the hearing. However,
the court may, for the | 8 | | minor's safety and protection and for good cause
shown,
| 9 | | prohibit any person or agency present in court from further | 10 | | disclosing the
minor's identity.
Nothing in this subsection (6) | 11 | | prevents the court from allowing other
juveniles to be present | 12 | | or to participate in a court session being held
under the | 13 | | Juvenile Drug Court Treatment Act.
| 14 | | (7) A party shall not be entitled to exercise the right to | 15 | | a substitution
of a judge without cause under subdivision | 16 | | (a)(2) of Section 2-1001 of the Code
of Civil Procedure in a | 17 | | proceeding under this Act if the judge is currently
assigned to | 18 | | a proceeding involving the alleged abuse, neglect, or | 19 | | dependency of
the minor's sibling or half sibling and that | 20 | | judge has made a substantive
ruling in the proceeding involving | 21 | | the minor's sibling or half sibling.
| 22 | | (Source: P.A. 98-249, eff. 1-1-14.)
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