Full Text of SB0218 101st General Assembly
SB0218 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020 SB0218 Introduced 1/31/2019, by Sen. Thomas Cullerton SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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705 ILCS 405/2-13 | from Ch. 37, par. 802-13 |
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Amends the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. Provides that unless good cause exists that filing a petition to terminate parental rights is contrary to the child's best interests, the Department of Children and Family Services shall request the
State's Attorney to file a petition or motion for termination of parental
rights and appointment of guardian of the person with power to consent to
adoption of the minor under the Act if the parent is criminally convicted of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, aggravated criminal sexual assault, criminal sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of a child, or permitting sexual abuse of a child. Makes technical changes.
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| | A BILL FOR |
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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 2-13 as follows:
| 6 | | (705 ILCS 405/2-13) (from Ch. 37, par. 802-13)
| 7 | | Sec. 2-13. Petition.
| 8 | | (1) Any adult person, any agency or association by its
| 9 | | representative may file, or the court on its own motion, | 10 | | consistent with the
health, safety and best interests of the | 11 | | minor may direct the
filing through the State's Attorney of a | 12 | | petition in respect of a minor
under this Act. The petition and | 13 | | all subsequent court documents shall be
entitled "In the | 14 | | interest of ...., a minor".
| 15 | | (2) The petition shall be verified but the statements may | 16 | | be made
upon information and belief. It shall allege that the | 17 | | minor is
abused, neglected, or dependent, with citations to the | 18 | | appropriate
provisions of this Act,
and set forth (a) facts | 19 | | sufficient to bring the minor
under Section 2-3 or 2-4 and to | 20 | | inform respondents of the cause of action,
including, but not | 21 | | limited to, a plain and concise statement of the factual
| 22 | | allegations that form the basis for the filing of the petition; | 23 | | (b) the name,
age and residence of the minor; (c) the names and |
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| 1 | | residences of his parents;
(d) the name and residence of his
| 2 | | legal guardian or the person or persons having custody or | 3 | | control of the
minor, or of the nearest known relative if no | 4 | | parent or guardian can be
found; and (e) if the minor upon | 5 | | whose behalf the petition is brought is
sheltered in custody, | 6 | | the date on which such temporary custody
was ordered by the
| 7 | | court or the date set for a temporary custody hearing. If any | 8 | | of the facts
herein required are not known by the petitioner, | 9 | | the petition shall so
state.
| 10 | | (3) The petition must allege that it is in the best | 11 | | interests of the
minor and of the public that he be adjudged a | 12 | | ward of the court and may
pray generally for relief available | 13 | | under this Act. The petition need
not specify any proposed | 14 | | disposition following adjudication of wardship. The petition | 15 | | may request that the minor remain in the custody of the parent, | 16 | | guardian, or custodian under an Order of Protection.
| 17 | | (4) If termination of parental rights and appointment of a | 18 | | guardian of the
person with power to consent to adoption of the | 19 | | minor under Section 2-29 is
sought, the petition shall so | 20 | | state. If the petition includes this request,
the prayer for | 21 | | relief shall clearly and obviously state that the parents could
| 22 | | permanently lose their rights as a parent at this hearing.
| 23 | | In addition to the foregoing, the petitioner, by motion, | 24 | | may request the
termination of parental rights and appointment | 25 | | of a guardian of the person with
power to consent to adoption | 26 | | of the minor under Section 2-29 at any time after
the entry of |
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| 1 | | a dispositional order under Section 2-22.
| 2 | | (4.5) (a) Unless good cause exists that filing a petition | 3 | | to terminate parental rights is contrary to the child's best | 4 | | interests, with respect to any minors committed to its care | 5 | | pursuant to
this Act, the Department of Children and Family | 6 | | Services shall request the
State's Attorney to file a petition | 7 | | or motion for termination of parental
rights and appointment of | 8 | | guardian of the person with power to consent to
adoption of the | 9 | | minor under Section 2-29 if:
| 10 | | (i) a minor has been in foster care, as described in | 11 | | subsection (b), for
15 months of the most recent 22 months; | 12 | | or
| 13 | | (ii) a minor under the age of 2 years has been | 14 | | previously determined to be
abandoned at an adjudicatory | 15 | | hearing; or
| 16 | | (iii) the parent is criminally convicted of : | 17 | | (A) first degree murder or
second degree murder of | 18 | | any child ; , | 19 | | (B) attempt or conspiracy to commit first
degree | 20 | | murder or second degree murder of any child ; , | 21 | | (C) solicitation to commit
murder of any child, | 22 | | solicitation to commit murder for hire of any child, or
| 23 | | solicitation to
commit second degree murder of any | 24 | | child ; , | 25 | | (D)
aggravated battery, aggravated battery of a | 26 | | child, or felony domestic battery,
any of which has |
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| 1 | | resulted in serious injury to the minor or a sibling of | 2 | | the
minor ; , | 3 | | (E) predatory criminal sexual assault of a child; | 4 | | aggravated criminal sexual assault in
violation of | 5 | | subdivision (a)(1) of Section 11-1.40 or subdivision | 6 | | (a)(1) of Section 12-14.1 of the Criminal Code of 1961 | 7 | | or the Criminal Code of 2012,
or | 8 | | (E-5) aggravated criminal sexual assault; | 9 | | (E-10) criminal sexual abuse; | 10 | | (E-15) sexual exploitation of a child; | 11 | | (E-20) permitting sexual abuse of a child; or | 12 | | (F) an offense in any other state the elements of | 13 | | which are similar and bear a
substantial relationship | 14 | | to any of the foregoing offenses.
| 15 | | (a-1) For purposes of this subsection (4.5), good cause | 16 | | exists in the following circumstances: | 17 | | (i) the child
is being cared for by a relative,
| 18 | | (ii) the Department has documented in the
case plan a | 19 | | compelling reason for determining that filing such | 20 | | petition would
not be in the best interests of the child,
| 21 | | (iii) the court has found within the
preceding 12 | 22 | | months that the Department has failed to make reasonable | 23 | | efforts
to reunify the child and family, or
| 24 | | (iv) the parent is incarcerated, or the parent's prior | 25 | | incarceration is a significant factor in why the child has | 26 | | been in foster care for 15 months out of
any 22-month |
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| 1 | | period, the parent maintains a meaningful role in the | 2 | | child's life, and the Department has not documented another | 3 | | reason why it would otherwise be appropriate to file a | 4 | | petition to terminate parental rights pursuant to this | 5 | | Section and the Adoption Act. The assessment of whether an | 6 | | incarcerated parent maintains a meaningful role in the | 7 | | child's life may include consideration of the following:
| 8 | | (A) the child's best interest; | 9 | | (B) the parent's expressions or acts of | 10 | | manifesting concern for the child, such as letters, | 11 | | telephone calls, visits, and other forms of | 12 | | communication with the child and the impact of the | 13 | | communication on the child; | 14 | | (C) the parent's efforts to communicate with and | 15 | | work with the Department for the purpose of complying | 16 | | with the service plan and repairing, maintaining, or | 17 | | building the parent-child relationship; or | 18 | | (D) limitations in the parent's access to family | 19 | | support programs, therapeutic services, visiting | 20 | | opportunities, telephone and mail services, and | 21 | | meaningful participation in court proceedings. | 22 | | (b) For purposes of this subsection, the date of entering | 23 | | foster care is
defined as the earlier of:
| 24 | | (1) The date of a judicial finding at an adjudicatory | 25 | | hearing that the
child is an abused, neglected, or | 26 | | dependent minor; or
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| 1 | | (2) 60 days after the date on which the child is | 2 | | removed from his or her
parent, guardian, or legal | 3 | | custodian.
| 4 | | (c) (Blank).
| 5 | | (d) (Blank).
| 6 | | (5) The court shall liberally allow the petitioner to amend | 7 | | the petition to
set forth a cause of action or to add, amend, | 8 | | or supplement factual allegations
that form the basis for a | 9 | | cause of action up until 14 days before the
adjudicatory | 10 | | hearing. The petitioner may amend the petition after that date
| 11 | | and prior to the adjudicatory hearing if the court grants leave | 12 | | to amend upon a
showing of good cause.
The court may allow | 13 | | amendment of the
petition to conform with the evidence at any | 14 | | time prior to ruling. In all
cases in which the court has | 15 | | granted leave to amend based on new evidence or
new | 16 | | allegations, the court shall permit
the respondent an adequate | 17 | | opportunity to prepare a defense to the amended
petition.
| 18 | | (6) At any time before dismissal of the petition or before | 19 | | final closing
and discharge under Section 2-31, one or more | 20 | | motions in the best interests of
the minor may be filed. The | 21 | | motion shall specify sufficient facts in support
of the relief | 22 | | requested.
| 23 | | (Source: P.A. 99-836, eff. 1-1-17 .)
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