Full Text of SB3130 101st General Assembly
SB3130 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020 SB3130 Introduced 2/6/2020, by Sen. Sara Feigenholtz SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Amends the Children and Family Services Act. Makes a technical change in a
Section concerning the Inspector General.
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| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning Department of Children and Family | 2 | | Services Inspector General.
| 3 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 4 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 5 | | Section 5. The Children and Family Services Act is amended | 6 | | by changing Section 35.5 as follows:
| 7 | | (20 ILCS 505/35.5)
| 8 | | Sec. 35.5. Inspector General.
| 9 | | (a) The The Governor shall appoint, and the Senate shall | 10 | | confirm, an Inspector
General who shall
have the authority to | 11 | | conduct investigations into allegations of or incidents
of | 12 | | possible misconduct, misfeasance, malfeasance, or violations | 13 | | of rules,
procedures, or laws by any employee, foster parent, | 14 | | service provider, or
contractor of the Department of Children | 15 | | and Family Services, except for allegations of violations of | 16 | | the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act which shall be | 17 | | referred to the Office of the Governor's Executive Inspector | 18 | | General for investigation. The Inspector
General shall make | 19 | | recommendations
to the Director of Children and Family Services | 20 | | concerning sanctions or
disciplinary actions against | 21 | | Department
employees or providers of service under contract to | 22 | | the Department. The Director of Children and Family Services | 23 | | shall provide the Inspector General with an implementation |
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| 1 | | report on the status of any corrective actions taken on | 2 | | recommendations under review and shall continue sending | 3 | | updated reports until the corrective action is completed. The | 4 | | Director shall provide a written response to the Inspector | 5 | | General indicating the status of any sanctions or disciplinary | 6 | | actions against employees or providers of service involving any | 7 | | investigation subject to review. In any case, information | 8 | | included in the reports to the Inspector General and Department | 9 | | responses shall be subject to the public disclosure | 10 | | requirements of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act.
| 11 | | Any
investigation
conducted by the Inspector General shall be | 12 | | independent and separate from the
investigation mandated by the | 13 | | Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. The
Inspector General | 14 | | shall be appointed for a term of 4 years. The Inspector
General | 15 | | shall function independently within the Department of Children | 16 | | and Family Services with respect to the operations of the | 17 | | Office of Inspector General, including the performance of | 18 | | investigations and issuance of findings and recommendations, | 19 | | and shall
report to the Director of Children and Family | 20 | | Services and the Governor and
perform other
duties the Director | 21 | | may designate. The Inspector General shall adopt rules
as | 22 | | necessary to carry out the
functions, purposes, and duties of | 23 | | the office of Inspector General in the
Department of Children | 24 | | and Family Services, in accordance with the Illinois
| 25 | | Administrative Procedure Act and any other applicable law.
| 26 | | (b) The Inspector
General shall have access to all |
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| 1 | | information and personnel necessary to perform
the duties of | 2 | | the office. To minimize duplication of efforts, and to assure
| 3 | | consistency and conformance with the requirements and | 4 | | procedures established in
the B.H. v. Suter consent decree and | 5 | | to share resources
when appropriate, the Inspector General | 6 | | shall coordinate his or her
activities with the Bureau of | 7 | | Quality Assurance within the Department.
| 8 | | (c) The Inspector General shall be the primary liaison | 9 | | between the
Department and the Department of State Police with | 10 | | regard to investigations
conducted under the Inspector | 11 | | General's auspices.
If the Inspector General determines that a | 12 | | possible criminal act
has been committed,
or that special | 13 | | expertise is required in the investigation, he or she shall
| 14 | | immediately notify the Department of State Police.
All | 15 | | investigations conducted by the Inspector General shall be
| 16 | | conducted in a manner designed to ensure the preservation of | 17 | | evidence for
possible use in a criminal prosecution.
| 18 | | (d) The Inspector General may recommend to the Department | 19 | | of Children and
Family Services, the Department of Public | 20 | | Health, or any other appropriate
agency, sanctions to be | 21 | | imposed against service providers under the
jurisdiction of or | 22 | | under contract with the Department for the protection of
| 23 | | children in the custody or under the guardianship of the | 24 | | Department who
received services from those providers. The | 25 | | Inspector General may seek the
assistance of the Attorney | 26 | | General or any of the several State's Attorneys in
imposing |
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| 1 | | sanctions.
| 2 | | (e) The Inspector General shall at all times be granted | 3 | | access to any foster
home, facility, or program operated for or | 4 | | licensed or funded by the
Department.
| 5 | | (f) Nothing in this Section shall limit investigations by | 6 | | the Department of
Children and Family Services that may | 7 | | otherwise be required by law or that may
be necessary in that | 8 | | Department's capacity as the central administrative
authority | 9 | | for child welfare.
| 10 | | (g) The Inspector General shall have the power to subpoena | 11 | | witnesses and
compel the production of books and papers | 12 | | pertinent to an investigation
authorized by this Act. The power | 13 | | to subpoena or to compel the
production of books and papers, | 14 | | however, shall not extend to the person or
documents of a
labor | 15 | | organization or its representatives insofar as the person or | 16 | | documents of
a labor organization relate to the function of | 17 | | representing an employee subject
to investigation under this | 18 | | Act. Any person who fails to appear in response to
a subpoena | 19 | | or to answer any question or produce any books or papers | 20 | | pertinent
to an investigation under this Act, except as | 21 | | otherwise provided in this
Section, or who knowingly gives | 22 | | false testimony in relation to an investigation
under this Act | 23 | | is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
| 24 | | (h) The Inspector General shall provide to the General | 25 | | Assembly and the
Governor, no later than January 1 of each | 26 | | year, a summary of reports and
investigations made under this |
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| 1 | | Section for the prior fiscal year. The
summaries shall detail | 2 | | the imposition of sanctions and the final disposition
of those | 3 | | recommendations. The summaries shall not contain any | 4 | | confidential or
identifying information concerning the | 5 | | subjects of the reports and
investigations. The summaries also | 6 | | shall include detailed recommended
administrative actions and | 7 | | matters for consideration by the General Assembly.
| 8 | | (Source: P.A. 95-527, eff. 6-1-08; 96-555, eff. 8-18-09.)
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