Full Text of SB0755 102nd General Assembly
SB0755enr 102ND 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 Children and Family Services Act is amended | 5 | | by changing Section 5e and by adding Section 6b-1 as follows:
| 6 | | (20 ILCS 505/5e)
| 7 | | Sec. 5e. Advocacy Office for Children and Families. | 8 | | (a) The
Department of Children and Family Services shall | 9 | | establish and maintain
an Advocacy Office for Children and | 10 | | Families that shall, in addition to
other duties assigned by | 11 | | the Director, receive and respond to complaints
that may be | 12 | | filed by children, parents, caretakers, and relatives of | 13 | | children
receiving child welfare services from the Department | 14 | | of Children and
Family Services or its agents. The Department | 15 | | shall promulgate policies
and procedures for filing, | 16 | | processing, investigating, and resolving the
complaints. The | 17 | | Department shall make a final report to the complainant
of its | 18 | | findings. If a final report is not completed, the Department | 19 | | shall
report on its disposition every 30 days. | 20 | | (b) If a youth in care, current foster parent or | 21 | | caregiver, or caseworker requests the information, the | 22 | | Advocacy Office shall make available the name, electronic mail | 23 | | address, and telephone number for each youth's court-appointed |
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| 1 | | guardian ad litem and, if applicable, the guardian ad litem's | 2 | | supervisor. | 3 | | (c) The Advocacy Office shall include
a statewide | 4 | | toll-free telephone number and an electronic mail address that | 5 | | may be used to file complaints,
or to obtain information about | 6 | | the delivery of child welfare services by the
Department or | 7 | | its agents , and to obtain the contact information for the | 8 | | guardian ad litem . This telephone number and electronic mail | 9 | | address shall be included in all
appropriate notices and | 10 | | handbooks regarding services available through
the Department.
| 11 | | (d) The Department shall provide a flyer to all youth | 12 | | entering care describing the responsibilities of the Advocacy | 13 | | Office listed in this Section, the toll-free telephone number | 14 | | and electronic mailing address for the Advocacy Office, and a | 15 | | description of the role of a guardian ad litem. The Department | 16 | | shall also provide this flyer to youth at every administrative | 17 | | case review. | 18 | | (Source: P.A. 92-334, eff. 8-10-01; 92-651, eff. 7-11-02.)
| 19 | | (20 ILCS 505/6b-1 new) | 20 | | Sec. 6b-1. Maintaining and tracking information on | 21 | | guardians ad litem. The Department must maintain the name, | 22 | | electronic mail address, and telephone number for each youth | 23 | | in care's court-appointed guardian ad litem and, if | 24 | | applicable, the guardian ad litem's supervisor. The Department | 25 | | must update this contact information within 5 days of |
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| 1 | | receiving notice of a change. The Advocacy Office for Children | 2 | | and Families, established pursuant to Section 5e, must make | 3 | | this contact information available to the youth in care, | 4 | | current foster parent or caregiver, or caseworker, if | 5 | | requested. By December 31, 2021, the Department shall adopt | 6 | | rules for maintaining and providing this information. | 7 | | Section 10. The Juvenile Court Act of 1987 is amended by | 8 | | changing Section 2-17 as follows:
| 9 | | (705 ILCS 405/2-17) (from Ch. 37, par. 802-17)
| 10 | | Sec. 2-17. Guardian ad litem.
| 11 | | (1) Immediately upon the filing of a petition alleging | 12 | | that the minor is
a person described in Sections 2-3 or 2-4 of | 13 | | this Article, the court shall
appoint a guardian ad litem for | 14 | | the minor if:
| 15 | | (a) such petition alleges that the minor is an abused | 16 | | or neglected
child; or
| 17 | | (b) such petition alleges that charges alleging the | 18 | | commission
of any of the sex offenses defined in Article | 19 | | 11 or in Sections 11-1.20, 11-1.30, 11-1.40, 11-1.50, | 20 | | 11-1.60, 12-13,
12-14,
12-14.1,
12-15 or 12-16 of the | 21 | | Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012, have | 22 | | been
filed against a defendant in any court and that such | 23 | | minor is the alleged
victim of the acts of defendant in the | 24 | | commission of such offense.
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| 1 | | Unless the guardian ad litem appointed pursuant to this | 2 | | paragraph
(1) is an attorney at law, he or she shall be | 3 | | represented in the performance
of his or her duties by | 4 | | counsel. The guardian ad litem shall represent the best
| 5 | | interests of the minor and shall present recommendations to | 6 | | the court
consistent with that duty.
| 7 | | (2) Before proceeding with the hearing, the court shall
| 8 | | appoint a guardian ad litem for the minor if:
| 9 | | (a) no parent, guardian, custodian or relative of the | 10 | | minor appears
at the first or any subsequent hearing of | 11 | | the case;
| 12 | | (b) the petition prays for the appointment of a | 13 | | guardian with power
to consent to adoption; or
| 14 | | (c) the petition for which the minor is before the | 15 | | court resulted
from a report made pursuant to the Abused | 16 | | and Neglected Child Reporting
Act.
| 17 | | (3) The court may appoint a guardian ad litem for the minor | 18 | | whenever
it finds that there may be a conflict of interest | 19 | | between the minor and
his parents or other custodian or that it | 20 | | is otherwise in the minor's
best interest to do so.
| 21 | | (4) Unless the guardian ad litem is an attorney, he or she | 22 | | shall be
represented by counsel. | 23 | | (4.5) Pursuant to Section 6b-1 of the Children and Family | 24 | | Services Act, the Department of Children and Family Services | 25 | | must maintain the name, electronic mail address, and telephone | 26 | | number for each minor's court-appointed guardian ad litem and, |
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| 1 | | if applicable, the guardian ad litem's supervisor. The | 2 | | Department of Children and Family Services must update this | 3 | | contact information within 5 days of receiving notice of a | 4 | | change. The Advocacy Office for Children and Families, | 5 | | established pursuant to Section 5e of the Children and Family | 6 | | Services Act, must make this contact information available to | 7 | | the minor, current foster parent or caregiver, or caseworker, | 8 | | if requested.
| 9 | | (5) The reasonable fees of a guardian ad litem appointed | 10 | | under this
Section shall be fixed by the court and charged to | 11 | | the parents of the
minor, to the extent they are able to pay. | 12 | | If the parents are unable to
pay those fees, they shall be paid | 13 | | from the general fund of the county.
| 14 | | (6) A guardian ad litem appointed under this Section, | 15 | | shall receive
copies of any and all classified reports of | 16 | | child abuse and neglect made
under the Abused and Neglected | 17 | | Child Reporting Act in which the minor who
is the subject of a | 18 | | report under the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting
Act, is | 19 | | also the minor for whom the guardian ad litem is appointed | 20 | | under
this Section.
| 21 | | (6.5) A guardian ad litem appointed under this Section or | 22 | | attorney appointed under this Act shall receive a copy of each | 23 | | significant event report that involves the minor no later than | 24 | | 3 days after the Department learns of an event requiring a | 25 | | significant event report to be written, or earlier as required | 26 | | by Department rule. |
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| 1 | | (7) The appointed
guardian ad
litem shall remain the | 2 | | minor's child's guardian ad litem throughout the entire | 3 | | juvenile
trial court
proceedings, including permanency | 4 | | hearings and termination of parental rights
proceedings, | 5 | | unless there is a substitution entered by order of the court.
| 6 | | (8) The guardian
ad
litem or an agent of the guardian ad | 7 | | litem shall have a minimum of one
in-person contact with the | 8 | | minor and one contact with one
of the
current foster parents or | 9 | | caregivers prior to the
adjudicatory hearing, and at
least one | 10 | | additional in-person contact with the child and one contact | 11 | | with
one of the
current foster
parents or caregivers after the | 12 | | adjudicatory hearing but
prior to the first permanency hearing
| 13 | | and one additional in-person contact with the child and one | 14 | | contact with one
of the current
foster parents or caregivers | 15 | | each subsequent year. For good cause shown, the
judge may | 16 | | excuse face-to-face interviews required in this subsection.
| 17 | | (9) In counties with a population of 100,000 or more but | 18 | | less than
3,000,000, each guardian ad litem must successfully | 19 | | complete a training program
approved by the Department of | 20 | | Children and Family Services. The Department of
Children and | 21 | | Family Services shall provide training materials and documents | 22 | | to
guardians ad litem who are not mandated to attend the | 23 | | training program. The
Department of Children and Family | 24 | | Services shall develop
and
distribute to all guardians ad | 25 | | litem a bibliography containing information
including but not | 26 | | limited to the juvenile court process, termination of
parental |
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| 1 | | rights, child development, medical aspects of child abuse, and | 2 | | the
child's need for safety and permanence.
| 3 | | (Source: P.A. 100-689, eff. 1-1-19; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19.)
| 4 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 5 | | becoming law. |
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