Full Text of HB1343 94th General Assembly
HB1343enr 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning education.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 |
| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Child | 5 |
| Welfare Student Loan Forgiveness Act.
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| Section 5. Purpose. The purpose of this Act is to attract | 7 |
| capable and promising students to the child welfare profession, | 8 |
| increase employment and retention of individuals who are | 9 |
| working towards or who have received either a bachelor's degree | 10 |
| or a master's degree in social work or any human services | 11 |
| subject area that qualifies the individual for employment as a | 12 |
| family services worker, and provide opportunities for persons | 13 |
| making mid-career decisions to enter the child welfare | 14 |
| profession.
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| Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
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| "Commission" means the Illinois Student Assistance | 17 |
| Commission. | 18 |
| "Contracting agency" means an agency that the Department of | 19 |
| Children and Family Services contracts with for the provision | 20 |
| of child protective services. | 21 |
| "Forgivable loan" means a higher education student loan | 22 |
| that a
person has incurred in attending a social work program | 23 |
| approved by the Council on Social Work Education or an | 24 |
| accredited human services degree program.
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| Section 15. Establishment of program. There is created the | 26 |
| Child Welfare Student Loan Forgiveness Program to be | 27 |
| administered by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. | 28 |
| The program shall provide loan assistance, subject to | 29 |
| appropriation, to eligible students for upper-division | 30 |
| undergraduate and graduate study. The Commission shall adopt |
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| rules necessary to administer the program.
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| Section 20. Maximum loan time period; maximum loan amount. | 3 |
| (a) Subject to appropriation, an undergraduate forgivable | 4 |
| loan may be awarded for a maximum of 2 academic years. The | 5 |
| amount of this loan shall not exceed $4,000 per year. | 6 |
| (b) Subject to appropriation, a graduate forgivable loan | 7 |
| may be awarded for a maximum of 2 academic years. The amount of | 8 |
| this loan shall not exceed $8,000 per year. | 9 |
| Section 25. Eligibility. | 10 |
| (a) To be eligible for assistance under the Child Welfare | 11 |
| Student Loan Forgiveness Program, an applicant for an | 12 |
| undergraduate forgivable loan must meet all of the following | 13 |
| qualifications:
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| (1) Be a full-time student at the upper-division | 15 |
| undergraduate level in a social work program approved by | 16 |
| the Council on Social Work Education leading to a | 17 |
| bachelor's degree in social work or an accredited human | 18 |
| services degree program.
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| (2) Have declared an intent to work in child welfare at | 20 |
| the Department of Children and Family Services, its | 21 |
| successor, or a contracting agency for at least the number | 22 |
| of years for which a forgivable loan is received.
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| (3) Have maintained a minimum cumulative grade point | 24 |
| average of at least a 2.5 on a 4.0 scale for all | 25 |
| undergraduate work. If applying for renewal of an | 26 |
| undergraduate forgivable loan, an applicant must have | 27 |
| maintained a minimum cumulative grade point average of at | 28 |
| least a 2.5 on a 4.0 scale for all undergraduate work and | 29 |
| have earned at least 12 semester credits per term, or the | 30 |
| equivalent.
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| (b) To be eligible for assistance under the Child Welfare | 32 |
| Student Loan Forgiveness Program, an applicant for a graduate | 33 |
| forgivable loan must meet all of the following qualifications: | 34 |
| (1) Be a full-time student at the graduate level in a |
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| social work program approved by the Council on Social Work | 2 |
| Education leading to a master's degree in social work or an | 3 |
| accredited human services degree program. | 4 |
| (2) Have declared an intent to work in child welfare at | 5 |
| the Department of Children and Family Services, its | 6 |
| successor, or a contracting agency for at least the number | 7 |
| of years for which a forgivable loan is received. | 8 |
| (3) Hold a bachelor's degree from a school or | 9 |
| department of social work at any college or university | 10 |
| accredited by the Council on Social Work Education, or hold | 11 |
| a degree in a human services field from an accredited | 12 |
| college or university. | 13 |
| (4) Have maintained an undergraduate cumulative grade | 14 |
| point average of at least a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale or have | 15 |
| attained a Graduate Record Examination (GRE) score of at | 16 |
| least 1,000. If applying for renewal of a graduate | 17 |
| forgivable loan, an applicant must have maintained a | 18 |
| minimum cumulative grade point average of at least a 3.0 on | 19 |
| a 4.0 scale for all graduate work and have earned at least | 20 |
| 9 semester credits per term, or the equivalent. | 21 |
| (5) Not have received an undergraduate forgivable loan | 22 |
| under the program.
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| Section 30. Repayment schedule; credit; penalty for | 24 |
| non-compliance. | 25 |
| (a) A forgivable loan must be repaid within 10 years after | 26 |
| completion of the approved or accredited social work or human | 27 |
| services program. The Commission shall adopt, by rule, | 28 |
| repayment schedules and applicable interest rates. | 29 |
| (b) Credit for repayment of a forgivable loan shall be in | 30 |
| an amount not to exceed $4,000 in loan principal plus | 31 |
| applicable accrued interest for each full year of eligible | 32 |
| service in the child welfare profession. Forgivable loan | 33 |
| recipients may receive loan repayment credit for child welfare | 34 |
| service rendered at any time during the scheduled repayment | 35 |
| period. However, such repayment credit shall be applicable only |
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| to the current principal and accrued interest balance that | 2 |
| remains at the time the repayment credit is earned. No loan | 3 |
| recipient shall be reimbursed for previous cash payments of | 4 |
| principal and interest. | 5 |
| (c) Any forgivable loan recipient who fails to work at the | 6 |
| Department of Children and Family Services, its successor, or a | 7 |
| contracting agency, as required under the terms of the loan, is | 8 |
| responsible for repaying the loan plus accrued interest at 8% | 9 |
| annually.
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