Full Text of SJR0002 97th General Assembly
SJ0002 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, According to the 2005 American Community Survey, | 3 | | over 12 million people lived in Illinois; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Of the people living in Illinois, 72 percent are | 5 | | White, 15 percent are African-American, 4 percent are Asian, | 6 | | and 9 percent are of Other Races; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Of the citizens in Illinois, 15 percent are of | 8 | | Hispanic or Latino origin and 85 percent are not of Hispanic or | 9 | | Latino origin; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Seven percent of the population is under 5 years | 11 | | of age, 19 percent is between 5 and 17 years of age, 58 percent | 12 | | is between 18 and 64 years of age, and 16 percent of the | 13 | | population is 65 years of age or older; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, There are 3,229,558 children under 18 years of age | 15 | | living in households in Illinois; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, Of the children living in Illinois, 65 percent are | 17 | | White, 18 percent are African-American, 4 percent are Asian, | 18 | | and 13 percent are Other Races; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Of the children in Illinois, 20 percent are of |
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| 1 | | Hispanic or Latino origin and 80 percent are not Hispanic or | 2 | | Latino; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Eighty-eight percent of children live in the same | 4 | | household as their parents, 7 percent live with grandparents, 3 | 5 | | percent live with other relatives, and 2 percent live with | 6 | | unrelated foster parents; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Of the 4,691,020 households in Illinois, 50 | 8 | | percent are defined as married-couple family household, 4 | 9 | | percent are defined as male householder - no wife present, 13 | 10 | | percent are defined as female householder - no husband present, | 11 | | and 33 percent are defined as non-family household; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Eight percent of children who live in | 13 | | married-couple family households received public assistance in | 14 | | the past 12 months; 21 percent of children who live in male | 15 | | householder - no wife present family households received public | 16 | | assistance in the past 12 months; and 43 percent of children | 17 | | who live in female householder - no husband present family | 18 | | household received public assistance in the past 12 months; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Of the low-income households in Illinois, 78 | 20 | | percent experienced housing problems; and 23 percent of White | 21 | | households experienced housing problems compared to 42 percent | 22 | | of African-American households and 53 percent of Hispanic |
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| 1 | | households; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Examination of educational achievement for | 3 | | Illinois residents 25 years and older reveals that 15 percent | 4 | | have achieved less than a high school diploma, 28 percent | 5 | | graduated from high school, 28 percent attended college or | 6 | | received an associated degree, 18 percent received a bachelor's | 7 | | degree, and 11 percent have attained a graduate degree or | 8 | | higher or professional degree; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Fifty-four percent of low-income households pay | 10 | | more than 50 percent of their household income for housing; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Over 44,000 adults are in prison, and 94 percent | 12 | | are male and 6 percent are female; 60 percent are | 13 | | African-American, 11 percent are Hispanic, and 28 percent are | 14 | | White; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Of the more than 1,400 juveniles in prison, 92 | 16 | | percent are male and 8 percent are female; and 54 percent are | 17 | | African-American, 11 percent are Hispanic, and 34 percent are | 18 | | White; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Children reared by single parents are more likely | 20 | | to drop out of high school, commit criminal acts, and become | 21 | | homeless; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Since 2002, over 26,000 children per year are | 2 | | indicated for abuse or neglect and are living with parents more | 3 | | likely to be identified as the perpetrator; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, The socioeconomic status of the parents affects | 5 | | the risk of children experiencing violent acts, growing up in | 6 | | violent communities, and not having access to a quality | 7 | | education or affordable and quality health care; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Families are under stress and are increasingly | 9 | | unable to protect or provide for their children; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Family violence, including domestic violence, | 11 | | negatively affects children's emotional and psychological | 12 | | well-being; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Families living below poverty and middle income | 14 | | earners are more likely to become homeless as there is a severe | 15 | | shortage of affordable housing; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, The family is the primary institution for caring | 17 | | and providing for the emotional, physical, and social | 18 | | well-being of children and assuring that they receive the moral | 19 | | guidance and social skills to successfully reach their | 20 | | potential and contribute as citizens; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Many children live in communities where food | 2 | | deserts exist - they are unable to access healthy food; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Children living in some urban communities are | 4 | | frequently exposed to different levels of assorted toxic | 5 | | chemicals both inside and outside the home; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Low-income children and their parents are less | 7 | | likely to have access to quality health care, less likely to | 8 | | have incomes to secure safe and affordable housing, and less | 9 | | likely to have community schools with certified teachers than | 10 | | affluent families; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, There is a relationship between child well-being, | 12 | | family well-being, and a community's social and economic | 13 | | strength; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Parents are primarily responsible for instilling | 15 | | in their children moral, community, civic, and social | 16 | | responsibility; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Community institutions, agencies, and | 18 | | organizations have a moral and social responsibility to assist | 19 | | their members in achieving optimal well-being; therefore, be it
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL | 2 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES | 3 | | CONCURRING HEREIN, that there is created the Parents and | 4 | | Community Accountability Study Committee, hereafter referred | 5 | | to as the Committee, consisting of 29 members appointed as | 6 | | follows: | 7 | | (1) Three members appointed by the President of the | 8 | | Senate; | 9 | | (2) Two members appointed by the Minority Leader of the | 10 | | Senate; | 11 | | (3) Three members appointed by the Speaker of the House | 12 | | of Representatives; | 13 | | (4) Two members appointed by the Minority Leader of the | 14 | | House of Representatives; | 15 | | (5) One member of the Governor's staff appointed by the | 16 | | Governor; | 17 | | (6) Two members appointed by the Chair of the Illinois | 18 | | African-American Family Commission; | 19 | | (7) Two members appointed by the Joint Chair of an | 20 | | association that represents Illinois African American | 21 | | legislators; | 22 | | (8) One member appointed by the Chair of the Illinois | 23 | | Prisoner Review Board; | 24 | | (9) One member from each of the following State | 25 | | agencies appointed by their respective heads: Department | 26 | | of Children and Family Services, Department of Human |
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| 1 | | Services, Department on Aging, Illinois State Board of | 2 | | Education, Department of Juvenile Justice, Department of | 3 | | Healthcare and Family Services, and Department of | 4 | | Corrections; and | 5 | | (10) Six public members representing the interests of | 6 | | child welfare advocates, public health researchers, the | 7 | | general public, the formerly incarcerated, faith-based | 8 | | community, and court personnel - each appointed by the | 9 | | Governor; and be it further
| 10 | | RESOLVED, That the Department of Human Services in | 11 | | conjunction with the Department of Children and Family Services | 12 | | shall provide staff and administrative support to the | 13 | | Committee; and be it further
| 14 | | RESOLVED, That the Committee shall examine issues related | 15 | | to racial and socioeconomic disparities affecting the | 16 | | pro-social development of children and youth; shall identify | 17 | | ways to engage more parents in being accountable for the | 18 | | actions of their children; and shall identify ways to engage | 19 | | more communities in being accountable for investing in | 20 | | pro-social development of children and families; the Committee | 21 | | shall also research the types of supports needed to help | 22 | | parents develop the necessary skills to ensure that their | 23 | | children achieve positive youth development and to reduce | 24 | | factors that lead to violence in the community, home, and |
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| 1 | | school; the Committee shall also study what systems are needed | 2 | | to assist communities to reinvest in and support children and | 3 | | families; and be it further
| 4 | | RESOLVED, That the Committee shall hold public hearings in | 5 | | every Legislative District it deems necessary and present a | 6 | | report of its findings and recommendations to the 97th General | 7 | | Assembly before December 31, 2012.
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