Full Text of HB2236 096th General Assembly
HB2236eng 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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HB2236 Engrossed |
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| AN ACT concerning child support.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by | 5 |
| changing Section 10-3.1 as follows:
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| (305 ILCS 5/10-3.1) (from Ch. 23, par. 10-3.1)
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| Sec. 10-3.1. Child and Spouse Support Unit. The Illinois
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| Department shall establish within its administrative staff a | 9 |
| Child and
Spouse Support Unit to search for and locate absent | 10 |
| parents and spouses
liable for the support of persons resident | 11 |
| in this State and to exercise
the support enforcement powers | 12 |
| and responsibilities assigned the
Department by this Article. | 13 |
| The unit shall cooperate with all law
enforcement officials in | 14 |
| this State and with the authorities of other
States in locating | 15 |
| persons responsible for the support of persons
resident in | 16 |
| other States and shall invite the cooperation of these
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| authorities in the performance of its duties.
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| In addition to other duties assigned the Child and Spouse | 19 |
| Support Unit
by this Article, the Unit may refer to the | 20 |
| Attorney General or units of
local government with the approval | 21 |
| of the Attorney General, any actions
under Sections 10-10 and | 22 |
| 10-15 for judicial enforcement of the support
liability. The | 23 |
| Child and Spouse Support Unit shall act for the Department
in |
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| referring to the Attorney General support matters requiring | 2 |
| judicial
enforcement under other laws. If requested by the | 3 |
| Attorney General to so
act, as provided in Section 12-16, | 4 |
| attorneys of the Unit may assist the
Attorney General or | 5 |
| themselves
institute actions in behalf of the Illinois | 6 |
| Department
under the Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of | 7 |
| Support
Act; under the Illinois Parentage Act of
1984; under
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| the Non-Support of Spouse and Children Act; under the | 9 |
| Non-Support Punishment
Act;
or under any other law, State or
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| Federal, providing for support
of a spouse or dependent child.
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| The Illinois Department shall also have the authority to | 12 |
| enter into
agreements with local governmental units or | 13 |
| individuals, with the approval
of the Attorney General, for the | 14 |
| collection of moneys owing
because of the failure of a
parent | 15 |
| to make child support payments for any child receiving services
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| under this Article. Such agreements may be on a contingent
fee | 17 |
| basis, but such contingent fee shall not exceed 25% of the | 18 |
| total amount
collected.
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| An attorney who provides representation pursuant to this | 20 |
| Section shall
represent the
Illinois Department exclusively. | 21 |
| Regardless of
the designation of the plaintiff in an action | 22 |
| brought pursuant to this Section,
an attorney-client | 23 |
| relationship does not exist for purposes of that
action between | 24 |
| that attorney
and (i) an applicant for or recipient of child | 25 |
| support
enforcement services or
(ii) any other party to the | 26 |
| action other than the Illinois Department. Nothing
in this |
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| Section shall be construed to modify any power or duty | 2 |
| (including a
duty to maintain confidentiality) of the Child and | 3 |
| Spouse Support Unit or the
Illinois Department otherwise | 4 |
| provided by law.
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| The Illinois Department may also enter into agreements with | 6 |
| local
governmental units for the Child and Spouse Support Unit | 7 |
| to exercise the
investigative and enforcement powers | 8 |
| designated in this Article,
including the issuance of | 9 |
| administrative orders under Section 10-11, in
locating | 10 |
| responsible relatives and obtaining support for persons
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| applying for or receiving aid under Article VI.
Payments for
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| defrayment of administrative costs and support payments | 13 |
| obtained shall
be deposited into the DHS Recoveries Trust Fund. | 14 |
| Support
payments shall be paid over to the General Assistance | 15 |
| Fund of the local
governmental unit at such time or times as | 16 |
| the agreement may specify.
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| With respect to those cases in which it has support | 18 |
| enforcement powers
and responsibilities under this Article, | 19 |
| the Illinois Department may provide
by rule for periodic or | 20 |
| other review of each administrative and court order
for support | 21 |
| to determine whether a modification of the order should be
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| sought. The Illinois Department shall provide for and conduct | 23 |
| such review
in accordance with any applicable federal law and | 24 |
| regulation. The Illinois Department's program for review and | 25 |
| modification of orders for support in cases in which support | 26 |
| enforcement services are being provided under this Article X |
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| shall include, but not be limited to, cases in which a | 2 |
| responsible relative who is committed to the custody of the | 3 |
| Department of Corrections requests review and modification of | 4 |
| the order for support. The Illinois Department shall enter into | 5 |
| a cooperative agreement with the Department of Corrections to | 6 |
| facilitate receipt of such requests from committed persons.
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| As part of its process for review of orders for support, | 8 |
| the Illinois
Department, through written notice, may require | 9 |
| the responsible relative to
disclose his or her Social Security | 10 |
| Number and past and present information
concerning the | 11 |
| relative's address, employment, gross wages, deductions from
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| gross wages, net wages, bonuses, commissions, number of | 13 |
| dependent exemptions
claimed, individual and dependent health | 14 |
| insurance coverage, and any other
information necessary to | 15 |
| determine the relative's ability to provide support in
a case | 16 |
| receiving child support enforcement services under
this | 17 |
| Article X.
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| The Illinois Department may send a written request
for the | 19 |
| same information to the relative's employer. The employer shall
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| respond to the request for information within 15 days after the | 21 |
| date the
employer receives the request. If the employer | 22 |
| willfully fails to fully
respond within the 15-day period, the | 23 |
| employer shall pay a penalty of $100 for
each day that the | 24 |
| response is not provided to the Illinois Department after the
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| 15-day period has expired. The penalty may be collected in a | 26 |
| civil action
which may be brought against the employer in favor |
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| of the Illinois Department.
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| A written request for information sent to an employer | 3 |
| pursuant to this
Section shall consist of (i) a citation of | 4 |
| this Section as the statutory
authority for the request and for | 5 |
| the employer's obligation to provide the
requested | 6 |
| information, (ii) a returnable form setting forth the | 7 |
| employer's name
and address and listing the name of the | 8 |
| employee with respect to whom
information is requested, and | 9 |
| (iii) a citation of this Section as the statutory
authority | 10 |
| authorizing the employer to withhold a fee of up to $20 from | 11 |
| the
wages or income to be paid to each responsible relative for | 12 |
| providing the
information to the Illinois Department within the | 13 |
| 15-day period. If the
employer is
withholding support payments | 14 |
| from the responsible relative's income pursuant to
an order for | 15 |
| withholding, the employer may withhold the fee provided for in
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| this Section only after withholding support as required under | 17 |
| the order. Any
amounts withheld from the responsible relative's | 18 |
| income for payment of support
and the fee provided for in this | 19 |
| Section shall not be in excess of the amounts
permitted under | 20 |
| the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act.
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| In a case receiving child support enforcement services,
the | 22 |
| Illinois
Department may request and obtain information from a | 23 |
| particular employer under
this Section no more than once in any | 24 |
| 12-month period, unless the information
is necessary to conduct | 25 |
| a review of a court or
administrative order for support at the | 26 |
| request of the person receiving child support enforcement |
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| services.
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| The Illinois Department shall establish and maintain an | 3 |
| administrative unit
to receive and transmit to the Child and | 4 |
| Spouse Support Unit information
supplied by persons applying | 5 |
| for or receiving child support
enforcement services
under | 6 |
| Section 10-1. In addition, the Illinois Department shall | 7 |
| address and
respond to any alleged deficiencies that persons | 8 |
| receiving or applying for
services from the Child and Spouse | 9 |
| Support Unit may identify concerning the
Child and Spouse | 10 |
| Support Unit's provision of child support
enforcement | 11 |
| services.
Within 60 days after an action or failure to act by | 12 |
| the Child and Spouse
Support Unit that affects his or her case, | 13 |
| a recipient of or applicant for
child support enforcement | 14 |
| services under Article X of this
Code may request an
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| explanation of the Unit's handling of the case. At the | 16 |
| requestor's option, the
explanation may be provided either | 17 |
| orally in an interview, in writing, or both.
If the Illinois | 18 |
| Department fails to respond to the request for an explanation
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| or fails to respond in a manner satisfactory to the applicant | 20 |
| or recipient
within 30 days from the date of the request for an | 21 |
| explanation, the
applicant or recipient may request a | 22 |
| conference for further review of the
matter by the Office of | 23 |
| the Administrator of the Child and Spouse Support Unit.
A | 24 |
| request for a conference may be submitted at any time within 60 | 25 |
| days after
the explanation has been provided by the Child and | 26 |
| Spouse Support Unit or
within 60 days after the time for |
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| providing the explanation has expired.
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| The applicant or recipient may request a conference | 3 |
| concerning any decision
denying or terminating child support | 4 |
| enforcement services
under Article X of this Code, and the | 5 |
| applicant or recipient may also request a
conference concerning | 6 |
| the
Unit's failure to provide services or the provision of | 7 |
| services in an amount or
manner that is considered inadequate. | 8 |
| For purposes of this Section, the Child
and Spouse Support Unit | 9 |
| includes all local governmental units or individuals
with whom | 10 |
| the Illinois Department has contracted
under Section
10-3.1.
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| Upon receipt of a timely request for a conference, the | 12 |
| Office of the
Administrator shall review the case. The | 13 |
| applicant or recipient requesting
the conference shall be | 14 |
| entitled, at his or her option, to appear in person or
to | 15 |
| participate in the conference by telephone. The applicant or | 16 |
| recipient
requesting the conference shall be entitled to be | 17 |
| represented and to be
afforded a reasonable opportunity to | 18 |
| review the Illinois Department's file
before or at the | 19 |
| conference. At the conference, the applicant or recipient
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| requesting the conference shall be afforded an opportunity to | 21 |
| present all
relevant matters in support of his or her claim. | 22 |
| Conferences shall be without
cost to the applicant or recipient | 23 |
| requesting the conference and shall be
conducted by a | 24 |
| representative of the Child or Spouse Support Unit who did not
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| participate in the action or inaction being reviewed.
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| The Office of the Administrator shall conduct a conference |
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| and inform all
interested parties, in
writing, of the results | 2 |
| of the conference within 60 days from the date of
filing of the | 3 |
| request for a conference.
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| In addition to its other powers and responsibilities | 5 |
| established by this
Article, the Child and Spouse Support Unit | 6 |
| shall conduct an annual assessment
of each institution's | 7 |
| program for institution based paternity establishment
under | 8 |
| Section 12 of the Vital Records Act.
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| (Source: P.A. 91-24, eff. 7-1-99; 91-613, eff. 10-1-99;
92-16, | 10 |
| eff. 6-28-01; 92-590, eff. 7-1-02.)
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| Section 10. The Unified Code of Corrections is amended by | 12 |
| adding Section 3-6-9 as follows: | 13 |
| (730 ILCS 5/3-6-9 new)
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| Sec. 3-6-9. Assistance in requesting review and | 15 |
| modification of support orders. The Department shall develop | 16 |
| and establish a program to assist committed persons who are | 17 |
| obligors under support orders in cases in which child support | 18 |
| enforcement services are being provided by the Department of | 19 |
| Healthcare and Family Services under Article X of the Illinois | 20 |
| Public Aid Code in requesting review and modification of such | 21 |
| support orders as provided for under that Code. The Department | 22 |
| shall enter into a cooperative agreement with the Department of | 23 |
| Healthcare and Family Services to facilitate transmittal of | 24 |
| such requests from committed persons. |
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