Full Text of HB4252 95th General Assembly
HB4252enr 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning children.
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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 Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act is | 5 |
| amended by changing Sections 4, 7.4, and 9 as follows:
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| (325 ILCS 5/4) (from Ch. 23, par. 2054)
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| Sec. 4. Persons required to report; privileged | 8 |
| communications;
transmitting false report. Any physician, | 9 |
| resident, intern, hospital,
hospital administrator
and | 10 |
| personnel engaged in examination, care and treatment of | 11 |
| persons, surgeon,
dentist, dentist hygienist, osteopath, | 12 |
| chiropractor, podiatrist, physician
assistant, substance abuse | 13 |
| treatment personnel, funeral home
director or employee, | 14 |
| coroner, medical examiner, emergency medical technician,
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| acupuncturist, crisis line or hotline personnel, school | 16 |
| personnel (including administrators and both certified and | 17 |
| non-certified school employees), educational
advocate assigned | 18 |
| to a child pursuant to the School Code, member of a school | 19 |
| board or the Chicago Board of Education or the governing body | 20 |
| of a private school (but only to the extent required in | 21 |
| accordance with other provisions of this Section expressly | 22 |
| concerning the duty of school board members to report suspected | 23 |
| child abuse), truant officers,
social worker, social services |
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| administrator,
domestic violence program personnel, registered | 2 |
| nurse, licensed
practical nurse, genetic counselor,
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| respiratory care practitioner, advanced practice nurse, home
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| health aide, director or staff
assistant of a nursery school or | 5 |
| a child day care center, recreational program
or facility | 6 |
| personnel, law enforcement officer, licensed professional
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| counselor, licensed clinical professional counselor, | 8 |
| registered psychologist
and
assistants working under the | 9 |
| direct supervision of a psychologist,
psychiatrist, or field | 10 |
| personnel of the Department of Healthcare and Family Services,
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| Juvenile Justice, Public Health, Human Services (acting as | 12 |
| successor to the Department of Mental
Health and Developmental | 13 |
| Disabilities, Rehabilitation Services, or Public Aid),
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| Corrections, Human Rights, or Children and Family Services, | 15 |
| supervisor and
administrator of general assistance under the | 16 |
| Illinois Public Aid Code,
probation officer, or any other | 17 |
| foster parent, homemaker or child care worker
having reasonable | 18 |
| cause to believe a child known to them in their professional
or | 19 |
| official capacity may be an abused child or a neglected child | 20 |
| shall
immediately report or cause a report to be made to the | 21 |
| Department.
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| Any member of the clergy having reasonable cause to believe | 23 |
| that a child
known to that member of the clergy in his or her | 24 |
| professional capacity may be
an abused child as defined in item | 25 |
| (c) of the definition of "abused child" in
Section 3 of this | 26 |
| Act shall immediately report or cause a report to be made to
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| the Department.
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| If an allegation is raised to a school board member during | 3 |
| the course of an open or closed school board meeting that a | 4 |
| child who is enrolled in the school district of which he or she | 5 |
| is a board member is an abused child as defined in Section 3 of | 6 |
| this Act, the member shall direct or cause the school board to | 7 |
| direct the superintendent of the school district or other | 8 |
| equivalent school administrator to comply with the | 9 |
| requirements of this Act concerning the reporting of child | 10 |
| abuse. For purposes of this paragraph, a school board member is | 11 |
| granted the authority in his or her individual capacity to | 12 |
| direct the superintendent of the school district or other | 13 |
| equivalent school administrator to comply with the | 14 |
| requirements of this Act concerning the reporting of child | 15 |
| abuse.
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| Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, if an | 17 |
| employee of a school district has made a report or caused a | 18 |
| report to be made to the Department under this Act involving | 19 |
| the conduct of a current or former employee of the school | 20 |
| district and a request is made by another school district for | 21 |
| the provision of information concerning the job performance or | 22 |
| qualifications of the current or former employee because he or | 23 |
| she is an applicant for employment with the requesting school | 24 |
| district, the general superintendent of the school district to | 25 |
| which the request is being made must disclose to the requesting | 26 |
| school district the fact that an employee of the school |
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| district has made a report involving the conduct of the | 2 |
| applicant or caused a report to be made to the Department, as | 3 |
| required under this Act. Only the fact that an employee of the | 4 |
| school district has made a report involving the conduct of the | 5 |
| applicant or caused a report to be made to the Department may | 6 |
| be disclosed by the general superintendent of the school | 7 |
| district to which the request for information concerning the | 8 |
| applicant is made, and this fact may be disclosed only in cases | 9 |
| where the employee and the general superintendent have not been | 10 |
| informed by the Department that the allegations were unfounded. | 11 |
| An employee of a school district who is or has been the subject | 12 |
| of a report made pursuant to this Act during his or her | 13 |
| employment with the school district must be informed by that | 14 |
| school district that if he or she applies for employment with | 15 |
| another school district, the general superintendent of the | 16 |
| former school district, upon the request of the school district | 17 |
| to which the employee applies, shall notify that requesting | 18 |
| school district that the employee is or was the subject of such | 19 |
| a report.
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| Whenever
such person is required to report under this Act | 21 |
| in his capacity as a member of
the staff of a medical or other | 22 |
| public or private institution, school, facility
or agency, or | 23 |
| as a member of the clergy, he shall
make report immediately to | 24 |
| the Department in accordance
with the provisions of this Act | 25 |
| and may also notify the person in charge of
such institution, | 26 |
| school, facility or agency, or church, synagogue, temple,
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| mosque, or other religious institution, or his
designated agent | 2 |
| that such
report has been made. Under no circumstances shall | 3 |
| any person in charge of
such institution, school, facility or | 4 |
| agency, or church, synagogue, temple,
mosque, or other | 5 |
| religious institution, or his
designated agent to whom
such | 6 |
| notification has been made, exercise any control, restraint, | 7 |
| modification
or other change in the report or the forwarding of | 8 |
| such report to the
Department.
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| The privileged quality of communication between any | 10 |
| professional
person required to report
and his patient or | 11 |
| client shall not apply to situations involving abused or
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| neglected children and shall not constitute grounds for failure | 13 |
| to report
as required by this Act.
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| A member of the clergy may claim the privilege under | 15 |
| Section 8-803 of the
Code of Civil Procedure.
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| In addition to the above persons required to
report | 17 |
| suspected cases of abused or neglected children, any other | 18 |
| person
may make a report if such person has reasonable cause to | 19 |
| believe a child
may be an abused child or a neglected child.
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| Any person who enters into
employment on and after July 1, | 21 |
| 1986 and is mandated by virtue of that
employment to report | 22 |
| under this Act, shall sign a statement on a form
prescribed by | 23 |
| the Department, to the effect that the employee has knowledge
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| and understanding of the reporting requirements of this Act. | 25 |
| The statement
shall be signed prior to commencement of the | 26 |
| employment. The signed
statement shall be retained by the |
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| employer. The cost of printing,
distribution, and filing of the | 2 |
| statement shall be borne by the employer.
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| The Department shall provide copies of this Act, upon | 4 |
| request, to all
employers employing persons who shall be | 5 |
| required under the provisions of
this Section to report under | 6 |
| this Act.
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| Any person who knowingly transmits a false report to the | 8 |
| Department
commits the offense of disorderly conduct under | 9 |
| subsection (a)(7) of
Section 26-1 of the "Criminal Code of | 10 |
| 1961". Any person who violates this
provision a second or | 11 |
| subsequent time shall be guilty of a Class 3
felony.
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| Any person who knowingly and willfully violates any | 13 |
| provision of this
Section other than a second or subsequent | 14 |
| violation of transmitting a
false report as described in the
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| preceding paragraph, is guilty of a
Class A misdemeanor for
a | 16 |
| first violation and a Class
4 felony for a
second or subsequent | 17 |
| violation; except that if the person acted as part
of a plan or | 18 |
| scheme having as its object the
prevention of discovery of an | 19 |
| abused or neglected child by lawful authorities
for the
purpose | 20 |
| of protecting or insulating any person or entity from arrest or
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| prosecution, the
person is guilty of a Class 4 felony for a | 22 |
| first offense and a Class 3 felony
for a second or
subsequent | 23 |
| offense (regardless of whether the second or subsequent offense
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| involves any
of the same facts or persons as the first or other | 25 |
| prior offense).
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| A child whose parent, guardian or custodian in good faith |
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| selects and depends
upon spiritual means through prayer alone | 2 |
| for the treatment or cure of
disease or remedial care may be | 3 |
| considered neglected or abused, but not for
the sole reason | 4 |
| that his parent, guardian or custodian accepts and
practices | 5 |
| such beliefs.
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| A child shall not be considered neglected or abused solely | 7 |
| because the
child is not attending school in accordance with | 8 |
| the requirements of
Article 26 of the School Code, as amended.
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| (Source: P.A. 94-888, eff. 6-20-06; 95-10, eff. 6-30-07; | 10 |
| 95-461, eff. 8-27-07; revised 11-15-07.)
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| (325 ILCS 5/7.4) (from Ch. 23, par. 2057.4)
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| Sec. 7.4. (a) The Department shall be capable of receiving | 13 |
| reports of
suspected child abuse or neglect 24 hours a day, 7 | 14 |
| days a week. Whenever
the Department receives a report alleging | 15 |
| that a child is a
truant as defined in Section 26-2a of The | 16 |
| School Code, as now or hereafter
amended, the Department shall | 17 |
| notify the superintendent of the school
district in which the | 18 |
| child resides and the appropriate superintendent of
the | 19 |
| educational service region. The notification to the | 20 |
| appropriate
officials by the Department shall not be considered | 21 |
| an allegation of abuse
or neglect under this Act.
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| (b) (1) The following procedures shall be followed in the | 23 |
| investigation
of all reports of suspected abuse or neglect | 24 |
| of a child, except as provided
in subsection (c) of this | 25 |
| Section.
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| (2) If it appears that the immediate safety or | 2 |
| well-being of a child is
endangered, that the family may | 3 |
| flee or the child disappear, or that the
facts otherwise so | 4 |
| warrant, the Child Protective Service Unit shall
commence | 5 |
| an investigation immediately, regardless of the time of day | 6 |
| or
night. In all other cases, investigation shall be | 7 |
| commenced within 24
hours of receipt of the report. Upon | 8 |
| receipt of a report, the Child
Protective Service Unit | 9 |
| shall make an initial investigation and an initial
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| determination whether the report is a good faith indication | 11 |
| of alleged
child abuse or neglect.
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| (3) If the Unit determines the report is a good faith
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| indication of alleged child abuse or neglect, then a formal | 14 |
| investigation
shall commence and, pursuant to Section 7.12 | 15 |
| of this Act, may or may not
result in an indicated report. | 16 |
| The formal investigation shall include:
direct contact | 17 |
| with the subject or subjects of the report as soon as
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| possible after the report is received; an
evaluation of the | 19 |
| environment of the child named in the report and any other
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| children in the same environment; a determination of the | 21 |
| risk to such
children if they continue to remain in the | 22 |
| existing environments, as well
as a determination of the | 23 |
| nature, extent and cause of any condition
enumerated in | 24 |
| such report; the name, age and condition of other children | 25 |
| in
the environment; and an evaluation as to whether there | 26 |
| would be an
immediate and urgent necessity to remove the |
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| child from the environment if
appropriate family | 2 |
| preservation services were provided. After seeing to
the | 3 |
| safety of the child or children, the Department shall
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| forthwith notify the subjects of the report in writing, of | 5 |
| the existence
of the report and their rights existing under | 6 |
| this Act in regard to amendment
or expungement. To fulfill | 7 |
| the requirements of this Section, the Child
Protective | 8 |
| Service Unit shall have the capability of providing or | 9 |
| arranging
for comprehensive emergency services to children | 10 |
| and families at all times
of the day or night.
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| (4) If (i) at the conclusion of the Unit's initial | 12 |
| investigation of a
report, the Unit determines the report | 13 |
| to be a good faith indication of
alleged child abuse or | 14 |
| neglect that warrants a formal investigation by
the Unit, | 15 |
| the Department, any law enforcement agency or any other
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| responsible agency and (ii) the person who is alleged to | 17 |
| have caused the
abuse or neglect is employed or otherwise | 18 |
| engaged in an activity resulting
in frequent contact with | 19 |
| children and the alleged abuse or neglect are in
the course | 20 |
| of such employment or activity, then the Department shall,
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| except in investigations where the Director determines | 22 |
| that such
notification would be detrimental to the | 23 |
| Department's investigation, inform
the appropriate | 24 |
| supervisor or administrator of that employment or activity
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| that the Unit has commenced a formal investigation pursuant | 26 |
| to this Act,
which may or may not result in an indicated |
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| report. The Department shall also
notify the person being | 2 |
| investigated, unless the Director determines that
such | 3 |
| notification would be detrimental to the Department's | 4 |
| investigation.
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| (c) In an investigation of a report of suspected abuse or | 6 |
| neglect of
a child by a school employee at a school or on | 7 |
| school grounds, the
Department shall make reasonable efforts to | 8 |
| follow the following procedures:
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| (1) Investigations involving teachers shall not, to | 10 |
| the extent possible,
be conducted when the teacher is | 11 |
| scheduled to conduct classes.
Investigations involving | 12 |
| other school employees shall be conducted so as to
minimize | 13 |
| disruption of the school day. The school employee accused | 14 |
| of
child abuse or neglect may have his superior, his | 15 |
| association or union
representative and his attorney | 16 |
| present at any interview or meeting at
which the teacher or | 17 |
| administrator is present. The accused school employee
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| shall be informed by a representative of the Department, at | 19 |
| any
interview or meeting, of the accused school employee's | 20 |
| due process rights
and of the steps in the investigation | 21 |
| process.
The information shall include, but need not | 22 |
| necessarily be limited to the
right, subject to the | 23 |
| approval of the Department, of the school employee to
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| confront the accuser, if the accuser is 14 years of age or | 25 |
| older, or the
right to review the specific allegations | 26 |
| which gave rise to the
investigation, and the right to |
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| review all materials and evidence that have
been submitted | 2 |
| to the Department in support of the allegation. These due
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| process rights shall also include the right of the school | 4 |
| employee to
present countervailing evidence regarding the | 5 |
| accusations.
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| (2) If a report of neglect or abuse of a child by a | 7 |
| teacher or
administrator does not involve allegations of | 8 |
| sexual abuse or extreme
physical abuse, the Child | 9 |
| Protective Service Unit shall make reasonable
efforts to | 10 |
| conduct the initial investigation in coordination with the
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| employee's supervisor.
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| If the Unit determines that the report is a good faith | 13 |
| indication of
potential child abuse or neglect, it shall | 14 |
| then commence a formal
investigation under paragraph (3) of | 15 |
| subsection (b) of this Section.
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| (3) If a report of neglect or abuse of a child by a | 17 |
| teacher or
administrator involves an allegation of sexual | 18 |
| abuse or extreme physical
abuse, the Child Protective Unit | 19 |
| shall commence an investigation under
paragraph (2) of | 20 |
| subsection (b) of this Section.
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| (c-5) In any instance in which a report is made or caused | 22 |
| to made by a school district employee involving the conduct of | 23 |
| a person employed by the school district, at the time the | 24 |
| report was made, as required under Section 4 of this Act, the | 25 |
| Child Protective Service Unit shall send a copy of its final | 26 |
| finding report to the general superintendent of that school |
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| district.
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| (d) If the Department has contact with an employer, or with | 3 |
| a religious
institution or religious official having | 4 |
| supervisory or hierarchical authority
over a member of the | 5 |
| clergy accused of the abuse of a child,
in the course of its
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| investigation, the Department shall notify the employer or the | 7 |
| religious
institution or religious official, in writing, when a
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| report is unfounded so that any record of the investigation can | 9 |
| be expunged
from the employee's or member of the clergy's | 10 |
| personnel or other
records. The Department shall also notify
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| the employee or the member of the clergy, in writing, that | 12 |
| notification
has been sent to the employer or to the | 13 |
| appropriate religious institution or
religious official
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| informing the employer or religious institution or religious | 15 |
| official that
the
Department's investigation has resulted in
an | 16 |
| unfounded report.
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| (e) Upon request by the Department, the
Department of State | 18 |
| Police and law enforcement agencies are
authorized to provide | 19 |
| criminal history record information
as defined in the Illinois | 20 |
| Uniform Conviction Information Act and information
maintained | 21 |
| in
the adjudicatory and dispositional record system as defined | 22 |
| in Section
2605-355 of the Department of State Police Law (20 | 23 |
| ILCS
2605/2605-355) to properly
designated
employees of the
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| Department of Children
and Family Services if the Department | 25 |
| determines the information is
necessary to perform its duties | 26 |
| under the Abused and
Neglected Child Reporting Act, the Child |
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| Care Act of 1969, and the Children and
Family Services Act. The
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| request shall be in the form and manner required
by
the | 3 |
| Department of State Police. Any information obtained by the | 4 |
| Department of
Children
and Family Services under this Section | 5 |
| is
confidential and may not be transmitted outside the | 6 |
| Department of Children
and Family Services other than to a | 7 |
| court of competent jurisdiction or unless
otherwise authorized | 8 |
| by law.
Any employee of the Department of Children and Family | 9 |
| Services who transmits
confidential information in
violation | 10 |
| of this
Section or causes the information to be
transmitted in | 11 |
| violation of this Section is guilty of a Class A
misdemeanor | 12 |
| unless the transmittal of
the
information is
authorized by this | 13 |
| Section or otherwise authorized by law.
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| (Source: P.A. 91-239, eff. 1-1-00; 92-801, eff. 8-16-02.)
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| (325 ILCS 5/9) (from Ch. 23, par. 2059)
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| Sec. 9. Any person, institution or agency, under this Act, | 17 |
| participating
in good faith in the making of a report or | 18 |
| referral, or in the investigation of
such a report or referral | 19 |
| or in the taking of photographs and x-rays
or in the retaining | 20 |
| a child in temporary protective custody or in making a
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| disclosure of information concerning reports of child abuse and | 22 |
| neglect in
compliance with Sections 4.2 and 11.1 of this Act or | 23 |
| Section 4 of this Act, as it relates to disclosure by school | 24 |
| personnel and except in cases of wilful or wanton misconduct,
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| shall have immunity
from any liability, civil,
criminal or that |
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| otherwise might result by reason of such actions. For
the | 2 |
| purpose of any proceedings,
civil or criminal, the good faith | 3 |
| of any persons required to report or refer,
or permitted to | 4 |
| report,
cases of suspected child abuse or neglect or permitted | 5 |
| to refer
individuals under this Act or required to disclose | 6 |
| information concerning
reports of child abuse and neglect in | 7 |
| compliance with Sections 4.2 and 11.1
of this Act, shall be | 8 |
| presumed.
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| (Source: P.A. 90-15, eff. 6-13-97.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 11 |
| becoming law.
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INDEX
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|
Statutes amended in order of appearance
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| 325 ILCS 5/4 |
from Ch. 23, par. 2054 |
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| 325 ILCS 5/7.4 |
from Ch. 23, par. 2057.4 |
| 5 |
| 325 ILCS 5/9 |
from Ch. 23, par. 2059 |
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|