Full Text of HJR0075 94th General Assembly
HJ0075 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
|
|
|
HJ0075 |
|
LRB094 16969 RLC 52249 r |
|
| 1 |
| HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 |
| WHEREAS, The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice | 3 |
| Statistics, reported that 1,498,000 children had a parent in | 4 |
| prison in 1999, an increase of more than 500,000 since 1991; in | 5 |
| that study, 46% of the parents reported living with their | 6 |
| children prior to incarceration; the survey estimated that | 7 |
| 336,300 U.S. households with minor children are affected by the | 8 |
| imprisonment of a resident parent; and
| 9 |
| WHEREAS, As the new millennium advances, the plight of | 10 |
| children impacted by parental incarceration is among the most | 11 |
| pervasive problems challenging correction policymakers and | 12 |
| child welfare advocates; research results show that when a | 13 |
| parent is incarcerated, the lives of their children are | 14 |
| disrupted by separation from parents, severance from siblings, | 15 |
| and displacement to different caregivers, a large number placed | 16 |
| in foster care; and
| 17 |
| WHEREAS, About 80% of the roughly 2,800 women locked up in | 18 |
| Illinois are mothers; and
| 19 |
| WHEREAS, Studies show that the more contact parents have | 20 |
| with their children, the less likely they are to reenter the | 21 |
| penal system and the less likely their children are to be | 22 |
| involved in delinquent behaviors; and
| 23 |
| WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Children and Family | 24 |
| Services is responsible for the care and maintenance of | 25 |
| hundreds of children whose parents are incarcerated in Illinois | 26 |
| Department of Corrections facilities; and
| 27 |
| WHEREAS, The importance of parent/child visitation is | 28 |
| acknowledged by the Illinois Department of Children and Family | 29 |
| Services in its rules (89 Ill. Adm. Code 301.210(a)) which | 30 |
| provide: "The Department recognizes that there is a strong |
|
|
|
HJ0075 |
- 2 - |
LRB094 16969 RLC 52249 r |
|
| 1 |
| correlation between regular parental visits and contacts with a | 2 |
| child and the child's discharge from placement services"; and | 3 |
| WHEREAS, The locations of the State's penal facilities | 4 |
| often create logistical obstacles, preventing frequent | 5 |
| in-person contacts between these children and their | 6 |
| incarcerated parents, as a result, these children are often | 7 |
| restricted to 4 visits a year, or less, although State | 8 |
| officials recognize that more frequent contacts would be in the | 9 |
| children's best interests; and | 10 |
| WHEREAS, It would be in the best interests of many children | 11 |
| of incarcerated parents to be able to visit at least monthly | 12 |
| with their parents by way of video conferencing at the offices | 13 |
| of Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and the | 14 |
| child welfare agencies; and | 15 |
| WHEREAS, While video conferencing is not a substitute for | 16 |
| actual face to face visitation, when used as a tool to bridge | 17 |
| the distance and time until the next physical visit, it can be | 18 |
| extremely beneficial and will nurture parent-child | 19 |
| relationships, however, the availability of video-conferencing | 20 |
| should in no way reduce or limit the child's opportunity to | 21 |
| have in person visitation with the parent, but should | 22 |
| supplement that in person contact; and | 23 |
| WHEREAS, Through the use of high speed Internet services, | 24 |
| the costs related to video conferencing have been greatly | 25 |
| reduced; and | 26 |
| WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Corrections and the | 27 |
| Women's Treatment Center sponsor a program called "Parent and | 28 |
| Child Together" (PACT), a small video conferencing program | 29 |
| which allows about 100 incarcerated women at the Decatur | 30 |
| Correctional Center to "visit" with their children 180 miles | 31 |
| away in a networked Chicago office; and |
|
|
|
HJ0075 |
- 3 - |
LRB094 16969 RLC 52249 r |
|
| 1 |
| WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Corrections has | 2 |
| concluded that this program has been a success; therefore, be | 3 |
| it
| 4 |
| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 5 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 6 |
| SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Illinois Department of | 7 |
| Children and Family Services and the Illinois Department of | 8 |
| Corrections shall jointly prepare a report as to the costs and | 9 |
| feasibility of providing monthly video conferencing visitation | 10 |
| to appropriate children in State care, whose parents are | 11 |
| incarcerated in facilities of the Illinois Department of | 12 |
| Corrections, where there is a judicial finding that video | 13 |
| conference visitation, as supplement to in person visitation, | 14 |
| would be in the child's best interests; and be it further
| 15 |
| RESOLVED, That the Illinois Department of Children and | 16 |
| Family Services and the Illinois Department of Corrections | 17 |
| shall present the report to the General Assembly no later than | 18 |
| October 1, 2006; and be it further
| 19 |
| RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be sent to the | 20 |
| Director of Children and Family Services and the Director of | 21 |
| Corrections.
|
|