(20 ILCS 505/4a) (from Ch. 23, par. 5004a)
Sec. 4a.
(a) To administer child abuse prevention shelters and service
programs for abused and neglected children, or provide for their administration
by not-for-profit corporations, community-based organizations or units of
local government.
The Department is hereby designated the single State agency for
planning and coordination of child abuse and neglect prevention programs
and services. On or before the first Friday in October of each year, the
Department shall submit to the Governor and the General Assembly a State
comprehensive child abuse and neglect prevention plan. The plan shall:
identify priorities, goals and objectives; identify the resources necessary
to implement the plan, including estimates of resources needed to
investigate or otherwise process reports of suspected child abuse or
neglect and to provide necessary follow-up services for child protection,
family preservation and family reunification in "indicated" cases as
determined under the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act; make
proposals for the most effective use of existing resources to implement the
plan, including recommendations for the optimum use of private, local
public, State and federal resources; and propose strategies for the
development of additional resources to meet the goal of reducing the
incidence of child abuse and neglect and reducing the number of
reports of suspected child abuse and neglect made to the Department.
(b) The administration of child abuse prevention, shelters and service
programs under subsection (a) shall be funded in part by
appropriations made from the Child Abuse Prevention Fund, which is hereby
created in the State Treasury, and in part by appropriations from the
General Revenue Fund. All interest earned on monies in the Child Abuse
Prevention Fund shall remain in such fund. The Department and the State
Treasurer may accept funds as provided by Sections 507 and 508 of the
Illinois Income Tax Act and unsolicited private donations for deposit into
the Child Abuse Prevention Fund. Annual requests for appropriations for the
purpose of providing child abuse and neglect prevention programs and
services under this Section shall be made in separate and distinct
line-items. In setting priorities for the direction and
scope of such programs, the Director shall be advised by the State-wide
Citizen's Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect.
(c) Where the Department contracts with outside agencies to operate the
shelters or programs, such outside agencies may receive funding from the
Department, except that the shelters must certify a 20% financial match
for operating expenses of their programs. In
selecting the outside agencies to administer child shelters and service
programs, and in allocating funds for such agencies, the Department shall
give priority to new and existing shelters or programs offering the
broadest range of services to the community served.
(d) The Department shall have the power to make grants of monies to fund
comprehensive community-based services to reduce the incidence of family
dysfunction typified by child abuse and neglect; to diminish those
factors found to increase family dysfunction; and to measure the effectiveness
and costs of such services.
(e) For implementing such intergovernmental cooperation and
involvement, units of local government and public and private agencies may
apply for and receive federal or State funds from the Department under this
Act or seek and receive gifts from local philanthropic or other private
local sources in order to augment any State funds appropriated for the
purposes of this Act.
(e-5) The Department may establish and maintain locally held funds to be individually known as the Youth in Care Support Fund. Moneys in these funds shall be used for purchases for the immediate needs of youth in care or for the immediate support needs of youth, families, and caregivers served by the Department. Moneys paid into funds shall be from appropriations made to the DCFS Children's Services Fund. Funds remaining in any Youth in Care Support Fund must be returned to the DCFS Children's Services Fund upon dissolution. Any warrant for payment to a vendor for the same product or service for a youth in care shall be payable to the Department to reimburse the immediate payment from the Youth in Care Support Fund. (f) For the purposes of this Section:
(1) The terms "abused child" and "neglected child" |