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(20 ILCS 4104/5)
Sec. 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds the following: (1) In 1994 the African-American Family Commission |
| was created by Executive Order to assist the Department of Children and Family Services in developing and implementing programs and public policies that affect the State's child welfare system.
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(2) However, in 2004 the Commission was renamed and
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| its role expanded to focus on the development of services and programs that aim to strengthen and preserve the social and economic well-being of African-American families.
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(3) This holistic approach to strengthening
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| African-American families and communities, though necessary, has yet to adequately address the disproportionate number of African-American children in foster care.
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(4) According to a 2017 fact sheet published by Child
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| Trends, in 2015 African-American children represented 50% of Illinois' foster care population even though they only make up 15% of the State's general child population.
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(5) In contrast, white children represented 38% of
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| the foster care population in 2015 even though they make up 52% of the State's general child population.
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(6) Hispanic children are underrepresented in
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| Illinois' foster care system as they only accounted for 9% of the foster care population in 2015 despite making up 24% of the general child population.
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(7) Unfortunately, the disproportionate number of
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| African-American children in foster care is a national dilemma.
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(8) According to an April 13, 2020 report published
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| by the Annie E. Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT Data Center, even though "the share of children who are black and in foster care remains much smaller than it was nearly a decade ago . . . black children are still overrepresented among youth in foster care relative to the general population" as they account for 23% of all kids in foster care even though they only represent 14% of the total child population in the United States.
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(9) In light of these grim statistics, the General
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| Assembly finds the need for a separate advisory commission that is exclusively focused on identifying those causes and factors that contribute to the overrepresentation of African-American children in Illinois' foster care system and the policy measures needed to safely reduce the number of African-American children in foster care and keep them with their families.
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(Source: P.A. 102-470, eff. 8-20-21.)
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