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91_HB1023
LRB9104943DJcd
1 AN ACT to amend the Department of Human Services Act by
2 adding Article 15.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Department of Human Services Act is
6 amended by adding Article 15 as follows:
7 (20 ILCS 1305/Art. 15 heading new)
8 ARTICLE 15. RURAL HUMAN SERVICES NETWORKING PROGRAM
9 (20 ILCS 1305/15-5 new)
10 Sec. 15-5. Legislative findings. The General Assembly
11 finds as follows:
12 (1) In rural areas there is a necessity to promote
13 different approaches to human services delivery if
14 programs are to properly address diverse community and
15 individual needs and such unique rural conditions as low
16 population density, a large proportion of elderly
17 persons, the absence of economics of scale, geographic
18 isolation, inadequate transportation, fluctuating service
19 demands, and general lack of suitable alternatives for
20 service delivery.
21 (2) The human services delivery system in rural
22 areas is often fragmented, consisting of isolated
23 providers with limited financial resources and limited
24 information-sharing networks. Many such providers are
25 currently providing identical or similar services to the
26 same clientele in the same area, often without being
27 aware of a possible duplication of effort.
28 (3) A full range of coordinated and integrated
29 human services is vital to the health and well-being of
30 residents of rural areas of the State who are or may in
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1 the future be confronted with such intense social
2 problems as domestic violence, teenage pregnancy, migrant
3 health problems, nutritional deficiencies, suicide,
4 hunger, unemployment, lack of suitable shelter, crime,
5 drug and alcohol abuse, and poverty.
6 (4) A proper response to intense social problems in
7 some rural areas would be to encourage greater sharing of
8 information and resources among human services providers
9 in those rural areas, thereby enhancing the
10 cost-effectiveness and delivery of services required to
11 address those social problems. These cooperative
12 undertakings could be accomplished if a program of
13 financial incentives and State-level technical assistance
14 were made available to encourage providers in rural areas
15 to embark upon these cooperative arrangements and
16 networking of the services they provide.
17 (20 ILCS 1305/15-10 new)
18 Sec. 15-10. In this Article 15:
19 "Advisory committee" means the committee created under
20 Section 15-15.
21 "Human service" means any service that is provided to
22 individuals or groups of individuals for the purpose of
23 improving or enhancing those individuals' health or welfare
24 and that addresses one or more social problems, including but
25 not limited to the following: domestic violence, child
26 abuse, crime, drug and alcohol abuse, suicide, teenage
27 pregnancy, nutritional deficiencies, migrant health problems,
28 unemployment, lack of suitable shelter, hunger, and poverty.
29 "Human services provider" means any public or
30 not-for-profit private entity that uses public or private
31 funds or both public and private funds to provide or to
32 contract for the provision of human services for the benefit
33 of the general public or specific client groups.
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1 "Rural area" means any of the following:
2 (1) An unincorporated area located in a county
3 having not more than 350,000 inhabitants.
4 (2) A municipality having not more than 20,000
5 inhabitants, but not a municipality that is contiguous to
6 a municipality having more than 20,000 inhabitants.
7 (20 ILCS 1305/15-15 new)
8 Sec. 15-15. Advisory committee.
9 (a) The Rural Human Services Networking Advisory
10 Committee is created to assist the Secretary in carrying out
11 the provisions of this Article. The advisory committee shall
12 consist of the following members or their designees: the
13 Director of Aging, the Director of Children and Family
14 Services, the Director of Public Health, a representative of
15 the Department of Human Services whose duties pertain to the
16 Department's mental health and developmental disabilities
17 functions, and the head of the Office of Rural Community
18 Development within the Department of Commerce and Community
19 Affairs. The Secretary or the Secretary's designee shall
20 serve as the chair of the advisory committee. The Secretary
21 may invite the head of any other department of State
22 government or a representative of any other rural human
23 services provider or consumer, or their designees, to serve
24 as ex officio members of the advisory committee. The
25 Secretary shall take all actions necessary or appropriate to
26 promote the efficient and effective operation of the advisory
27 committee.
28 (b) The advisory committee shall do the following:
29 (1) Review and recommend to the Secretary
30 guidelines for the operation of the rural human services
31 networking program created under Section 15-20.
32 (2) Recommend to the Secretary changes in statutes
33 or rules necessary to accomplish the purposes of this
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1 Article 15.
2 (3) Assist the Department in evaluating the rural
3 human services networking program and in evaluating
4 individual pilot projects under that program.
5 (4) Assist the Secretary in developing interim and
6 final reports in accordance with Section 15-60.
7 (5) Assist the the Secretary in determining which
8 rural areas shall receive priority consideration in
9 selecting pilot project sites in accordance with Section
10 15-35.
11 (20 ILCS 1305/15-20 new)
12 Sec. 15-20. Program established. The Secretary shall
13 establish within the Department a rural human services
14 networking program for the purpose of assisting human
15 services providers in rural areas who seek to participate in
16 the program and to develop pilot projects to address intense
17 social problems through the creation of contracts or joint or
18 cooperative agreements between those providers. These pilot
19 projects shall capitalize on the strength of existing human
20 services providers by promoting the sharing of resources and
21 service delivery in rural areas with the goal of reducing the
22 total cost of those services to both consumers and providers
23 of the services while increasing the availability and
24 accessibility of human services in rural areas. The pilot
25 projects shall also serve to identify methods of overcoming
26 impediments to the joint provision of integrated and
27 cost-effective human services in rural areas.
28 (20 ILCS 1305/15-25 new)
29 Sec. 15-25. Notice of program. Within 120 days after
30 the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 91st General
31 Assembly and with the advice and guidance of the advisory
32 committee, the Secretary shall give public notice of the
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1 existence of the rural human services networking program and
2 of the availability of competitive grants to human services
3 providers who are interested in undertaking pilot projects
4 pursuant to this Article 15. In connection with the notice,
5 the Secretary shall distribute information on the program and
6 shall distribute grant application forms and procedures to
7 eligible human services providers.
8 (20 ILCS 1305/15-30 new)
9 Sec. 15-30. Pilot project grants.
10 (a) In order to implement the rural human services
11 networking program, the Secretary shall provide grants to
12 eligible human services provider applicants. The grants
13 shall be awarded on a competitive basis and subject to
14 amounts appropriated for that purpose. The Secretary may not
15 award a grant unless the application for the grant has been
16 reviewed by the department or departments of State government
17 that license or certify the applicants under State law. In
18 determining whether to award a grant, the Secretary shall
19 consider all comments on the application that are made by the
20 licensing or certifying department or departments.
21 (b) To be eligible for a grant under this Article 15, an
22 application must be submitted to the Secretary on behalf of 2
23 or more local or regional human services providers who intend
24 to implement a pilot project in a rural area pursuant to a
25 contract or a joint or cooperative agreement. Applications
26 for grants must be submitted on the forms and at the times
27 prescribed by the Secretary.
28 (c) If the Secretary determines that an application for
29 a grant is complete when submitted, the Secretary shall
30 approve or disapprove the application within 90 days after it
31 is received by the Secretary. If the Secretary initially
32 determines that an application is incomplete, or if the
33 applicant requests a waiver of any rule in order to implement
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1 the proposed pilot project, the Secretary shall approve or
2 disapprove the application within 90 days after the Secretary
3 determines that the application is complete or after the
4 Secretary makes a determination to approve or deny the waiver
5 request.
6 (20 ILCS 1305/15-35 new)
7 Sec. 15-35. Matters to be considered in awarding grants.
8 The Secretary, with the advice and guidance of the advisory
9 committee, shall determine the most sparsely populated rural
10 areas in the State. In determining whether to approve an
11 application and award a grant under this Article 15, the
12 Secretary shall give priority consideration to applications
13 received from human services providers who intend to
14 implement pilot projects in those rural areas. In addition,
15 the Secretary shall consider matters that include, but are
16 not limited to, the following:
17 (1) A description of the proposed pilot project and
18 its specific objective, including a demonstrated
19 awareness of the level of human services currently being
20 provided in the service area.
21 (2) The degree to which the proposed pilot project
22 will meet local or regional human services needs.
23 (3) The applicants' demonstrated ability to
24 undertake the proposed pilot project.
25 (4) The contribution that the proposed pilot
26 project will make toward identifying and developing
27 innovative delivery systems.
28 (5) The degree to which the proposed pilot project
29 will enhance the delivery or improve the availability and
30 accessibility of human services with respect to the full
31 continuum of human services needs.
32 (6) The degree to which the proposed pilot project
33 will foster and improve continuity of care.
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1 (7) The degree to which the proposed pilot project
2 will enhance cost efficiency and access to human services
3 by populations that need those services.
4 (8) The degree to which the proposed pilot project
5 will foster information sharing, communication, and
6 cooperation between human services providers and
7 consumers.
8 (9) The degree to which the proposed pilot project
9 will address economies of scale in both the supply of and
10 the demand for human services.
11 (10) The demonstrated level of commitment and
12 support for the proposed pilot project expressed by the
13 community, local governmental bodies, and other local or
14 regional human services providers.
15 (11) The impact that the proposed pilot project
16 will have on State agencies that provide human services
17 or moneys for human services programs in the rural area,
18 as determined by the Secretary after consulting with
19 those State agencies.
20 (12) Whether implementation of the proposed pilot
21 project will result in any potential decrease in moneys
22 or State or federal aid, including but not limited to
23 reimbursements under Article V of the Illinois Public Aid
24 Code, received by human services providers, and the
25 actions that will be taken by the applicants and by the
26 Secretary to ensure that current levels of funding and
27 aid are continued.
28 (20 ILCS 1305/15-40 new)
29 Sec. 15-40. Preliminary plans. The Secretary or the
30 Secretary's authorized representative may meet with
31 representatives of grant applicants to informally discuss
32 preliminary and informal plans for a proposed pilot project.
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1 (20 ILCS 1305/15-45 new)
2 Sec. 15-45. Grant amounts; use; grantee reports.
3 (a) The Secretary shall approve a pilot project under
4 this Article 15 for a period of time not exceeding 3 years.
5 (b) Subject to amounts appropriated for that purpose,
6 the Secretary shall award pilot project grants under this
7 Article 15 in amounts of not less than $10,000 nor more than
8 $50,000 to any pilot project in any calendar year. Subject
9 to amounts appropriated for the purpose, the Secretary may
10 annually renew a grant, but a grantee may not receive a grant
11 for more than 3 consecutive years. The amount of a grant
12 awarded for a second or third year may be the same as the
13 amount awarded for the first year or may be a lesser amount
14 but in any event shall be determined in accordance with the
15 nature of the pilot project and the number of human services
16 providers and consumers involved in the pilot project.
17 (c) If the Secretary determines that a grantee is using
18 grant moneys awarded under this Article 15 for purposes that
19 do not conform with the purposes of this Article, the
20 Secretary may withdraw approval of the grantee's pilot
21 project and require that the grantee repay all or a part of
22 the grant amount to the State.
23 (d) Each grantee under this Article 15 shall submit to
24 the Secretary reports concerning the grantee's pilot project.
25 The Secretary shall prescribe the matters to be reported, the
26 times for submitting the reports, and the manner in which the
27 reports are to be submitted.
28 (20 ILCS 1305/15-50 new)
29 Sec. 15-50. Waiver of rules.
30 (a) For the purpose of promoting innovative approaches
31 and maximum effectiveness in utilizing State and local
32 moneys, and notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
33 Secretary may waive any rule of the Department that may
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1 impede the successful implementation and testing of a pilot
2 project. The Secretary may not waive a rule, however, unless
3 the Secretary finds that the general welfare of the people
4 receiving human services will not be impaired by the waiver.
5 (b) The Secretary shall consult with appropriate
6 federal, State, and local officials in an effort to secure
7 their cooperation in coordinating related programs and in
8 seeking the waiver of administrative rules as necessary to
9 ensure the effective operation of pilot projects.
10 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, at the request of
11 the Secretary on behalf of an applicant for a grant under
12 this Article 15, the head of any other department of State
13 government may waive any applicable rule of that department
14 that may impede the successful implementation of a pilot
15 project, provided that the Secretary finds that the general
16 welfare of the people receiving human services will not be
17 impaired by the waiver.
18 (20 ILCS 1305/15-55 new)
19 Sec. 15-55. Technical assistance to implement project.
20 Upon the request of an applicant for a grant under this
21 Article 15, the Secretary or the Secretary's authorized
22 representative may provide to the applicant any technical
23 services or assistance that the Department possesses or that
24 is available to the Department in order to enable the
25 applicant to implement the pilot project and the terms of the
26 contract or joint or cooperative agreement upon which the
27 pilot project is based.
28 (20 ILCS 1305/15-60 new)
29 Sec. 15-60. Reports.
30 (a) The Secretary, in conjunction with the advisory
31 committee, shall prepare an interim report within 30 months
32 after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 91st
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1 General Assembly. The interim report shall include a review
2 of each pilot project approved for a grant under this Article
3 15.
4 (b) The Secretary, in conjunction with the advisory
5 committee, shall prepare a final report within 60 months
6 after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 91st
7 General Assembly. The final report shall contain a
8 description of each pilot project approved for a grant under
9 this Article 15 and the effect of each pilot project on the
10 cost, delivery, and accessibility of human services in the
11 rural area served by the pilot project. The final report
12 shall describe the effect of each pilot project on existing
13 providers and consumers of human services in the rural area
14 served by the pilot project and shall describe the pilot
15 project's effect on each community served. The final report
16 shall identify laws or administrative rules that, in the
17 opinion of the Secretary or the advisory committee, should be
18 amended or repealed in order to make it possible to properly
19 and efficiently implement similar projects or programs in
20 other rural areas of the State.
21 (c) The Secretary shall distribute copies of the interim
22 and final reports to the Governor, the General Assembly, and
23 each human services provider participating in the pilot
24 projects.
25 (20 ILCS 1305/15-65 new)
26 Sec. 15-65. No diminution of other funding. For the
27 duration of the period of a grant under this Article 15,
28 other funding to which a local or regional human services
29 provider would be entitled by law if it were not
30 participating in an approved pilot project may not be denied
31 or diminished solely because the provider elects to
32 participate in the pilot project. Notwithstanding any other
33 provision of law, that other funding shall continue to be
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1 allocated in the same manner and in the same amount as if the
2 human services provider were not participating in the pilot
3 project.
4 (20 ILCS 1305/15-70 new)
5 Sec. 15-70. This Article 15 is repealed 5 years after
6 the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 91st General
7 Assembly.