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91_HB3355
LRB9111808STsb
1 AN ACT to amend the Illinois Public Aid Code by changing
2 Section 12-4.11.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by
6 changing Section 12-4.11 as follows:
7 (305 ILCS 5/12-4.11) (from Ch. 23, par. 12-4.11)
8 Sec. 12-4.11. Grant amounts; studies.
9 (a) The Department, with due regard for and subject to
10 budgetary limitations, shall establish grant amounts for each
11 of the programs, by regulation. The grant amounts may vary
12 by program, size of assistance unit and geographic area.
13 Aid payments shall not be reduced except: (1) for changes
14 in the cost of items included in the grant amounts, or (2)
15 for changes in the expenses of the recipient, or (3) for
16 changes in the income or resources available to the
17 recipient, or (4) for changes in grants resulting from
18 adoption of a consolidated grant amount.
19 In fixing standards to govern payments or reimbursements
20 for funeral and burial expenses, the Department shall take
21 into account the services essential to a dignified, low-cost
22 funeral and burial, including reasonable amounts that may be
23 necessary for burial space and cemetery charges, and any
24 applicable taxes or other required governmental fees or
25 charges.
26 Nothing contained in this Section or in any other Section
27 of this Code shall be construed to prohibit the Illinois
28 Department (1) from consolidating existing standards on the
29 basis of any standards which are or were in effect on, or
30 subsequent to July 1, 1969, or (2) from employing any
31 consolidated standards in determining need for public aid and
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1 the amount of money payment or grant for individual
2 recipients or recipient families.
3 (b) The Department shall contract with one or more
4 universities or other established social research
5 organizations for periodic studies of the level of the
6 monthly cash assistance provided to families under Article IV
7 of this Code, the impact of that level on the well-being of
8 those families, and the accomplishment of the aims of the
9 program established under Article IV. Each study shall be
10 included in a report to the Governor and the General
11 Assembly, and that report shall also be made public. The
12 first study shall be conducted in the year 2000 and the
13 report shall be due on October 1, 2000. Subsequent studies
14 shall be conducted every 2 years and reports due on October 1
15 of even numbered years.
16 Each study shall include, at a minimum:
17 (1) the maximum grant levels for the family sizes,
18 family compositions, and geographic groupings in effect
19 at the time of the study, expressed in dollars and, after
20 including a reasonable average amount of food stamps
21 received by recipient families, as percentages of the
22 then-applicable federal poverty levels for the
23 corresponding family sizes;
24 (2) the levels of the maximum cash grants for the
25 family sizes, family compositions, and geographic
26 groupings under the Department's cash grant system if
27 they had kept pace with the Consumer Price Index since
28 1990;
29 (3) the levels of the maximum cash grants for the
30 family sizes, family compositions, and geographic
31 groupings under the Department's cash grant system if
32 they had kept pace with the Consumer Price Index since
33 the previous increase in monthly grant levels;
34 (4) the impact of the level of the monthly cash
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1 assistance on:
2 (A) the ability of recipient families to
3 engage in education or training and move into the
4 work force;
5 (B) the ability of recipient families to meet
6 subsistence needs for food, clothing, shelter,
7 utilities, and transportation;
8 (5) incidence among recipient families, and a
9 comparison of that with incidence among the general
10 public, of:
11 (A) evictions, homelessness, and overcrowding;
12 (B) utility shutoffs;
13 (C) hunger;
14 (D) use of emergency services such as shelters
15 and food pantries;
16 (E) transferring between schools, poor school
17 attendance, and dropping out of school;
18 (F) investigations for abuse or neglect, or
19 temporary or permanent state custody of children in
20 the recipient family by the Illinois child welfare
21 system.
22 The Family Self Sufficiency Advisory Council or successor
23 advisory body shall advise the Department on additional
24 criteria to be included in the studies and on the form and
25 additional content of the reports. The Department shall
26 require the study to be based upon diligent research of
27 existing research, data, and literature to acquire the best
28 possible information regarding the study criteria; the
29 Department shall make its own data bases available to the
30 researchers. The Department need not fund new or original
31 social science research for the required studies, but the
32 Department may pay for the extraction of reports from
33 existing social science data bases if doing so is necessary
34 to produce the most complete information for the study
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1 criteria.
2 (Source: P.A. 90-17, eff. 7-1-97; 90-326, eff. 8-8-97;
3 90-372, eff. 7-1-98; 90-655, eff. 7-30-98; 91-24, eff.
4 7-1-99.)
5 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
6 becoming law.