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92_HB1911eng HB1911 Engrossed LRB9206585TAtmA 1 AN ACT concerning children. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 5. The Children and Family Services Act is 5 amended by changing Section 7 as follows: 6 (20 ILCS 505/7) (from Ch. 23, par. 5007) 7 Sec. 7. Placement of children; considerations. 8 (a) In placing any child under this Act, the Department 9 shall place such child, as far as possible, in the care and 10 custody of some individual holding the same religious belief 11 as the parents of the child, or with some child care facility 12 which is operated by persons of like religious faith as the 13 parents of such child. 14 (b) In placing a child under this Act, the Department 15 may place a child with a relative if the Department has 16 reason to believe that the relative will be able to 17 adequately provide for the child's safety and welfare. The 18 Department may not place a child with a relative, with the 19 exception of certain circumstances which may be waived as 20 defined by the Department in rules, if the results of a check 21 of the Law Enforcement Agency Data System (LEADS) identifies 22 a prior criminal conviction of the relative or any adult 23 member of the relative's household for any of the following 24 offenses under the Criminal Code of 1961: 25 (1) murder; 26 (1.1) solicitation of murder; 27 (1.2) solicitation of murder for hire; 28 (1.3) intentional homicide of an unborn child; 29 (1.4) voluntary manslaughter of an unborn child; 30 (1.5) involuntary manslaughter; 31 (1.6) reckless homicide; HB1911 Engrossed -2- LRB9206585TAtmA 1 (1.7) concealment of a homicidal death; 2 (1.8) involuntary manslaughter of an unborn child; 3 (1.9) reckless homicide of an unborn child; 4 (1.10) drug-induced homicide; 5 (2) a sex offense under Article 11, except offenses 6 described in Sections 11-7, 11-8, 11-12, and 11-13; 7 (3) kidnapping; 8 (3.1) aggravated unlawful restraint; 9 (3.2) forcible detention; 10 (3.3) aiding and abetting child abduction; 11 (4) aggravated kidnapping; 12 (5) child abduction; 13 (6) aggravated battery of a child; 14 (7) criminal sexual assault; 15 (8) aggravated criminal sexual assault; 16 (8.1) predatory criminal sexual assault of a child; 17 (9) criminal sexual abuse; 18 (10) aggravated sexual abuse; 19 (11) heinous battery; 20 (12) aggravated battery with a firearm; 21 (13) tampering with food, drugs, or cosmetics; 22 (14) drug-induced infliction of great bodily harm; 23 (15) aggravated stalking; 24 (16) home invasion; 25 (17) vehicular invasion; 26 (18) criminal transmission of HIV; 27 (19) criminal neglect of an elderly or disabled 28 person; 29 (20) child abandonment; 30 (21) endangering the life or health of a child; 31 (22) ritual mutilation; 32 (23) ritualized abuse of a child; 33 (24) an offense in any other state the elements of 34 which are similar and bear a substantial relationship to HB1911 Engrossed -3- LRB9206585TAtmA 1 any of the foregoing offenses. 2 For the purpose of this subsection, "relative" shall include 3 any person, 21 years of age or over, other than the parent, 4 who (i) is currently related to the child in any of the 5 following ways by blood or adoption: grandparent, sibling, 6 great-grandparent, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, first cousin, 7 second cousin, godparent, great-uncle, or great-aunt; or (ii) 8 is the spouse of such a relative; or (iii) is the child's 9 step-father, step-mother, or adult step-brother or 10 step-sister; "relative" also includes a person related in any 11 of the foregoing ways to a sibling of a child, even though 12 the person is not related to the child, when the child and 13 its sibling are placed together with that person. A relative 14 with whom a child is placed pursuant to this subsection may, 15 but is not required to, apply for licensure as a foster 16 family home pursuant to the Child Care Act of 1969; provided, 17 however, that as of July 1, 1995, foster care payments shall 18 be made only to licensed foster family homes pursuant to the 19 terms of Section 5 of this Act. 20 (c) In placing a child under this Act, the Department 21 shall ensure that the child's health, safety, and best 22 interests are met in making a family foster care placement. 23 The Department shall consider the individual needs of the 24 child and the capacity of the prospective foster or adoptive 25 parents to meet the needs of the child. The Department shall 26 make special efforts for the diligent recruitment of 27 potential foster and adoptive families that reflect the 28 ethnic and racial diversity of the children for whom foster 29 and adoptive homes are needed. "Special efforts" shall 30 include contacting and working with community organizations 31 and religious organizations and may include contracting with 32 those organizations, utilizing local media and other local 33 resources, and conducting outreach activities. 34 (c-1) At the time of placement, the Department shall HB1911 Engrossed -4- LRB9206585TAtmA 1 consider concurrent planning, as described in subsection 2 (l-1) of Section 5, so that permanency may occur at the 3 earliest opportunity. Consideration should be given so that 4 if reunification fails or is delayed, the placement made is 5 the best available placement to provide permanency for the 6 child. 7 (d) The Department may accept gifts, grants, offers of 8 services, and other contributions to use in making special 9 recruitment efforts. 10 (e) The Department in placing children in adoptive or 11 foster care homes may not, in any policy or practice relating 12 to the placement of children for adoption or foster care, 13 discriminate against any child or prospective adoptive or 14 foster parent on the basis of race. 15 (Source: P.A. 89-21, eff. 7-1-95; 89-422; 89-428, eff. 16 12-13-95; 89-462, eff. 5-29-96; 89-626, eff. 8-9-96; 90-27, 17 eff. 1-1-98; 90-28, eff. 1-1-98; 90-608, eff. 6-30-98.)