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92_SB2118 LRB9215602BDpk 1 AN ACT concerning children's advocacy centers. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 5. The Children's Advocacy Center Act is amended 5 by changing Sections 4, 5, and 7 and by adding Section 7.1 as 6 follows: 7 (55 ILCS 80/4) (from Ch. 23, par. 1804) 8 Sec. 4. Children's Advocacy Center. 9 (a)Subject to the referendum provisions of this Act,A 10 Children's Advocacy Center ("Center") may be established to 11 coordinate the activities of the various agencies involved in 12 the investigation, prosecution and treatment referral of 13 child sexual abuse. The Advisory Board shall serve as the 14 governing board for the Center. The operation of the Center 15 may be funded through grants, contracts, or any other 16 available sources. In counties in which a referendum has been 17 adopted under Section 5 of this Act, the Advisory Board,and,18 by the majority vote of its members, shall submit a proposed 19 annual budget for the operation of the Center to the county 20 board, which. The county boardshall appropriate funds and 21 levy a tax sufficient to operate the Center. TheEachcounty 22 board in each county in which a referendum has been adopted 23 shall establish a Children's Advocacy Center Fund and shall 24 deposit the net proceeds of the tax authorized by Section 6 25 of this Act in that Fund, which shall be kept separate from 26 all other county funds and shall only be used for the 27 purposes of this Act. 28 (b) The Advisory Board shall pay from the Children's 29 Advocacy Center Fund or from other available funds the 30 salaries of all employees of the Center, all of whom shall be31county employees,and the expenses of acquiring a physical -2- LRB9215602BDpk 1 plant for the Center by construction or lease and maintaining 2 the Center, including the expenses of administering the 3 coordination of the investigation, prosecution and treatment 4 referral of child sexual abuse under the provisions of the 5 protocol adopted pursuant to this Act. 6 (c) Every Center shall include at least the following 7 components: 8 (1) An interdisciplinary, coordinated systems 9 approach to the investigation of child sexual abuse which 10 shall include, at a minimum; 11 (i) an interagency notification procedure; 12 (ii) a dispute resolution process between the 13 involved agencies when a conflict arises on how to 14 proceed with the investigation of a case; 15 (iii) a policy on interagency decision-making; 16 and 17 (iv) a description of the role each agency has 18 in the investigation of the case; 19 (2) A safe, separate space with assigned personnel 20 designated for the investigation and coordination of 21 child sexual abuse cases; 22 (3) An interdisciplinary case review process for 23 purposes of decision-making, problem solving, systems 24 coordination, and information sharing; 25 (4) A comprehensive tracking system to receive and 26 coordinate information concerning child sexual abuse 27 cases from each participating agency; 28 (5) Interdisciplinary specialized training for all 29 professionals involved with the victims and families of 30 child sexual abuse cases; and 31 (6) A process for evaluating the effectiveness of 32 the Center and its operations. 33 (d) In the event that a Center has been established as 34 provided in this Section, the Advisory Board of that Center -3- LRB9215602BDpk 1 may, by a majority of the members, authorize the Center to 2 coordinate the activities of the various agencies involved in 3 the investigation, prosecution, and treatment referral of 4 serious child physical abuse cases. The Advisory Board shall 5 provide for the financial support of these activities in a 6 manner similar to that set out in subsections (a) and (b) of 7 this Section and shall be allowed to submit a budget that 8 includes support for physical abuse and neglect activities to 9 the County Board, which shall appropriate funds that may be 10 available under Section 5 of this Act. 11 (e) The Illinois Child Advocacy Commission may also 12 provide technical assistance and guidance to the Advisory 13 Boards and shall make a single annual grant for the purpose 14 of providing technical support and assistance for advocacy 15 center development in Illinois whenever an appropriation is 16 made by the General Assembly specifically for that purpose. 17 The grant may be made only to an Illinois not-for-profit 18 corporation that qualifies for tax treatment under Section 19 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and that has a voting 20 membership consisting of children's advocacy centers. The 21 grant may be spent on staff, office space, equipment, and 22 other expenses necessary for the development of resource 23 materials and other forms of technical support and 24 assistance. The grantee shall report to the Commission on 25 the specific uses of grant funds by no later than October 1 26 of each year and shall retain supporting documentation for a 27 period of at least 5 years after the corresponding report is 28 filed. 29 (Source: P.A. 91-158, eff. 7-16-99.) 30 (55 ILCS 80/5) (from Ch. 23, par. 1805) 31 Sec. 5. Referendum. 32 (a) Whenever a petition signed by 1% of the electors who 33 voted in the last general election in any county is presented -4- LRB9215602BDpk 1 to the county board requesting the submission of the 2 proposition whether an annual tax of not to exceed .004% of 3 the value, as equalized or assessed by the Department of 4 Revenue, of all taxable property in the county shall be 5 levied for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a 6 Children's Advocacy Center, the county board shall adopt a 7 resolution for the submission of the proposition to the 8 electors at the next regular election held in the county in 9 accordance with the general election law. 10 (b) Upon the adoption and certification of the 11 resolution, the proposition shall be submitted at the next 12 regular election held in the county. The proposition shall be 13 in substantially the following form: "Shall an annual tax of 14 not to exceed ....... per cent be levied in ............ 15 County for the purpose of establishing and maintaining 16 Children's Advocacy Center to serve the county?" 17 (c) If a majority of the electors of the county voting 18 on the proposition vote in favor thereof, the proposition 19 shall be deemed adopted. Insert B: 20 (d) The adoption of a referendum is not required to 21 establish a Children's Advocacy Center if the Center may be 22 or is operated with funds other than the proceeds of the 23 annual tax that is authorized by referendum. 24 (Source: P.A. 86-276.) 25 (55 ILCS 80/7) (from Ch. 23, par. 1807) 26 Sec. 7. Discontinuance. (a) Upon a petition signed by 1% 27 of the electors who voted in the last general election in a 28 county which has levied and collected a tax for Children's 29 Advocacy Center purposes under this Act being presented to 30 the county board, requesting that the tax for Children's 31 Advocacy Center purposes be discontinued, the county board 32 shall adopt a resolution providing for the submission of the 33 proposition to the electors of the county in the same manner -5- LRB9215602BDpk 1 as provided for the submission of the proposition for the 2 levy of the tax. 3 (b) Upon the adoption and certification of the 4 resolution, the proposition shall be submitted at the next 5 regular election held in the county. The proposition shall be 6 in substantially the following form: "Shall the tax for the 7 purpose of establishing and maintaining a Children's Advocacy 8 Center be discontinued?" 9 (c) If a majority of the electors of the county voting 10 upon the proposition vote in favor thereof, the proposition 11 shall be deemed adopted, and the tax shall no longer be 12 levied or collected in the county. Any monies remaining in 13 the Children's Advocacy Center Fund in the county shall be 14 used to pay theremainingexpenses of the Center, including 15 expenses of winding up its operations if it is discontinued 16 by the Advisory Board. In that case, after all expenses of 17 the Center have been paid, any remaining monies in the Fund 18 shall be paid into the general fund for county purposes in 19 the county treasury. 20 (Source: P.A. 86-276.) 21 (55 ILCS 80/7.1 new) 22 Sec. 7.1. The changes made by this amendatory Act of the 23 92nd General Assembly are intended to be declarations of 24 existing law and are not intended to be a new enactment. 25 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 26 becoming law.