House Sponsors: HOWARD-FORBY-CROTTY. Senate Sponsors: WOOLARD-MADIGAN,L-OBAMA-VIVERITO Short description: DCFS-DISCRIMINATORY PLACEMENTS Synopsis of Bill as introduced: Amends the Children and Family Services Act. Requires the Department to create an advocacy office to receive and resolve complaints about a child's services. Provides that when a child must be placed outside his or her home and cannot be returned immediately to parents or guardian, an assessment of the child's special needs must be conducted and race, color, or national origin may be considered in the placement only if that has been assessed as advancing the child's best interests. Makes the state-wide foster parent phone number available to any person wishing to report problems concerning a child's welfare services. Effective immediately. FISCAL NOTE (Department of Children and Family Services) The Deparment has already established an Advocacy Office for children and families to receive and respond to complaints with a statewide toll-free telephone number. Codification of that office would not result in additional costs to the Department. Most of the policies and procedures which would result from codification already exist. The requirement that, in the re- latively rare special instances where the best interests of the child require it, the child's race, color or national origin be considered conforms to federal law and will neither cause a fiscal impact to the Department to implement nor cause the federal government to impose financial penalties. The pro- vision expanding the use of the foster parent statewide toll-free telephone number would have minimal impact, as that number is available to all persons now and calls alleging pro- blems with child welfare services are accepted. Last action on Bill: PUBLIC ACT.............................. 92-0334 Last action date: AUG-10-2001 Location: House Amendments to Bill: AMENDMENTS ADOPTED: HOUSE - 0 SENATE - 0 END OF INQUIRY Full Text Bill Status