Public Act 098-0808
 
HB5598 EnrolledLRB098 20085 KTG 55345 b

    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Custody Relinquishment Prevention Act.
 
    Section 5. Purpose. This Act establishes a pathway for
families on the verge of seeking services for their child's
serious mental illness or serious emotional disturbance
through relinquishment of parental custody to the Department of
Children and Family Services, despite the absence of abuse or
neglect, to receive services through the appropriate State
child-serving agency. This pathway shall be outlined in an
interagency agreement between all the relevant State agencies.
 
    Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
    "Family income" means the sum of a family's annual earnings
and cash benefits from all sources before taxes, less payments
made for child support.
    "Serious mental illness" means a diagnosis set forth in the
most current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders (DSM).
    "Serious emotional disturbance" means a diagnosable
mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder in a child or youth
that resulted in functional impairment which substantially
interferes with or limits his or her role or functioning in
family, school, or community activities.
    "Child or youth at risk of custody relinquishment" means a
child or youth whose parents or guardians refuse to take the
child or youth home from a hospital or similar treatment
facility because the parents or guardians have a reasonable
belief that the child or youth will harm himself or herself or
other family members upon the child or youth's return home, and
there is no evidence of abuse or neglect.
 
    Section 15. Interagency agreement. In order to intercept
and divert children and youth at risk of custody relinquishment
to the Department of Children and Family Services, within 180
days after the effective date of this Act, the Department of
Children of Family Services, the Department of Human Services,
the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, the Illinois
State Board of Education, the Department of Juvenile Justice,
and the Department of Public Health shall enter into an
interagency agreement for the purpose of preventing children
and youth who are not otherwise abused or neglected from
entering the custody or guardianship of the Department of
Children and Family Services solely for purposes of receiving
services for a serious mental illness or serious emotional
disturbance.
    The intergovernmental agreement shall require the agencies
listed in this Section to establish an interagency clinical
team to review cases of children and youth who are at risk of
relinquishment who are at a hospital or other similar treatment
facility, and to connect the child or youth and his or her
family with the appropriate services, treatment, and support to
stabilize the child or youth's serious mental illness or
serious emotional disturbance and prevent custody
relinquishment to the Department of Children and Family
Services.
    The interagency agreement, among other things, shall
address all of the following:
        (1) Requiring families with private health insurance
    to exhaust their private insurance coverage.
        (2) Establishing cost sharing for services received
    for families whose income exceeds the federal poverty level
    that would qualify them for Medicaid, based on the family's
    ability to pay.
        (3) For children or youth who are not otherwise
    Medicaid eligible, performing a crisis stabilization
    assessment and developing a care plan for the child or
    youth and the family with the goal of determining what
    services are necessary to (i) stabilize the child or youth
    and (ii) prevent custody relinquishment to the Department
    of Children and Family Services when there is no abuse or
    neglect.
        (4) Set criteria for short-term crisis stabilization
    services, including intensive community-based services or
    a short-term residential placement, as the child or youth's
    treatment plan is being developed.
 
    Section 20. Outcomes and data reported annually to the
General Assembly.
    (a) The Department of Children and Family Services shall
submit an annual report to the General Assembly which includes
the following with respect to the time period covered by the
report:
        (1) The number of children and youth who were
    relinquished to the Department of Children and Family
    Services for purposes of receiving treatment for their
    serious mental illness or serious emotional disturbance.
        (2) The length of treatment and the status of children
    and youth at the termination of services.
    (b) The interagency agreement required under Section 15
shall require reporting to the General Assembly with respect to
the following criteria:
        (1) The number of children and youth who were
    intercepted during the reporting period and the services
    they were connected with to prevent custody relinquishment
    and to stabilize the child or youth.        
        (2) The duration of the services the child or youth
    received in order to stabilize his or her serious mental
    illness or serious emotional disturbance.
        (3) Following the connection to services through the
    most appropriate State agency to address the child or
    youth's needs, the number of families that failed to
    stabilize and turned to the Department of Children and
    Family Services for services, and that relinquished
    custody or whose child was adjudicated a dependent minor
    pursuant to subdivision (c) of paragraph (1) of Section 2-4
    of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.