Public Act 098-0809
 
HB5990 EnrolledLRB098 16906 JLK 51981 b

    AN ACT concerning local government.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Children's Advocacy Center Act is amended by
changing Sections 2, 3, and 4 and by adding Section 2.5 as
follows:
 
    (55 ILCS 80/2)  (from Ch. 23, par. 1802)
    Sec. 2. Legislative findings.
    (a) The General Assembly finds that the creation
establishment of accredited Children's Advocacy Centers
("CACs") accredited throughout the State of Illinois is
essential to providing a formal, comprehensive, integrated,
and multidisciplinary response to the investigation and
disposition of reports of child maltreatment; by expediting and
improving the validation or invalidation of such allegations
for the benefit of children, their families and accused
perpetrators; by requiring the use of collaborative decision
making and case management, thereby reducing the number of
times children are questioned and examined, thus preventing
further trauma of children; by coordinating therapeutic
intervention and services thereby providing safety and
treatment for child victims and their families; by developing
communication, case coordination, and information sharing
policies and protocols among allied professionals and agencies
who play a role in child protection in a given jurisdiction; by
collecting data to report to partner agencies, the community,
and the General Assembly, and to use in continually improving
collaborative multidisciplinary investigations; and, by
maintaining the confidentiality of client records and records
from partner agencies, to ensure the protection of the privacy
of children, their families and accused perpetrators. A CAC
organized and operating under this Act may accept, receive and
disburse in furtherance of its duties and functions any funds,
grants and services made available by the State of Illinois and
its agencies, the federal government and its agencies, a unit
of local government, or private or civic sources. To the extent
permitted by applicable law, participating entities shall
maintain the confidentiality of case-related information which
includes, but is not limited to, case review discussions, case
review notes, written reports and records, and verbal exchanges
is desirable to coordinate the investigation, prosecution and
treatment referral of child sexual abuse.
    Further, the General Assembly finds that the creation of an
advisory board is desirable to develop a coordinated protocol
for the handling of child sexual abuse cases among various
agencies responsible for investigation, prosecution and
treatment referral and that such agencies should be encouraged
to adopt such a coordinated protocol.
    (b) The General Assembly further finds that the most
precious resource in the State of Illinois is our children. The
protection of children from physical abuse, sexual abuse and
exploitation, and neglect, hereinafter "child maltreatment",
is at the core of the duties and fundamental responsibilities
of the General Assembly and provides the highest compelling
interest to create and maintain a system to effectively respond
to reports of child maltreatment and protect children from
harm.
(Source: P.A. 86-276.)
 
    (55 ILCS 80/2.5 new)
    Sec. 2.5. Definitions. As used in this Section:
    "Accreditation" means the process in which certification
of competency, authority, or credibility is presented by
standards set by the National Children's Alliance to ensure
effective, efficient and consistent delivery of services by a
CAC.
    "Child maltreatment" includes any act or occurrence, as
defined in Section 5 of the Criminal Code of 2012, under the
Children and Family Services Act or the Juvenile Court Act
involving either a child victim or child witness.
    "Children's Advocacy Center" or "CAC" is a child-focused,
trauma-informed, facility-based program in which
representatives from law enforcement, child protection,
prosecution, mental health, forensic interviewing, medical,
and victim advocacy disciplines collaborate to interview
children, meet with a child's parent or parents, caregivers,
and family members, and make team decisions about the
investigation, prosecution, safety, treatment, and support
services for child maltreatment cases.
    "Children's Advocacy Centers of Illinois" or "CACI" is a
state chapter of the National Children's Alliance ("NCA") and
organizing entity for Children's Advocacy Centers in the State
of Illinois. It defines membership and engages member CACs in
the NCA accreditation process and collecting and sharing of
data, and provides training, leadership, and technical
assistance to existing and emerging CACs in the State.
    "Forensic interview" means an interview between a trained
forensic interviewer, as defined by NCA standards, and a child
in which the interviewer obtains information from children in
an unbiased and fact finding manner that is developmentally
appropriate and culturally sensitive to support accurate and
fair decision making by the multidisciplinary team in the
criminal justice and child protection systems. Whenever
practical, all parties involved in investigating reports of
child maltreatment shall observe the interview, which shall be
digitally recorded.
    "Multidisciplinary team" or "MDT" means a group of
professionals working collaboratively under a written
protocol, who represent various disciplines from the point of a
report of child maltreatment to assure the most effective
coordinated response possible for every child. Employees from
each participating entity shall be included on the MDT. A CAC's
MDT must include professionals involved in the coordination,
investigation, and prosecution of child abuse cases, including
the CAC's staff, participating law enforcement agencies, the
county state's attorney, and the Illinois Department of
Children and Family Services, and must include professionals
involved in the delivery of services to victims of child
maltreatment and non-offending parent or parents, caregiver,
and their families.
    "National Children's Alliance" or "NCA" means the
professional membership organization dedicated to helping
local communities respond to allegations of child abuse in an
effective and efficient manner. NCA provides training,
support, technical assistance and leadership on a national
level to state and local CACs and communities responding to
reports of child maltreatment. NCA is the national organization
that provides the standards for CAC accreditation.
    "Protocol" means a written methodology defining the
responsibilities of each of the MDT members in the
investigation and prosecution of child maltreatment within a
defined jurisdiction. Written protocols are signed documents
and are reviewed and/or updated annually, at a minimum, by a
CAC's Advisory Board.
 
    (55 ILCS 80/3)  (from Ch. 23, par. 1803)
    Sec. 3. Child Advocacy Advisory Board.
    (a) Each county or group of counties in the State of
Illinois shall establish a Child Advocacy Advisory Board
("Advisory Board").
    Each of the following county officers or State agencies or
allied professional entities shall designate a representative
to serve on the Advisory Board: law enforcement within the
appropriate jurisdiction(s), the sheriff, the Illinois
Department of Children and Family Services, the State's
attorney, and the Children's Advocacy Center the county mental
health department, and the Department of State Police.
    The Advisory Board chairman may appoint additional members
of the Advisory Board as is deemed necessary to accomplish the
purposes of this Act, the additional members to include but not
be limited to representatives of local law enforcement
agencies, allied professionals, and the Circuit Courts.
    (b) The Advisory Board shall have the authority to organize
itself and appoint, assign, or elect leaders. The Advisory
Board shall determine the voting rights of multiple members
from the same agency or entity. from among its members a
chairman and such other officers as are deemed necessary. Until
a chairman is so elected, the State's attorney shall serve as
interim chairman.
    (c) The Advisory Board shall adopt, by a majority of the
members, a written operational protocol. The Advisory Board
shall, prior to finalization, submit a draft to the Children's
Advocacy Center of Illinois ("CACI") for review and comments to
ensure compliance with accreditation standards from NCA. After
considering the comments of the CACI and upon finalization of
its protocol, the Advisory Board shall file the protocol with
the Department of Children and Family Services and the CACI. If
requested, a copy shall be made available to the public by the
local CAC. Each Advisory Board shall, on an annual basis,
review and/or update the written protocol. Any changes made to
the written protocol shall be approved by majority vote and,
prior to finalization, a draft shall be submitted to the CACI
for review and comments to ensure compliance with accreditation
standards from NCA. After considering the comments of the CACI
and upon finalization of its protocol, the Advisory Board shall
file the protocol with the Department of Children and Family
Services and the CACI child sexual abuse protocol within one
year after the effective date of this Act. An Advisory Board
adopting a protocol after the effective date of this amendatory
Act of 1996 shall, prior to finalization, submit its draft to
the Illinois Child Advocacy Commission for review and comments.
After considering the comments of the Illinois Child Advocacy
Commission and upon finalization of its protocol, the Advisory
Board shall file the protocol with the Department of Children
and Family Services. A copy shall be furnished to the Illinois
Child Advocacy Commission and to each agency in the county or
counties which has any involvement with the cases of sexually
abused children.
    The Illinois Child Advocacy Commission shall consist of the
Attorney General and the Directors of the Illinois State Police
and the Department of Children and Family Services or their
designees. Additional members may be appointed to the Illinois
Child Advocacy Commission as deemed necessary by the Attorney
General and the Directors of the Illinois State Police and the
Department of Children and Family Services. The Illinois Child
Advocacy Commission may also provide technical assistance and
guidance to the Advisory Boards.
    (d) The purpose of the protocol shall be to ensure
coordination and cooperation among all agencies involved in
child maltreatment sexual abuse cases so as to increase the
efficiency and effectiveness of those agencies, to minimize the
trauma stress created for the child and his or her
non-offending parents, caregivers, or family members by the
investigatory and judicial process, and to ensure that more
effective treatment is provided for the child and his or her
non-offending parents, caregivers, or family members. Agencies
that are members of the Advisory Board are encouraged to amend
their internal operating protocol in a manner that further
facilitates coordination and cooperation among all agencies.
    (e) The protocol shall be a written document outlining in
detail the procedures to be used in investigating and
responding to prosecuting cases arising from alleged child
maltreatment sexual abuse and in coordinating treatment
referrals for the child and his or her non-offending parents,
caregivers, or family members. In preparing the written
protocol, the Advisory Board shall ensure that the CAC includes
all of the components listed in Section 4 of this Act. consider
the following:
        (1) An interdisciplinary, coordinated systems approach
    to the investigation of child sexual abuse which shall
    include, at a minimum;
            (i) an interagency notification procedure;
            (ii) a dispute resolution process between the
        involved agencies when a conflict arises on how to
        proceed with the investigation of a case;
            (iii) a policy on interagency decision-making; and
            (iv) a description of the role each agency has in
        the investigation of the case;
        (2) A safe, separate space with assigned personnel
    designated for the investigation and coordination of child
    sexual abuse cases;
        (3) An interdisciplinary case review process for
    purposes of decision-making, problem solving, systems
    coordination, and information sharing;
        (4) A comprehensive tracking system to receive and
    coordinate information concerning child sexual abuse cases
    from each participating agency;
        (5) Interdisciplinary specialized training for all
    professionals involved with the victims and families of
    child sexual abuse cases; and
        (6) A process for evaluating the implementation and
    effectiveness of the protocol.
    (f) The Advisory Board shall evaluate the implementation
and effectiveness of the protocol required under subsection (c)
of this Section on an annual basis, and shall propose
appropriate modifications to the protocol to maximize its
effectiveness. A report of the Advisory Board's review, along
with proposed modifications, shall be submitted to the CACI the
Illinois Child Advocacy Commission for its review and comments.
After considering the comments of the CACI the Illinois Child
Advocacy Commission and adopting modifications, the Advisory
Board shall file its amended protocol with the Department of
Children and Family Services. A copy of the Advisory Board's
review and amended protocol shall be furnished to the CACI the
Illinois Child Advocacy Commission and to the public each
agency in the county or counties having any involvement with
the cases covered by the protocol.
    (g) (Blank). The Advisory Board shall adopt, by a majority
of the members, a written protocol for coordinating cases of
serious or fatal injury to a child, following the procedures
and purposes described in subsections (c), (d), (e), and (f) of
this Section. The protocol shall be a written document
outlining in detail the procedures that will be used by all of
the agencies involved in investigating and prosecuting cases
arising from alleged cases of serious or fatal injury to a
child and in coordinating treatment referrals for the child and
his or her family.
(Source: P.A. 95-527, eff. 6-1-08.)
 
    (55 ILCS 80/4)  (from Ch. 23, par. 1804)
    Sec. 4. Children's Advocacy Center.
    (a) A CAC Children's Advocacy Center ("Center") may be
established to coordinate the activities of the various
agencies involved in the investigation, prosecution and
treatment referral of child maltreatment sexual abuse. The
individual county or regional Advisory Board shall set the
written protocol of the CAC within the appropriate jurisdiction
serve as the governing board for the Center. The operation of
the CAC Center may be funded through public or private grants,
contracts, donations, fees, and or any other available sources
under this Act. Each CAC shall operate to the best of its
ability in accordance with available funding. In counties in
which a referendum has been adopted under Section 5 of this
Act, the Advisory Board, by the majority vote of its members,
shall submit a proposed annual budget for the operation of the
CAC Center to the county board, which shall appropriate funds
and levy a tax sufficient to operate the CAC Center. The county
board in each county in which a referendum has been adopted
shall establish a Children's Advocacy Center Fund and shall
deposit the net proceeds of the tax authorized by Section 6 of
this Act in that Fund, which shall be kept separate from all
other county funds and shall only be used for the purposes of
this Act.
    (b) The Advisory Board shall pay from the Children's
Advocacy Center Fund or from other available funds the salaries
of all employees of the Center and the expenses of acquiring a
physical plant for the Center by construction or lease and
maintaining the Center, including the expenses of
administering the coordination of the investigation,
prosecution and treatment referral of child maltreatment
sexual abuse under the provisions of the protocol adopted
pursuant to this Act.
    (c) Every CAC Center shall include at least the following
components:
        (1) A multidisciplinary An interdisciplinary,
    coordinated systems approach to the investigation of child
    maltreatment sexual abuse which shall include, at a
    minimum;
            (i) an interagency notification procedure;
            (ii) a policy on multidisciplinary team
        collaboration and communication that requires MDT
        members share information pertinent to investigations
        and the safety of children a dispute resolution process
        between the involved agencies when a conflict arises on
        how to proceed with the investigation of a case;
            (iii) (blank); a policy on interagency
        decision-making; and
            (iv) a description of the role each agency has in
        responding to a referral for services in an individual
        the investigation of the case;
            (v) a dispute resolution process between the
        involved agencies when a conflict arises on how to
        proceed on the referral of a particular case;
            (vi) a process for the CAC to assist in the
        forensic interview of children that witness alleged
        crimes;
            (vii) a child-friendly, trauma informed space for
        children and their non-offending family members;
            (viii) an MDT approach including law enforcement,
        prosecution, medical, mental health, victim advocacy,
        and other community resources;
            (ix) medical evaluation on-site or off-site
        through referral;
            (x) mental health services on-site or off-site
        through referral;
            (xi) on-site forensic interviews;
            (xii) culturally competent services;
            (xiii) case tracking and review;
            (xiv) case staffing on each investigation;
            (xv) effective organizational capacity; and
            (xvi) a policy or procedure to familiarize a child
        and his or her non-offending family members or
        guardians with the court process as well as
        preparations for testifying in court, if necessary.
        (2) A safe, separate space with assigned personnel
    designated for the investigation and coordination of child
    maltreatment sexual abuse cases;
        (3) A multidisciplinary An interdisciplinary case
    review process for purposes of decision-making, problem
    solving, systems coordination, and information sharing;
        (4) A comprehensive client tracking system to receive
    and coordinate information concerning child maltreatment
    sexual abuse cases from each participating agency;
        (5) Multidisciplinary Interdisciplinary specialized
    training for all professionals involved with the victims
    and non-offending family members in families of child
    maltreatment sexual abuse cases; and
        (6) A process for evaluating the effectiveness of the
    CAC Center and its operations.
    (d) In the event that a CAC Center has been established as
provided in this Section, the Advisory Board of that CAC Center
may, by a majority vote of the members, authorize the CAC
Center to coordinate the activities of the various agencies
involved in the investigation, prosecution, and treatment
referral in cases of serious or fatal injury to a child. For
CACs receiving funds under Section 5 or 6 of this Act, the The
Advisory Board shall provide for the financial support of these
activities in a manner similar to that set out in subsections
(a) and (b) of this Section and shall be allowed to submit a
budget that includes support for physical abuse and neglect
activities to the County Board, which shall appropriate funds
that may be available under Section 5 of this Act. In
cooperation with the Department of Children and Family Services
Child Death Review Teams, the Department of Children and Family
Services Office of the Inspector General, the Department of
State Police, and other stakeholders, this protocol must be
initially implemented in selected counties to the extent that
State appropriations or funds from other sources for this
purpose allow.
    (e) CACI The Illinois Child Advocacy Commission may also
provide technical assistance and guidance to the Advisory
Boards and shall make a single annual grant for the purpose of
providing technical support and assistance for advocacy center
development in Illinois whenever an appropriation is made by
the General Assembly specifically for that purpose. The grant
may be made only to an Illinois not-for-profit corporation that
qualifies for tax treatment under Section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code and that has a voting membership
consisting of children's advocacy centers. The grant may be
spent on staff, office space, equipment, and other expenses
necessary for the development of resource materials and other
forms of technical support and assistance. The grantee shall
report to the Commission on the specific uses of grant funds by
no later than October 1 of each year and shall retain
supporting documentation for a period of at least 5 years after
the corresponding report is filed.
(Source: P.A. 95-527, eff. 6-1-08.)