Public Act 102-0506 Public Act 0506 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
Public Act 102-0506 | HB3821 Enrolled | LRB102 14103 KTG 22477 b |
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| AN ACT concerning children.
| 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 Racial | Disproportionality in Child Welfare Task Force Act. | Section 3. Purposes. The purposes of this Act are to | understand the underlying factors of child welfare system | involvement for families; examine the racial disparities of | children and families involved in the child welfare system at | every key procedural phase of system involvement and the | causes of such disparities; and explore resources, policies, | and practices that could prevent system entry for families and | reduce racial disproportionality at each key procedural phase | of system involvement. | Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds the | following: | (1) Historically, Black children and Black parents and | caregivers, women in particular, are disproportionately | represented in the child welfare system. | (2) According to the Fiscal Year 2018 Disproportionality | and Disparity Report prepared by the Children and Family | Research Center of the University of Illinois, School of |
| Social Work, racial disparities exist at each key decision | point in the Illinois child welfare system with Black children | being overrepresented at each point. | (3) Multiple studies show that removals which separate | children from parents, even "short removals" lasting 48 hours, | trigger responses in the children that include anxiety, | isolation, aggression, substance abuse, and post-traumatic | stress disorder and release higher levels of cortisol and | damages brain cells. These impacts are experienced in | "reciprocal and synergistic" ways by parents during | separation. | (4) According to Child Trends' fiscal year 2019 | "State-level Data for Understanding Child Welfare in the | United States", the average length of stay in foster care in | Illinois was 28.6 months compared to the national average of | 19.8 months, and 12% of children in Illinois foster care were | there 5 or more years compared to 5% of children nationally in | foster care for that long. | (5) As of December 31, 2020, the population of Illinois' | youth in care was approximately 44% Black according to data | from the Department of Children and Family Services, while | recent data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT | Data Center estimate the 2019 child population of Illinois to | have been approximately 15% Black. | (6) Black children and youth are represented in the child | welfare system in Illinois at approximately 3 times the |
| percentage of the statewide child population that is Black. | Nationally, Black children and youth are represented in foster | care at approximately 2 times the percentage of the national | child population that is Black according to the National | Conference of State Legislatures. | (7) Between fiscal years 2018 and 2020, the number of | Illinois children removed from their homes annually increased | by 30%, according to data from the Department of Children and | Family Services. The increase in 2019 was 17%, the | second-highest increase in the country. | (8) More than 90% of foster youth with 5 or more moves | become involved in the juvenile justice system. In 2019, | children in the custody of the Department of Children and | Family Services averaged 3.8 moves/1,000 days; for Black | children, the average was 4.4 moves/1,000 days. | (9) In Chapin Hall's Midwest Study of the Illinois, | Wisconsin, and Iowa child welfare systems, almost 70% of youth | involved in the study had been arrested by their mid-20s. | (10) In 2018, 79% of calls made to the Illinois Child Abuse | Hotline were made by mandated reporters. Of these calls, 25.8% | came from education personnel, 24.2% from law enforcement | personnel, 13.5% from medical personnel, and 10.7% from social | service personnel. | (11) According to Child Trends' state-level data for | federal fiscal year 2018 for Illinois, 65% of child abuse and | neglect cases were due to allegations of neglect, 12% due to |
| allegations of physical abuse, and 13% due to allegations of | sexual abuse. | (12) According to Child Trends' state-level data for | federal fiscal year 2019 for Illinois, 89% of entries into | foster care were due to neglect, 12% due to parental substance | abuse, 11% due to physical abuse, and 2% due to sexual abuse. | (13) In 2018, 20,815 reports to the Illinois Child Abuse | Hotline involved an allegation of abuse and 35,310 involved a | neglect allegation. Of these reports, only 10,189 were | investigated, and of these investigations, only 1,544 resulted | in an indicated finding. Of the investigations resulting in an | indicated finding, only 225 were screened into court. | (14) According to the Fiscal Year 2020 Monitoring Report | of the B.H. Consent Decree prepared by the Children and Family | Research Center of the University of Illinois, School of | Social Work, Black children in 2019 were less likely than | white and Latinx children to be placed in kinship foster | homes. Black children were more likely to be placed in | traditional foster homes than white and Latinx children. Black | children were also more likely to be placed in institutions or | group homes than white and Latinx children. | Section 10. Composition. The Racial Disproportionality in | Child Welfare Task Force is created within the Department of | Children and Family Services consisting of members appointed | as follows: |
| (1) Two members from the Senate, one appointed by the | President of the Senate and one appointed by the Senate | Minority Leader. | (2) Two members from the House of Representatives, one | appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and | one appointed by the House Minority Leader. | (3) Two General Assembly members from the Illinois | Legislative Black Caucus, appointed by the Joint Caucus Chair | of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus. | (4) Two General Assembly members from the Illinois Latino | Caucus, appointed by the Chair of the Illinois Latino Caucus. | (5) One member from the Office of the Governor appointed | by the Governor. | (6) The Director of Children and Family Services, or his | or her designee. | (7) The Secretary of Human Services, or his or her | designee. | (8) The Director of Healthcare and Family Services, or his | or her designee. | (9) One member from an organization with expertise in | housing and the Continuum of Care Program that works with | impacted populations or convenes advocates to prevent and end | homelessness, appointed by the Governor's Office. | (10) The Inspector General of the Department of Children | and Family Services, or his or her designee. | (11) One member from an organization with expertise in the |
| child welfare system that advocates to preserve and reunify | families, appointed by the Governor's Office. | (12) One member who is an academic researcher who has | studied the racialized history and impact of the child welfare | system on children, families, and communities, appointed by | the Governor's Office. | (13) One member from the Administrative Office of the | Illinois Courts, Children and Families Unit, Court Services | Division, appointed by the Director of the Administrative | Office of the Illinois Courts. | (14) Three members who are parents directly impacted by | the child welfare system, at least 2 of whom come from a | disproportionately represented racial group, appointed by the | Governor's Office. | (15) The Cook County Public Guardian, or his or her | designee. | (16) One member who provides legal representation to | children in child protection cases from outside of Cook | County, appointed by the Governor's Office. | (17) Two members who provide legal representation to | parents in child protection cases, one from the Law Office of | the Cook County Public Defender, appointed by the Governor's | Office, and one from outside of Cook County, appointed by the | Governor's Office. | (18) Two members who provide legal representation on | behalf of the State of Illinois in child protection cases, one |
| from the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, appointed by | the Governor's Office, and one from a State's Attorney's | office outside of Cook County, appointed by the Governor's | Office. | (19) One member who provides legal services to parents | impacted by gender-based violence during the investigation | phase of child abuse or neglect cases, including services | related to safety plans, intact services, and administrative | appeals, appointed by the Governor's Office. | (20) Three members who have experience as youth in the | child welfare system, at least 2 of whom come from a | disproportionately represented racial group, appointed by the | Governor's Office. | (21) One member from a statewide organization advocating | for the advancement of civil liberties for at least 80 years in | Illinois, appointed by the Governor's Office. | (22) One member from an organization that advocates on | behalf of children, youth, and families and the | community-based providers that serve them, appointed by the | Governor's Office. | Section 15. Meetings; co-chairs; administrative support. | All members appointed under Section 10 shall serve without | compensation. Task Force members shall be appointed within 60 | days after the effective date of this Act. The Task Force shall | hold its initial meetings within 90 days after the effective |
| date of this Act. The Task Force shall meet at least 4 times. | The following individuals shall serve as co-chairs of the Task | Force: (i) the member from the organization with expertise in | the child welfare system that advocates to preserve and | reunify families; and (ii) the member from the organization | that advocates on behalf of children, youth, and families and | the community-based providers that serve them. The Department | of Children and Family Services shall provide any necessary | administrative and other support to the Task Force. Any data | provided by the Department of Children and Family Services to | the Task Force shall not contain any personally identifiable | information of any clients or families in accordance with the | provisions of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. | The Department of Children and Family Services shall | facilitate the prompt and timely collection and provision of | data as requested by or on behalf of the Task Force. Such | facilitation shall include, without limitation, authorizing | the provision of reports and underlying Department data that | the Department currently or previously has provided or made | available to the Children and Family Research Center of the | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Chapin Hall, | Northwestern University, and any other of the Department's | university partners and consultants. | Section 20. Duties. The Task Force shall: | (1) Examine the historical and current role of |
| mandatory reporting and its impact on the racial and | gender disparities of families involved with the | Department of Children and Family Services. | (2) Examine the underlying factors that bring families | into contact with the Department of Children and Family | Services and the factors that lead to child removal, | including, but not limited to, suspected or known | substance use or dependency, intergenerational child | welfare system involvement, and lack of access to shelter, | food, clothing, income or employment, and healthcare, and | how these impact the length of time families remain | involved in the child welfare system. | (3) Review the Department of Children and Family | Services' progress on the planning and implementation of | the Family First Prevention Services Act and determine | what impact, if any, the plan may have on the current | racial disparities of children and families in the child | welfare system. | (4) Examine the current processes and policies, data, | and data collection methods for families involved | simultaneously in the child welfare, juvenile justice, or | criminal justice systems, including, but not limited to, | youth who are dually involved in the juvenile justice and | child welfare systems. | (5) Explore policies and protocols that honor | language, culture, and heritage in identity formation and |
| familial relationships, including, but not limited to, | race-blind child protection screenings and child removal | reviews, as implemented in other jurisdictions around the | United States, and make recommendations for implementation | in Illinois. | (6) Explore the development of a curriculum for a | child welfare specific implicit bias training for all | public and private direct service staff and supervisors | who interact with children and families. | Section 25. Report. The Task Force shall produce and | submit policy recommendations, both administrative and | legislative, to the General Assembly and the Governor within | one year after the first meeting of the Task Force. The | recommendations shall seek to: (i) prioritize preserving and | reunifying families involved in the child welfare system, | particularly Black families; (ii) reduce child welfare system | involvement, particularly for Black families; and (iii) | eliminate racial disproportionality in system involvement and | the disproportionate impact of system involvement on families. | The Task Force co-chairs shall convene a final meeting before | the repeal date of this Act to discuss an implementation plan | based on the produced policy recommendations. | Section 30. Repeal. The Task Force is dissolved, and this | Act is repealed on, January 1, 2024.
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | becoming law.
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Effective Date: 8/20/2021
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