Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 094-0215
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Public Act 094-0215


 

Public Act 0215 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY



 


 
Public Act 094-0215
 
HB1548 Enrolled LRB094 08774 LCB 38987 b

    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Children and Family Services Act is amended
by changing Section 5 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 505/5)  (from Ch. 23, par. 5005)
    Sec. 5. Direct child welfare services; Department of
Children and Family Services. To provide direct child welfare
services when not available through other public or private
child care or program facilities.
    (a) For purposes of this Section:
        (1) "Children" means persons found within the State who
    are under the age of 18 years. The term also includes
    persons under age 19 who:
            (A) were committed to the Department pursuant to
        the Juvenile Court Act or the Juvenile Court Act of
        1987, as amended, prior to the age of 18 and who
        continue under the jurisdiction of the court; or
            (B) were accepted for care, service and training by
        the Department prior to the age of 18 and whose best
        interest in the discretion of the Department would be
        served by continuing that care, service and training
        because of severe emotional disturbances, physical
        disability, social adjustment or any combination
        thereof, or because of the need to complete an
        educational or vocational training program.
        (2) "Homeless youth" means persons found within the
    State who are under the age of 19, are not in a safe and
    stable living situation and cannot be reunited with their
    families.
        (3) "Child welfare services" means public social
    services which are directed toward the accomplishment of
    the following purposes:
            (A) protecting and promoting the health, safety
        and welfare of children, including homeless, dependent
        or neglected children;
            (B) remedying, or assisting in the solution of
        problems which may result in, the neglect, abuse,
        exploitation or delinquency of children;
            (C) preventing the unnecessary separation of
        children from their families by identifying family
        problems, assisting families in resolving their
        problems, and preventing the breakup of the family
        where the prevention of child removal is desirable and
        possible when the child can be cared for at home
        without endangering the child's health and safety;
            (D) restoring to their families children who have
        been removed, by the provision of services to the child
        and the families when the child can be cared for at
        home without endangering the child's health and
        safety;
            (E) placing children in suitable adoptive homes,
        in cases where restoration to the biological family is
        not safe, possible or appropriate;
            (F) assuring safe and adequate care of children
        away from their homes, in cases where the child cannot
        be returned home or cannot be placed for adoption. At
        the time of placement, the Department shall consider
        concurrent planning, as described in subsection (l-1)
        of this Section so that permanency may occur at the
        earliest opportunity. Consideration should be given so
        that if reunification fails or is delayed, the
        placement made is the best available placement to
        provide permanency for the child;
            (G) (blank);
            (H) (blank); and
            (I) placing and maintaining children in facilities
        that provide separate living quarters for children
        under the age of 18 and for children 18 years of age
        and older, unless a child 18 years of age is in the
        last year of high school education or vocational
        training, in an approved individual or group treatment
        program, in a licensed shelter facility, or secure
        child care facility. The Department is not required to
        place or maintain children:
                (i) who are in a foster home, or
                (ii) who are persons with a developmental
            disability, as defined in the Mental Health and
            Developmental Disabilities Code, or
                (iii) who are female children who are
            pregnant, pregnant and parenting or parenting, or
                (iv) who are siblings,
        in facilities that provide separate living quarters
        for children 18 years of age and older and for children
        under 18 years of age.
    (b) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to authorize
the expenditure of public funds for the purpose of performing
abortions.
    (c) The Department shall establish and maintain
tax-supported child welfare services and extend and seek to
improve voluntary services throughout the State, to the end
that services and care shall be available on an equal basis
throughout the State to children requiring such services.
    (d) The Director may authorize advance disbursements for
any new program initiative to any agency contracting with the
Department. As a prerequisite for an advance disbursement, the
contractor must post a surety bond in the amount of the advance
disbursement and have a purchase of service contract approved
by the Department. The Department may pay up to 2 months
operational expenses in advance. The amount of the advance
disbursement shall be prorated over the life of the contract or
the remaining months of the fiscal year, whichever is less, and
the installment amount shall then be deducted from future
bills. Advance disbursement authorizations for new initiatives
shall not be made to any agency after that agency has operated
during 2 consecutive fiscal years. The requirements of this
Section concerning advance disbursements shall not apply with
respect to the following: payments to local public agencies for
child day care services as authorized by Section 5a of this
Act; and youth service programs receiving grant funds under
Section 17a-4.
    (e) (Blank).
    (f) (Blank).
    (g) The Department shall establish rules and regulations
concerning its operation of programs designed to meet the goals
of child safety and protection, family preservation, family
reunification, and adoption, including but not limited to:
        (1) adoption;
        (2) foster care;
        (3) family counseling;
        (4) protective services;
        (5) (blank);
        (6) homemaker service;
        (7) return of runaway children;
        (8) (blank);
        (9) placement under Section 5-7 of the Juvenile Court
    Act or Section 2-27, 3-28, 4-25 or 5-740 of the Juvenile
    Court Act of 1987 in accordance with the federal Adoption
    Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980; and
        (10) interstate services.
    Rules and regulations established by the Department shall
include provisions for training Department staff and the staff
of Department grantees, through contracts with other agencies
or resources, in alcohol and drug abuse screening techniques
approved by the Department of Human Services, as a successor to
the Department of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, for the
purpose of identifying children and adults who should be
referred to an alcohol and drug abuse treatment program for
professional evaluation.
    (h) If the Department finds that there is no appropriate
program or facility within or available to the Department for a
ward and that no licensed private facility has an adequate and
appropriate program or none agrees to accept the ward, the
Department shall create an appropriate individualized,
program-oriented plan for such ward. The plan may be developed
within the Department or through purchase of services by the
Department to the extent that it is within its statutory
authority to do.
    (i) Service programs shall be available throughout the
State and shall include but not be limited to the following
services:
        (1) case management;
        (2) homemakers;
        (3) counseling;
        (4) parent education;
        (5) day care; and
        (6) emergency assistance and advocacy.
    In addition, the following services may be made available
to assess and meet the needs of children and families:
        (1) comprehensive family-based services;
        (2) assessments;
        (3) respite care; and
        (4) in-home health services.
    The Department shall provide transportation for any of the
services it makes available to children or families or for
which it refers children or families.
    (j) The Department may provide categories of financial
assistance and education assistance grants, and shall
establish rules and regulations concerning the assistance and
grants, to persons who adopt physically or mentally
handicapped, older and other hard-to-place children who (i)
immediately prior to their adoption were legal wards of the
Department or (ii) were determined eligible for financial
assistance with respect to a prior adoption and who become
available for adoption because the prior adoption has been
dissolved and the parental rights of the adoptive parents have
been terminated or because the child's adoptive parents have
died. The Department may, subject to federal financial
participation in the cost, continue to provide financial
assistance and education assistance grants for a child who was
determined eligible for financial assistance under this
subsection (j) in the interim period beginning when the child's
adoptive parents died and ending with the finalization of the
new adoption of the child by another adoptive parent or
parents. The Department may also provide categories of
financial assistance and education assistance grants, and
shall establish rules and regulations for the assistance and
grants, to persons appointed guardian of the person under
Section 5-7 of the Juvenile Court Act or Section 2-27, 3-28,
4-25 or 5-740 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 for children
who were wards of the Department for 12 months immediately
prior to the appointment of the guardian.
    The amount of assistance may vary, depending upon the needs
of the child and the adoptive parents, as set forth in the
annual assistance agreement. Special purpose grants are
allowed where the child requires special service but such costs
may not exceed the amounts which similar services would cost
the Department if it were to provide or secure them as guardian
of the child.
    Any financial assistance provided under this subsection is
inalienable by assignment, sale, execution, attachment,
garnishment, or any other remedy for recovery or collection of
a judgment or debt.
    (j-5) The Department shall not deny or delay the placement
of a child for adoption if an approved family is available
either outside of the Department region handling the case, or
outside of the State of Illinois.
    (k) The Department shall accept for care and training any
child who has been adjudicated neglected or abused, or
dependent committed to it pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act or
the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
    (l) Before July 1, 2000, the Department may provide, and
beginning July 1, 2000, the Department shall offer family
preservation services, as defined in Section 8.2 of the Abused
and Neglected Child Reporting Act, to help families, including
adoptive and extended families. Family preservation services
shall be offered (i) to prevent the placement of children in
substitute care when the children can be cared for at home or
in the custody of the person responsible for the children's
welfare, (ii) to reunite children with their families, or (iii)
to maintain an adoptive placement. Family preservation
services shall only be offered when doing so will not endanger
the children's health or safety. With respect to children who
are in substitute care pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act of
1987, family preservation services shall not be offered if a
goal other than those of subdivisions (A), (B), or (B-1) of
subsection (2) of Section 2-28 of that Act has been set.
Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to create a
private right of action or claim on the part of any individual
or child welfare agency.
    The Department shall notify the child and his family of the
Department's responsibility to offer and provide family
preservation services as identified in the service plan. The
child and his family shall be eligible for services as soon as
the report is determined to be "indicated". The Department may
offer services to any child or family with respect to whom a
report of suspected child abuse or neglect has been filed,
prior to concluding its investigation under Section 7.12 of the
Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. However, the child's
or family's willingness to accept services shall not be
considered in the investigation. The Department may also
provide services to any child or family who is the subject of
any report of suspected child abuse or neglect or may refer
such child or family to services available from other agencies
in the community, even if the report is determined to be
unfounded, if the conditions in the child's or family's home
are reasonably likely to subject the child or family to future
reports of suspected child abuse or neglect. Acceptance of such
services shall be voluntary.
    The Department may, at its discretion except for those
children also adjudicated neglected or dependent, accept for
care and training any child who has been adjudicated addicted,
as a truant minor in need of supervision or as a minor
requiring authoritative intervention, under the Juvenile Court
Act or the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, but no such child shall
be committed to the Department by any court without the
approval of the Department. A minor charged with a criminal
offense under the Criminal Code of 1961 or adjudicated
delinquent shall not be placed in the custody of or committed
to the Department by any court, except a minor less than 13
years of age committed to the Department under Section 5-710 of
the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
    (l-1) The legislature recognizes that the best interests of
the child require that the child be placed in the most
permanent living arrangement as soon as is practically
possible. To achieve this goal, the legislature directs the
Department of Children and Family Services to conduct
concurrent planning so that permanency may occur at the
earliest opportunity. Permanent living arrangements may
include prevention of placement of a child outside the home of
the family when the child can be cared for at home without
endangering the child's health or safety; reunification with
the family, when safe and appropriate, if temporary placement
is necessary; or movement of the child toward the most
permanent living arrangement and permanent legal status.
    When determining reasonable efforts to be made with respect
to a child, as described in this subsection, and in making such
reasonable efforts, the child's health and safety shall be the
paramount concern.
    When a child is placed in foster care, the Department shall
ensure and document that reasonable efforts were made to
prevent or eliminate the need to remove the child from the
child's home. The Department must make reasonable efforts to
reunify the family when temporary placement of the child occurs
unless otherwise required, pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act
of 1987. At any time after the dispositional hearing where the
Department believes that further reunification services would
be ineffective, it may request a finding from the court that
reasonable efforts are no longer appropriate. The Department is
not required to provide further reunification services after
such a finding.
    A decision to place a child in substitute care shall be
made with considerations of the child's health, safety, and
best interests. At the time of placement, consideration should
also be given so that if reunification fails or is delayed, the
placement made is the best available placement to provide
permanency for the child.
    The Department shall adopt rules addressing concurrent
planning for reunification and permanency. The Department
shall consider the following factors when determining
appropriateness of concurrent planning:
        (1) the likelihood of prompt reunification;
        (2) the past history of the family;
        (3) the barriers to reunification being addressed by
    the family;
        (4) the level of cooperation of the family;
        (5) the foster parents' willingness to work with the
    family to reunite;
        (6) the willingness and ability of the foster family to
    provide an adoptive home or long-term placement;
        (7) the age of the child;
        (8) placement of siblings.
    (m) The Department may assume temporary custody of any
child if:
        (1) it has received a written consent to such temporary
    custody signed by the parents of the child or by the parent
    having custody of the child if the parents are not living
    together or by the guardian or custodian of the child if
    the child is not in the custody of either parent, or
        (2) the child is found in the State and neither a
    parent, guardian nor custodian of the child can be located.
If the child is found in his or her residence without a parent,
guardian, custodian or responsible caretaker, the Department
may, instead of removing the child and assuming temporary
custody, place an authorized representative of the Department
in that residence until such time as a parent, guardian or
custodian enters the home and expresses a willingness and
apparent ability to ensure the child's health and safety and
resume permanent charge of the child, or until a relative
enters the home and is willing and able to ensure the child's
health and safety and assume charge of the child until a
parent, guardian or custodian enters the home and expresses
such willingness and ability to ensure the child's safety and
resume permanent charge. After a caretaker has remained in the
home for a period not to exceed 12 hours, the Department must
follow those procedures outlined in Section 2-9, 3-11, 4-8, or
5-415 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
    The Department shall have the authority, responsibilities
and duties that a legal custodian of the child would have
pursuant to subsection (9) of Section 1-3 of the Juvenile Court
Act of 1987. Whenever a child is taken into temporary custody
pursuant to an investigation under the Abused and Neglected
Child Reporting Act, or pursuant to a referral and acceptance
under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 of a minor in limited
custody, the Department, during the period of temporary custody
and before the child is brought before a judicial officer as
required by Section 2-9, 3-11, 4-8, or 5-415 of the Juvenile
Court Act of 1987, shall have the authority, responsibilities
and duties that a legal custodian of the child would have under
subsection (9) of Section 1-3 of the Juvenile Court Act of
1987.
    The Department shall ensure that any child taken into
custody is scheduled for an appointment for a medical
examination.
    A parent, guardian or custodian of a child in the temporary
custody of the Department who would have custody of the child
if he were not in the temporary custody of the Department may
deliver to the Department a signed request that the Department
surrender the temporary custody of the child. The Department
may retain temporary custody of the child for 10 days after the
receipt of the request, during which period the Department may
cause to be filed a petition pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act
of 1987. If a petition is so filed, the Department shall retain
temporary custody of the child until the court orders
otherwise. If a petition is not filed within the 10 day period,
the child shall be surrendered to the custody of the requesting
parent, guardian or custodian not later than the expiration of
the 10 day period, at which time the authority and duties of
the Department with respect to the temporary custody of the
child shall terminate.
    (m-1) The Department may place children under 18 years of
age in a secure child care facility licensed by the Department
that cares for children who are in need of secure living
arrangements for their health, safety, and well-being after a
determination is made by the facility director and the Director
or the Director's designate prior to admission to the facility
subject to Section 2-27.1 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
This subsection (m-1) does not apply to a child who is subject
to placement in a correctional facility operated pursuant to
Section 3-15-2 of the Unified Code of Corrections, unless the
child is a ward who was placed under the care of the Department
before being subject to placement in a correctional facility
and a court of competent jurisdiction has ordered placement of
the child in a secure care facility.
    (n) The Department may place children under 18 years of age
in licensed child care facilities when in the opinion of the
Department, appropriate services aimed at family preservation
have been unsuccessful and cannot ensure the child's health and
safety or are unavailable and such placement would be for their
best interest. Payment for board, clothing, care, training and
supervision of any child placed in a licensed child care
facility may be made by the Department, by the parents or
guardians of the estates of those children, or by both the
Department and the parents or guardians, except that no
payments shall be made by the Department for any child placed
in a licensed child care facility for board, clothing, care,
training and supervision of such a child that exceed the
average per capita cost of maintaining and of caring for a
child in institutions for dependent or neglected children
operated by the Department. However, such restriction on
payments does not apply in cases where children require
specialized care and treatment for problems of severe emotional
disturbance, physical disability, social adjustment, or any
combination thereof and suitable facilities for the placement
of such children are not available at payment rates within the
limitations set forth in this Section. All reimbursements for
services delivered shall be absolutely inalienable by
assignment, sale, attachment, garnishment or otherwise.
    (o) The Department shall establish an administrative
review and appeal process for children and families who request
or receive child welfare services from the Department. Children
who are wards of the Department and are placed by private child
welfare agencies, and foster families with whom those children
are placed, shall be afforded the same procedural and appeal
rights as children and families in the case of placement by the
Department, including the right to an initial review of a
private agency decision by that agency. The Department shall
insure that any private child welfare agency, which accepts
wards of the Department for placement, affords those rights to
children and foster families. The Department shall accept for
administrative review and an appeal hearing a complaint made by
(i) a child or foster family concerning a decision following an
initial review by a private child welfare agency or (ii) a
prospective adoptive parent who alleges a violation of
subsection (j-5) of this Section. An appeal of a decision
concerning a change in the placement of a child shall be
conducted in an expedited manner.
    (p) There is hereby created the Department of Children and
Family Services Emergency Assistance Fund from which the
Department may provide special financial assistance to
families which are in economic crisis when such assistance is
not available through other public or private sources and the
assistance is deemed necessary to prevent dissolution of the
family unit or to reunite families which have been separated
due to child abuse and neglect. The Department shall establish
administrative rules specifying the criteria for determining
eligibility for and the amount and nature of assistance to be
provided. The Department may also enter into written agreements
with private and public social service agencies to provide
emergency financial services to families referred by the
Department. Special financial assistance payments shall be
available to a family no more than once during each fiscal year
and the total payments to a family may not exceed $500 during a
fiscal year.
    (q) The Department may receive and use, in their entirety,
for the benefit of children any gift, donation or bequest of
money or other property which is received on behalf of such
children, or any financial benefits to which such children are
or may become entitled while under the jurisdiction or care of
the Department.
    The Department shall set up and administer no-cost,
interest-bearing accounts in appropriate financial
institutions for children for whom the Department is legally
responsible and who have been determined eligible for Veterans'
Benefits, Social Security benefits, assistance allotments from
the armed forces, court ordered payments, parental voluntary
payments, Supplemental Security Income, Railroad Retirement
payments, Black Lung benefits, or other miscellaneous
payments. Interest earned by each account shall be credited to
the account, unless disbursed in accordance with this
subsection.
    In disbursing funds from children's accounts, the
Department shall:
        (1) Establish standards in accordance with State and
    federal laws for disbursing money from children's
    accounts. In all circumstances, the Department's
    "Guardianship Administrator" or his or her designee must
    approve disbursements from children's accounts. The
    Department shall be responsible for keeping complete
    records of all disbursements for each account for any
    purpose.
        (2) Calculate on a monthly basis the amounts paid from
    State funds for the child's board and care, medical care
    not covered under Medicaid, and social services; and
    utilize funds from the child's account, as covered by
    regulation, to reimburse those costs. Monthly,
    disbursements from all children's accounts, up to 1/12 of
    $13,000,000, shall be deposited by the Department into the
    General Revenue Fund and the balance over 1/12 of
    $13,000,000 into the DCFS Children's Services Fund.
        (3) Maintain any balance remaining after reimbursing
    for the child's costs of care, as specified in item (2).
    The balance shall accumulate in accordance with relevant
    State and federal laws and shall be disbursed to the child
    or his or her guardian, or to the issuing agency.
    (r) The Department shall promulgate regulations
encouraging all adoption agencies to voluntarily forward to the
Department or its agent names and addresses of all persons who
have applied for and have been approved for adoption of a
hard-to-place or handicapped child and the names of such
children who have not been placed for adoption. A list of such
names and addresses shall be maintained by the Department or
its agent, and coded lists which maintain the confidentiality
of the person seeking to adopt the child and of the child shall
be made available, without charge, to every adoption agency in
the State to assist the agencies in placing such children for
adoption. The Department may delegate to an agent its duty to
maintain and make available such lists. The Department shall
ensure that such agent maintains the confidentiality of the
person seeking to adopt the child and of the child.
    (s) The Department of Children and Family Services may
establish and implement a program to reimburse Department and
private child welfare agency foster parents licensed by the
Department of Children and Family Services for damages
sustained by the foster parents as a result of the malicious or
negligent acts of foster children, as well as providing third
party coverage for such foster parents with regard to actions
of foster children to other individuals. Such coverage will be
secondary to the foster parent liability insurance policy, if
applicable. The program shall be funded through appropriations
from the General Revenue Fund, specifically designated for such
purposes.
    (t) The Department shall perform home studies and
investigations and shall exercise supervision over visitation
as ordered by a court pursuant to the Illinois Marriage and
Dissolution of Marriage Act or the Adoption Act only if:
        (1) an order entered by an Illinois court specifically
    directs the Department to perform such services; and
        (2) the court has ordered one or both of the parties to
    the proceeding to reimburse the Department for its
    reasonable costs for providing such services in accordance
    with Department rules, or has determined that neither party
    is financially able to pay.
    The Department shall provide written notification to the
court of the specific arrangements for supervised visitation
and projected monthly costs within 60 days of the court order.
The Department shall send to the court information related to
the costs incurred except in cases where the court has
determined the parties are financially unable to pay. The court
may order additional periodic reports as appropriate.
    (u) Whenever the Department places a child in a licensed
foster home, group home, child care institution, or in a
relative home, the Department shall provide to the caretaker:
        (1) available detailed information concerning the
    child's educational and health history, copies of
    immunization records (including insurance and medical card
    information), a history of the child's previous
    placements, if any, and reasons for placement changes
    excluding any information that identifies or reveals the
    location of any previous caretaker;
        (2) a copy of the child's portion of the client service
    plan, including any visitation arrangement, and all
    amendments or revisions to it as related to the child; and
        (3) information containing details of the child's
    individualized educational plan when the child is
    receiving special education services.
    The caretaker shall be informed of any known social or
behavioral information (including, but not limited to,
criminal background, fire setting, perpetuation of sexual
abuse, destructive behavior, and substance abuse) necessary to
care for and safeguard the child.
    (u-5) Effective July 1, 1995, only foster care placements
licensed as foster family homes pursuant to the Child Care Act
of 1969 shall be eligible to receive foster care payments from
the Department. Relative caregivers who, as of July 1, 1995,
were approved pursuant to approved relative placement rules
previously promulgated by the Department at 89 Ill. Adm. Code
335 and had submitted an application for licensure as a foster
family home may continue to receive foster care payments only
until the Department determines that they may be licensed as a
foster family home or that their application for licensure is
denied or until September 30, 1995, whichever occurs first.
    (v) The Department shall access criminal history record
information as defined in the Illinois Uniform Conviction
Information Act and information maintained in the adjudicatory
and dispositional record system as defined in Section 2605-355
of the Department of State Police Law (20 ILCS 2605/2605-355)
if the Department determines the information is necessary to
perform its duties under the Abused and Neglected Child
Reporting Act, the Child Care Act of 1969, and the Children and
Family Services Act. The Department shall provide for
interactive computerized communication and processing
equipment that permits direct on-line communication with the
Department of State Police's central criminal history data
repository. The Department shall comply with all certification
requirements and provide certified operators who have been
trained by personnel from the Department of State Police. In
addition, one Office of the Inspector General investigator
shall have training in the use of the criminal history
information access system and have access to the terminal. The
Department of Children and Family Services and its employees
shall abide by rules and regulations established by the
Department of State Police relating to the access and
dissemination of this information.
    (w) Within 120 days of August 20, 1995 (the effective date
of Public Act 89-392), the Department shall prepare and submit
to the Governor and the General Assembly, a written plan for
the development of in-state licensed secure child care
facilities that care for children who are in need of secure
living arrangements for their health, safety, and well-being.
For purposes of this subsection, secure care facility shall
mean a facility that is designed and operated to ensure that
all entrances and exits from the facility, a building or a
distinct part of the building, are under the exclusive control
of the staff of the facility, whether or not the child has the
freedom of movement within the perimeter of the facility,
building, or distinct part of the building. The plan shall
include descriptions of the types of facilities that are needed
in Illinois; the cost of developing these secure care
facilities; the estimated number of placements; the potential
cost savings resulting from the movement of children currently
out-of-state who are projected to be returned to Illinois; the
necessary geographic distribution of these facilities in
Illinois; and a proposed timetable for development of such
facilities.
(Source: P.A. 91-239, eff. 1-1-00; 91-357, eff. 7-29-99;
91-812, eff. 6-13-00; 92-154, eff. 1-1-02.)

Effective Date: 1/1/2006