Public Act 094-0228
 
SB0506 Enrolled LRB094 06274 DRJ 36345 b

    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 Shaken
Baby Prevention Act.
 
    Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:
    "Department" means the Department of Public Health.
    "Director" means the Director of Public Health.
    "Parent" means a biological mother or father,
foster-mother or father, adoptive mother or father, or
step-mother or step-father.
    "Primary caregiver" means any person who is not a parent,
but who provides temporary care to an infant or child,
including but not limited to, a babysitter, child care
provider, extended family member, nanny, or custodian.
    "Shaken baby" means the vigorous shaking of an infant or a
young child that may result in bleeding inside the head and
cause one or more of the following conditions: irreversible
brain damage; blindness, retinal hemorrhage, or eye damage;
cerebral palsy; hearing loss; spinal cord injury, including
paralysis; seizures; learning disability; central nervous
system injury; closed head injury; rib fracture; subdural
hematoma; or death.
 
    Section 10. Shaken Baby Prevention Program. Subject to
appropriation, the Director shall establish a statewide Shaken
Baby Prevention Program to educate parents and primary
caregivers about the dangers of shaken baby and to provide
alternative techniques to venting anger and frustration. The
program shall allow for voluntary participation and use
multimedia educational vehicles, such as a video recording, to
target the parents and primary caregivers of babies from birth
through 3 years of age. Parents of newborns may choose to sign
a participation form and fill out an evaluation form to record
their participation in the program after viewing the multimedia
educational materials. The Director, or the Director's
designee, shall develop companion written materials, a program
participation form, and an evaluation form. The Director shall
designate and enter into contracts with experts, health care
providers, and other State agencies to design and implement the
program in all hospitals and child care facilities.
 
    Section 15. Local health departments. Local health
departments shall assist the Director in implementing and
administering the Shaken Baby Prevention Program in local
hospitals and child care facilities. Local health departments'
specific duties may include, but are not limited to,
distributing the multimedia program materials and assisting in
the collection of the data on program participation and the
program evaluation forms for the Department's annual report
required under Section 30.
 
    Section 20. Responsibilities of hospitals, health care
providers, and child care providers.
    (a) Every hospital, maternal or pediatric health care
provider, and child care provider shall encourage parents and
primary caregivers to participate in the voluntary Shaken Baby
Prevention Program by:
        (1) informing parents of all newborn children about the
    program;
        (2) making available to parents the shaken baby
    awareness and prevention multimedia materials provided by
    the Department;
        (3) making program participation forms developed by
    the Department available for signing by parents after
    viewing the multimedia materials; and
        (4) keeping all program participation forms and
    evaluation forms on file.
    (b) Hospitals shall report to the Department by no later
than the first of November of each year: (i) the total number
of births that occurred at the hospital that year; (ii) the
total number of viewings of the shaken baby multimedia
educational materials; and (iii) the total number of Shaken
Baby Prevention Program participation forms signed at the
hospital. All evaluation forms filled out during the year shall
be forwarded to the Department with that data.
 
    Section 25. Parent support service. The Department may
establish and operate a voluntary support service for parents
who struggle with infant crying. The support service may
include, but need not be limited to, telephone consultation and
referrals to appropriate professional assistance.
 
    Section 30. Annual report. The Department shall make an
annual report to the General Assembly of its findings and
recommendations concerning the effectiveness, impact, and
benefits derived from the Shaken Baby Prevention Program. The
report shall contain evaluations of the program and
recommendations for legislation deemed necessary and proper.
The Department shall submit the report on or before the first
day of January, beginning in 2007.
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January
1, 2006.

Effective Date: 1/1/2006