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Public Act 095-0057
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| HB0421 Enrolled |
LRB095 04461 DRJ 27317 b |
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AN ACT concerning children.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act is |
amended by changing Sections 7 and 7.3 as follows:
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(325 ILCS 5/7) (from Ch. 23, par. 2057)
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Sec. 7. Time and manner of making reports. All reports of |
suspected
child abuse or neglect made
under this Act shall be |
made immediately by telephone to the central register
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established under Section 7.7 on the single, State-wide, |
toll-free telephone
number established in Section 7.6, or in |
person or by telephone through
the nearest Department office. |
The Department shall, in cooperation with
school officials, |
distribute
appropriate materials in school buildings
listing |
the toll-free telephone number established in Section 7.6,
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including methods of making a report under this Act.
The |
Department may, in cooperation with appropriate members of the |
clergy,
distribute appropriate materials in churches, |
synagogues, temples, mosques, or
other religious buildings |
listing the toll-free telephone number
established in Section |
7.6, including methods of making a report under this
Act.
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Wherever the Statewide number is posted, there shall also |
be posted the
following notice:
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"Any person who knowingly transmits a false report to the |
Department
commits the offense of disorderly conduct under |
subsection (a)(7) of
Section 26-1 of the Criminal Code of 1961. |
A first violation of this
subsection is a Class A misdemeanor, |
punishable by a term of imprisonment
for up to one year, or by |
a fine not to exceed $1,000, or by both such term
and fine. A |
second or subsequent violation is a Class 4 felony."
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The report required by this Act shall include, if known, |
the name
and address of the child and his parents or other |
persons having his
custody; the child's age; the nature of the |
child's condition including any
evidence of previous injuries |
or disabilities; and any other information
that the person |
filing the report believes might be helpful in
establishing the |
cause of such abuse or neglect and the identity of the
person |
believed to have caused such abuse or neglect. Reports made to |
the
central register through the State-wide, toll-free |
telephone number shall
be immediately transmitted by the |
Department to the appropriate Child Protective Service
Unit. |
All such reports alleging the death of a child,
serious injury |
to a child including, but not limited to, brain damage,
skull |
fractures, subdural hematomas, and internal injuries, torture |
of a
child, malnutrition of a child, and sexual abuse to a |
child, including, but
not limited to, sexual intercourse, |
sexual exploitation, sexual
molestation, and sexually |
transmitted disease in a child age
12 and under, shall also be |
immediately transmitted by the Department to the appropriate |
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local law enforcement agency. The Department shall within 24 |
hours orally notify local law
enforcement personnel and the |
office of the State's Attorney of the
involved county of the |
receipt of any report alleging the death of a child,
serious |
injury to a child including, but not limited to, brain damage,
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skull fractures, subdural hematomas, and, internal injuries, |
torture of a
child, malnutrition of a child, and sexual abuse |
to a child, including, but
not limited to, sexual intercourse, |
sexual exploitation, sexual
molestation, and sexually |
transmitted disease in a child age
twelve and under. All
oral |
reports made by the Department to local law enforcement |
personnel and
the office of the State's Attorney of the |
involved county shall be
confirmed in writing within 24
48
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hours of the oral report. All reports by
persons mandated to |
report under this Act shall be confirmed in writing to
the |
appropriate Child Protective Service Unit, which may be on |
forms
supplied by the Department, within 48 hours of any |
initial report.
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Written confirmation reports from persons not required to |
report by this
Act may be made to the appropriate Child |
Protective Service Unit. Written
reports from persons required |
by this Act to report shall be admissible
in evidence in any |
judicial proceeding relating to child abuse or neglect.
Reports |
involving known or suspected child abuse or neglect in public |
or
private residential agencies or institutions shall be made |
and received
in the same manner as all other reports made under |
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this Act.
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(Source: P.A. 92-801, eff. 8-16-02.)
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(325 ILCS 5/7.3) (from Ch. 23, par. 2057.3)
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Sec. 7.3. (a) The Department shall be the sole agency |
responsible for receiving
and investigating reports of child |
abuse or neglect made under this Act,
except where |
investigations by other agencies may be required with
respect |
to reports alleging the death of a child, serious injury to a |
child
or sexual abuse to a child made pursuant to Sections 4.1 |
or 7 of this Act,
and except that the Department may delegate |
the performance of the
investigation to the Department of State |
Police, a law enforcement agency
and to those private social |
service agencies which have been designated for
this purpose by |
the Department prior to July 1, 1980.
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(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the |
Department shall adopt rules expressly allowing law |
enforcement personnel to investigate reports of suspected |
child abuse or neglect concurrently with the Department, |
without regard to whether the Department determines a report to |
be "indicated" or "unfounded" or deems a report to be |
"undetermined".
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(Source: P.A. 85-1440.)
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Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
becoming law.
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