Public Act 101-0166
 
SB1743 EnrolledLRB101 09307 KTG 54401 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 adding Sections 39.3 and 42 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 505/39.3)
    Sec. 39.3. Suggestion boxes. The Department must place in
each residential treatment center, group home, shelter, and
transitional living arrangement that accepts youth in care for
placement by the Department a locked suggestion box into which
residents may place comments and concerns to be addressed by
the Department. Only employees of the Department shall have
access to the contents of the locked suggestion boxes. An
employee of the Department must check the locked suggestion
boxes at least once per week. The Department shall submit a
report to the General Assembly each year outlining the issues
and concerns submitted to the locked suggestion box and the
solution to each issue and concern.
(Source: P.A. 99-342, eff. 8-11-15; 100-159, eff. 8-18-17.)
 
    (20 ILCS 505/42 new)
    Sec. 42. Foster care survey. The Department, in
coordination with the Foster Care Alumni of America Illinois
Chapter, the School of Social Work at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the Department's Statewide
Youth Advisory Board, shall develop and process a standardized
survey to gather feedback from children who are aging out of
foster care and from children who have transitioned out of the
foster care system. The survey shall include requests for
information regarding the children's experience with and
opinion of State foster care services, the children's
recommendations for improvement of such services, the amount of
time the children spent in the foster care system, and any
other information deemed relevant by the Department. After the
survey is created the Department shall circulate the survey to
all youth participating in transitional living programs,
independent living programs, or Youth in College and to all
youth receiving scholarships or tuition waivers under the DCFS
Scholarship Program. The Department shall conduct the survey
every 5 years. At the completion of each survey, the
Department, in coordination with the Foster Care Alumni of
America Illinois Chapter, the School of Social Work at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the
Department's Statewide Youth Advisory Board, shall submit a
report with a detailed review of the survey results to the
Governor and the General Assembly. The first report shall be
submitted no later than December 1, 2021 and every 5 years
thereafter.

Effective Date: 1/1/2020