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practitioner; home health aide; or certified nursing |
assistant. |
(2) Social services and mental health personnel, |
including any: licensed professional counselor; licensed |
clinical professional counselor; licensed social worker; |
licensed clinical social worker; licensed psychologist or |
assistant working under the direct supervision of a |
psychologist; associate licensed marriage and family |
therapist; licensed marriage and family therapist; field |
personnel of the Departments of Healthcare and Family |
Services, Public Health, Human Services, Human Rights, or |
Children and Family Services; supervisor or administrator |
of the General Assistance program established under |
Article VI of the Illinois Public Aid Code; social |
services administrator; or substance abuse treatment |
personnel. |
(3) Crisis intervention personnel, including any: |
crisis line or hotline personnel; or domestic violence |
program personnel. |
(4)
Education personnel, including any: school |
personnel (including administrators and certified and |
non-certified school employees); personnel of institutions |
of higher education; educational advocate assigned to a |
child in accordance with the School Code; member of a |
school board or the Chicago Board of Education or the |
governing body of a private school (but only to the extent |
|
required under subsection (d)); or truant officer. |
(5)
Recreation or athletic program or facility |
personnel. |
(6)
Child care personnel, including any: early |
intervention provider as defined in the Early Intervention |
Services System Act; director or staff assistant of a |
nursery school or a child day care center; or foster |
parent, homemaker, or child care worker. |
(7)
Law enforcement personnel, including any: law |
enforcement officer; field personnel of the Department of |
Juvenile Justice; field personnel of the Department of |
Corrections; probation officer; or animal control officer |
or field investigator of the Department of Agriculture's |
Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare. |
(8)
Any funeral home director; funeral home director |
and embalmer; funeral home employee; coroner; or medical |
examiner. |
(9)
Any member of the clergy. |
(10) Any physician, physician assistant, registered |
nurse, licensed practical nurse, medical technician, |
certified nursing assistant, licensed social worker, |
licensed clinical social worker, or licensed professional |
counselor of any office, clinic, or any other physical |
location that provides abortions, abortion referrals, or |
contraceptives. |
(b) When 2 or more persons who work within the same |
|
workplace and are required to report under this Act share a |
reasonable cause to believe that a child may be an abused or |
neglected child, one of those reporters may be designated to |
make a single report. The report shall include the names and |
contact information for the other mandated reporters sharing |
the reasonable cause to believe that a child may be an abused |
or neglected child. The designated reporter must provide |
written confirmation of the report to those mandated reporters |
within 48 hours. If confirmation is not provided, those |
mandated reporters are individually responsible for |
immediately ensuring a report is made. Nothing in this Section |
precludes or may be used to preclude any person from reporting |
child abuse or child neglect. |
(c)(1) As used in this Section, "a child known to them in |
their professional or official capacities" means: |
(A) the mandated reporter comes into contact with the |
child in the course of the reporter's employment or |
practice of a profession, or through a regularly scheduled |
program, activity, or service; |
(B) the mandated reporter is affiliated with an |
agency, institution, organization, school, school |
district, regularly established church or religious |
organization, or other entity that is directly responsible |
for the care, supervision, guidance, or training of the |
child; or |
(C) a person makes a specific disclosure to the |
|
mandated reporter that an identifiable child is the victim |
of child abuse or child neglect, and the disclosure |
happens while the mandated reporter is engaged in his or |
her employment or practice of a profession, or in a |
regularly scheduled program, activity, or service. |
(2) Nothing in this Section requires a child to come |
before the mandated reporter in order for the reporter to make |
a report of suspected child abuse or child neglect.
|
(d) If an allegation is raised to a school board member |
during the course of an open or closed school board meeting |
that a child who is enrolled in the school district of which he |
or she is a board member is an abused child as defined in |
Section 3 of this Act, the member shall direct or cause the |
school board to direct the superintendent of the school |
district or other equivalent school administrator to comply |
with the requirements of this Act concerning the reporting of |
child abuse. For purposes of this paragraph, a school board |
member is granted the authority in his or her individual |
capacity to direct the superintendent of the school district |
or other equivalent school administrator to comply with the |
requirements of this Act concerning the reporting of child |
abuse.
|
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, if an |
employee of a school district has made a report or caused a |
report to be made to the Department under this Act involving |
the conduct of a current or former employee of the school |
|
district and a request is made by another school district for |
the provision of information concerning the job performance or |
qualifications of the current or former employee because he or |
she is an applicant for employment with the requesting school |
district, the general superintendent of the school district to |
which the request is being made must disclose to the |
requesting school district the fact that an employee of the |
school district has made a report involving the conduct of the |
applicant or caused a report to be made to the Department, as |
required under this Act. Only the fact that an employee of the |
school district has made a report involving the conduct of the |
applicant or caused a report to be made to the Department may |
be disclosed by the general superintendent of the school |
district to which the request for information concerning the |
applicant is made, and this fact may be disclosed only in cases |
where the employee and the general superintendent have not |
been informed by the Department that the allegations were |
unfounded. An employee of a school district who is or has been |
the subject of a report made pursuant to this Act during his or |
her employment with the school district must be informed by |
that school district that if he or she applies for employment |
with another school district, the general superintendent of |
the former school district, upon the request of the school |
district to which the employee applies, shall notify that |
requesting school district that the employee is or was the |
subject of such a report.
|
|
(e) Whenever
such person is required to report under this |
Act in his capacity as a member of
the staff of a medical or |
other public or private institution, school, facility
or |
agency, or as a member of the clergy, he shall
make report |
immediately to the Department in accordance
with the |
provisions of this Act and may also notify the person in charge |
of
such institution, school, facility or agency, or church, |
synagogue, temple,
mosque, or other religious institution, or |
his
designated agent that such
report has been made. Under no |
circumstances shall any person in charge of
such institution, |
school, facility or agency, or church, synagogue, temple,
|
mosque, or other religious institution, or his
designated |
agent to whom
such notification has been made, exercise any |
control, restraint, modification
or other change in the report |
or the forwarding of such report to the
Department.
|
(f) In addition to the persons required to report |
suspected cases of child abuse or child neglect under this |
Section, any other person may make a report if such person has |
reasonable cause to believe a child may be an abused child or a |
neglected child. |
(g) The privileged quality of communication between any |
professional
person required to report
and his patient or |
client shall not apply to situations involving abused or
|
neglected children and shall not constitute grounds for |
failure to report
as required by this Act or constitute |
grounds for failure to share information or documents with the |
|
Department during the course of a child abuse or neglect |
investigation. If requested by the professional, the |
Department shall confirm in writing that the information or |
documents disclosed by the professional were gathered in the |
course of a child abuse or neglect investigation.
|
The reporting requirements of this Act shall not apply to |
the contents of a privileged communication between an attorney |
and his or her client or to confidential information within |
the meaning of Rule 1.6 of the Illinois Rules of Professional |
Conduct relating to the legal representation of an individual |
client. |
A member of the clergy may claim the privilege under |
Section 8-803 of the
Code of Civil Procedure.
|
(h) Any office, clinic, or any other physical location |
that provides abortions, abortion referrals, or contraceptives |
shall provide to all office personnel copies of written |
information and training materials about abuse and neglect and |
the requirements of this Act that are provided to employees of |
the office, clinic, or physical location who are required to |
make reports to the Department under this Act, and instruct |
such office personnel to bring to the attention of an employee |
of the office, clinic, or physical location who is required to |
make reports to the Department under this Act any reasonable |
suspicion that a child known to him or her in his or her |
professional or official capacity may be an abused child or a |
neglected child.
|
|
(i) Any person who enters into
employment on and after |
July 1, 1986 and is mandated by virtue of that
employment to |
report under this Act, shall sign a statement on a form
|
prescribed by the Department, to the effect that the employee |
has knowledge
and understanding of the reporting requirements |
of this Act. On and after January 1, 2019, the statement
shall |
also include information about available mandated reporter |
training provided by the Department. The statement
shall be |
signed prior to commencement of the employment. The signed
|
statement shall be retained by the employer. The cost of |
printing,
distribution, and filing of the statement shall be |
borne by the employer.
|
(j) Persons required to report child abuse or child |
neglect as provided under this Section must complete an |
initial mandated reporter training, including a section on |
implicit bias, within 3 months of their date of engagement in a |
professional or official capacity as a mandated reporter, or |
within the time frame of any other applicable State law that |
governs training requirements for a specific profession, and |
at least every 3 years thereafter. The initial requirement |
only applies to the first time they engage in their |
professional or official capacity. In lieu of training every 3 |
years, medical personnel, as listed in paragraph (1) of |
subsection (a), must meet the requirements described in |
subsection (k). |
The mandated reporter trainings shall be in-person or |
|
web-based, and shall include, at a minimum, information on the |
following topics: (i) indicators for recognizing child abuse |
and child neglect, as defined under this Act; (ii) the process |
for reporting suspected child abuse and child neglect in |
Illinois as required by this Act and the required |
documentation; (iii) responding to a child in a |
trauma-informed manner; and (iv) understanding the response of |
child protective services and the role of the reporter after a |
call has been made. Child-serving organizations are encouraged |
to provide in-person annual trainings. |
The implicit bias section shall be in-person or web-based, |
and shall include, at a minimum, information on the following |
topics: (i) implicit bias and (ii) racial and ethnic |
sensitivity. As used in this subsection, "implicit bias" means |
the attitudes or internalized stereotypes that affect people's |
perceptions, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner |
and that exist and often contribute to unequal treatment of |
people based on race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual |
orientation, age, disability, and other characteristics. The |
implicit bias section shall provide tools to adjust automatic |
patterns of thinking and ultimately eliminate discriminatory |
behaviors. During these trainings mandated reporters shall |
complete the following: (1) a pretest to assess baseline |
implicit bias levels; (2) an implicit bias training task; and |
(3) a posttest to reevaluate bias levels after training. The |
implicit bias curriculum for mandated reporters shall be |
|
developed within one year after the effective date of this |
amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly and shall be |
created in consultation with organizations demonstrating |
expertise and or experience in the areas of implicit bias, |
youth and adolescent developmental issues, prevention of child |
abuse, exploitation, and neglect, culturally diverse family |
systems, and the child welfare system. |
The mandated reporter training, including a section on |
implicit bias, shall be provided through the Department, |
through an entity authorized to provide continuing education |
for professionals licensed through the Department of Financial |
and Professional Regulation, the State Board of Education, the |
Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board, or the |
Department of State Police, or through an organization |
approved by the Department to provide mandated reporter |
training, including a section on implicit bias. The Department |
must make available a free web-based training for reporters. |
Each mandated reporter shall report to his or her employer |
and, when applicable, to his or her licensing or certification |
board that he or she received the mandated reporter training. |
The mandated reporter shall maintain records of completion. |
Beginning January 1, 2021, if a mandated reporter receives |
licensure from the Department of Financial and Professional |
Regulation or the State Board of Education, and his or her |
profession has continuing education requirements, the training |
mandated under this Section shall count toward meeting the |
|
licensee's required continuing education hours. |
(k)(1) Medical personnel, as listed in paragraph (1) of |
subsection (a), who work with children in their professional |
or official capacity, must complete mandated reporter training |
at least every 6 years. Such medical personnel, if licensed, |
must attest at each time of licensure renewal on their renewal |
form that they understand they are a mandated reporter of |
child abuse and neglect, that they are aware of the process for |
making a report, that they know how to respond to a child in a |
trauma-informed manner, and that they are aware of the role of |
child protective services and the role of a reporter after a |
call has been made. |
(2) In lieu of repeated training, medical personnel, as |
listed in paragraph (1) of subsection (a), who do not work with |
children in their professional or official capacity, may |
instead attest each time at licensure renewal on their renewal |
form that they understand they are a mandated reporter of |
child abuse and neglect, that they are aware of the process for |
making a report, that they know how to respond to a child in a |
trauma-informed manner, and that they are aware of the role of |
child protective services and the role of a reporter after a |
call has been made. Nothing in this paragraph precludes |
medical personnel from completing mandated reporter training |
and receiving continuing education credits for that training. |
(l) The Department shall provide copies of this Act, upon |
request, to all
employers employing persons who shall be |
|
required under the provisions of
this Section to report under |
this Act.
|
(m) 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 |
2012. A violation of this provision is a Class 4 felony.
|
Any person who knowingly and willfully violates any |
provision of this
Section other than a second or subsequent |
violation of transmitting a
false report as described in the
|
preceding paragraph, is guilty of a
Class A misdemeanor for
a |
first violation and a Class
4 felony for a
second or subsequent |
violation; except that if the person acted as part
of a plan or |
scheme having as its object the
prevention of discovery of an |
abused or neglected child by lawful authorities
for the
|
purpose of protecting or insulating any person or entity from |
arrest or
prosecution, the
person is guilty of a Class 4 felony |
for a first offense and a Class 3 felony
for a second or
|
subsequent offense (regardless of whether the second or |
subsequent offense
involves any
of the same facts or persons |
as the first or other prior offense).
|
(n) A child whose parent, guardian or custodian in good |
faith selects and depends
upon spiritual means through prayer |
alone for the treatment or cure of
disease or remedial care may |
be considered neglected or abused, but not for
the sole reason |
that his parent, guardian or custodian accepts and
practices |
such beliefs.
|
|
(o) A child shall not be considered neglected or abused |
solely because the
child is not attending school in accordance |
with the requirements of
Article 26 of the School Code, as |
amended.
|
(p) Nothing in this Act prohibits a mandated reporter who |
reasonably believes that an animal is being abused or |
neglected in violation of the Humane Care for Animals Act from |
reporting animal abuse or neglect to the Department of |
Agriculture's Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare. |
(q) A home rule unit may not regulate the reporting of |
child abuse or neglect in a manner inconsistent with the |
provisions of this Section. This Section is a limitation under |
subsection (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois |
Constitution on the concurrent exercise by home rule units of |
powers and functions exercised by the State. |
(r) For purposes of this Section "child abuse or neglect" |
includes abuse or neglect of an adult resident as defined in |
this Act. |
(Source: P.A. 100-513, eff. 1-1-18; 100-1071, eff. 1-1-19; |
101-564, eff. 1-1-20.)
|