Public Act 103-0752
 
SB0857 EnrolledLRB103 03316 RPS 48322 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 Department of Human Services Act is amended
by changing Section 1-17 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 1305/1-17)
    Sec. 1-17. Inspector General.
    (a) Nature and purpose. It is the express intent of the
General Assembly to ensure the health, safety, and financial
condition of individuals receiving services in this State due
to mental illness, developmental disability, or both by
protecting those persons from acts of abuse, neglect, or both
by service providers. To that end, the Office of the Inspector
General for the Department of Human Services is created to
investigate and report upon allegations of the abuse, neglect,
or financial exploitation of individuals receiving services
within mental health facilities, developmental disabilities
facilities, and community agencies operated, licensed, funded,
or certified by the Department of Human Services, but not
licensed or certified by any other State agency.
    (b) Definitions. The following definitions apply to this
Section:
    "Agency" or "community agency" means (i) a community
agency licensed, funded, or certified by the Department, but
not licensed or certified by any other human services agency
of the State, to provide mental health service or
developmental disabilities service, or (ii) a program
licensed, funded, or certified by the Department, but not
licensed or certified by any other human services agency of
the State, to provide mental health service or developmental
disabilities service.
    "Aggravating circumstance" means a factor that is
attendant to a finding and that tends to compound or increase
the culpability of the accused.
    "Allegation" means an assertion, complaint, suspicion, or
incident involving any of the following conduct by an
employee, facility, or agency against an individual or
individuals: mental abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse,
neglect, or financial exploitation, or material obstruction of
an investigation.
    "Day" means working day, unless otherwise specified.
    "Deflection" means a situation in which an individual is
presented for admission to a facility or agency, and the
facility staff or agency staff do not admit the individual.
"Deflection" includes triage, redirection, and denial of
admission.
    "Department" means the Department of Human Services.
    "Developmental disability" means "developmental
disability" as defined in the Mental Health and Developmental
Disabilities Code.
    "Egregious neglect" means a finding of neglect as
determined by the Inspector General that (i) represents a
gross failure to adequately provide for, or a callused
indifference to, the health, safety, or medical needs of an
individual and (ii) results in an individual's death or other
serious deterioration of an individual's physical condition or
mental condition.
    "Employee" means any person who provides services at the
facility or agency on-site or off-site. The service
relationship can be with the individual or with the facility
or agency. Also, "employee" includes any employee or
contractual agent of the Department of Human Services or the
community agency involved in providing or monitoring or
administering mental health or developmental disability
services. This includes but is not limited to: owners,
operators, payroll personnel, contractors, subcontractors, and
volunteers.
    "Facility" or "State-operated facility" means a mental
health facility or developmental disabilities facility
operated by the Department.
    "Financial exploitation" means taking unjust advantage of
an individual's assets, property, or financial resources
through deception, intimidation, or conversion for the
employee's, facility's, or agency's own advantage or benefit.
    "Finding" means the Office of Inspector General's
determination regarding whether an allegation is
substantiated, unsubstantiated, or unfounded.
    "Health Care Worker Registry" or "Registry" means the
Health Care Worker Registry under the Health Care Worker
Background Check Act.
    "Individual" means any person receiving mental health
service, developmental disabilities service, or both from a
facility or agency, while either on-site or off-site.
    "Material obstruction of an investigation" means the
purposeful interference with an investigation of physical
abuse, sexual abuse, mental abuse, neglect, or financial
exploitation and includes, but is not limited to, the
withholding or altering of documentation or recorded evidence;
influencing, threatening, or impeding witness testimony;
presenting untruthful information during an interview; failing
to cooperate with an investigation conducted by the Office of
the Inspector General. If an employee, following a criminal
investigation of physical abuse, sexual abuse, mental abuse,
neglect, or financial exploitation, is convicted of an offense
that is factually predicated on the employee presenting
untruthful information during the course of the investigation,
that offense constitutes obstruction of an investigation.
Obstruction of an investigation does not include: an
employee's lawful exercising of his or her constitutional
right against self-incrimination, an employee invoking his or
her lawful rights to union representation as provided by a
collective bargaining agreement or the Illinois Public Labor
Relations Act, or a union representative's lawful activities
providing representation under a collective bargaining
agreement or the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act.
Obstruction of an investigation is considered material when it
could significantly impair an investigator's ability to gather
all relevant facts. An employee shall not be placed on the
Health Care Worker Registry for presenting untruthful
information during an interview conducted by the Office of the
Inspector General, unless, prior to the interview, the
employee was provided with any previous signed statements he
or she made during the course of the investigation.
    "Mental abuse" means the use of demeaning, intimidating,
or threatening words, signs, gestures, or other actions by an
employee about an individual and in the presence of an
individual or individuals that results in emotional distress
or maladaptive behavior, or could have resulted in emotional
distress or maladaptive behavior, for any individual present.
    "Mental illness" means "mental illness" as defined in the
Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code.
    "Mentally ill" means having a mental illness.
    "Mitigating circumstance" means a condition that (i) is
attendant to a finding, (ii) does not excuse or justify the
conduct in question, but (iii) may be considered in evaluating
the severity of the conduct, the culpability of the accused,
or both the severity of the conduct and the culpability of the
accused.
    "Neglect" means an employee's, agency's, or facility's
failure to provide adequate medical care, personal care, or
maintenance and that, as a consequence, (i) causes an
individual pain, injury, or emotional distress, (ii) results
in either an individual's maladaptive behavior or the
deterioration of an individual's physical condition or mental
condition, or (iii) places the individual's health or safety
at substantial risk.
    "Person with a developmental disability" means a person
having a developmental disability.
    "Physical abuse" means an employee's non-accidental and
inappropriate contact with an individual that causes bodily
harm. "Physical abuse" includes actions that cause bodily harm
as a result of an employee directing an individual or person to
physically abuse another individual.
    "Presenting untruthful information" means making a false
statement, material to an investigation of physical abuse,
sexual abuse, mental abuse, neglect, or financial
exploitation, knowing the statement is false.
    "Recommendation" means an admonition, separate from a
finding, that requires action by the facility, agency, or
Department to correct a systemic issue, problem, or deficiency
identified during an investigation. "Recommendation" can also
mean an admonition to correct a systemic issue, problem or
deficiency during a review.
    "Required reporter" means any employee who suspects,
witnesses, or is informed of an allegation of any one or more
of the following: mental abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse,
neglect, or financial exploitation.
    "Secretary" means the Chief Administrative Officer of the
Department.
    "Sexual abuse" means any sexual contact or intimate
physical contact between an employee and an individual,
including an employee's coercion or encouragement of an
individual to engage in sexual behavior that results in sexual
contact, intimate physical contact, sexual behavior, or
intimate physical behavior. Sexual abuse also includes (i) an
employee's actions that result in the sending or showing of
sexually explicit images to an individual via computer,
cellular phone, electronic mail, portable electronic device,
or other media with or without contact with the individual or
(ii) an employee's posting of sexually explicit images of an
individual online or elsewhere whether or not there is contact
with the individual.
    "Sexually explicit images" includes, but is not limited
to, any material which depicts nudity, sexual conduct, or
sado-masochistic abuse, or which contains explicit and
detailed verbal descriptions or narrative accounts of sexual
excitement, sexual conduct, or sado-masochistic abuse.
    "Substantiated" means there is a preponderance of the
evidence to support the allegation.
    "Unfounded" means there is no credible evidence to support
the allegation.
    "Unsubstantiated" means there is credible evidence, but
less than a preponderance of evidence to support the
allegation.
    (c) Appointment. The Governor shall appoint, and the
Senate shall confirm, an Inspector General. The Inspector
General shall be appointed for a term of 4 years and shall
function within the Department of Human Services and report to
the Secretary and the Governor.
    (d) Operation and appropriation. The Inspector General
shall function independently within the Department with
respect to the operations of the Office, including the
performance of investigations and issuance of findings and
recommendations and the performance of site visits and reviews
of facilities and community agencies. The appropriation for
the Office of Inspector General shall be separate from the
overall appropriation for the Department.
    (e) Powers and duties. The Inspector General shall
investigate reports of suspected mental abuse, physical abuse,
sexual abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation of
individuals in any mental health or developmental disabilities
facility or agency and shall have authority to take immediate
action to prevent any one or more of the following from
happening to individuals under its jurisdiction: mental abuse,
physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, or financial
exploitation. The Inspector General shall also investigate
allegations of material obstruction of an investigation by an
employee. Upon written request of an agency of this State, the
Inspector General may assist another agency of the State in
investigating reports of the abuse, neglect, or abuse and
neglect of persons with mental illness, persons with
developmental disabilities, or persons with both. The
Inspector General shall conduct annual site visits of each
facility and may conduct reviews of facilities and community
agencies. To comply with the requirements of subsection (k) of
this Section, the Inspector General shall also review all
reportable deaths for which there is no allegation of abuse or
neglect. Nothing in this Section shall preempt any duties of
the Medical Review Board set forth in the Mental Health and
Developmental Disabilities Code. The Inspector General shall
have no authority to investigate alleged violations of the
State Officials and Employees Ethics Act. Allegations of
misconduct under the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act
shall be referred to the Office of the Governor's Executive
Inspector General for investigation.
    (f) Limitations. The Inspector General shall not conduct
an investigation within an agency or facility if that
investigation would be redundant to or interfere with an
investigation conducted by another State agency. The Inspector
General shall have no supervision over, or involvement in, the
routine programmatic, licensing, funding, or certification
operations of the Department. Nothing in this subsection
limits investigations by the Department that may otherwise be
required by law or that may be necessary in the Department's
capacity as central administrative authority responsible for
the operation of the State's mental health and developmental
disabilities facilities.
    (g) Rulemaking authority. The Inspector General shall
promulgate rules establishing minimum requirements for
reporting allegations as well as for initiating, conducting,
and completing investigations based upon the nature of the
allegation or allegations. The rules shall clearly establish
that if 2 or more State agencies could investigate an
allegation, the Inspector General shall not conduct an
investigation that would be redundant to, or interfere with,
an investigation conducted by another State agency. The rules
shall further clarify the method and circumstances under which
the Office of Inspector General may interact with the
licensing, funding, or certification units of the Department
in preventing further occurrences of mental abuse, physical
abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, egregious neglect, and financial
exploitation, and material obstruction of an investigation.
    (g-5) Site visits and review authority.
        (1) Site visits. The Inspector General shall conduct
    unannounced site visits to each facility at least annually
    for the purpose of reviewing and making recommendations on
    systemic issues relative to preventing, reporting,
    investigating, and responding to all of the following:
    mental abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect,
    egregious neglect, financial exploitation, or material
    obstruction of an investigation.
        (2) Review authority. In response to complaints or
    information gathered from investigations, the Inspector
    General shall have and may exercise the authority to
    initiate reviews of facilities and agencies related to
    preventing, reporting, investigating, and responding to
    all of the following: mental abuse, physical abuse, sexual
    abuse, neglect, egregious neglect, financial exploitation,
    or material obstruction of an investigation. Upon
    concluding a review, the Inspector General shall issue a
    written report setting forth its conclusions and
    recommendations. The report shall be distributed to the
    Secretary and to the director of the facility or agency
    that was the subject of review. Within 45 calendar days,
    the facility or agency shall submit a written response
    addressing the Inspector General's conclusions and
    recommendations and, in a concise and reasoned manner, the
    actions taken, if applicable, to: (i) protect the
    individual or individuals; (ii) prevent recurrences; and
    (iii) eliminate the problems identified. The response
    shall include the implementation and completion dates of
    such actions.
    (h) Training programs. The Inspector General shall (i)
establish a comprehensive program to ensure that every person
authorized to conduct investigations receives ongoing training
relative to investigation techniques, communication skills,
and the appropriate means of interacting with persons
receiving treatment for mental illness, developmental
disability, or both mental illness and developmental
disability, and (ii) establish and conduct periodic training
programs for facility and agency employees concerning the
prevention and reporting of any one or more of the following:
mental abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, egregious
neglect, or financial exploitation, or material obstruction of
an investigation. The Inspector General shall further ensure
(i) every person authorized to conduct investigations at
community agencies receives ongoing training in Title 59,
Parts 115, 116, and 119 of the Illinois Administrative Code,
and (ii) every person authorized to conduct investigations
shall receive ongoing training in Title 59, Part 50 of the
Illinois Administrative Code. Nothing in this Section shall be
deemed to prevent the Office of Inspector General from
conducting any other training as determined by the Inspector
General to be necessary or helpful.
    (i) Duty to cooperate.
        (1) The Inspector General shall at all times be
    granted access to any facility or agency for the purpose
    of investigating any allegation, conducting unannounced
    site visits, monitoring compliance with a written
    response, conducting reviews of facilities and agencies,
    or completing any other statutorily assigned duty. The
    Inspector General shall conduct unannounced site visits to
    each facility at least annually for the purpose of
    reviewing and making recommendations on systemic issues
    relative to preventing, reporting, investigating, and
    responding to all of the following: mental abuse, physical
    abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, egregious neglect, or
    financial exploitation.
        (2) Any employee who fails to cooperate with an Office
    of the Inspector General investigation is in violation of
    this Act. Failure to cooperate with an investigation
    includes, but is not limited to, any one or more of the
    following: (i) creating and transmitting a false report to
    the Office of the Inspector General hotline, (ii)
    providing false information to an Office of the Inspector
    General Investigator during an investigation, (iii)
    colluding with other employees to cover up evidence, (iv)
    colluding with other employees to provide false
    information to an Office of the Inspector General
    investigator, (v) destroying evidence, (vi) withholding
    evidence, or (vii) otherwise obstructing an Office of the
    Inspector General investigation. Additionally, any
    employee who, during an unannounced site visit, or written
    response compliance check, or review fails to cooperate
    with requests from the Office of the Inspector General is
    in violation of this Act.
    (j) Subpoena powers. The Inspector General shall have the
power to subpoena witnesses and compel the production of all
documents and physical evidence relating to his or her
investigations and reviews and any hearings authorized by this
Act. This subpoena power shall not extend to persons or
documents of a labor organization or its representatives
insofar as the persons are acting in a representative capacity
to an employee whose conduct is the subject of an
investigation or the documents relate to that representation.
Any person who otherwise fails to respond to a subpoena or who
knowingly provides false information to the Office of the
Inspector General by subpoena during an investigation is
guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
    (k) Reporting allegations and deaths.
        (1) Allegations. If an employee witnesses, is told of,
    or has reason to believe an incident of mental abuse,
    physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, or financial
    exploitation, or material obstruction of an investigation
    has occurred, the employee, agency, or facility shall
    report the allegation by phone to the Office of the
    Inspector General hotline according to the agency's or
    facility's procedures, but in no event later than 4 hours
    after the initial discovery of the incident, allegation,
    or suspicion of any one or more of the following: mental
    abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, or financial
    exploitation, or material obstruction of an investigation.
    A required reporter as defined in subsection (b) of this
    Section who knowingly or intentionally fails to comply
    with these reporting requirements is guilty of a Class A
    misdemeanor.
        (2) Deaths. Absent an allegation, a required reporter
    shall, within 24 hours after initial discovery, report by
    phone to the Office of the Inspector General hotline each
    of the following:
            (i) Any death of an individual occurring within 14
        calendar days after discharge or transfer of the
        individual from a residential program or facility.
            (ii) Any death of an individual occurring within
        24 hours after deflection from a residential program
        or facility.
            (iii) Any other death of an individual occurring
        at an agency or facility or at any Department-funded
        site.
        (3) Retaliation. It is a violation of this Act for any
    employee or administrator of an agency or facility to take
    retaliatory action against an employee who acts in good
    faith in conformance with his or her duties as a required
    reporter.
    (l) Reporting to law enforcement. Reporting criminal acts.
Within 24 hours after determining that there is credible
evidence indicating that a criminal act may have been
committed or that special expertise may be required in an
investigation, the Inspector General shall notify the Illinois
State Police or other appropriate law enforcement authority,
or ensure that such notification is made. The Illinois State
Police shall investigate any report from a State-operated
facility indicating a possible murder, sexual assault, or
other felony by an employee. All investigations conducted by
the Inspector General shall be conducted in a manner designed
to ensure the preservation of evidence for possible use in a
criminal prosecution.
    (m) Investigative reports. Upon completion of an
investigation, the Office of Inspector General shall issue an
investigative report identifying whether the allegations are
substantiated, unsubstantiated, or unfounded. Within 10
business days after the transmittal of a completed
investigative report substantiating an allegation, finding an
allegation is unsubstantiated, or if a recommendation is made,
the Inspector General shall provide the investigative report
on the case to the Secretary and to the director of the
facility or agency where any one or more of the following
occurred: mental abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect,
egregious neglect, financial exploitation, or material
obstruction of an investigation. The director of the facility
or agency shall be responsible for maintaining the
confidentiality of the investigative report consistent with
State and federal law. In a substantiated case, the
investigative report shall include any mitigating or
aggravating circumstances that were identified during the
investigation. If the case involves substantiated neglect, the
investigative report shall also state whether egregious
neglect was found. An investigative report may also set forth
recommendations. All investigative reports prepared by the
Office of the Inspector General shall be considered
confidential and shall not be released except as provided by
the law of this State or as required under applicable federal
law. Unsubstantiated and unfounded reports shall not be
disclosed except as allowed under Section 6 of the Abused and
Neglected Long Term Care Facility Residents Reporting Act. Raw
data used to compile the investigative report shall not be
subject to release unless required by law or a court order.
"Raw data used to compile the investigative report" includes,
but is not limited to, any one or more of the following: the
initial complaint, witness statements, photographs,
investigator's notes, police reports, or incident reports. If
the allegations are substantiated, the victim, the victim's
guardian, and the accused shall be provided with a redacted
copy of the investigative report. Death reports where there
was no allegation of abuse or neglect shall only be released
pursuant to applicable State or federal law or a valid court
order. Unredacted investigative reports, as well as raw data,
may be shared with a local law enforcement entity, a State's
Attorney's office, or a county coroner's office upon written
request.
    (n) Written responses, clarification requests, and
reconsideration requests.
        (1) Written responses. Within 30 calendar days from
    receipt of a substantiated investigative report or an
    investigative report which contains recommendations,
    absent a reconsideration request, the facility or agency
    shall file a written response that addresses, in a concise
    and reasoned manner, the actions taken to: (i) protect the
    individual; (ii) prevent recurrences; and (iii) eliminate
    the problems identified. The response shall include the
    implementation and completion dates of such actions. If
    the written response is not filed within the allotted 30
    calendar day period, the Secretary
, or the Secretary's
    designee, shall determine the appropriate corrective
    action to be taken.
        (2) Requests for clarification. The facility, agency,
    victim or guardian, or the subject employee may request
    that the Office of Inspector General clarify the finding
    or findings for which clarification is sought.
        (3) Requests for reconsideration. The facility,
    agency, victim or guardian, or the subject employee may
    request that the Office of the Inspector General
    reconsider the finding or findings or the recommendations.
    A request for reconsideration shall be subject to a
    multi-layer review and shall include at least one reviewer
    who did not participate in the investigation or approval
    of the original investigative report. After the
    multi-layer review process has been completed, the
    Inspector General shall make the final determination on
    the reconsideration request. The investigation shall be
    reopened if the reconsideration determination finds that
    additional information is needed to complete the
    investigative record.
    (o) Disclosure of the finding by the Inspector General.
The Inspector General shall disclose the finding of an
investigation to the following persons: (i) the Governor, (ii)
the Secretary, (iii) the director of the facility or agency,
(iv) the alleged victims and their guardians, (v) the
complainant, and (vi) the accused. This information shall
include whether the allegations were deemed substantiated,
unsubstantiated, or unfounded.
    (p) Secretary review. Upon review of the Inspector
General's investigative report and any agency's or facility's
written response, the Secretary, or the Secretary's designee,
shall accept or reject the written response and notify the
Inspector General of that determination. The Secretary, or the
Secretary's designee, may further direct that other
administrative action be taken, including, but not limited to,
any one or more of the following: (i) additional site visits,
(ii) training, (iii) provision of technical assistance
relative to administrative needs, licensure, or certification,
or (iv) the imposition of appropriate sanctions.
    (q) Action by facility or agency. Within 30 days of the
date the Secretary, or the Secretary's designee, approves the
written response or directs that further administrative action
be taken, the facility or agency shall provide an
implementation report to the Inspector General that provides
the status of the action taken. The facility or agency shall be
allowed an additional 30 days to send notice of completion of
the action or to send an updated implementation report. If the
action has not been completed within the additional 30-day
period, the facility or agency shall send updated
implementation reports every 60 days until completion. The
Inspector General shall conduct a review of any implementation
plan that takes more than 120 days after approval to complete,
and shall monitor compliance through a random review of
approved written responses, which may include, but are not
limited to: (i) site visits, (ii) telephone contact, and (iii)
requests for additional documentation evidencing compliance.
    (r) Sanctions. Sanctions, if imposed by the Secretary
under Subdivision (p)(iv) of this Section, shall be designed
to prevent further acts of mental abuse, physical abuse,
sexual abuse, neglect, egregious neglect, or financial
exploitation or some combination of one or more of those acts
at a facility or agency, and may include any one or more of the
following:
        (1) Appointment of on-site monitors.
        (2) Transfer or relocation of an individual or
    individuals.
        (3) Closure of units.
        (4) Termination of any one or more of the following:
    (i) Department licensing, (ii) funding, or (iii)
    certification.
    The Inspector General may seek the assistance of the
Illinois Attorney General or the office of any State's
Attorney in implementing sanctions.
    (s) Health Care Worker Registry.
        (1) Reporting to the Registry. The Inspector General
    shall report to the Department of Public Health's Health
    Care Worker Registry, a public registry, the identity and
    finding of each employee of a facility or agency against
    whom there is a final investigative report prepared by the
    Office of the Inspector General containing a substantiated
    allegation of physical or sexual abuse, financial
    exploitation, egregious neglect of an individual, or
    material obstruction of an investigation, unless the
    Inspector General requests a stipulated disposition of the
    investigative report that does not include the reporting
    of the employee's name to the Health Care Worker Registry
    and the Secretary of Human Services agrees with the
    requested stipulated disposition.
        (2) Notice to employee. Prior to reporting the name of
    an employee, the employee shall be notified of the
    Department's obligation to report and shall be granted an
    opportunity to request an administrative hearing, the sole
    purpose of which is to determine if the substantiated
    finding warrants reporting to the Registry. Notice to the
    employee shall contain a clear and concise statement of
    the grounds on which the report to the Registry is based,
    offer the employee an opportunity for a hearing, and
    identify the process for requesting such a hearing. Notice
    is sufficient if provided by certified mail to the
    employee's last known address. If the employee fails to
    request a hearing within 30 days from the date of the
    notice, the Inspector General shall report the name of the
    employee to the Registry. Nothing in this subdivision
    (s)(2) shall diminish or impair the rights of a person who
    is a member of a collective bargaining unit under the
    Illinois Public Labor Relations Act or under any other
    federal labor statute.
        (3) Registry hearings. If the employee requests an
    administrative hearing, the employee shall be granted an
    opportunity to appear before an administrative law judge
    to present reasons why the employee's name should not be
    reported to the Registry. The Department shall bear the
    burden of presenting evidence that establishes, by a
    preponderance of the evidence, that the substantiated
    finding warrants reporting to the Registry. After
    considering all the evidence presented, the administrative
    law judge shall make a recommendation to the Secretary as
    to whether the substantiated finding warrants reporting
    the name of the employee to the Registry. The Secretary
    shall render the final decision. The Department and the
    employee shall have the right to request that the
    administrative law judge consider a stipulated disposition
    of these proceedings.
        (4) Testimony at Registry hearings. A person who makes
    a report or who investigates a report under this Act shall
    testify fully in any judicial proceeding resulting from
    such a report, as to any evidence of physical abuse,
    sexual abuse, egregious neglect, financial exploitation,
    or material obstruction of an investigation abuse or
    neglect, or the cause thereof. No evidence shall be
    excluded by reason of any common law or statutory
    privilege relating to communications between the alleged
    perpetrator of abuse or neglect, or the individual alleged
    as the victim in the report, and the person making or
    investigating the report. Testimony at hearings is exempt
    from the confidentiality requirements of subsection (f) of
    Section 10 of the Mental Health and Developmental
    Disabilities Confidentiality Act.
        (5) Employee's rights to collateral action. No
    reporting to the Registry shall occur and no hearing shall
    be set or proceed if an employee notifies the Inspector
    General in writing, including any supporting
    documentation, that he or she is formally contesting an
    adverse employment action resulting from a substantiated
    finding by complaint filed with the Illinois Civil Service
    Commission, or which otherwise seeks to enforce the
    employee's rights pursuant to any applicable collective
    bargaining agreement. If an action taken by an employer
    against an employee as a result of a finding of physical
    abuse, sexual abuse, or egregious neglect, financial
    exploitation, or material obstruction of an investigation
    is overturned through an action filed with the Illinois
    Civil Service Commission or under any applicable
    collective bargaining agreement and if that employee's
    name has already been sent to the Registry, the employee's
    name shall be removed from the Registry.
        (6) Removal from Registry. At any time after the
    report to the Registry, but no more than once in any
    12-month period, an employee may petition the Department
    in writing to remove his or her name from the Registry.
    Upon receiving notice of such request, the Inspector
    General shall conduct an investigation into the petition.
    Upon receipt of such request, an administrative hearing
    will be set by the Department. At the hearing, the
    employee shall bear the burden of presenting evidence that
    establishes, by a preponderance of the evidence, that
    removal of the name from the Registry is in the public
    interest. The parties may jointly request that the
    administrative law judge consider a stipulated disposition
    of these proceedings.
    (t) Review of Administrative Decisions. The Department
shall preserve a record of all proceedings at any formal
hearing conducted by the Department involving Health Care
Worker Registry hearings. Final administrative decisions of
the Department are subject to judicial review pursuant to
provisions of the Administrative Review Law.
    (u) Quality Care Board. There is created, within the
Office of the Inspector General, a Quality Care Board to be
composed of 7 members appointed by the Governor with the
advice and consent of the Senate. One of the members shall be
designated as chairman by the Governor. Of the initial
appointments made by the Governor, 4 Board members shall each
be appointed for a term of 4 years and 3 members shall each be
appointed for a term of 2 years. Upon the expiration of each
member's term, a successor shall be appointed for a term of 4
years. In the case of a vacancy in the office of any member,
the Governor shall appoint a successor for the remainder of
the unexpired term.
    Members appointed by the Governor shall be qualified by
professional knowledge or experience in the area of law,
investigatory techniques, or in the area of care of the
mentally ill or care of persons with developmental
disabilities. Two members appointed by the Governor shall be
persons with a disability or parents of persons with a
disability. Members shall serve without compensation, but
shall be reimbursed for expenses incurred in connection with
the performance of their duties as members.
    The Board shall meet quarterly, and may hold other
meetings on the call of the chairman. Four members shall
constitute a quorum allowing the Board to conduct its
business. The Board may adopt rules and regulations it deems
necessary to govern its own procedures.
    The Board shall monitor and oversee the operations,
policies, and procedures of the Inspector General to ensure
the prompt and thorough investigation of allegations of
neglect and abuse. In fulfilling these responsibilities, the
Board may do the following:
        (1) Provide independent, expert consultation to the
    Inspector General on policies and protocols for
    investigations of alleged abuse, neglect, or both abuse
    and neglect.
        (2) Review existing regulations relating to the
    operation of facilities.
        (3) Advise the Inspector General as to the content of
    training activities authorized under this Section.
        (4) Recommend policies concerning methods for
    improving the intergovernmental relationships between the
    Office of the Inspector General and other State or federal
    offices.
    (v) Annual report. The Inspector General shall provide to
the General Assembly and the Governor, no later than January 1
of each year, a summary of reports and investigations made
under this Act for the prior fiscal year with respect to
individuals receiving mental health or developmental
disabilities services. The report shall detail the imposition
of sanctions, if any, and the final disposition of any
corrective or administrative action directed by the Secretary.
The summaries shall not contain any confidential or
identifying information of any individual, but shall include
objective data identifying any trends in the number of
reported allegations, the timeliness of the Office of the
Inspector General's investigations, and their disposition, for
each facility and Department-wide, for the most recent 3-year
time period. The report shall also identify, by facility, the
staff-to-patient ratios taking account of direct care staff
only. The report shall also include detailed recommended
administrative actions and matters for consideration by the
General Assembly.
    (w) Program audit. The Auditor General shall conduct a
program audit of the Office of the Inspector General on an
as-needed basis, as determined by the Auditor General. The
audit shall specifically include the Inspector General's
compliance with the Act and effectiveness in investigating
reports of allegations occurring in any facility or agency.
The Auditor General shall conduct the program audit according
to the provisions of the Illinois State Auditing Act and shall
report its findings to the General Assembly no later than
January 1 following the audit period.
    (x) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to mean
that an individual is a victim of abuse or neglect because of
health care services appropriately provided or not provided by
health care professionals.
    (y) Nothing in this Section shall require a facility,
including its employees, agents, medical staff members, and
health care professionals, to provide a service to an
individual in contravention of that individual's stated or
implied objection to the provision of that service on the
ground that that service conflicts with the individual's
religious beliefs or practices, nor shall the failure to
provide a service to an individual be considered abuse under
this Section if the individual has objected to the provision
of that service based on his or her religious beliefs or
practices.
(Source: P.A. 102-538, eff. 8-20-21; 102-883, eff. 5-13-22;
102-1071, eff. 6-10-22; 103-76, eff. 6-9-23; 103-154, eff.
6-30-23.)

Effective Date: 1/1/2025