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92nd General Assembly

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Public Act 92-0785

SB2118 Enrolled                                LRB9215602BDpk

    AN ACT concerning children's advocacy centers.

    Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:

    Section 5.  The Children's Advocacy Center Act is amended
by changing Sections 4, 5, and 7 and by adding Section 7.1 as
follows:

    (55 ILCS 80/4) (from Ch. 23, par. 1804)
    Sec. 4. Children's Advocacy Center.
    (a)  Subject  to the referendum provisions of this Act, A
Children's Advocacy Center ("Center") may be  established  to
coordinate the activities of the various agencies involved in
the  investigation,  prosecution  and  treatment  referral of
child sexual abuse.  The Advisory Board shall  serve  as  the
governing  board  for the Center. The operation of the Center
may  be  funded  through  grants,  contracts,  or  any  other
available sources. In counties in which a referendum has been
adopted under Section 5 of this Act, the Advisory Board, and,
by the majority vote of its members, shall submit a  proposed
annual  budget  for the operation of the Center to the county
board, which. The county board shall  appropriate  funds  and
levy  a tax sufficient to operate the Center. The Each county
board in each county in which a referendum has  been  adopted
shall  establish  a Children's Advocacy Center Fund and shall
deposit the net proceeds of the tax authorized by  Section  6
of  this  Act in that Fund, which shall be kept separate from
all other county  funds  and  shall  only  be  used  for  the
purposes of this Act.
    (b)  The  Advisory  Board  shall  pay from the Children's
Advocacy Center  Fund  or  from  other  available  funds  the
salaries of all employees of the Center, all of whom shall be
county  employees,  and  the expenses of acquiring a physical
plant for the Center by construction or lease and maintaining
the Center,  including  the  expenses  of  administering  the
coordination  of the investigation, prosecution and treatment
referral of child sexual abuse under the  provisions  of  the
protocol adopted pursuant to this Act.
    (c)  Every  Center  shall  include at least the following
components:
         (1)  An   interdisciplinary,   coordinated   systems
    approach to the investigation of child sexual abuse which
    shall include, at a minimum;
              (i)  an interagency notification procedure;
              (ii)  a dispute resolution process between  the
         involved  agencies  when a conflict arises on how to
         proceed with the investigation of a case;
              (iii)  a policy on interagency decision-making;
         and
              (iv)  a description of the role each agency has
         in the investigation of the case;
         (2)  A safe, separate space with assigned  personnel
    designated  for  the  investigation  and  coordination of
    child sexual abuse cases;
         (3)  An interdisciplinary case  review  process  for
    purposes  of  decision-making,  problem  solving, systems
    coordination, and information sharing;
         (4)  A comprehensive tracking system to receive  and
    coordinate  information  concerning  child  sexual  abuse
    cases from each participating agency;
         (5)  Interdisciplinary  specialized training for all
    professionals involved with the victims and  families  of
    child sexual abuse cases; and
         (6)  A  process  for evaluating the effectiveness of
    the Center and its operations.
    (d)  In the event that a Center has been  established  as
provided  in  this Section, the Advisory Board of that Center
may, by a majority of the members, authorize  the  Center  to
coordinate the activities of the various agencies involved in
the  investigation,  prosecution,  and  treatment referral of
serious child physical abuse cases. The Advisory Board  shall
provide  for  the  financial support of these activities in a
manner similar to that set out in subsections (a) and (b)  of
this  Section  and  shall  be allowed to submit a budget that
includes support for physical abuse and neglect activities to
the County Board, which shall appropriate funds that  may  be
available under Section 5 of this Act.
    (e)  The  Illinois  Child  Advocacy  Commission  may also
provide technical assistance and  guidance  to  the  Advisory
Boards  and  shall make a single annual grant for the purpose
of providing technical support and  assistance  for  advocacy
center  development  in Illinois whenever an appropriation is
made by the General Assembly specifically for  that  purpose.
The  grant  may  be  made  only to an Illinois not-for-profit
corporation that qualifies for tax  treatment  under  Section
501(c)(3)  of the Internal Revenue Code and that has a voting
membership consisting of children's  advocacy  centers.   The
grant  may  be  spent  on staff, office space, equipment, and
other expenses necessary  for  the  development  of  resource
materials   and   other   forms   of  technical  support  and
assistance.  The grantee shall report to  the  Commission  on
the  specific  uses of grant funds by no later than October 1
of each year and shall retain supporting documentation for  a
period  of at least 5 years after the corresponding report is
filed.
(Source: P.A. 91-158, eff. 7-16-99.)

    (55 ILCS 80/5) (from Ch. 23, par. 1805)
    Sec. 5. Referendum.
    (a)  Whenever a petition signed by 1% of the electors who
voted in the last general election in any county is presented
to  the  county  board  requesting  the  submission  of   the
proposition  whether  an annual tax of not to exceed .004% of
the value, as equalized or  assessed  by  the  Department  of
Revenue,  of  all  taxable  property  in  the county shall be
levied for the purpose  of  establishing  and  maintaining  a
Children's  Advocacy  Center,  the county board shall adopt a
resolution for the  submission  of  the  proposition  to  the
electors  at  the next regular election held in the county in
accordance with the general election law.
    (b)  Upon  the  adoption   and   certification   of   the
resolution,  the  proposition shall be  submitted at the next
regular election held in the county. The proposition shall be
in substantially the following form: "Shall an annual  tax of
not to exceed  ....... per cent  be  levied  in  ............
County  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  and  maintaining
Children's Advocacy Center to serve the county?"
    (c)  If  a  majority of the electors of the county voting
on the proposition vote in  favor  thereof,  the  proposition
shall be deemed adopted.
    (d)  The  adoption  of  a  referendum  is not required to
establish a Children's Advocacy Center if the Center  may  be
or  is  operated  with  funds  other than the proceeds of the
annual tax that is authorized by referendum.
(Source: P.A. 86-276.)

    (55 ILCS 80/7) (from Ch. 23, par. 1807)
    Sec. 7. Discontinuance. (a) Upon a petition signed by  1%
of  the  electors who voted in the last general election in a
county which has levied and collected a  tax  for  Children's
Advocacy  Center  purposes  under this Act being presented to
the county board, requesting  that  the  tax  for  Children's
Advocacy  Center  purposes  be discontinued, the county board
shall adopt a resolution providing for the submission of  the
proposition  to the electors of the county in the same manner
as provided for the submission of  the  proposition  for  the
levy of the tax.
    (b)  Upon   the   adoption   and   certification  of  the
resolution, the proposition shall be  submitted at  the  next
regular election held in the county. The proposition shall be
in  substantially  the following form: "Shall the tax for the
purpose of establishing and maintaining a Children's Advocacy
Center be discontinued?"
    (c)  If a majority of the electors of the  county  voting
upon  the  proposition vote in favor thereof, the proposition
shall be deemed adopted, and  the  tax  shall  no  longer  be
levied  or  collected  in the county. Any monies remaining in
the Children's Advocacy Center Fund in the  county  shall  be
used  to  pay the remaining expenses of the Center, including
expenses of winding up its operations if it  is  discontinued
by  the  Advisory  Board. In that case, after all expenses of
the Center have been paid, any remaining monies in  the  Fund
shall  be  paid  into the general fund for county purposes in
the county treasury.
(Source: P.A. 86-276.)

    (55 ILCS 80/7.1 new)
    Sec. 7.1. The changes made by this amendatory Act of  the
92nd  General  Assembly  are  intended  to be declarations of
existing law and are not intended to be a new enactment.

    Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
becoming law.
    Passed in the General Assembly May 22, 2002.
    Approved August 06, 2002.
    Effective August 06, 2002.

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