93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004
HB4304

 

Introduced 02/02/04, by James H. Meyer

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
750 ILCS 50/1   from Ch. 40, par. 1501

    Amends the Adoption Act. Provides, in the definition of "unfit parent", that evidence of the parent's intent to forgo his or her parental rights is manifested by his or her failure for a period of 6 months (instead of 12 months) to visit the child or to have significant and meaningful contact with the child or agency (instead of to communicate with the child or agency). Provides that evidence of the parent's intent to forgo his or her parental rights is manifested by his or her continued chronic abuse of the minor. Defines "chronic abuse of a minor" and "significant and meaningful contact". Effective immediately.


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A BILL FOR

 

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1     AN ACT concerning adoption.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The Adoption Act is amended by changing Section
5 1 as follows:
 
6     (750 ILCS 50/1)  (from Ch. 40, par. 1501)
7     Sec. 1. Definitions. When used in this Act, unless the
8 context otherwise requires:
9     A. "Child" means a person under legal age subject to
10 adoption under this Act.
11     B. "Related child" means a child subject to adoption where
12 either or both of the adopting parents stands in any of the
13 following relationships to the child by blood or marriage:
14 parent, grand-parent, brother, sister, step-parent,
15 step-grandparent, step-brother, step-sister, uncle, aunt,
16 great-uncle, great-aunt, or cousin of first degree. A child
17 whose parent has executed a final irrevocable consent to
18 adoption or a final irrevocable surrender for purposes of
19 adoption, or whose parent has had his or her parental rights
20 terminated, is not a related child to that person, unless the
21 consent is determined to be void or is void pursuant to
22 subsection O of Section 10.
23     C. "Agency" for the purpose of this Act means a public
24 child welfare agency or a licensed child welfare agency.
25     D. "Unfit person" means any person whom the court shall
26 find to be unfit to have a child, without regard to the
27 likelihood that the child will be placed for adoption. The
28 grounds of unfitness are any one or more of the following,
29 except that a person shall not be considered an unfit person
30 for the sole reason that the person has relinquished a child in
31 accordance with the Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act:
32         (a) Abandonment of the child.

 

 

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1         (a-1) Abandonment of a newborn infant in a hospital.
2         (a-2) Abandonment of a newborn infant in any setting
3     where the evidence suggests that the parent intended to
4     relinquish his or her parental rights.
5         (b) Failure to maintain a reasonable degree of
6     interest, concern or responsibility as to the child's
7     welfare.
8         (c) Desertion of the child for more than 3 months next
9     preceding the commencement of the Adoption proceeding.
10         (d) Substantial neglect of the child if continuous or
11     repeated.
12         (d-1) Substantial neglect, if continuous or repeated,
13     of any child residing in the household which resulted in
14     the death of that child.
15         (e) Extreme or repeated cruelty to the child.
16         (f) Two or more findings of physical abuse to any
17     children under Section 4-8 of the Juvenile Court Act or
18     Section 2-21 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, the most
19     recent of which was determined by the juvenile court
20     hearing the matter to be supported by clear and convincing
21     evidence; a criminal conviction or a finding of not guilty
22     by reason of insanity resulting from the death of any child
23     by physical child abuse; or a finding of physical child
24     abuse resulting from the death of any child under Section
25     4-8 of the Juvenile Court Act or Section 2-21 of the
26     Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
27         (g) Failure to protect the child from conditions within
28     his environment injurious to the child's welfare.
29         (h) Other neglect of, or misconduct toward the child;
30     provided that in making a finding of unfitness the court
31     hearing the adoption proceeding shall not be bound by any
32     previous finding, order or judgment affecting or
33     determining the rights of the parents toward the child
34     sought to be adopted in any other proceeding except such
35     proceedings terminating parental rights as shall be had
36     under either this Act, the Juvenile Court Act or the

 

 

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1     Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
2         (i) Depravity. Conviction of any one of the following
3     crimes shall create a presumption that a parent is depraved
4     which can be overcome only by clear and convincing
5     evidence: (1) first degree murder in violation of paragraph
6     1 or 2 of subsection (a) of Section 9-1 of the Criminal
7     Code of 1961 or conviction of second degree murder in
8     violation of subsection (a) of Section 9-2 of the Criminal
9     Code of 1961 of a parent of the child to be adopted; (2)
10     first degree murder or second degree murder of any child in
11     violation of the Criminal Code of 1961; (3) attempt or
12     conspiracy to commit first degree murder or second degree
13     murder of any child in violation of the Criminal Code of
14     1961; (4) solicitation to commit murder of any child,
15     solicitation to commit murder of any child for hire, or
16     solicitation to commit second degree murder of any child in
17     violation of the Criminal Code of 1961; or (5) aggravated
18     criminal sexual assault in violation of Section
19     12-14(b)(1) of the Criminal Code of 1961.
20         There is a rebuttable presumption that a parent is
21     depraved if the parent has been criminally convicted of at
22     least 3 felonies under the laws of this State or any other
23     state, or under federal law, or the criminal laws of any
24     United States territory; and at least one of these
25     convictions took place within 5 years of the filing of the
26     petition or motion seeking termination of parental rights.
27         There is a rebuttable presumption that a parent is
28     depraved if that parent has been criminally convicted of
29     either first or second degree murder of any person as
30     defined in the Criminal Code of 1961 within 10 years of the
31     filing date of the petition or motion to terminate parental
32     rights.
33         (j) Open and notorious adultery or fornication.
34         (j-1) (Blank).
35         (k) Habitual drunkenness or addiction to drugs, other
36     than those prescribed by a physician, for at least one year

 

 

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1     immediately prior to the commencement of the unfitness
2     proceeding.
3         There is a rebuttable presumption that a parent is
4     unfit under this subsection with respect to any child to
5     which that parent gives birth where there is a confirmed
6     test result that at birth the child's blood, urine, or
7     meconium contained any amount of a controlled substance as
8     defined in subsection (f) of Section 102 of the Illinois
9     Controlled Substances Act or metabolites of such
10     substances, the presence of which in the newborn infant was
11     not the result of medical treatment administered to the
12     mother or the newborn infant; and the biological mother of
13     this child is the biological mother of at least one other
14     child who was adjudicated a neglected minor under
15     subsection (c) of Section 2-3 of the Juvenile Court Act of
16     1987.
17         (l) Failure to demonstrate a reasonable degree of
18     interest, concern or responsibility as to the welfare of a
19     new born child during the first 30 days after its birth.
20         (m) Failure by a parent (i) to make reasonable efforts
21     to correct the conditions that were the basis for the
22     removal of the child from the parent, or (ii) to make
23     reasonable progress toward the return of the child to the
24     parent within 9 months after an adjudication of neglected
25     or abused minor under Section 2-3 of the Juvenile Court Act
26     of 1987 or dependent minor under Section 2-4 of that Act,
27     or (iii) to make reasonable progress toward the return of
28     the child to the parent during any 9-month period after the
29     end of the initial 9-month period following the
30     adjudication of neglected or abused minor under Section 2-3
31     of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 or dependent minor under
32     Section 2-4 of that Act. If a service plan has been
33     established as required under Section 8.2 of the Abused and
34     Neglected Child Reporting Act to correct the conditions
35     that were the basis for the removal of the child from the
36     parent and if those services were available, then, for

 

 

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1     purposes of this Act, "failure to make reasonable progress
2     toward the return of the child to the parent" includes (I)
3     the parent's failure to substantially fulfill his or her
4     obligations under the service plan and correct the
5     conditions that brought the child into care within 9 months
6     after the adjudication under Section 2-3 or 2-4 of the
7     Juvenile Court Act of 1987 and (II) the parent's failure to
8     substantially fulfill his or her obligations under the
9     service plan and correct the conditions that brought the
10     child into care during any 9-month period after the end of
11     the initial 9-month period following the adjudication
12     under Section 2-3 or 2-4 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
13         (m-1) Pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, a
14     child has been in foster care for 15 months out of any 22
15     month period which begins on or after the effective date of
16     this amendatory Act of 1998 unless the child's parent can
17     prove by a preponderance of the evidence that it is more
18     likely than not that it will be in the best interests of
19     the child to be returned to the parent within 6 months of
20     the date on which a petition for termination of parental
21     rights is filed under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. The
22     15 month time limit is tolled during any period for which
23     there is a court finding that the appointed custodian or
24     guardian failed to make reasonable efforts to reunify the
25     child with his or her family, provided that (i) the finding
26     of no reasonable efforts is made within 60 days of the
27     period when reasonable efforts were not made or (ii) the
28     parent filed a motion requesting a finding of no reasonable
29     efforts within 60 days of the period when reasonable
30     efforts were not made. For purposes of this subdivision
31     (m-1), the date of entering foster care is the earlier of:
32     (i) the date of a judicial finding at an adjudicatory
33     hearing that the child is an abused, neglected, or
34     dependent minor; or (ii) 60 days after the date on which
35     the child is removed from his or her parent, guardian, or
36     legal custodian.

 

 

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1         (n) Evidence of intent to forgo his or her parental
2     rights, whether or not the child is a ward of the court,
3     (1) as manifested by his or her failure for a period of 6
4     12 months: (i) to visit the child, (ii) to have significant
5     and meaningful contact communicate with the child or
6     agency, although able to do so and not prevented from doing
7     so by an agency or by court order, or (iii) to maintain
8     contact with or plan for the future of the child, although
9     physically able to do so, or (2) as manifested by the
10     father's failure, where he and the mother of the child were
11     unmarried to each other at the time of the child's birth,
12     (i) to commence legal proceedings to establish his
13     paternity under the Illinois Parentage Act of 1984 or the
14     law of the jurisdiction of the child's birth within 30 days
15     of being informed, pursuant to Section 12a of this Act,
16     that he is the father or the likely father of the child or,
17     after being so informed where the child is not yet born,
18     within 30 days of the child's birth, or (ii) to make a good
19     faith effort to pay a reasonable amount of the expenses
20     related to the birth of the child and to provide a
21     reasonable amount for the financial support of the child,
22     the court to consider in its determination all relevant
23     circumstances, including the financial condition of both
24     parents; provided that the ground for termination provided
25     in this subparagraph (n)(2)(ii) shall only be available
26     where the petition is brought by the mother or the husband
27     of the mother, or (3) as manifested by his or her continued
28     chronic abuse of the minor.
29         For the purposes of this subsection (n), "significant
30     and meaningful contact" includes, but is not limited to,
31     the affirmative assumption by the parents of the duties
32     encompassed by the role of being a parent. The affirmative
33     duty, in addition to financial obligations, requires
34     continued interest in the child, an effort to complete the
35     responsibilities prescribed in the case permanency plan,
36     an effort to maintain communication with the child, and

 

 

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1     that the parents establish and maintain a place of
2     importance in the child's life.
3         For the purposes of this subsection (n), "chronic abuse
4     of a minor" means the maltreatment of the minor that
5     reoccurs after the Department of Children and Family
6     Services has conducted an investigation regarding a
7     specific report and has rendered a finding of abuse or
8     neglect and, despite efforts on the part of the family or
9     the utilization of available resources, the child
10     re-enters the foster care system within 6 months of the
11     initial report.
12         Contact or communication by a parent with his or her
13     child that does not demonstrate affection and concern does
14     not constitute reasonable contact and planning under
15     subdivision (n). In the absence of evidence to the
16     contrary, the ability to visit, communicate, maintain
17     contact, pay expenses and plan for the future shall be
18     presumed. The subjective intent of the parent, whether
19     expressed or otherwise, unsupported by evidence of the
20     foregoing parental acts manifesting that intent, shall not
21     preclude a determination that the parent has intended to
22     forgo his or her parental rights. In making this
23     determination, the court may consider but shall not require
24     a showing of diligent efforts by an authorized agency to
25     encourage the parent to perform the acts specified in
26     subdivision (n).
27         It shall be an affirmative defense to any allegation
28     under paragraph (2) of this subsection that the father's
29     failure was due to circumstances beyond his control or to
30     impediments created by the mother or any other person
31     having legal custody. Proof of that fact need only be by a
32     preponderance of the evidence.
33         (o) Repeated or continuous failure by the parents,
34     although physically and financially able, to provide the
35     child with adequate food, clothing, or shelter.
36         (p) Inability to discharge parental responsibilities

 

 

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1     supported by competent evidence from a psychiatrist,
2     licensed clinical social worker, or clinical psychologist
3     of mental impairment, mental illness or mental retardation
4     as defined in Section 1-116 of the Mental Health and
5     Developmental Disabilities Code, or developmental
6     disability as defined in Section 1-106 of that Code, and
7     there is sufficient justification to believe that the
8     inability to discharge parental responsibilities shall
9     extend beyond a reasonable time period. However, this
10     subdivision (p) shall not be construed so as to permit a
11     licensed clinical social worker to conduct any medical
12     diagnosis to determine mental illness or mental
13     impairment.
14         (q) The parent has been criminally convicted of
15     aggravated battery, heinous battery, or attempted murder
16     of any child.
17         (r) The child is in the temporary custody or
18     guardianship of the Department of Children and Family
19     Services, the parent is incarcerated as a result of
20     criminal conviction at the time the petition or motion for
21     termination of parental rights is filed, prior to
22     incarceration the parent had little or no contact with the
23     child or provided little or no support for the child, and
24     the parent's incarceration will prevent the parent from
25     discharging his or her parental responsibilities for the
26     child for a period in excess of 2 years after the filing of
27     the petition or motion for termination of parental rights.
28         (s) The child is in the temporary custody or
29     guardianship of the Department of Children and Family
30     Services, the parent is incarcerated at the time the
31     petition or motion for termination of parental rights is
32     filed, the parent has been repeatedly incarcerated as a
33     result of criminal convictions, and the parent's repeated
34     incarceration has prevented the parent from discharging
35     his or her parental responsibilities for the child.
36         (t) A finding that at birth the child's blood, urine,

 

 

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1     or meconium contained any amount of a controlled substance
2     as defined in subsection (f) of Section 102 of the Illinois
3     Controlled Substances Act, or a metabolite of a controlled
4     substance, with the exception of controlled substances or
5     metabolites of such substances, the presence of which in
6     the newborn infant was the result of medical treatment
7     administered to the mother or the newborn infant, and that
8     the biological mother of this child is the biological
9     mother of at least one other child who was adjudicated a
10     neglected minor under subsection (c) of Section 2-3 of the
11     Juvenile Court Act of 1987, after which the biological
12     mother had the opportunity to enroll in and participate in
13     a clinically appropriate substance abuse counseling,
14     treatment, and rehabilitation program.
15     E. "Parent" means the father or mother of a legitimate or
16 illegitimate child. For the purpose of this Act, a person who
17 has executed a final and irrevocable consent to adoption or a
18 final and irrevocable surrender for purposes of adoption, or
19 whose parental rights have been terminated by a court, is not a
20 parent of the child who was the subject of the consent or
21 surrender, unless the consent is void pursuant to subsection O
22 of Section 10.
23     F. A person is available for adoption when the person is:
24         (a) a child who has been surrendered for adoption to an
25     agency and to whose adoption the agency has thereafter
26     consented;
27         (b) a child to whose adoption a person authorized by
28     law, other than his parents, has consented, or to whose
29     adoption no consent is required pursuant to Section 8 of
30     this Act;
31         (c) a child who is in the custody of persons who intend
32     to adopt him through placement made by his parents;
33         (c-1) a child for whom a parent has signed a specific
34     consent pursuant to subsection O of Section 10;
35         (d) an adult who meets the conditions set forth in
36     Section 3 of this Act; or

 

 

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1         (e) a child who has been relinquished as defined in
2     Section 10 of the Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act.
3     A person who would otherwise be available for adoption
4 shall not be deemed unavailable for adoption solely by reason
5 of his or her death.
6     G. The singular includes the plural and the plural includes
7 the singular and the "male" includes the "female", as the
8 context of this Act may require.
9     H. "Adoption disruption" occurs when an adoptive placement
10 does not prove successful and it becomes necessary for the
11 child to be removed from placement before the adoption is
12 finalized.
13     I. "Foreign placing agency" is an agency or individual
14 operating in a country or territory outside the United States
15 that is authorized by its country to place children for
16 adoption either directly with families in the United States or
17 through United States based international agencies.
18     J. "Immediate relatives" means the biological parents, the
19 parents of the biological parents and siblings of the
20 biological parents.
21     K. "Intercountry adoption" is a process by which a child
22 from a country other than the United States is adopted.
23     L. "Intercountry Adoption Coordinator" is a staff person of
24 the Department of Children and Family Services appointed by the
25 Director to coordinate the provision of services by the public
26 and private sector to prospective parents of foreign-born
27 children.
28     M. "Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children" is a
29 law enacted by most states for the purpose of establishing
30 uniform procedures for handling the interstate placement of
31 children in foster homes, adoptive homes, or other child care
32 facilities.
33     N. "Non-Compact state" means a state that has not enacted
34 the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children.
35     O. "Preadoption requirements" are any conditions
36 established by the laws or regulations of the Federal

 

 

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1 Government or of each state that must be met prior to the
2 placement of a child in an adoptive home.
3     P. "Abused child" means a child whose parent or immediate
4 family member, or any person responsible for the child's
5 welfare, or any individual residing in the same home as the
6 child, or a paramour of the child's parent:
7         (a) inflicts, causes to be inflicted, or allows to be
8     inflicted upon the child physical injury, by other than
9     accidental means, that causes death, disfigurement,
10     impairment of physical or emotional health, or loss or
11     impairment of any bodily function;
12         (b) creates a substantial risk of physical injury to
13     the child by other than accidental means which would be
14     likely to cause death, disfigurement, impairment of
15     physical or emotional health, or loss or impairment of any
16     bodily function;
17         (c) commits or allows to be committed any sex offense
18     against the child, as sex offenses are defined in the
19     Criminal Code of 1961 and extending those definitions of
20     sex offenses to include children under 18 years of age;
21         (d) commits or allows to be committed an act or acts of
22     torture upon the child; or
23         (e) inflicts excessive corporal punishment.
24     Q. "Neglected child" means any child whose parent or other
25 person responsible for the child's welfare withholds or denies
26 nourishment or medically indicated treatment including food or
27 care denied solely on the basis of the present or anticipated
28 mental or physical impairment as determined by a physician
29 acting alone or in consultation with other physicians or
30 otherwise does not provide the proper or necessary support,
31 education as required by law, or medical or other remedial care
32 recognized under State law as necessary for a child's
33 well-being, or other care necessary for his or her well-being,
34 including adequate food, clothing and shelter; or who is
35 abandoned by his or her parents or other person responsible for
36 the child's welfare.

 

 

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1     A child shall not be considered neglected or abused for the
2 sole reason that the child's parent or other person responsible
3 for his or her welfare depends upon spiritual means through
4 prayer alone for the treatment or cure of disease or remedial
5 care as provided under Section 4 of the Abused and Neglected
6 Child Reporting Act. A child shall not be considered neglected
7 or abused for the sole reason that the child's parent or other
8 person responsible for the child's welfare failed to vaccinate,
9 delayed vaccination, or refused vaccination for the child due
10 to a waiver on religious or medical grounds as permitted by
11 law.
12     R. "Putative father" means a man who may be a child's
13 father, but who (1) is not married to the child's mother on or
14 before the date that the child was or is to be born and (2) has
15 not established paternity of the child in a court proceeding
16 before the filing of a petition for the adoption of the child.
17 The term includes a male who is less than 18 years of age.
18 "Putative father" does not mean a man who is the child's father
19 as a result of criminal sexual abuse or assault as defined
20 under Article 12 of the Criminal Code of 1961. A child shall
21 not be considered neglected or abused for the sole reason that
22 the child's parent or other person responsible for the child's
23 welfare failed to vaccinate, delayed vaccination, or refused
24 vaccination for the child due to a waiver on religious or
25 medical grounds as permitted by law.
26     S. "Standby adoption" means an adoption in which a
27 terminally ill parent consents to custody and termination of
28 parental rights to become effective upon the occurrence of a
29 future event, which is either the death of the terminally ill
30 parent or the request of the parent for the entry of a final
31 judgment of adoption.
32     T. "Terminally ill parent" means a person who has a medical
33 prognosis by a physician licensed to practice medicine in all
34 of its branches that the person has an incurable and
35 irreversible condition which will lead to death.
36 (Source: P.A. 91-357, eff. 7-29-99; 91-373, eff. 1-1-00;

 

 

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1 91-572, eff. 1-1-00; 92-16, eff. 6-28-01; 92-375, eff. 1-1-02;
2 92-408, eff. 8-17-01; 92-432, eff. 8-17-01; 92-651, 7-11-02;
3 revised 8-23-02.)
 
4     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
5 becoming law.