Section 315.245  Concurrent Planning

a)         Description

            Concurrent planning is a process whereby the Department or purchase of service agency will make reasonable efforts to return the child home within nine months after the child's placement in substitute care, while at the same time making it clear to the child's family that an alternative permanency plan for the child is being developed that will take effect if the parents do not make sufficient progress to enable the return home of their children within nine months.

b)         Criteria for Selection of Cases

            Concurrent planning must be utilized for a child who has been removed from a family that meets the criteria described below unless sufficient evidence exists to seek expedited termination of parental rights.  The criteria are:

1)         the parent has another child for whom parental rights were involuntarily terminated and there have been no significant changes in conditions or behaviors in the interim;

2)         a finding that at birth the child's blood or urine contained any amount of a controlled substance as defined in Section 102(f) of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act, or a metabolite of a controlled substance, with the exception of controlled substances or metabolites of such substances the presence of which in the newborn infant was the result of medical treatment administered to the mother or the newborn infant, and that the biological mother of this child is the biological mother of at least one other child who was adjudicated a neglected minor under Section 2-3(c) of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, after which the biological mother had the opportunity to participate in a drug counseling, treatment, and rehabilitation program;

3)         the family has a history, either through their own efforts or with clinical treatment or specialized social services, of repeated, failed attempts to correct conditions that resulted in child maltreatment;

4)         there has been a single severe incident of abuse and/or neglect;

5)         there has been abuse/neglect toward a child who is particularly vulnerable given the child's age, developmental stage and/or disability;

6)         a child requires placement and has a sibling in out-of-home care because of the current caregiver's abuse or neglect;

7)         the parent has a diagnosed mental illness that renders the parent unable to provide or protect the child and that, upon assessment, indicates:

A)        a history of treatment without response;

B)        the prognosis that the condition will respond too slowly to meet the child's needs according to the child's age and development; or

C)        the parent in treatment continually disregards medication or other treatment interventions;

8)         the parent has a developmental disability that, upon assessment, indicates that the parent may be unable to provide for, protect or nurture the child and the family has no other relatives or social supports able or willing to assist in parenting.

c)         If efforts to return the child home are unsuccessful, the Department or purchase of service agency will consider the alternatives described in Section 315.305 (When Reunification Is Inappropriate).