(20 ILCS 505/21.2)

Sec. 21.2. Child welfare training academy. Subject to appropriations, the Department shall establish within its operations a child welfare training academy for child protective investigators and supervisors employed by the Department.

The training efforts of the child welfare training academy shall include, but shall not be limited to, establishing:

(1) training curricula on recognizing and responding to cases of child abuse or neglect;

(2) cultural competency training that provides tools and other supports to ensure that a child welfare provider's response to and engagement with families and children of color are conducted or provided in a manner that is responsive to the beliefs, interpersonal styles, attitudes, language, and behaviors of the individuals who are receiving services, and are conducted or provided in a manner that has the greatest likelihood of ensuring maximum success of or participation in the child welfare program or services being provided;

(3) laboratory training facilities that include mock houses, mock medical facilities, mock courtrooms, and mock forensic interview rooms that allow for simulated, interactive, and intensive training; and

(4) minimum standards of competence that a person shall be required to demonstrate prior to receiving certification from the Department.

By January 1, 2016, the Department shall adopt rules for the administration of the child welfare training academy that not only establish statewide competence, assessment, and training standards for persons providing child welfare services, but that also ensure that persons who provide child welfare services have the knowledge, skills, professionalism, and abilities to make decisions that keep children safe and secure.

(Source: P.A. 99-348, eff. 8-11-15.)