(20 ILCS 505/45)

Sec. 45. Title IV-E funds for legal services to foster youth and families.

(a) Findings and purpose. The General Assembly finds the following:

(1) Child welfare court proceedings are serious and life changing. Children and youth are subject to court decisions that may forever change their family composition, as well as their connections to culture and heritage.

(2) The gravity of child welfare proceedings and the rights and liabilities at stake necessitate the provision of quality legal representation for children and youth throughout the duration of child welfare proceedings.

(3) Legal representation serves to protect and advance the interests of children and youth in court and provides confidential attorney-client privilege to ensure children feel safe sharing with attorneys information that otherwise may go unvoiced.

(4) As the agency responsible for administering the State's approved Title IV-E State Plan, the Department of Children and Family Services is the only State agency with the authority to seek federal matching funds under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act for children who are candidates for foster care, children who are in foster care, and parents who are participating in foster care legal proceedings.

(5) It is the intent of the General Assembly to ensure the Department leverages and maximizes federal resources to support the provision of quality legal representation to children and families to improve outcomes in the child welfare system.

(b) Definitions. As used in this Section:

"Child's lawyer" means a lawyer who is appointed by the court to serve as a child's lawyer in a proceeding pending under Article II of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 in accordance with the duties prescribed by State statute, court rules, standards of practice, and the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct, including, but not limited to, diligence, communication, confidentiality, and the responsibilities to zealously assert the client's position under the rules of the adversary system and to abide by the client's decisions concerning the objectives of representation, as provided for in the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct.

"Respondent's lawyer" means a lawyer who provides legal representation to a parent, guardian, legal custodian, or responsible relative who is named as a party-respondent in a proceeding pending under Article II of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 in accordance with the duties prescribed by State statute, court rules, standards of practice, and the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct, including, but not limited to, diligence, communication, confidentiality, and the responsibilities to zealously assert the client's position under the rules of the adversary system and to abide by the client's decisions concerning the objectives of representation, as provided for in the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct.

(c) The Department shall pursue claiming Title IV-E administrative costs for independent legal representation by an attorney for a child who is a candidate for Title IV-E foster care, or who is in foster care, and the child's parent to prepare for and participate in all stages of foster care legal proceedings. Federal reimbursements for these administrative costs must be deposited into the Due Process for Youth and Families Fund created under subsection (d).

(d) The Due Process for Youth and Families Fund is created as a special fund in the State treasury. The Fund shall consist of any moneys appropriated to the Department from federal Title IV-E reimbursements for administrative costs as described in subsection (c) and any other moneys deposited into the Fund in accordance with this Section. Subject to appropriation, moneys in the Fund shall be disbursed for fees and costs incurred by organizations or law practitioners that provide services as a child's lawyer or respondent's lawyer as those terms are defined in subsection (b) and for no other purpose. All interest earned on moneys in the Fund shall be deposited into the Fund. The Department and the State Treasurer may accept funds as provided under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act for deposit into the Fund. Annual requests for appropriations for the purpose of providing independent legal representation under this Section shall be made in separate and distinct line-items.

(e) Units of local government and public and private agencies may apply for and receive federal or State funds from the Department in accordance with the purposes of this Section.

(Source: P.A. 102-1115, eff. 1-9-23.)