(20 ILCS 4105/5)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on June 30, 2024)

Sec. 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds the following:

(1) Historically, Black children and Black parents and caregivers, women in particular, are disproportionately represented in the child welfare system.

(2) According to the Fiscal Year 2018 Disproportionality and Disparity Report prepared by the Children and Family Research Center of the University of Illinois, School of Social Work, racial disparities exist at each key decision point in the Illinois child welfare system with Black children being overrepresented at each point.

(3) Multiple studies show that removals which separate children from parents, even "short removals" lasting 48 hours, trigger responses in the children that include anxiety, isolation, aggression, substance abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorder and release higher levels of cortisol and damages brain cells. These impacts are experienced in "reciprocal and synergistic" ways by parents during separation.

(4) According to Child Trends' fiscal year 2019 "State-level Data for Understanding Child Welfare in the United States", the average length of stay in foster care in Illinois was 28.6 months compared to the national average of 19.8 months, and 12% of children in Illinois foster care were there 5 or more years compared to 5% of children nationally in foster care for that long.

(5) As of December 31, 2020, the population of Illinois' youth in care was approximately 44% Black according to data from the Department of Children and Family Services, while recent data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT Data Center estimate the 2019 child population of Illinois to have been approximately 15% Black.

(6) Black children and youth are represented in the child welfare system in Illinois at approximately 3 times the percentage of the statewide child population that is Black. Nationally, Black children and youth are represented in foster care at approximately 2 times the percentage of the national child population that is Black according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

(7) Between fiscal years 2018 and 2020, the number of Illinois children removed from their homes annually increased by 30%, according to data from the Department of Children and Family Services. The increase in 2019 was 17%, the second-highest increase in the country.

(8) More than 90% of foster youth with 5 or more moves become involved in the juvenile justice system. In 2019, children in the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services averaged 3.8 moves/1,000 days; for Black children, the average was 4.4 moves/1,000 days.

(9) In Chapin Hall's Midwest Study of the Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa child welfare systems, almost 70% of youth involved in the study had been arrested by their mid-20s.

(10) In 2018, 79% of calls made to the Illinois Child Abuse Hotline were made by mandated reporters. Of these calls, 25.8% came from education personnel, 24.2% from law enforcement personnel, 13.5% from medical personnel, and 10.7% from social service personnel.

(11) According to Child Trends' state-level data for federal fiscal year 2018 for Illinois, 65% of child abuse and neglect cases were due to allegations of neglect, 12% due to allegations of physical abuse, and 13% due to allegations of sexual abuse.

(12) According to Child Trends' state-level data for federal fiscal year 2019 for Illinois, 89% of entries into foster care were due to neglect, 12% due to parental substance abuse, 11% due to physical abuse, and 2% due to sexual abuse.

(13) In 2018, 20,815 reports to the Illinois Child Abuse Hotline involved an allegation of abuse and 35,310 involved a neglect allegation. Of these reports, only 10,189 were investigated, and of these investigations, only 1,544 resulted in an indicated finding. Of the investigations resulting in an indicated finding, only 225 were screened into court.

(14) According to the Fiscal Year 2020 Monitoring Report of the B.H. Consent Decree prepared by the Children and Family Research Center of the University of Illinois, School of Social Work, Black children in 2019 were less likely than white and Latinx children to be placed in kinship foster homes. Black children were more likely to be placed in traditional foster homes than white and Latinx children. Black children were also more likely to be placed in institutions or group homes than white and Latinx children.

(Source: P.A. 102-506, eff. 8-20-21.)