(730 ILCS 175/45-25)

Sec. 45-25. Criminal background investigations. The Department shall require that each secure residential youth care facility license applicant as part of the application process, and each employee of a facility as a condition of employment, authorize an investigation to determine if the applicant or employee has ever been charged with a crime and, if so, the disposition of those charges. The authorization shall indicate the scope of the inquiry and the agencies that may be contacted. Upon receiving an authorization, the Director may request and receive information and assistance from any federal, State, or local governmental agency as part of the authorized investigation. The Department of State Police shall provide information concerning any criminal charges, and their disposition, now or hereafter filed, against an applicant or facility employee upon request of the Department when the request is made in the form and manner required by the Department of State Police.

Information concerning convictions of a license applicant investigated under this Section, including the source of the information and any conclusions or recommendations derived from the information, shall be provided, upon written request, to the applicant before final action by the Department on the application. Information on convictions of employees or prospective employees of facilities licensed under this Act shall be provided to the operator of the facility, and, upon written request, to the employee or prospective employee. Information concerning criminal charges and the disposition of charges obtained by the Department shall be confidential and may not be transmitted outside the Department, except as required by this Section, and may not be transmitted to anyone within the Department except as needed for the purpose of evaluating an application or a facility employee. Only information and standards that bear a reasonable and rational relation to the performance of a facility shall be used by the Department or any licensee. Any employee of the Department, Department of State Police, or a facility receiving confidential information under this Section who gives or causes to be given any confidential information concerning any criminal convictions of a facility applicant or facility employee is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor unless release of that information is authorized by this Section.

(Source: P.A. 88-680, eff. 1-1-95.)