Public Act 93-0539

SB1650 Enrolled                      LRB093 03202 RLC 03219 b

    AN ACT concerning juveniles.

    Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:

    Section  5.  The Juvenile Court Act of 1987 is amended by
changing Section 1-5 as follows:

    (705 ILCS 405/1-5) (from Ch. 37, par. 801-5)
    Sec. 1-5.  Rights of parties to proceedings.
    (1)  Except as provided in this Section and paragraph (2)
of Sections 2-22, 3-23, 4-20, 5-610 or 5-705, the  minor  who
is  the  subject of the proceeding and his parents, guardian,
legal custodian  or  responsible  relative  who  are  parties
respondent  have  the  right  to  be present, to be heard, to
present   evidence   material   to   the   proceedings,    to
cross-examine witnesses, to examine pertinent court files and
records and also, although proceedings under this Act are not
intended  to  be  adversary  in  character,  the  right to be
represented  by  counsel.   At  the  request  of  any   party
financially unable to employ counsel, with the exception of a
foster  parent permitted to intervene under this Section, the
court shall appoint the Public Defender or such other counsel
as the case may require. Counsel appointed for the minor  and
any  indigent  party  shall appear at all stages of the trial
court proceeding, and such appointment shall continue through
the permanency hearings and termination  of  parental  rights
proceedings subject to withdrawal or substitution pursuant to
Supreme Court Rules or the Code of Civil Procedure. Following
the  dispositional  hearing,  the court may require appointed
counsel, other than counsel for the minor or counsel for  the
guardian  ad  litem,  to  withdraw his or her appearance upon
failure of the party for whom  counsel  was  appointed  under
this Section to attend any subsequent proceedings.
    No hearing on any petition or motion filed under this Act
may  be  commenced unless the minor who is the subject of the
proceeding is represented  by  counsel.  Notwithstanding  the
preceding sentence, if a guardian ad litem has been appointed
for the minor under Section 2-17 of this Act and the guardian
ad  litem  is a licensed attorney at law of this State, or in
the event that a court appointed special  advocate  has  been
appointed as guardian ad litem and counsel has been appointed
to  represent the court appointed special advocate, the court
may not require the appointment of counsel to  represent  the
minor  unless  the court finds that the minor's interests are
in conflict with what the guardian ad litem determines to  be
in  the  best  interest  of  the minor. Each adult respondent
shall be furnished a written "Notice of Rights" at or  before
the first hearing at which he or she appears.
    (1.5)  The Department shall maintain a system of response
to  inquiry made by parents or putative parents as to whether
their child is under  the  custody  or  guardianship  of  the
Department;  and  if  so,  the  Department  shall  direct the
parents or putative  parents  to  the  appropriate  court  of
jurisdiction,  including  where  inquiry  may  be made of the
clerk of the court regarding the case  number  and  the  next
scheduled  court  date  of the minor's case. Effective notice
and the means of accessing information shall be given to  the
public on a continuing basis by the Department.
    (2) (a)  Though not appointed guardian or legal custodian
or  otherwise  made a party to the proceeding, any current or
previously appointed foster parent or relative caregiver,  or
representative  of an agency or association interested in the
minor has the right to be heard by the court,  but  does  not
thereby become a party to the proceeding.
    In  addition  to  the  foregoing right to be heard by the
court, any current foster parent or relative caregiver  of  a
minor   and  the  agency  designated  by  the  court  or  the
Department of Children and Family Services  as  custodian  of
the  minor  who  is  alleged to be or has been adjudicated an
abused or neglected minor under Section 2-3  or  a  dependent
minor  under  Section  2-4  of  this Act has the right to and
shall be given adequate notice at all stages of  any  hearing
or proceeding under this Act.
    Any foster parent or relative caregiver who is denied his
or  her  right  to  be  heard  under this Section may bring a
mandamus action under  Article  XIV  of  the  Code  of  Civil
Procedure  against  the court or any public agency to enforce
that right.  The mandamus action may be  brought  immediately
upon the denial of those rights but in no event later than 30
days  after the foster parent has been denied the right to be
heard.
    (b)  If after an adjudication that a minor is  abused  or
neglected  as  provided  under Section 2-21 of this Act and a
motion has been made to restore  the  minor  to  any  parent,
guardian,  or  legal  custodian  found  by  the court to have
caused the neglect or to have  inflicted  the  abuse  on  the
minor,  a foster parent may file a motion to intervene in the
proceeding for the sole purpose of requesting that the  minor
be  placed  with  the foster parent, provided that the foster
parent (i) is the current foster parent of the minor or  (ii)
has  previously  been  a  foster parent for the minor for one
year or more, has a foster care license or is eligible for  a
license,  and  is not the subject of any findings of abuse or
neglect of any child.  The  juvenile  court  may  only  enter
orders  placing  a  minor with a specific foster parent under
this subsection (2)(b) and nothing in this Section  shall  be
construed  to  confer  any  jurisdiction  or authority on the
juvenile court  to  issue  any  other  orders  requiring  the
appointed guardian or custodian of a minor to place the minor
in a designated foster home or facility.  This Section is not
intended  to  encompass any matters that are within the scope
or determinable under the administrative and  appeal  process
established by rules of the Department of Children and Family
Services  under  Section  5(o)  of  the  Children  and Family
Services Act.  Nothing in  this  Section  shall  relieve  the
court  of  its  responsibility, under Section 2-14(a) of this
Act to act in a just and speedy manner  to  reunify  families
where it is the best interests of the minor and the child can
be  cared  for at home without endangering the child's health
or safety and, if reunification is not in the best  interests
of  the  minor, to find another permanent home for the minor.
Nothing in this Section, or in any order issued by the  court
with  respect  to  the  placement  of  a  minor with a foster
parent,  shall  impair  the  ability  of  the  Department  of
Children and Family Services, or anyone else authorized under
Section 5 of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, to
remove a minor from the  home  of  a  foster  parent  if  the
Department  of  Children  and  Family  Services or the person
removing  the  minor  has  reason   to   believe   that   the
circumstances  or  conditions  of  the  minor  are  such that
continuing in the residence or care of the foster parent will
jeopardize the  child's  health  and  safety  or  present  an
imminent risk of harm to that minor's life.
    (c)  If  a  foster  parent  has  had the minor who is the
subject of the proceeding under Article II in his or her home
for more than one year on or after July 3, 1994  and  if  the
minor's  placement  is  being  terminated  from  that  foster
parent's  home,  that  foster  parent shall have standing and
intervenor status except in  those  circumstances  where  the
Department  of  Children  and  Family Services or anyone else
authorized under Section 5 of the Abused and Neglected  Child
Reporting  Act  has  removed the minor from the foster parent
because of a reasonable  belief  that  the  circumstances  or
conditions  of  the  minor  are  such  that continuing in the
residence or care of the foster parent  will  jeopardize  the
child's health or safety or presents an imminent risk of harm
to the minor's life.
    (d)  The court may grant standing to any foster parent if
the  court finds that it is in the best interest of the child
for the foster parent to have standing and intervenor status.
    (3)  Parties  respondent  are  entitled  to   notice   in
compliance  with  Sections 2-15 and 2-16, 3-17 and 3-18, 4-14
and 4-15 or 5-525 and 5-530, as  appropriate.  At  the  first
appearance  before  the  court  by  the  minor,  his parents,
guardian, custodian or responsible relative, the court  shall
explain  the nature of the proceedings and inform the parties
of their rights under the first 2 paragraphs of this Section.
    If the child  is  alleged  to  be  abused,  neglected  or
dependent,  the  court shall admonish the parents that if the
court declares the child to be a ward of the court and awards
custody or guardianship to the  Department  of  Children  and
Family   Services,   the  parents  must  cooperate  with  the
Department of Children and Family Services, comply  with  the
terms  of  the service plans, and correct the conditions that
require the child to be in care, or risk termination of their
parental rights.
    Upon an adjudication  of  wardship  of  the  court  under
Sections  2-22,  3-23,  4-20 or 5-705, the court shall inform
the parties of their right to appeal  therefrom  as  well  as
from any other final judgment of the court.
    When   the  court  finds  that  a  child  is  an  abused,
neglected, or dependent minor under Section 2-21,  the  court
shall  admonish  the  parents that the parents must cooperate
with the Department of Children and Family  Services,  comply
with  the  terms  of  the  service  plans,  and  correct  the
conditions  that  require  the  child  to be in care, or risk
termination of their parental rights.
    When the court declares a child to be a ward of the court
and awards guardianship to the  Department  of  Children  and
Family  Services under Section 2-22, the court shall admonish
the parents, guardian,  custodian,  or  responsible  relative
that  the  parents  must  cooperate  with  the  Department of
Children and Family Services, comply with the  terms  of  the
service  plans,  and  correct the conditions that require the
child to be in care, or risk termination  of  their  parental
rights.
    (4)  No  sanction may be applied against the minor who is
the subject of the proceedings by reason of  his  refusal  or
failure to testify in the course of any hearing held prior to
final adjudication under Section 2-22, 3-23, 4-20 or 5-705.
    (5)  In  the  discretion  of  the court, the minor may be
excluded from any part or parts of  a  dispositional  hearing
and,  with  the  consent  of the parent or parents, guardian,
counsel or a guardian ad litem, from any part or parts of  an
adjudicatory hearing.
    (6)  The general public except for the news media and the
victim shall be excluded from any hearing and, except for the
persons  specified  in  this  Section only persons, including
representatives of agencies  and  associations,  who  in  the
opinion of the court have a direct interest in the case or in
the  work  of  the  court  shall  be admitted to the hearing.
However, the court may, for the minor's safety and protection
and for good cause  shown,  prohibit  any  person  or  agency
present   in   court  from  further  disclosing  the  minor's
identity. Nothing in this subsection (6) prevents  the  court
from allowing other juveniles to be present or to participate
in  a  court session being held under the Juvenile Drug Court
Treatment Act.
    (7)  A party shall not be entitled to exercise the  right
to  a substitution of a judge without cause under subdivision
(a)(2) of Section 2-1001 of the Code of Civil Procedure in  a
proceeding  under this Act if the judge is currently assigned
to a proceeding involving  the  alleged  abuse,  neglect,  or
dependency  of  the  minor's sibling or half sibling and that
judge  has  made  a  substantive  ruling  in  the  proceeding
involving the minor's sibling or half sibling.
(Source: P.A. 91-357, eff. 7-29-99; 92-559, eff. 1-1-03.)

    Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
becoming law.