SB0320enr 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB0320 Enrolled LRB100 05105 MJP 15115 b

AN ACT concerning regulation.

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

Section 5. The Child Death Review Team Act is amended by changing Sections 15 and 45 as follows:

(20 ILCS 515/15)

Sec. 15. Child death review teams; establishment.

(a) The Director, in consultation with the Executive Council, law enforcement, and other professionals who work in the field of investigating, treating, or preventing child abuse or neglect in that subregion, shall appoint members to a child death review team in each of the Department's administrative subregions of the State outside Cook County and at least one child death review team in Cook County. The members of a team shall be appointed for 2-year terms and shall be eligible for reappointment upon the expiration of the terms. The Director must fill any vacancy in a team within 60 days after that vacancy occurs.

(b) Each child death review team shall consist of at least one member from each of the following categories:

(1) Pediatrician or other physician knowledgeable about child abuse and neglect.

(2) Representative of the Department.

(3) State's attorney or State's attorney's representative.

(4) Representative of a local law enforcement agency.

(5) Psychologist or psychiatrist.

(6) Representative of a local health department.

(7) Representative of a school district or other education or child care interests.

(8) Coroner or forensic pathologist.

(9) Representative of a child welfare agency or child advocacy organization.

(10) Representative of a local hospital, trauma center, or provider of emergency medical services.

(11) Representative of the Department of State Police.

(12) Representative of the Department of Public Health.

Each child death review team may make recommendations to the Director concerning additional appointments.

Each child death review team member must have demonstrated experience and an interest in investigating, treating, or preventing child abuse or neglect.

(c) Each child death review team shall select a chairperson from among its members. The chairperson shall also serve on the Illinois Child Death Review Teams Executive Council.

(d) The child death review teams shall be funded under a separate line item in the Department's annual budget.

(Source: P.A. 95-527, eff. 6-1-08.)

(20 ILCS 515/45)

Sec. 45. Child Death Investigation Task Force; pilot program. The Child Death Review Teams Executive Council may, from funds appropriated by the Illinois General Assembly to the Department and provided to the Child Death Review Teams Executive Council for this purpose, or from funds that may otherwise be provided for this purpose from other public or private sources, establish an 18-month pilot program in the Southern Region of the State, as designated by the Department, under which a special Child Death Investigation Task Force will be created by the Child Death Review Teams Executive Council to develop and implement a plan for the investigation of sudden, unexpected, or unexplained deaths of children under 18 years of age occurring within that region. The plan shall include a protocol to be followed by child death review teams in the review of child deaths authorized under paragraph (a)(5) of Section 20 of this Act. The plan must include provisions for local or State law enforcement agencies, hospitals, or coroners to promptly notify the Task Force of a death or serious life-threatening injury to a child, and for the Child Death Investigation Task Force to review the death and submit a report containing findings and recommendations to the Child Death Review Teams Executive Council, the Director, the Department of Children and Family Services Inspector General, the appropriate State's Attorney, and the State Representative and State Senator in whose legislative districts the case arose. The plan may include coordination with any investigation conducted under the Children's Advocacy Center Act. By July 1 of each year, By July 1, 2011, the Child Death Review Teams Executive Council shall submit a report to the Director, the General Assembly, and the Governor summarizing the results of the Child Death Investigation Task Force pilot program together with any recommendations for statewide implementation of a protocol for the investigation of all sudden, unexpected, or unexplained child deaths.

(Source: P.A. 95-527, eff. 6-1-08; 96-955, eff. 6-30-10; 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10.)