103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB2103

 

Introduced 2/7/2023, by Rep. Terra Costa Howard

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
720 ILCS 5/12-4.4a

    Amends the Criminal Code of 2012 concerning the offense of criminal abuse or neglect of an elderly person or person with a disability. Changes the definition of "caregiver" to include: (i) a parent, spouse, adult child, or other relative by blood or marriage who would have reason to believe, as a result of the actions, statements, or behavior of the elderly person or person with a disability, that he or she is being relied upon for providing primary and substantial assistance for physical care; and (ii) a person who has voluntarily assumed the responsibility for the care of an elderly person or person with a disability under specified circumstances. Provides that "voluntarily assumed the responsibility for the care of an elderly person or person with a disability" means a person has voluntarily assumed responsibility for providing primary and substantial assistance for the care of an elderly person or person with a disability if the person's conduct would lead a reasonable person to believe that failure to provide such care would adversely affect the physical health of the elderly person or person with a disability.


LRB103 25092 RLC 51427 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB2103LRB103 25092 RLC 51427 b

1    AN ACT concerning criminal law.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by
5changing Section 12-4.4a as follows:
 
6    (720 ILCS 5/12-4.4a)
7    Sec. 12-4.4a. Abuse or criminal neglect of a long term
8care facility resident; criminal abuse or neglect of an
9elderly person or person with a disability.
10    (a) Abuse or criminal neglect of a long term care facility
11resident.
12        (1) A person or an owner or licensee commits abuse of a
13    long term care facility resident when he or she knowingly
14    causes any physical or mental injury to, or commits any
15    sexual offense in this Code against, a resident.
16        (2) A person or an owner or licensee commits criminal
17    neglect of a long term care facility resident when he or
18    she recklessly:
19            (A) performs acts that cause a resident's life to
20        be endangered, health to be injured, or pre-existing
21        physical or mental condition to deteriorate, or that
22        create the substantial likelihood that an elderly
23        person's or person with a disability's life will be

 

 

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1        endangered, health will be injured, or pre-existing
2        physical or mental condition will deteriorate;
3            (B) fails to perform acts that he or she knows or
4        reasonably should know are necessary to maintain or
5        preserve the life or health of a resident, and that
6        failure causes the resident's life to be endangered,
7        health to be injured, or pre-existing physical or
8        mental condition to deteriorate, or that create the
9        substantial likelihood that an elderly person's or
10        person with a disability's life will be endangered,
11        health will be injured, or pre-existing physical or
12        mental condition will deteriorate; or
13            (C) abandons a resident.
14        (3) A person or an owner or licensee commits neglect
15    of a long term care facility resident when he or she
16    negligently fails to provide adequate medical care,
17    personal care, or maintenance to the resident which
18    results in physical or mental injury or deterioration of
19    the resident's physical or mental condition. An owner or
20    licensee is guilty under this subdivision (a)(3), however,
21    only if the owner or licensee failed to exercise
22    reasonable care in the hiring, training, supervising, or
23    providing of staff or other related routine administrative
24    responsibilities.
25    (b) Criminal abuse or neglect of an elderly person or
26person with a disability.

 

 

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1        (1) A caregiver commits criminal abuse or neglect of
2    an elderly person or person with a disability when he or
3    she knowingly does any of the following:
4            (A) performs acts that cause the person's life to
5        be endangered, health to be injured, or pre-existing
6        physical or mental condition to deteriorate;
7            (B) fails to perform acts that he or she knows or
8        reasonably should know are necessary to maintain or
9        preserve the life or health of the person, and that
10        failure causes the person's life to be endangered,
11        health to be injured, or pre-existing physical or
12        mental condition to deteriorate;
13            (C) abandons the person;
14            (D) physically abuses, harasses, intimidates, or
15        interferes with the personal liberty of the person; or
16            (E) exposes the person to willful deprivation.
17        (2) It is not a defense to criminal abuse or neglect of
18    an elderly person or person with a disability that the
19    caregiver reasonably believed that the victim was not an
20    elderly person or person with a disability.
21    (c) Offense not applicable.
22        (1) Nothing in this Section applies to a physician
23    licensed to practice medicine in all its branches or a
24    duly licensed nurse providing care within the scope of his
25    or her professional judgment and within the accepted
26    standards of care within the community.

 

 

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1        (2) Nothing in this Section imposes criminal liability
2    on a caregiver who made a good faith effort to provide for
3    the health and personal care of an elderly person or
4    person with a disability, but through no fault of his or
5    her own was unable to provide such care.
6        (3) Nothing in this Section applies to the medical
7    supervision, regulation, or control of the remedial care
8    or treatment of residents in a long term care facility
9    conducted for those who rely upon treatment by prayer or
10    spiritual means in accordance with the creed or tenets of
11    any well-recognized church or religious denomination as
12    described in Section 3-803 of the Nursing Home Care Act,
13    Section 1-102 of the Specialized Mental Health
14    Rehabilitation Act of 2013, Section 3-803 of the ID/DD
15    Community Care Act, or Section 3-803 of the MC/DD Act.
16        (4) Nothing in this Section prohibits a caregiver from
17    providing treatment to an elderly person or person with a
18    disability by spiritual means through prayer alone and
19    care consistent therewith in lieu of medical care and
20    treatment in accordance with the tenets and practices of
21    any church or religious denomination of which the elderly
22    person or person with a disability is a member.
23        (5) Nothing in this Section limits the remedies
24    available to the victim under the Illinois Domestic
25    Violence Act of 1986.
26    (d) Sentence.

 

 

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1        (1) Long term care facility. Abuse of a long term care
2    facility resident is a Class 3 felony. Criminal neglect of
3    a long term care facility resident is a Class 4 felony,
4    unless it results in the resident's death in which case it
5    is a Class 3 felony. Neglect of a long term care facility
6    resident is a petty offense.
7        (2) Caregiver. Criminal abuse or neglect of an elderly
8    person or person with a disability is a Class 3 felony,
9    unless it results in the person's death in which case it is
10    a Class 2 felony, and if imprisonment is imposed it shall
11    be for a minimum term of 3 years and a maximum term of 14
12    years.
13    (e) Definitions. For the purposes of this Section:
14    "Abandon" means to desert or knowingly forsake a resident
15or an elderly person or person with a disability under
16circumstances in which a reasonable person would continue to
17provide care and custody.
18    "Caregiver" means a person who has a duty to provide for an
19elderly person or person with a disability's health and
20personal care, at the elderly person or person with a
21disability's place of residence, including, but not limited
22to, food and nutrition, shelter, hygiene, prescribed
23medication, and medical care and treatment, and includes any
24of the following:
25        (1) A parent, spouse, adult child, or other relative
26    by blood or marriage who:

 

 

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1            (A) resides with or resides in the same building
2        with or regularly visits the elderly person or person
3        with a disability; or ,
4            (B) would have reason to believe, as a result of
5        the actions, statements, or behavior of the elderly
6        person or person with a disability, that he or she is
7        being relied upon for providing primary and
8        substantial assistance for physical care; and knows or
9        reasonably should know of such person's physical or
10        mental impairment, and knows or reasonably should know
11        that such person is unable to adequately provide for
12        his or her own health and personal care.
13        (2) A person who is employed by the elderly person or
14    person with a disability or by another to reside with or
15    regularly visit the elderly person or person with a
16    disability and provide for such person's health and
17    personal care.
18        (3) A person who has agreed for consideration to
19    reside with or regularly visit the elderly person or
20    person with a disability and provide for such person's
21    health and personal care.
22        (4) A person who has been appointed by a private or
23    public agency or by a court of competent jurisdiction to
24    provide for the elderly person or person with a
25    disability's health and personal care.
26        (5) A person who has voluntarily assumed the

 

 

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1    responsibility for the care of an elderly person or person
2    with a disability if:
3            (A) the person is living in the household of the
4        elderly person or person with a disability, or present
5        in the household on a regular basis; or
6            (B) the person would have reason to believe, as a
7        result of the actions, statements or behavior of the
8        elderly person or person with a disability, that he or
9        she is being relied upon for providing primary and
10        substantial assistance for physical care.
11    "Caregiver" does not include a long-term care facility
12licensed or certified under the Nursing Home Care Act or a
13facility licensed or certified under the ID/DD Community Care
14Act, the MC/DD Act, or the Specialized Mental Health
15Rehabilitation Act of 2013, or any administrative, medical, or
16other personnel of such a facility, or a health care provider
17who is licensed under the Medical Practice Act of 1987 and
18renders care in the ordinary course of his or her profession.
19    "Elderly person" means a person 60 years of age or older
20who is incapable of adequately providing for his or her own
21health and personal care.
22    "Licensee" means the individual or entity licensed to
23operate a facility under the Nursing Home Care Act, the
24Specialized Mental Health Rehabilitation Act of 2013, the
25ID/DD Community Care Act, the MC/DD Act, or the Assisted
26Living and Shared Housing Act.

 

 

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1    "Long term care facility" means a private home,
2institution, building, residence, or other place, whether
3operated for profit or not, or a county home for the infirm and
4chronically ill operated pursuant to Division 5-21 or 5-22 of
5the Counties Code, or any similar institution operated by the
6State of Illinois or a political subdivision thereof, which
7provides, through its ownership or management, personal care,
8sheltered care, or nursing for 3 or more persons not related to
9the owner by blood or marriage. The term also includes skilled
10nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities as defined
11in Titles XVIII and XIX of the federal Social Security Act and
12assisted living establishments and shared housing
13establishments licensed under the Assisted Living and Shared
14Housing Act.
15    "Owner" means the owner of a long term care facility as
16provided in the Nursing Home Care Act, the owner of a facility
17as provided under the Specialized Mental Health Rehabilitation
18Act of 2013, the owner of a facility as provided in the ID/DD
19Community Care Act, the owner of a facility as provided in the
20MC/DD Act, or the owner of an assisted living or shared housing
21establishment as provided in the Assisted Living and Shared
22Housing Act.
23    "Person with a disability" means a person who suffers from
24a permanent physical or mental impairment, resulting from
25disease, injury, functional disorder, or congenital condition,
26which renders the person incapable of adequately providing for

 

 

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1his or her own health and personal care.
2    "Resident" means a person residing in a long term care
3facility.
4    "Voluntarily assumed the responsibility for the care of an
5elderly person or person with a disability" means a person has
6voluntarily assumed responsibility for providing primary and
7substantial assistance for the care of an elderly person or
8person with a disability if the person's conduct would lead a
9reasonable person to believe that failure to provide such care
10would adversely affect the physical health of the elderly
11person or person with a disability.
12    "Willful deprivation" has the meaning ascribed to it in
13paragraph (15) of Section 103 of the Illinois Domestic
14Violence Act of 1986.
15(Source: P.A. 98-104, eff. 7-22-13; 99-180, eff. 7-29-15;
1699-642, eff. 7-28-16.)