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HB1397 Engrossed |
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| AN ACT concerning children.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Children and Family Services Act is amended |
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| by adding Section 6d as follows:
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| (20 ILCS 505/6d new)
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| Sec. 6d. Alternate care plans for children and youth. |
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| (a) The General Assembly finds that: |
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| (1) Children entering the child welfare system |
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| experience trauma related not only to abuse and neglect but |
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| also to out of home placement.
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| (2) Untreated, the effects of trauma escalate over |
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| time.
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| (3) Placement instability causes service delays and |
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| interruptions that jeopardize children's physical and |
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| emotional well-being.
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| (4) A significant portion of children entering |
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| residential programs designed to treat complex clinical or |
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| development needs do so only after multiple failed foster |
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| care placements and without any intensive service |
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| intervention.
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| (5) Relevant and timely service intervention has a |
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| direct impact on the quality of life for children in care, |
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| the length of time the children are in care and the |
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| long-term outcomes when the children leave care.
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| (b) To ensure that children and youth have efficient and |
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| effective access to interventions, programs, and services when |
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| needs are identified, the Department shall implement |
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| procedures for the establishment of regionally based, |
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| multi-disciplinary teams that shall be responsible for |
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| developing and ensuring the implementation of plans for youth |
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| in care. The Department shall promulgate rules and procedures |
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| for the appointment of the teams and for use of uniform |
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| assessment tools.
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| (c) The teams shall:
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| (1) Use a team-decision making process that |
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| collaboratively determines the optimal plan for the youth.
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| (2) Focus on the current and immediate clinical and |
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| social needs of the youth.
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| (3) Administer a uniform assessment tool, as provided |
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| for in Department rules, to assist in determining the |
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| child's current level of functioning and well-being.
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| (4) Be empowered to identify youth's service and |
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| placement needs without restriction to program type.
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| (5) Identify the best plan to meet the child's need |
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| based on the individual strengths, needs, and |
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| circumstances of the child's case.
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| (d) The Department shall establish criteria for |
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| identifying cases and shall define events that require a |
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| meeting of participants in addition to the appointed team |
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| members. The criteria or events shall include, at a minimum, |
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| all children or youths who have experienced 2 unplanned |
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| placement disruptions within a period of 18 months.
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| (e) Participants in a meeting required by the Department |
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| shall include:
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| (1) individuals with relevant current information |
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| about the child or youth;
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| (2) individuals with a professional capacity that is |
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| critical to informed, sound decision-making of the team |
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| about the individual youth;
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| (3) current foster parents or other caregiver, the |
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| caseworker, and supervisor;
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| (4) depending on the child's age and presenting issues, |
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| the youth; and
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| (5) if appropriate, a psychologist, early childhood |
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| specialist, education advisor, nurse, therapist, any |
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| existing SOC provider of services, the child's guardian ad |
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| litem, probation personnel, and any relevant Department of |
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| Children and Family Services specialist.
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| (f) The biological families of the child may be included at |
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| the meeting, where appropriate.
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| (g) The Department may assign staff of the Department to |
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| coordinate, prepare, and facilitate the team meetings.
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| (h) The Department shall develop quality assurance |
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| mechanisms to track the appropriateness of service |
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| recommendations and implementation performance. The quality |
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| assurance mechanisms shall include measures to collect data as |
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| to timeliness and effectiveness of the team's decision, as well |
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| as service gaps that are identified as the byproduct of these |
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| meetings.
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| (i) By January 15th of each year, the Department shall |
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| report to the General Assembly identified service gaps and |
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| recommendations for addressing the identified service needs.
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