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1 | AN ACT concerning aging.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Elder Abuse and Neglect Act is amended by | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | changing Section 3 as follows:
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6 | (320 ILCS 20/3) (from Ch. 23, par. 6603)
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7 | Sec. 3. Responsibilities.
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8 | (a) The Department shall establish,
design and manage a | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | program of response and services for persons 60 years
of age | |||||||||||||||||||
10 | and
older who have been, or are alleged to be, victims of | |||||||||||||||||||
11 | abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, or self-neglect. The | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | Department
shall contract with or fund or, contract with and | |||||||||||||||||||
13 | fund, regional
administrative
agencies, provider
agencies, or | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | both, for the provision of those
functions, and, contingent on | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | adequate funding, with attorneys or legal
services provider | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | agencies for the
provision of legal assistance pursuant to this | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | Act.
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18 | (b) Each regional administrative agency shall designate | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | provider
agencies within its planning and service area with | |||||||||||||||||||
20 | prior approval by the
Department on Aging, monitor the use of | |||||||||||||||||||
21 | services, provide technical
assistance to the provider | |||||||||||||||||||
22 | agencies and be involved in program development
activities.
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23 | (c) Provider agencies shall assist, to the extent possible, |
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1 | eligible
adults who need agency
services to allow them to | ||||||
2 | continue to function independently. Such
assistance shall | ||||||
3 | include but not be limited to receiving reports of alleged
or | ||||||
4 | suspected abuse, neglect, financial exploitation,
or | ||||||
5 | self-neglect, conducting face-to-face assessments of
such | ||||||
6 | reported cases, determination of substantiated cases, referral | ||||||
7 | of
substantiated cases for necessary support services,
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8 | referral of criminal conduct to law enforcement in accordance | ||||||
9 | with Department
guidelines,
and provision of case
work and | ||||||
10 | follow-up services on substantiated cases. In the case of a | ||||||
11 | report of alleged or suspected abuse or neglect that places an | ||||||
12 | eligible adult at risk of injury or death, a provider agency | ||||||
13 | shall respond to the report without delay and shall ensure that | ||||||
14 | it is capable of responding to such a report 24 hours per day, | ||||||
15 | 7 days per week. A provider agency may use an on-call system to | ||||||
16 | respond to reports of alleged or suspected abuse or neglect | ||||||
17 | after hours and on weekends.
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18 | (d) By January 1, 2008, the Department on Aging, in | ||||||
19 | cooperation with an Elder Self-Neglect Steering Committee, | ||||||
20 | shall by rule develop protocols, procedures, and policies for | ||||||
21 | (i) responding to reports of possible self-neglect, (ii) | ||||||
22 | protecting the autonomy, rights, privacy, and privileges of | ||||||
23 | adults during investigations of possible self-neglect and | ||||||
24 | consequential judicial proceedings regarding competency, (iii) | ||||||
25 | collecting and sharing relevant information and data among the | ||||||
26 | Department, provider agencies, regional administrative |
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1 | agencies, and relevant seniors, (iv) developing working | ||||||
2 | agreements between provider agencies and law enforcement, | ||||||
3 | where practicable, and (v) developing procedures for | ||||||
4 | collecting data regarding incidents of self-neglect. The Elder | ||||||
5 | Self-Neglect Steering Committee shall be comprised of one | ||||||
6 | person selected by the Elder Abuse Advisory Committee of the | ||||||
7 | Department on Aging; 3 persons selected, on the request of the | ||||||
8 | Director of Aging, by State or regional organizations that | ||||||
9 | advocate for the rights of seniors, at least one of whom shall | ||||||
10 | be a legal assistance attorney who represents seniors in | ||||||
11 | competency proceedings; 2 persons selected, on the request of | ||||||
12 | the Director of Aging, by statewide organizations that | ||||||
13 | represent social workers and other persons who provide direct | ||||||
14 | intervention and care to housebound seniors who are likely to | ||||||
15 | neglect themselves; an expert on geropsychiatry, appointed by | ||||||
16 | the Secretary of Human Services; an expert on issues of | ||||||
17 | physical health associated with seniors, appointed by the | ||||||
18 | Director of Public Health; one representative of a law | ||||||
19 | enforcement agency; one representative of the Chicago | ||||||
20 | Department on Aging; and 3 other persons selected by the | ||||||
21 | Director of Aging, including an expert from an institution of | ||||||
22 | higher education who is familiar with the relevant areas of | ||||||
23 | data collection and study.
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24 | (Source: P.A. 94-1064, eff. 1-1-07.)
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25 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
26 | becoming law.
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