Sen. James F. Clayborne, Jr.

Filed: 4/20/2018

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 2407

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 2407 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The Child Death Review Team Act is amended by
5changing Sections 15, 20, 25, and 40 as follows:
 
6    (20 ILCS 515/15)
7    Sec. 15. Child death review teams; establishment.
8    (a) The Inspector General of the Department Director, in
9consultation and cooperation with the Executive Council, law
10enforcement, and other professionals who work in the field of
11investigating, treating, or preventing child abuse or neglect
12in that subregion, shall appoint members to a child death
13review team in each of the Department's administrative
14subregions of the State outside Cook County and at least one
15child death review team in Cook County. The members of a team
16shall be appointed for 2-year terms and shall be eligible for

 

 

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1reappointment upon the expiration of the terms. The Inspector
2General of the Department Director must fill any vacancy in a
3team within 60 days after that vacancy occurs.
4    (b) Each child death review team shall consist of at least
5one member from each of the following categories:
6        (1) Pediatrician or other physician knowledgeable
7    about child abuse and neglect.
8        (2) Representative of the Department.
9        (3) State's attorney or State's attorney's
10    representative.
11        (4) Representative of a local law enforcement agency.
12        (5) Psychologist or psychiatrist.
13        (6) Representative of a local health department.
14        (7) Representative of a school district or other
15    education or child care interests.
16        (8) Coroner or forensic pathologist.
17        (9) Representative of a child welfare agency or child
18    advocacy organization.
19        (10) Representative of a local hospital, trauma
20    center, or provider of emergency medical services.
21        (11) Representative of the Department of State Police.
22        (12) Representative of the Department of Public
23    Health.
24    Each child death review team may make recommendations to
25the Inspector General of the Department Director concerning
26additional appointments. In the event of a disagreement, the

 

 

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1Executive Council's decision shall control.
2    Each child death review team member must have demonstrated
3experience and an interest in investigating, treating, or
4preventing child abuse or neglect.
5    (c) Each child death review team shall select a chairperson
6and vice-chairperson from among its members. The chairperson
7shall also serve on the Illinois Child Death Review Teams
8Executive Council. The vice-chairperson may also serve on the
9Illinois Child Death Review Teams Executive Council, but shall
10not have a vote on child death review team business unless the
11chairperson is unable to attend a meeting.
12    (d) The child death review teams shall be funded under a
13separate line item in the Department's annual budget; this line
14item shall not be reduced.
15    (e) The Department shall provide at least one full-time
16Statewide Department of Children and Family Services Liaison
17who shall attend all child death review team meetings, all
18Executive meetings, all Executive Council meetings, and
19meetings between the Director and the Executive Council.
20(Source: P.A. 100-397, eff. 1-1-18.)
 
21    (20 ILCS 515/20)
22    Sec. 20. Reviews of child deaths.
23    (a) Every child death shall be reviewed by the team in the
24subregion which has primary case management responsibility.
25The deceased child must be one of the following:

 

 

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1        (1) A youth in care.
2        (2) The subject of an open service case maintained by
3    the Department.
4        (3) The subject of a pending child abuse or neglect
5    investigation.
6        (4) A child who was the subject of an abuse or neglect
7    investigation at any time during the 12 months preceding
8    the child's death.
9        (5) Any other child whose death is reported to the
10    State central register as a result of alleged child abuse
11    or neglect which report is subsequently indicated.
12    A child death review team may, at its discretion, review
13other sudden, unexpected, or unexplained child deaths, and
14cases of serious or fatal injuries to a child identified under
15the Children's Advocacy Center Act, and all unfounded child
16death cases.
17    (b) A child death review team's purpose in conducting
18reviews of child deaths is to do the following:
19        (1) Assist in determining the cause and manner of the
20    child's death, when requested.
21        (2) Evaluate means by which the death might have been
22    prevented.
23        (3) Report its findings to appropriate agencies and
24    make recommendations that may help to reduce the number of
25    child deaths caused by abuse or neglect.
26        (4) Promote continuing education for professionals

 

 

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1    involved in investigating, treating, and preventing child
2    abuse and neglect as a means of preventing child deaths due
3    to abuse or neglect.
4        (5) Make specific recommendations to the Director and
5    the Inspector General of the Department concerning the
6    prevention of child deaths due to abuse or neglect and the
7    establishment of protocols for investigating child deaths.
8    (c) A child death review team shall review a child death as
9soon as practical and not later than 90 days following the
10completion by the Department of the investigation of the death
11under the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. When there
12has been no investigation by the Department, the child death
13review team shall review a child's death within 90 days after
14obtaining the information necessary to complete the review from
15the coroner, pathologist, medical examiner, or law enforcement
16agency, depending on the nature of the case. A child death
17review team shall meet at least once in each calendar quarter.
18    (d) The Director shall, within 90 days, review and reply to
19recommendations made by a team under item (5) of subsection
20(b). With respect to each recommendation made by a team, the
21Director shall submit his or her reply both to the chairperson
22of that team and to the chairperson of the Executive Council.
23The Director's reply to each recommendation must include a
24statement as to whether the Director intends to implement the
25recommendation. The Director shall meet in person with the
26Executive Council at least every 60 days to discuss

 

 

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1recommendations and the Department's responses.
2    The Director shall implement recommendations as feasible
3and appropriate and shall respond in writing to explain the
4implementation or nonimplementation of the recommendations.
5    (e) Within 90 days after the Director submits a reply with
6respect to a recommendation as required by subsection (d), the
7Director must submit an additional report that sets forth in
8detail the way, if any, in which the Director will implement
9the recommendation and the schedule for implementing the
10recommendation. The Director shall submit this report to the
11chairperson of the team that made the recommendation and to the
12chairperson of the Executive Council.
13    (f) Within 180 days after the Director submits a report
14under subsection (e) concerning the implementation of a
15recommendation, the Director shall submit a further report to
16the chairperson of the team that made the recommendation and to
17the chairperson of the Executive Council. This report shall set
18forth the specific changes in the Department's policies and
19procedures that have been made in response to the
20recommendation.
21(Source: P.A. 100-159, eff. 8-18-17.)
 
22    (20 ILCS 515/25)
23    Sec. 25. Team access to information.
24    (a) No later than 21 days prior to a child death review
25team meeting, the The Department shall provide to a child death

 

 

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1review team and its staff , on the request of the team
2chairperson, all records and information in the Department's
3possession that are relevant to the team's review of a child
4death, including records and information concerning previous
5reports or investigations of suspected child abuse or neglect,
6all records and information from the Statewide Automated Child
7Welfare Information System or from any other database
8maintained by the Department, and all documents, including, but
9not limited to, police reports and medical information.
10    (b) A child death review team shall have access to all
11records and information that are relevant to its review of a
12child death and in the possession of a State or local
13governmental agency, including, but not limited to,
14information gained through the Child Advocacy Center protocol
15for cases of serious or fatal injury to a child. These records
16and information include, without limitation, birth
17certificates, all relevant medical and mental health records,
18records of law enforcement agency investigations, records of
19coroner or medical examiner investigations, records of the
20Department of Corrections and Department of Juvenile Justice
21concerning a person's parole or aftercare release, records of a
22probation and court services department, and records of a
23social services agency that provided services to the child or
24the child's family.
25    (c) Child death review team staff must have full access to
26the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System, any

 

 

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1other child welfare database maintained by the Department, and
2any child death certificates held by the Office of Vital
3Records within the Department of Public Health.
4(Source: P.A. 98-558, eff. 1-1-14.)
 
5    (20 ILCS 515/40)
6    Sec. 40. Illinois Child Death Review Teams Executive
7Council.
8    (a) The Illinois Child Death Review Teams Executive
9Council, consisting of the chairpersons of the 9 child death
10review teams in Illinois, is the coordinating and oversight
11body for child death review teams and activities in Illinois.
12The vice-chairperson of a child death review team, as
13designated by the chairperson, may serve as a back-up member or
14an alternate member of the Executive Council, if the
15chairperson of the child death review team is unavailable to
16serve on the Executive Council. The Inspector General of the
17Department, ex officio, is a non-voting member of the Executive
18Council. The Inspector General of the Department Director may
19appoint to the Executive Council any additional ex-officio
20members deemed necessary. Persons with expertise needed by the
21Executive Council may be invited to meetings. The Executive
22Council must select from its members a chairperson and a
23vice-chairperson, each to serve a 2-year, renewable term.
24    The Executive Council must meet at least 4 times during
25each calendar year. At each such meeting, in addition to any

 

 

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1other matters under consideration, the Executive Council shall
2review all replies and reports received from the Director
3pursuant to subsections (d), (e), and (f) of Section 20 since
4the Executive Council's previous meeting. The Executive
5Council's review must include consideration of the Director's
6proposed manner of and schedule for implementing each
7recommendation made by a child death review team.
8    (b) The Department must provide or arrange for the staff
9support necessary for the Executive Council to carry out its
10duties. This includes a full-time Executive Director and
11support staff person. The Inspector General of the Department
12Director, in cooperation and consultation with the Executive
13Council, shall appoint, reappoint, and remove team members. In
14the event of a disagreement, the Executive Council's decision
15shall control. From funds available, the Director may select
16from a list of 2 or more candidates recommended by the
17Executive Council to serve as the Child Death Review Teams
18Executive Director. The Child Death Review Teams Executive
19Director shall oversee the operations of the child death review
20teams and shall report directly to the Executive Council.
21    (c) The Executive Council has, but is not limited to, the
22following duties:
23        (1) To serve as the voice of child death review teams
24    in Illinois.
25        (2) To oversee the regional teams in order to ensure
26    that the teams' work is coordinated and in compliance with

 

 

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1    the statutes and the operating protocol.
2        (3) To ensure that the data, results, findings, and
3    recommendations of the teams are adequately used to make
4    any necessary changes in the policies, procedures, and
5    statutes in order to protect children in a timely manner.
6        (4) To collaborate with the General Assembly, the
7    Department, and others in order to develop any legislation
8    needed to prevent child fatalities and to protect children.
9        (5) To assist in the development of quarterly and
10    annual reports based on the work and the findings of the
11    teams.
12        (6) To ensure that the regional teams' review processes
13    are standardized in order to convey data, findings, and
14    recommendations in a usable format.
15        (7) To serve as a link with child death review teams
16    throughout the country and to participate in national child
17    death review team activities.
18        (8) To develop an annual statewide symposium to update
19    the knowledge and skills of child death review team members
20    and to promote the exchange of information between teams.
21        (9) To provide the child death review teams with the
22    most current information and practices concerning child
23    death review and related topics.
24        (10) To perform any other functions necessary to
25    enhance the capability of the child death review teams to
26    reduce and prevent child injuries and fatalities.

 

 

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1    (c-5) The Executive Council shall prepare an annual report.
2The report must include, but need not be limited to, (i) each
3recommendation made by a child death review team pursuant to
4item (5) of subsection (b) of Section 20 during the period
5covered by the report, (ii) the Director's proposed schedule
6for implementing each such recommendation, and (iii) a
7description of the specific changes in the Department's
8policies and procedures that have been made in response to the
9recommendation. The Executive Council shall send a copy of its
10annual report to each of the following:
11        (1) The Governor.
12        (2) Each member of the Senate or the House of
13    Representatives, county coroners and medical examiners,
14    State's Attorneys, and others, in the sole discretion of
15    the Executive Council. whose legislative district lies
16    wholly or partly within the region covered by any child
17    death review team whose recommendation is addressed in the
18    annual report.
19        (3) Each member of each child death review team in the
20    State.
21    (d) In any instance when a child death review team does not
22operate in accordance with established protocol, the Director,
23in consultation and cooperation with the Executive Council,
24must take any necessary actions to bring the team into
25compliance with the protocol.
26(Source: P.A. 95-405, eff. 6-1-08; 95-527, eff. 6-1-08; 95-876,

 

 

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1eff. 8-21-08.)
 
2    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
3becoming law.".