102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
SB2943

 

Introduced 10/19/2021, by Sen. Karina Villa

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/14-15.01  from Ch. 122, par. 14-15.01

    Amends the Children with Disabilities Article of the School Code. Grants the Community and Residential Services Authority the authority to provide to youth in this State who are eligible for placement in a residential facility, but who have not been placed in a facility with the opportunity to be placed in a residential facility through the use of an individual agreement. Sets forth the duties of the Community and Residential Services Authority in regard to the placement of youth under an individual agreement in residential placement facilities, including prioritizing residential programs that have been approved by State agencies and preparing the individual agreement contract to be used by State agencies. Effective immediately.


LRB102 21015 CMG 29938 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB2943LRB102 21015 CMG 29938 b

1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    WHEREAS, There remain Illinois youth under the age of 22
3who have complex mental health and disability-related needs
4who require therapeutic residential treatment services; and
 
5    WHEREAS, There are several State agencies responsible for
6providing mental health, developmental, and educational
7services for these youth and have the ability to fund these
8youth's therapeutic residential treatment services; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Due to the current global pandemic, the complex
10nature of the youth's mental health, behavioral and
11educational needs, and the shortage of available residential
12treatment centers on the current list of approved programs of
13various State agencies, Illinois youth who need residential
14services and have received public funding are not receiving
15timely access to prescribed residential treatment; and
 
16    WHEREAS, There is a significant mental health impact on
17Illinois youth, their families, their communities, and the
18juvenile justice system when appropriate therapeutic
19residential treatment services are not provided to mentally
20and behaviorally fragile Illinois youth in need of treatment;
21and
 
22    WHEREAS, The ability to enter into individual agreements

 

 

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1with alternative accredited providers, a practice not
2currently utilized by Illinois agencies who fund residential
3treatment for youth, could alleviate the reality that Illinois
4lacks the resources to provide youth with intensive mental and
5behavioral health care needs and will significantly improve
6their access to appropriate therapeutic residential treatment;
7and
 
8    WHEREAS, It is desired that the Community Residential
9Services Authority be authorized to address and make
10recommendations pursuant to its enacting statute to assist the
11most complex Illinois youth acquire necessary services;
12therefore
 
13    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
14represented in the General Assembly:
 
15    Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
1614-15.01 as follows:
 
17    (105 ILCS 5/14-15.01)  (from Ch. 122, par. 14-15.01)
18    Sec. 14-15.01. Community and Residential Services
19Authority.
20    (a) (1) The Community and Residential Services Authority
21is hereby created and shall consist of the following members:
22    A representative of the State Board of Education;

 

 

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1    Four representatives of the Department of Human Services
2appointed by the Secretary of Human Services, with one member
3from the Division of Community Health and Prevention, one
4member from the Division of Developmental Disabilities, one
5member from the Division of Mental Health, and one member from
6the Division of Rehabilitation Services;
7    A representative of the Department of Children and Family
8Services;
9    A representative of the Department of Juvenile Justice;
10    A representative of the Department of Healthcare and
11Family Services;
12    A representative of the Attorney General's Disability
13Rights Advocacy Division;
14    The Chairperson and Minority Spokesperson of the House and
15Senate Committees on Elementary and Secondary Education or
16their designees; and
17    Six persons appointed by the Governor. Five of such
18appointees shall be experienced or knowledgeable relative to
19provision of services for individuals with a behavior disorder
20or a severe emotional disturbance and shall include
21representatives of both the private and public sectors, except
22that no more than 2 of those 5 appointees may be from the
23public sector and at least 2 must be or have been directly
24involved in provision of services to such individuals. The
25remaining member appointed by the Governor shall be or shall
26have been a parent of an individual with a behavior disorder or

 

 

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1a severe emotional disturbance, and that appointee may be from
2either the private or the public sector.
3    (2) Members appointed by the Governor shall be appointed
4for terms of 4 years and shall continue to serve until their
5respective successors are appointed; provided that the terms
6of the original appointees shall expire on August 1, 1990. Any
7vacancy in the office of a member appointed by the Governor
8shall be filled by appointment of the Governor for the
9remainder of the term.
10    A vacancy in the office of a member appointed by the
11Governor exists when one or more of the following events
12occur:
13        (i) An appointee dies;
14        (ii) An appointee files a written resignation with the
15    Governor;
16        (iii) An appointee ceases to be a legal resident of
17    the State of Illinois; or
18        (iv) An appointee fails to attend a majority of
19    regularly scheduled Authority meetings in a fiscal year.
20    Members who are representatives of an agency shall serve
21at the will of the agency head. Membership on the Authority
22shall cease immediately upon cessation of their affiliation
23with the agency. If such a vacancy occurs, the appropriate
24agency head shall appoint another person to represent the
25agency.
26    If a legislative member of the Authority ceases to be

 

 

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1Chairperson or Minority Spokesperson of the designated
2Committees, they shall automatically be replaced on the
3Authority by the person who assumes the position of
4Chairperson or Minority Spokesperson.
5    (b) The Community and Residential Services Authority shall
6have the following powers and duties:
7        (1) To conduct surveys to determine the extent of
8    need, the degree to which documented need is currently
9    being met and feasible alternatives for matching need with
10    resources.
11        (2) To develop policy statements for interagency
12    cooperation to cover all aspects of service delivery,
13    including laws, regulations and procedures, and clear
14    guidelines for determining responsibility at all times.
15        (3) To recommend policy statements and provide
16    information regarding effective programs for delivery of
17    services to all individuals under 22 years of age with a
18    behavior disorder or a severe emotional disturbance in
19    public or private situations.
20        (4) To review the criteria for service eligibility,
21    provision and availability established by the governmental
22    agencies represented on this Authority, and to recommend
23    changes, additions or deletions to such criteria.
24        (5) To develop and submit to the Governor, the General
25    Assembly, the Directors of the agencies represented on the
26    Authority, and the State Board of Education a master plan

 

 

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1    for individuals under 22 years of age with a behavior
2    disorder or a severe emotional disturbance, including
3    detailed plans of service ranging from the least to the
4    most restrictive options; and to assist local communities,
5    upon request, in developing or strengthening collaborative
6    interagency networks.
7        (6) To develop a process for making determinations in
8    situations where there is a dispute relative to a plan of
9    service for individuals or funding for a plan of service.
10        (7) To provide technical assistance to parents,
11    service consumers, providers, and member agency personnel
12    regarding statutory responsibilities of human service and
13    educational agencies, and to provide such assistance as
14    deemed necessary to appropriately access needed services.
15        (8) To establish a pilot program to act as a
16    residential research hub to research and identify
17    appropriate residential settings for youth who are being
18    housed in an emergency room for more than 72 hours or who
19    are deemed beyond medical necessity in a psychiatric
20    hospital. If a child is deemed beyond medical necessity in
21    a psychiatric hospital and is in need of residential
22    placement, the goal of the program is to prevent a
23    lock-out pursuant to the goals of the Custody
24    Relinquishment Prevention Act.
25        (9) To provide to youth in this State who are eligible
26    for residential services but who have not been receiving

 

 

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1    the appropriate residential services because of their
2    complex needs or the inability of current approved
3    residential providers in this State to accept these youth
4    with the opportunity to be placed in a residential
5    facility through the use of an individual agreement with a
6    residential provider who is not on a State approved list
7    of residential providers. The Authority shall do all of
8    the following:
9            (A) Find that the youth is eligible for an
10        individual agreement for the provision of residential
11        placement if the youth has received approval for
12        residential services, but has not been placed in a
13        residential program within 60 days of the date of
14        approval.
15            (B) Evaluate any residential program being
16        considered for an individual agreement to ensure that
17        the program provides the services to meet the needs of
18        the youth.
19            (C) Verify that any facility considered for a
20        placement under an individual agreement is
21        appropriately licensed to accept youth with similar
22        needs.
23            (D) Once a facility is determined to be eligible
24        for the placement of a youth under an individual
25        agreement, notify the appropriate State agency that
26        provides the funding for the residential services that

 

 

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1        the residential program is eligible for an individual
2        agreement and the appropriate State agency shall enter
3        into an individual agreement with the identified
4        facility.
5            (E) Prioritize residential programs that have been
6        approved by other State agencies, when possible.
7            (F) Approve no more than 5 individual agreements
8        per fiscal year.
9            (G) Create an individual agreement contract to be
10        used by State agencies pursuant to this paragraph.
11    (c) (1) The members of the Authority shall receive no
12compensation for their services but shall be entitled to
13reimbursement of reasonable expenses incurred while performing
14their duties.
15    (2) The Authority may appoint special study groups to
16operate under the direction of the Authority and persons
17appointed to such groups shall receive only reimbursement of
18reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of their
19duties.
20    (3) The Authority shall elect from its membership a
21chairperson, vice-chairperson and secretary.
22    (4) The Authority may employ and fix the compensation of
23such employees and technical assistants as it deems necessary
24to carry out its powers and duties under this Act. Staff
25assistance for the Authority shall be provided by the State
26Board of Education.

 

 

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1    (5) Funds for the ordinary and contingent expenses of the
2Authority shall be appropriated to the State Board of
3Education in a separate line item.
4    (d) (1) The Authority shall have power to promulgate rules
5and regulations to carry out its powers and duties under this
6Act.
7    (2) The Authority may accept monetary gifts or grants from
8the federal government or any agency thereof, from any
9charitable foundation or professional association or from any
10other reputable source for implementation of any program
11necessary or desirable to the carrying out of the general
12purposes of the Authority. Such gifts and grants may be held in
13trust by the Authority and expended in the exercise of its
14powers and performance of its duties as prescribed by law.
15    (3) The Authority shall submit an annual report of its
16activities and expenditures to the Governor, the General
17Assembly, the directors of agencies represented on the
18Authority, and the State Superintendent of Education.
19    (e) The Executive Director of the Authority or his or her
20designee shall be added as a participant on the Interagency
21Clinical Team established in the intergovernmental agreement
22among the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, the
23Department of Children and Family Services, the Department of
24Human Services, the State Board of Education, the Department
25of Juvenile Justice, and the Department of Public Health, with
26consent of the youth or the youth's guardian or family

 

 

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1pursuant to the Custody Relinquishment Prevention Act.
2(Source: P.A. 102-43, eff. 7-6-21.)
 
3    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
4becoming law.