DCFS Oversight Committee

Filed: 3/15/2007

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 616

2     AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 616 on page 1, after
3 line 3, by inserting the following:
 
4     "Section 2. The Child Death Review Team Act is amended by
5 changing Sections 20 and 40 as follows:
 
6     (20 ILCS 515/20)
7     Sec. 20. Reviews of child deaths.
8     (a) Every child death shall be reviewed by the team in the
9 subregion which has primary case management responsibility.
10 The deceased child must be one of the following:
11         (1) A ward of the Department.
12         (2) The subject of an open service case maintained by
13     the Department.
14         (3) The subject of a pending child abuse or neglect
15     investigation.
16         (4) A child who was the subject of an abuse or neglect

 

 

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1     investigation at any time during the 12 months preceding
2     the child's death.
3         (5) Any other child whose death is reported to the
4     State central register as a result of alleged child abuse
5     or neglect which report is subsequently indicated.
6     A child death review team may, at its discretion, review
7 other sudden, unexpected, or unexplained child deaths.
8     (b) A child death review team's purpose in conducting
9 reviews of child deaths is to do the following:
10         (1) Assist in determining the cause and manner of the
11     child's death, when requested.
12         (2) Evaluate means by which the death might have been
13     prevented.
14         (3) Report its findings to appropriate agencies and
15     make recommendations that may help to reduce the number of
16     child deaths caused by abuse or neglect.
17         (4) Promote continuing education for professionals
18     involved in investigating, treating, and preventing child
19     abuse and neglect as a means of preventing child deaths due
20     to abuse or neglect.
21         (5) Make specific recommendations to the Director and
22     the Inspector General of the Department concerning the
23     prevention of child deaths due to abuse or neglect and the
24     establishment of protocols for investigating child deaths.
25     (c) A child death review team shall review a child death as
26 soon as practical and not later than 90 days following the

 

 

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1 completion by the Department of the investigation of the death
2 under the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. When there
3 has been no investigation by the Department, the child death
4 review team shall review a child's death within 90 days after
5 obtaining the information necessary to complete the review from
6 the coroner, pathologist, medical examiner, or law enforcement
7 agency, depending on the nature of the case. A child death
8 review team shall meet at least once in each calendar quarter.
9     (d) The Director shall, within 90 days, review and reply to
10 recommendations made by a team under item (5) of subsection
11 (b). With respect to each recommendation made by a team, the
12 Director shall submit his or her reply both to the chairperson
13 of that team and to the chairperson of the Executive Council.
14 The Director's reply to each recommendation must include a
15 statement as to whether the Director intends to implement the
16 recommendation.
17     The Director shall implement recommendations as feasible
18 and appropriate and shall respond in writing to explain the
19 implementation or nonimplementation of the recommendations.
20     (e) Within 90 days after the Director submits a reply with
21 respect to a recommendation as required by subsection (d), the
22 Director must submit an additional report that sets forth in
23 detail the way, if any, in which the Director will implement
24 the recommendation and the schedule for implementing the
25 recommendation. The Director shall submit this report to the
26 chairperson of the team that made the recommendation and to the

 

 

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1 chairperson of the Executive Council.
2      (f) Within 180 days after the Director submits a report
3 under subsection (e) concerning the implementation of a
4 recommendation, the Director shall submit a further report to
5 the chairperson of the team that made the recommendation and to
6 the chairperson of the Executive Council. This report shall set
7 forth the specific changes in the Department's policies and
8 procedures that have been made in response to the
9 recommendation.
10 (Source: P.A. 90-239, eff. 7-28-97; 90-608, eff. 6-30-98.)
 
11     (20 ILCS 515/40)
12     Sec. 40. Illinois Child Death Review Teams Executive
13 Council.
14     (a) The Illinois Child Death Review Teams Executive
15 Council, consisting of the chairpersons of the 9 child death
16 review teams in Illinois, is the coordinating and oversight
17 body for child death review teams and activities in Illinois.
18 The vice-chairperson of a child death review team, as
19 designated by the chairperson, may serve as a back-up member or
20 an alternate member of the Executive Council, if the
21 chairperson of the child death review team is unavailable to
22 serve on the Executive Council. The Inspector General of the
23 Department, ex officio, is a non-voting member of the Executive
24 Council. The Director may appoint to the Executive Council any
25 ex-officio members deemed necessary. Persons with expertise

 

 

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1 needed by the Executive Council may be invited to meetings. The
2 Executive Council must select from its members a chairperson
3 and a vice-chairperson, each to serve a 2-year, renewable term.
4     The Executive Council must meet at least 4 times during
5 each calendar year. At each such meeting, in addition to any
6 other matters under consideration, the Executive Council shall
7 review all replies and reports received from the Director
8 pursuant to subsections (d), (e), and (f) of Section 20 since
9 the Executive Council's previous meeting. The Executive
10 Council's review must include consideration of the Director's
11 proposed manner of and schedule for implementing each
12 recommendation made by a child death review team.
13     (b) The Department must provide or arrange for the staff
14 support necessary for the Executive Council to carry out its
15 duties. The Director, in cooperation and consultation with the
16 Executive Council, shall appoint, reappoint, and remove team
17 members.
18     (c) The Executive Council has, but is not limited to, the
19 following duties:
20         (1) To serve as the voice of child death review teams
21     in Illinois.
22         (2) To oversee the regional teams in order to ensure
23     that the teams' work is coordinated and in compliance with
24     the statutes and the operating protocol.
25         (3) To ensure that the data, results, findings, and
26     recommendations of the teams are adequately used to make

 

 

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1     any necessary changes in the policies, procedures, and
2     statutes in order to protect children in a timely manner.
3         (4) To collaborate with the General Assembly, the
4     Department, and others in order to develop any legislation
5     needed to prevent child fatalities and to protect children.
6         (5) To assist in the development of quarterly and
7     annual reports based on the work and the findings of the
8     teams.
9         (6) To ensure that the regional teams' review processes
10     are standardized in order to convey data, findings, and
11     recommendations in a usable format.
12         (7) To serve as a link with child death review teams
13     throughout the country and to participate in national child
14     death review team activities.
15         (8) To develop an annual statewide symposium to update
16     the knowledge and skills of child death review team members
17     and to promote the exchange of information between teams.
18         (9) To provide the child death review teams with the
19     most current information and practices concerning child
20     death review and related topics.
21         (10) To perform any other functions necessary to
22     enhance the capability of the child death review teams to
23     reduce and prevent child injuries and fatalities.
24     (c-5) The Executive Council shall prepare an annual report.
25 The report must include, but need not be limited to, (i) each
26 recommendation made by a child death review team pursuant to

 

 

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1 item (5) of subsection (b) of Section 20 during the period
2 covered by the report, (ii) the Director's proposed schedule
3 for implementing each such recommendation, and (iii) a
4 description of the specific changes in the Department's
5 policies and procedures that have been made in response to the
6 recommendation. The Executive Council shall send a copy of its
7 annual report to each of the following:
8         (1) The Governor.
9         (2) Each member of the Senate or the House of
10     Representatives whose legislative district lies wholly or
11     partly within the region covered by any child death review
12     team whose recommendation is addressed in the annual
13     report.
14         (3) Each member of each child death review team in the
15     State.
16     (d) In any instance when a child death review team does not
17 operate in accordance with established protocol, the Director,
18 in consultation and cooperation with the Executive Council,
19 must take any necessary actions to bring the team into
20 compliance with the protocol.
21 (Source: P.A. 92-468, eff. 8-22-01.)".