95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
SB0466

 

Introduced 2/8/2007, by Sen. John J. Cullerton

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
20 ILCS 505/34.11

    Amends the Children and Family Services Act. Requires the Department of Children and Family Services to develop and administer a program of information and services for caregivers, particularly older caregivers, of children previously in Department custody, with respect to the future care and custody of those children. Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1     AN ACT concerning State government.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The Children and Family Services Act is amended
5 by changing Section 34.11 as follows:
 
6     (20 ILCS 505/34.11)
7     Sec. 34.11. Grandparent child care program.
8     (a) The General Assembly finds and declares the following:
9         (1) An increasing number of children under the age of
10     18, including many children who would otherwise be at risk
11     of abuse or neglect, are in the care of a grandparent or
12     other nonparent relative.
13         (2) The principal causes of this increase include
14     parental substance abuse, child abuse, mental illness,
15     poverty, and death, as well as concerted efforts by
16     families and by the child welfare service system to keep
17     children with relatives whenever possible.
18         (3) Grandparents and older relatives providing primary
19     care for at-risk children may experience unique resultant
20     problems, such as financial stress due to limited incomes,
21     emotional difficulties dealing with the loss of the child's
22     parents or the child's unique behaviors, and decreased
23     physical stamina coupled with a much higher incidence of

 

 

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1     chronic illness.
2         (4) Many children being raised by nonparent relatives
3     experience one or a combination of emotional, behavioral,
4     psychological, academic, or medical problems, especially
5     those born to a substance-abusing mother or at risk of
6     child abuse, neglect, or abandonment.
7         (5) Grandparents and other relatives providing primary
8     care for children lack appropriate information about the
9     issues of kinship care, the special needs (both physical
10     and psychological) of children born to a substance-abusing
11     mother or at risk of child abuse, neglect, or abandonment,
12     and the support resources currently available to them.
13         (6) An increasing number of grandparents and other
14     relatives age 60 or older are adopting or becoming the
15     subsidized guardians of children placed in their care by
16     the Department. Some of these children will experience the
17     death of their adoptive parent or guardian before reaching
18     the age of 18. For most of these children, no legal plan
19     has been made for the child's future care and custody in
20     the event of the caregiver's death or incapacity.
21         (7) Grandparents and other relatives providing primary
22     care for children lack appropriate information about
23     future care and custody planning for children in their
24     care. They also lack access to resources that may assist
25     them in developing future legal care and custody plans for
26     children in their legal custody.

 

 

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1     (b) The Department may establish an informational and
2 educational program for grandparents and other relatives who
3 provide primary care for children who are at risk of child
4 abuse, neglect, or abandonment or who were born to
5 substance-abusing mothers. As a part of the program, the
6 Department may develop, publish, and distribute an
7 informational brochure for grandparents and other relatives
8 who provide primary care for children who are at risk of child
9 abuse, neglect, or abandonment or who were born to
10 substance-abusing mothers. The information provided under the
11 program authorized by this Section may include, but is not
12 limited to the following:
13         (1) The most prevalent causes of kinship care,
14     especially the risk of substance exposure or child abuse,
15     neglect, or abandonment.
16         (2) The problems experienced by children being raised
17     by nonparent caregivers.
18         (3) The problems experienced by grandparents and other
19     nonparent relatives providing primary care for children
20     who have special needs.
21         (4) The legal system as it relates to children and
22     their nonparent primary caregivers.
23         (5) The benefits available to children and their
24     nonparent primary caregivers.
25         (6) A list of support groups and resources located
26     throughout the State.

 

 

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1     The brochure may be distributed through hospitals, public
2 health nurses, child protective services, medical professional
3 offices, elementary and secondary schools, senior citizen
4 centers, public libraries, community action agencies selected
5 by the Department, and the Department of Human Services.
6     (c) In addition to other provisions of this Section, the
7 Department shall establish a program of information, social
8 work services, and legal services for any person age 60 or over
9 and any other person who may be in need of a future legal care
10 and custody plan who adopt, have adopted, take guardianship of,
11 or have taken guardianship of children previously in the
12 Department's custody. This program shall also assist families
13 of deceased adoptive parents and guardians. As part of the
14 program, the Department shall:
15         (1) Develop a protocol for identification of persons
16     age 60 or over and others who may be in need of future care
17     and custody plans, including ill caregivers, who are
18     adoptive parents, prospective adoptive parents, guardians,
19     or prospective guardians of children who are or have been
20     in Department custody.
21         (2) Provide outreach to caregivers before and after
22     adoption and guardianship, and to the families of deceased
23     caregivers, regarding Illinois legal options for future
24     care and custody of children.
25         (3) Provide training for Department and private agency
26     staff on methods of assisting caregivers before and after

 

 

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1     adoption and guardianship, and the families of older and
2     ill caregivers, who wish to make future care and custody
3     plans for children who have been wards of the Department
4     and who are or will be adopted by or are or will become
5     wards of those caregivers.
6         (4) Ensure that all caregivers age 60 or over who will
7     adopt, have adopted, will become guardians of, or are
8     guardians of children previously in Department custody
9     have specifically designated future caregivers for
10     children in their care. The Department shall document this
11     designation, and the Department shall also document
12     acceptance of this responsibility by any future caregiver.
13     Documentation of future care designation shall be included
14     in each child's case file and adoption or guardianship
15     subsidy files as applicable to the child.
16         (5) Ensure that any designated future caregiver and the
17     family of a deceased caregiver have information on the
18     financial needs of the child and future resources that may
19     be available to support the child, including any adoption
20     assistance and subsidized guardianship for which the child
21     is or may be eligible.
22         (6) Provide legal and social work services to older and
23     ill caregivers, and the families of deceased caregivers,
24     with the goal of securing a court-ordered or other legal
25     future care and custody plan for children in their care.
26     Court-ordered plans may include: standby adoption, standby

 

 

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1     guardianship, adoption, guardianship, or other
2     court-ordered custody plans. Other legal plans may include
3     short-term guardianship or testamentary guardianship
4     through a last will and testament.
5         Legal services shall include legal consultation,
6     ongoing representation and counseling, and review of
7     adoption assistance and subsidized guardianship
8     agreements.
9         Social work services shall be offered with the goal of
10     facilitating agreements between a current and potential
11     future caregiver and any other family members or persons
12     who are significant in the life of a child regarding future
13     care and custody of the child.
14         (7) Ensure that future caregivers designated by
15     adoptive parents or guardians, and the families of deceased
16     caregivers, understand their rights and potential
17     responsibilities and shall be able to provide adequate
18     support and education for children who may become their
19     legal responsibility.
20         (8) Ensure that future caregivers designated by
21     adoptive parents and guardians, and the families of
22     deceased caregivers, understand the problems of children
23     who have experienced multiple caregivers and who may have
24     experienced abuse, neglect, or abandonment or may have been
25     born to substance-abusing mothers.
26         (9) Ensure that future caregivers designated by

 

 

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1     adoptive parents and guardians, and the families of
2     deceased caregivers, understand the problems experienced
3     by older and ill caregivers of children, including children
4     with special needs, such as financial stress due to limited
5     income and increased financial responsibility, emotional
6     difficulties associated with the loss of a child's parent
7     or the child's unique behaviors, the special needs of a
8     child who may come into their custody or whose parent or
9     guardian is already deceased, and decreased physical
10     stamina and a higher rate of chronic illness and other
11     health concerns.
12         (10) Provide additional services as needed to families
13     in which a designated caregiver appointed by the court or a
14     caregiver designated in a will or other legal document
15     cannot or will not fulfill the responsibilities as adoptive
16     parent, guardian, or legal custodian of the child.
17     No later than January 1, 2008, the Department shall adopt
18 rules to implement this subsection. On or before January 1,
19 2009 and each January 1 thereafter, the Department shall submit
20 to the General Assembly a report on the implementation of this
21 subsection.
22 (Source: P.A. 88-229; 88-670, eff. 12-2-94; 89-507, eff.
23 7-1-97.)
 
24     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
25 becoming law.