Full Text of SB2447 93rd General Assembly
SB2447enr 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning minors.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Juvenile Court Act of 1987 is amended by | 5 |
| changing Section 2-18 as follows:
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| (705 ILCS 405/2-18) (from Ch. 37, par. 802-18)
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| Sec. 2-18. Evidence.
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| (1) At the adjudicatory hearing, the court shall first | 9 |
| consider only the
question whether the minor is abused, | 10 |
| neglected or dependent. The standard of
proof and the rules of | 11 |
| evidence in the nature of civil proceedings in this
State are | 12 |
| applicable to proceedings under this Article. If the petition | 13 |
| also
seeks the appointment of a guardian of the person with
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| power to consent to adoption of the minor under Section 2-29, | 15 |
| the court may
also consider legally admissible evidence at the | 16 |
| adjudicatory hearing that one
or more grounds of unfitness | 17 |
| exists under subdivision D of Section 1 of the
Adoption Act.
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| (2) In any hearing under this Act, the following shall | 19 |
| constitute prima
facie evidence of abuse or neglect, as the | 20 |
| case may be:
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| (a) proof that a minor has a medical diagnosis of | 22 |
| battered child syndrome
is prima facie evidence of abuse;
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| (b) proof that a minor has a medical diagnosis of | 24 |
| failure to thrive
syndrome is prima facie evidence of | 25 |
| neglect;
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| (c) proof that a minor has a medical diagnosis of fetal | 27 |
| alcohol syndrome
is prima facie evidence of neglect;
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| (d) proof that a minor has a medical diagnosis at birth | 29 |
| of withdrawal
symptoms from narcotics or barbiturates is | 30 |
| prima facie evidence of neglect;
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| (e) proof of injuries sustained by a minor or of the | 32 |
| condition of a minor
of such a nature as would ordinarily |
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| not be sustained or exist except by
reason of the acts or | 2 |
| omissions of the parent, custodian or guardian of
such | 3 |
| minor shall be prima facie evidence of abuse or neglect, as | 4 |
| the case may
be;
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| (f) proof that a parent, custodian or guardian of a | 6 |
| minor repeatedly used
a drug, to the extent that it has or | 7 |
| would ordinarily have the effect of
producing in the user a | 8 |
| substantial state of stupor, unconsciousness,
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| intoxication, hallucination, disorientation or | 10 |
| incompetence, or a
substantial impairment of judgment, or a | 11 |
| substantial manifestation of
irrationality, shall be prima | 12 |
| facie evidence of neglect;
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| (g) proof that a parent, custodian, or guardian of a | 14 |
| minor repeatedly
used a controlled substance, as defined in | 15 |
| subsection (f) of Section 102 of the
Illinois Controlled | 16 |
| Substances Act, in the presence of the minor or a sibling
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| of the minor is prima facie evidence of neglect. "Repeated | 18 |
| use", for the
purpose of this subsection, means more than | 19 |
| one use of a controlled substance
as defined in subsection | 20 |
| (f) of Section 102 of the Illinois Controlled
Substances | 21 |
| Act;
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| (h) proof that a newborn infant's blood, urine, or | 23 |
| meconium contains any
amount of a controlled substance as | 24 |
| defined in subsection (f) of Section 102 of
the Illinois | 25 |
| Controlled Substances Act, or a metabolite of a controlled
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| substance, with the exception of controlled substances or | 27 |
| metabolites of those
substances, the presence of which is | 28 |
| the result of medical treatment
administered to the mother | 29 |
| or the newborn, is prime facie evidence of
neglect ; . | 30 |
| (i) proof that a minor was present in a structure or | 31 |
| vehicle in which the minor's parent, custodian, or guardian | 32 |
| was involved in the manufacture of methamphetamine | 33 |
| constitutes prima facie evidence of abuse and neglect.
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| (3) In any hearing under this Act, proof of the abuse, | 35 |
| neglect or dependency
of one minor shall be admissible evidence | 36 |
| on the issue of the abuse, neglect or
dependency of any other |
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| minor for whom the respondent is responsible.
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| (4) (a) Any writing, record, photograph or x-ray of any | 3 |
| hospital or public
or private agency, whether in the form of an | 4 |
| entry in a book or otherwise,
made as a memorandum or record of | 5 |
| any condition, act, transaction, occurrence
or event relating | 6 |
| to a minor in an abuse, neglect or
dependency proceeding, shall | 7 |
| be
admissible in evidence as proof of that condition, act, | 8 |
| transaction, occurrence
or event, if the court finds that the | 9 |
| document was made in the regular course
of the business of the | 10 |
| hospital or agency and that it was in the regular
course of | 11 |
| such business to make it, at the time of the act, transaction,
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| occurrence or event, or within a reasonable time thereafter. A | 13 |
| certification
by the head or responsible employee of the | 14 |
| hospital or agency that the writing,
record, photograph or | 15 |
| x-ray is the full and complete record of the condition,
act, | 16 |
| transaction, occurrence or event and that it satisfies the | 17 |
| conditions
of this paragraph shall be prima facie evidence of | 18 |
| the facts contained in
such certification. A certification by | 19 |
| someone other than the head of the
hospital or agency shall be | 20 |
| accompanied by a photocopy of a delegation of
authority signed | 21 |
| by both the head of the hospital or agency and by such
other | 22 |
| employee. All other circumstances of the making of the | 23 |
| memorandum,
record, photograph or x-ray, including lack of | 24 |
| personal knowledge of the
maker, may be proved to affect the | 25 |
| weight to be accorded such evidence,
but shall not affect its | 26 |
| admissibility.
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| (b) Any indicated report filed pursuant to the Abused and | 28 |
| Neglected Child
Reporting Act shall be admissible in evidence.
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| (c) Previous statements made by the minor relating to any | 30 |
| allegations
of abuse or neglect shall be admissible in | 31 |
| evidence. However, no such
statement, if uncorroborated and not | 32 |
| subject to cross-examination, shall be
sufficient in itself to | 33 |
| support a finding of abuse or neglect.
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| (d) There shall be a rebuttable presumption that a minor is | 35 |
| competent
to testify in abuse or neglect proceedings. The court | 36 |
| shall determine how
much weight to give to the minor's |
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| testimony, and may allow the minor to
testify in chambers with | 2 |
| only the court, the court reporter and attorneys
for the | 3 |
| parties present.
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| (e) The privileged character of communication between any | 5 |
| professional
person and patient or client, except privilege | 6 |
| between attorney and client,
shall not apply to proceedings | 7 |
| subject to this Article.
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| (f) Proof of the impairment of emotional health or | 9 |
| impairment of mental
or emotional condition as a result of the | 10 |
| failure of the respondent to exercise
a minimum degree of care | 11 |
| toward a minor may include competent opinion or
expert | 12 |
| testimony, and may include proof that such impairment lessened | 13 |
| during
a period when the minor was in the care, custody or | 14 |
| supervision of a person
or agency other than the respondent.
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| (5) In any hearing under this Act alleging neglect for | 16 |
| failure to
provide education as required by law under | 17 |
| subsection (1) of Section 2-3,
proof that a minor under 13 | 18 |
| years of age who is subject to compulsory
school attendance | 19 |
| under the School Code is a chronic truant as defined
under the | 20 |
| School Code shall be prima facie evidence of neglect by the
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| parent or guardian in any hearing under this Act and proof that | 22 |
| a minor who
is 13 years of age or older who is subject to | 23 |
| compulsory school attendance
under the School Code is a chronic | 24 |
| truant shall raise a rebuttable
presumption of neglect by the | 25 |
| parent or guardian. This subsection (5)
shall not apply in | 26 |
| counties with 2,000,000 or more inhabitants.
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| (6) In any hearing under this Act, the court may take | 28 |
| judicial notice of
prior sworn testimony or evidence admitted | 29 |
| in prior proceedings involving
the same minor if (a) the | 30 |
| parties were either represented by counsel at such
prior | 31 |
| proceedings or the right to counsel was knowingly waived and | 32 |
| (b) the
taking of judicial notice would not result in admitting | 33 |
| hearsay evidence at a
hearing where it would otherwise be | 34 |
| prohibited.
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| (Source: P.A. 89-704, eff. 8-16-97 (changed from 1-1-98 by P.A.
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| 90-443); 90-608, eff. 6-30-98.)
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