Full Text of HB2626 100th General Assembly
HB2626enr 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning civil law.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 | | Parental Rights for the Blind Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds that: | 7 | | (1) blind individuals continue to face unfair, | 8 | | preconceived, and unnecessary societal biases as well as | 9 | | antiquated attitudes regarding their ability to | 10 | | successfully parent their children; | 11 | | (2) blind individuals face these biases and | 12 | | preconceived attitudes in family and dependency law | 13 | | proceedings in which the allocation of parental | 14 | | responsibilities and parenting time are at stake and in | 15 | | public and private adoption, guardianship, and foster care | 16 | | proceedings; | 17 | | (3) because of these societal biases and antiquated | 18 | | attitudes, children of blind parents are unnecessarily | 19 | | being removed from their parents' care or being restricted | 20 | | from enjoying meaningful time with their parents; and
| 21 | | (4) children are being denied the opportunity to enjoy | 22 | | the experience of living in loving homes with blind parents | 23 | | or other blind caregivers.
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| 1 | | Section 10. Purpose. The purpose of this Act is to protect | 2 | | the best interests of children cared for or parented by blind | 3 | | individuals or children who could be cared for or parented by | 4 | | blind individuals through the establishment of procedural | 5 | | safeguards that require adherence to the Americans with | 6 | | Disabilities Act and respect for the due process and equal | 7 | | protection rights of blind parents or prospective blind parents | 8 | | in the context of child welfare, foster care, family law, and | 9 | | adoption. | 10 | | Section 15. Definitions. As used in this Act: | 11 | | "Blindness" means central visual acuity of 20/200 or less | 12 | | in the better eye with the use of a correcting lens. An eye | 13 | | that has a limitation in the field of vision so that the widest | 14 | | diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than | 15 | | 20 degrees is considered to have a central visual acuity of | 16 | | 20/200 or less. "Blindness" includes a degenerative condition | 17 | | that reasonably can be expected to result in blindness. | 18 | | "Supportive parenting services" means services that assist | 19 | | a person with blindness in the effective use of non-visual | 20 | | techniques and other alternative methods to enable the person | 21 | | to discharge parental responsibilities as successfully as a | 22 | | person who does not have blindness.
| 23 | | Section 20. Prohibitions; burden of proof. |
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| 1 | | (a) A person's blindness shall not serve as a basis for | 2 | | denial or restriction of parenting time or the allocation of | 3 | | parental responsibilities if the parenting time or the | 4 | | allocation of parental responsibilities is determined to be | 5 | | otherwise in the best interests of the child. | 6 | | (b) A person's blindness shall not serve as a basis for | 7 | | denial of participation in public or private adoption when the | 8 | | adoption is determined to be otherwise in the best interests of | 9 | | the child. | 10 | | (c) A person's blindness shall not serve as a basis for | 11 | | denial of foster care or guardianship when the appointment is | 12 | | determined to be otherwise in the best interests of the child. | 13 | | (d) The Department of Children and Family Services shall | 14 | | develop and implement procedures that ensure and provide equal | 15 | | access to child welfare services, programs, and activities in a | 16 | | nondiscriminatory manner. Services, programs, and activities | 17 | | include, but are not limited to, investigations, assessments, | 18 | | provision of in-home services, out-of-home placements, case | 19 | | planning and service planning, visitation, guardianship, | 20 | | adoption, foster care, and reunification services. Such | 21 | | services, programs, and activities may also extend to | 22 | | proceedings under the Juvenile Court Act and proceedings to | 23 | | terminate parental rights. The Department of Children and | 24 | | Family Services shall provide training to child welfare | 25 | | investigators and caseworkers on these procedures. | 26 | | (e) If the court determines that the right of a person with |
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| 1 | | blindness to the allocation of parental responsibilities, | 2 | | parenting time, foster care, guardianship, or adoption should | 3 | | be denied or limited in any manner, the court shall make | 4 | | specific written findings stating the basis for such a | 5 | | determination and why supportive parenting services cannot | 6 | | prevent the denial or limitation.
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