Full Text of HB0617 95th General Assembly
HB0617eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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HB0617 Engrossed |
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LRB095 05208 RCE 25282 b |
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| AN ACT concerning State government.
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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 Children and Family Services Act is amended | 5 |
| by changing Section 35.5 and by adding Section 35.7 as follows:
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| (20 ILCS 505/35.5)
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| Sec. 35.5. Inspector General.
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| (a) The Governor shall appoint, and the Senate shall | 9 |
| confirm, an Inspector
General who shall
have the authority to | 10 |
| conduct investigations into allegations of or incidents
of | 11 |
| possible misconduct, misfeasance, malfeasance, or violations | 12 |
| of rules,
procedures, or laws by any employee, foster parent, | 13 |
| service provider, or
contractor of the Department of Children | 14 |
| and Family Services. The Inspector
General shall make | 15 |
| recommendations
to the Director of Children and Family Services | 16 |
| concerning sanctions or
disciplinary actions against | 17 |
| Department
employees or providers of service under contract to | 18 |
| the Department. The Director of Children and Family Services | 19 |
| shall provide the Inspector General with an implementation | 20 |
| report on the status of any corrective actions taken on cases | 21 |
| under review and shall continue sending updated reports until | 22 |
| the corrective action is completed. The Inspector General may | 23 |
| recommend to the Director sanctions to be imposed against |
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| agency staff for any actions taken, or not taken, that may have | 2 |
| affected the outcome of the case, or jeopardized the protection | 3 |
| of the child or children who were the subject of an | 4 |
| investigation. The Director shall provide a written response to | 5 |
| the Inspector General indicating the status of any sanctions or | 6 |
| disciplinary actions against employees or providers of service | 7 |
| involving any case subject to review. In any case, information | 8 |
| included in the reports to the Inspector General and Department | 9 |
| responses shall be subject to the public disclosure | 10 |
| requirements of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. | 11 |
| Any
investigation
conducted by the Inspector General shall be | 12 |
| independent and separate from the
investigation mandated by the | 13 |
| Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. The
Inspector General | 14 |
| shall be appointed for a term of 4 years. The Inspector
General | 15 |
| shall function independently within the Department of Children | 16 |
| and Family Services with respect to
be independent of the | 17 |
| operations of the Office of Inspector General, including the | 18 |
| performance of investigations and issuance of findings and | 19 |
| recommendations,
Department and shall
report to the Director of | 20 |
| Children and Family Services and the Governor and
perform other
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| duties the Director may designate. The appropriation for the | 22 |
| Office of Inspector General shall be separate from the overall | 23 |
| appropriation for the Department of Children and Family | 24 |
| Services. The Inspector General shall adopt rules
as necessary | 25 |
| to carry out the
functions, purposes, and duties of the office | 26 |
| of Inspector General in the
Department of Children and Family |
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LRB095 05208 RCE 25282 b |
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| Services, in accordance with the Illinois
Administrative | 2 |
| Procedure Act and any other applicable law.
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| (b) The Inspector
General shall have access to all | 4 |
| information and personnel necessary to perform
the duties of | 5 |
| the office. To minimize duplication of efforts, and to assure
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| consistency and conformance with the requirements and | 7 |
| procedures established in
the B.H. v. Suter consent decree and | 8 |
| to share resources
when appropriate, the Inspector General | 9 |
| shall coordinate his or her
activities with the Bureau of | 10 |
| Quality Assurance within the Department.
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| (c) The Inspector General shall be the primary liaison | 12 |
| between the
Department and the Department of State Police with | 13 |
| regard to investigations
conducted under the Inspector | 14 |
| General's auspices.
If the Inspector General determines that a | 15 |
| possible criminal act
has been committed,
or that special | 16 |
| expertise is required in the investigation, he or she shall
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| immediately notify the Department of State Police.
All | 18 |
| investigations conducted by the Inspector General shall be
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| conducted in a manner designed to ensure the preservation of | 20 |
| evidence for
possible use in a criminal prosecution.
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| (d) The Inspector General may recommend to the Department | 22 |
| of Children and
Family Services, the Department of Public | 23 |
| Health, or any other appropriate
agency, sanctions to be | 24 |
| imposed against service providers under the
jurisdiction of or | 25 |
| under contract with the Department for the protection of
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| children in the custody or under the guardianship of the |
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| Department who
received services from those providers. The | 2 |
| Inspector General may seek the
assistance of the Attorney | 3 |
| General or any of the several State's Attorneys in
imposing | 4 |
| sanctions.
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| (e) The Inspector General shall at all times be granted | 6 |
| access to any foster
home, facility, or program operated for or | 7 |
| licensed or funded by the
Department.
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| (f) Nothing in this Section shall limit investigations by | 9 |
| the Department of
Children and Family Services that may | 10 |
| otherwise be required by law or that may
be necessary in that | 11 |
| Department's capacity as the central administrative
authority | 12 |
| for child welfare.
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| (g) The Inspector General shall have the power to subpoena | 14 |
| witnesses and
compel the production of books and papers | 15 |
| pertinent to an investigation
authorized by this Act. The power | 16 |
| to subpoena or to compel the
production of books and papers, | 17 |
| however, shall not extend to the person or
documents of a
labor | 18 |
| organization or its representatives insofar as the person or | 19 |
| documents of
a labor organization relate to the function of | 20 |
| representing an employee subject
to investigation under this | 21 |
| Act. Any person who fails to appear in response to
a subpoena | 22 |
| or to answer any question or produce any books or papers | 23 |
| pertinent
to an investigation under this Act, except as | 24 |
| otherwise provided in this
Section, or who knowingly gives | 25 |
| false testimony in relation to an investigation
under this Act | 26 |
| is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
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LRB095 05208 RCE 25282 b |
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| (h) The Inspector General shall provide to the General | 2 |
| Assembly and the
Governor, no later than January 1 of each | 3 |
| year, a summary of reports and
investigations made under this | 4 |
| Section for the prior fiscal year. The
summaries shall detail | 5 |
| the imposition of sanctions and the final disposition
of those | 6 |
| recommendations. The summaries shall not contain any | 7 |
| confidential or
identifying information concerning the | 8 |
| subjects of the reports and
investigations. The summaries also | 9 |
| shall include detailed recommended
administrative actions and | 10 |
| matters for consideration by the General Assembly.
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| (Source: P.A. 90-512, eff. 8-22-97.)
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| (20 ILCS 505/35.7 new)
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| Sec. 35.7. Error Reduction Implementations Plans; | 14 |
| Inspector General. | 15 |
| (a) The Inspector General of the Department of Children and | 16 |
| Family Services shall develop Error Reduction Implementation | 17 |
| Plans, as necessary, to remedy patterns of errors or | 18 |
| problematic practices that compromise or threaten the safety of | 19 |
| children as identified in DCFS Office of Inspector General | 20 |
| (OIG) death or serious injury investigations and Child Death | 21 |
| Review Teams recommendations. The Error Reduction | 22 |
| Implementation Plans shall include both training and on-site | 23 |
| components. The Department shall deploy Error Reduction Safety | 24 |
| Teams to implement the Error Reduction Implementation Plans. | 25 |
| The Error Reduction Safety Teams shall be composed of Quality |
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| Assurance and Division of Training staff to implement hands-on | 2 |
| training and Error Reduction Implementation Plans in targeted | 3 |
| offices where the Inspector General has determined that serious | 4 |
| or lethal errors have occurred or offices at risk for errors to | 5 |
| occur. The teams shall work in the offices or agencies as | 6 |
| required by the Error Reduction Implementation Plan and shall | 7 |
| work to ensure that systems are in place to continue reform | 8 |
| efforts after the departure of the teams. The Director shall | 9 |
| develop a method to ensure consistent compliance with any Error | 10 |
| Reduction Implementation Plan. The training curricula shall be | 11 |
| determined by the Inspector General with advice from the Child | 12 |
| Death Review Team Executive Council. | 13 |
| (b) Quality Assurance shall prepare public reports | 14 |
| annually detailing the following: the substance of any Error | 15 |
| Reduction Implementation Plan developed; any deviations from | 16 |
| the Error Reduction Plan; whether adequate staff was available | 17 |
| to perform functions necessary to the Error Reduction | 18 |
| Implementation Plan, including identification and reporting of | 19 |
| any staff needs; other problems noted or barriers to | 20 |
| implementing the Error Reduction Implementation Plan; and | 21 |
| recommendations for additional training, amendments to rules | 22 |
| and procedures, or other systemic reform identified by the | 23 |
| teams. | 24 |
| (c) The Error Reduction Teams shall implement training and | 25 |
| reform protocols through incubating change in each region, | 26 |
| Department office, or purchase of service office, as required. |
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| The teams shall administer hands-on assistance, supervision, | 2 |
| and management while ensuring that the office, region, or | 3 |
| agency develops the skills and systems necessary to incorporate | 4 |
| changes on a permanent basis. For each Error Reduction Plan, | 5 |
| the Team shall determine whether adequate staff is available to | 6 |
| fulfill the Error Reduction Plan, provide case-by-case | 7 |
| supervision to ensure that the plan is implemented, and ensure | 8 |
| that management puts systems in place to enable the reforms to | 9 |
| continue. | 10 |
| (d) The OIG shall develop new Error Reduction Plans as | 11 |
| necessary. To implement each Error Reduction Plan, the OIG | 12 |
| shall work with Error Reduction Teams designated by the | 13 |
| Department. The teams shall be comprised of staff from Quality | 14 |
| Assurance and Training. Training shall work with the OIG to | 15 |
| develop a curriculum to address errors identified that | 16 |
| compromise the safety of children. Following the training | 17 |
| roll-out, the Teams shall work on-site in identified offices. | 18 |
| The Teams shall review and supervise all work relevant to the | 19 |
| Error Reduction Plan. Quality Assurance, in conjunction with | 20 |
| the OIG, shall identify outcome measures and track compliance | 21 |
| with the training curriculum. Each quarter, Quality Assurance | 22 |
| shall prepare a report detailing compliance with the Error | 23 |
| Reduction Plan and alert the Director to staffing needs or | 24 |
| other needs to accomplish the goals of the Error Reduction | 25 |
| Plan. The report shall be transmitted to the Director, the OIG, | 26 |
| and all management staff involved in the Error Reduction Plan. |
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LRB095 05208 RCE 25282 b |
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| (e) The Director shall review quarterly Quality Assurance | 2 |
| reports and shall ensure that supervisors' and managers' | 3 |
| performance evaluations (objectives evaluation) are based on | 4 |
| adherence to the Error Reduction Plan using criteria developed | 5 |
| by the Department. | 6 |
| (f) Quality Assurance shall prepare public reports | 7 |
| annually detailing the following: the substance of any Error | 8 |
| Reduction Plan developed; any deviations from the Error | 9 |
| Reduction Plan; whether adequate staff was available to perform | 10 |
| functions necessary to the Error Reduction Plan, including | 11 |
| identification and reporting of any staff needs; other problems | 12 |
| noted or barriers to implementing the Error Reduction Plan; and | 13 |
| any recommendations for additional training needs or systemic | 14 |
| change or reform of Rules and Procedures.
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