Full Text of HB0186 97th General Assembly
HB0186eng 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning courts.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Juvenile Court Act of 1987 is amended by | 5 | | changing Section 1-5 as follows:
| 6 | | (705 ILCS 405/1-5) (from Ch. 37, par. 801-5)
| 7 | | Sec. 1-5. Rights of parties to proceedings.
| 8 | | (1) Except as provided in this Section and paragraph (2) of | 9 | | Sections
2-22, 3-23, 4-20, 5-610 or 5-705, the minor who is the | 10 | | subject of the
proceeding
and his parents, guardian, legal | 11 | | custodian or responsible relative who are
parties respondent | 12 | | have the right to be present, to be heard, to present
evidence | 13 | | material to the proceedings, to cross-examine witnesses, to
| 14 | | examine pertinent court files and records and also, although | 15 | | proceedings
under this Act are not intended to be adversary in | 16 | | character, the right to
be represented by counsel. At the | 17 | | request of any party financially unable
to employ counsel, with | 18 | | the exception of a foster parent permitted to
intervene under | 19 | | this Section, the court shall appoint the Public Defender or
| 20 | | such other counsel as the case may require.
Counsel appointed | 21 | | for the minor and any indigent party shall appear at all
stages | 22 | | of the trial court proceeding, and such appointment shall | 23 | | continue
through the permanency hearings and
termination of |
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| 1 | | parental rights proceedings subject to withdrawal or
| 2 | | substitution pursuant to Supreme Court Rules or the Code of | 3 | | Civil Procedure.
Following the dispositional hearing, the | 4 | | court may require appointed counsel,
other than counsel for the | 5 | | minor or counsel for the guardian ad litem,
to withdraw his or | 6 | | her appearance upon failure of the party for whom counsel
was | 7 | | appointed under this Section to attend any subsequent | 8 | | proceedings.
| 9 | | No hearing on any petition or motion filed under this Act | 10 | | may be
commenced unless
the minor who is the subject of the | 11 | | proceeding is represented by counsel.
Notwithstanding the | 12 | | preceding sentence, if a guardian ad litem has been
appointed | 13 | | for the minor under Section 2-17 of this
Act and the guardian | 14 | | ad litem is a licensed attorney at law of this State, or
in the | 15 | | event that a court appointed special advocate has been | 16 | | appointed as
guardian ad litem and counsel has been appointed | 17 | | to represent the court
appointed special advocate, the
court | 18 | | may not require the appointment of counsel to represent the
| 19 | | minor unless the court finds that the minor's interests are in | 20 | | conflict with
what the guardian ad litem determines to be in | 21 | | the best interest of the
minor. Each
adult respondent shall be | 22 | | furnished a written "Notice of Rights" at
or before the first | 23 | | hearing at which he or she appears.
| 24 | | (1.5) The Department shall maintain
a system of response to | 25 | | inquiry made by parents or putative
parents as to whether their | 26 | | child is under the custody or guardianship of the
Department; |
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| 1 | | and if so, the Department shall direct the parents or putative
| 2 | | parents to the appropriate court of jurisdiction, including | 3 | | where inquiry may
be made of the clerk of the court regarding | 4 | | the case number and the next
scheduled court date of the | 5 | | minor's case.
Effective notice and the means of accessing | 6 | | information shall be given to the
public on a continuing basis
| 7 | | by the
Department.
| 8 | | (2) (a) Though not appointed guardian or legal custodian or | 9 | | otherwise made
a party to the proceeding, any current or | 10 | | previously appointed foster parent
or relative caregiver, or | 11 | | representative of an agency or association
interested in the | 12 | | minor has
the right to be heard by the court, including the | 13 | | right to a full evidentiary hearing, but does not thereby | 14 | | become a party
to the proceeding.
| 15 | | In addition to the foregoing right to be heard by the | 16 | | court, any current
foster parent or relative caregiver of a | 17 | | minor and the agency designated
by the court or the
Department | 18 | | of Children and Family Services as custodian of the minor who
| 19 | | is alleged to be or has been adjudicated an abused or neglected | 20 | | minor under
Section 2-3 or a
dependent minor under Section 2-4 | 21 | | of this Act has the right to and shall be
given adequate notice | 22 | | at all stages of any hearing or proceeding under this
Act.
| 23 | | Any foster parent or relative caregiver who is denied his | 24 | | or her
right to be heard under this
Section may bring a | 25 | | mandamus action under Article XIV of the Code of Civil
| 26 | | Procedure against the court or any public agency to enforce |
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| 1 | | that right. The
mandamus action may be brought immediately upon | 2 | | the denial of those rights but
in no event later than 30 days | 3 | | after the foster parent has been denied the
right to be heard.
| 4 | | (b) If after an adjudication that a minor is abused or | 5 | | neglected as provided
under Section 2-21 of this Act and a | 6 | | motion has been
made to restore the
minor to any parent, | 7 | | guardian, or legal custodian found by the court to have
caused | 8 | | the neglect or to have inflicted the abuse on the minor or a | 9 | | notice of a proposed change of placement of the minor is given , | 10 | | a foster parent
may file a motion to intervene in the | 11 | | proceeding for
the sole purpose of
requesting that the | 12 | | placement of the minor be continued placed with the foster | 13 | | parent, provided that the
foster parent (i) is the current | 14 | | foster parent of the minor or (ii) has
previously been a foster | 15 | | parent for the minor for 6 months one year or more, has a
| 16 | | foster care license or is eligible for a license, and is not | 17 | | the subject of any
findings of abuse or neglect of any child. | 18 | | The juvenile court may only enter
orders placing a minor with a | 19 | | specific foster parent under this subsection
(2)(b) and nothing | 20 | | in this Section shall be construed to confer any
jurisdiction | 21 | | or authority on the juvenile court to issue any other orders
| 22 | | requiring the appointed guardian or custodian of a minor to | 23 | | place the minor in
a designated foster home or facility. This | 24 | | Section is not intended to
encompass any matters that are | 25 | | within the
scope or determinable under the administrative and | 26 | | appeal process established
by rules of the Department of |
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| 1 | | Children and Family Services under Section
5(o) of the Children | 2 | | and Family Services Act. Nothing in this Section shall
relieve | 3 | | the court of its responsibility, under Section 2-14(a) of
this | 4 | | Act to act in a just and speedy manner to reunify families | 5 | | where it is
the best interests of the minor and the child can | 6 | | be cared for at home
without endangering the child's health or | 7 | | safety and, if reunification is not
in the best
interests of | 8 | | the minor, to find another permanent home for the minor. | 9 | | Nothing
in this Section, or in any order issued by the court | 10 | | with respect to the
placement of a minor with a foster parent, | 11 | | shall impair the ability of the
Department of Children and | 12 | | Family Services, or anyone else authorized under
Section 5 of | 13 | | the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, to remove a minor
| 14 | | from the home of a foster parent if the Department of Children | 15 | | and Family
Services or the person removing the minor has a | 16 | | documented reason to believe that the
circumstances or | 17 | | conditions of the minor are such that continuing in the
| 18 | | residence or care of the foster parent will jeopardize the | 19 | | child's health and
safety or present an imminent risk of harm | 20 | | to that
minor's life.
| 21 | | (c) If a foster parent has had the minor who is the subject | 22 | | of the
proceeding under Article II in his or her home for more | 23 | | than 6 months one year on or
after July 3, 1994 and if the | 24 | | minor's
placement is being or has been terminated from that | 25 | | foster parent's home, that foster
parent shall have standing | 26 | | and full intervenor status except in those
circumstances where |
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| 1 | | the Department of Children and Family Services or anyone
else | 2 | | authorized under Section 5 of the Abused and Neglected Child | 3 | | Reporting Act
has removed the minor from the foster parent | 4 | | because of a documented reasonable belief
that the | 5 | | circumstances or conditions of the minor are such that | 6 | | continuing in
the residence or care of the foster parent will | 7 | | jeopardize the child's health
or safety or presents an imminent | 8 | | risk of harm to
the minor's life.
| 9 | | (d) The court may grant standing to any foster parent
if | 10 | | the court finds that it is in the best interest of the child | 11 | | for the foster
parent to have standing and intervenor status.
| 12 | | (3) Parties respondent are entitled to notice in compliance | 13 | | with Sections
2-15 and 2-16, 3-17 and 3-18, 4-14 and 4-15 or | 14 | | 5-525 and 5-530, as appropriate.
At the first appearance before | 15 | | the court by the minor, his
parents, guardian, custodian or | 16 | | responsible relative, the court shall explain
the nature of the | 17 | | proceedings and inform the parties of their rights under the
| 18 | | first 2 paragraphs of this Section.
| 19 | | If the child is alleged to be abused, neglected or | 20 | | dependent, the court
shall
admonish the parents that if the | 21 | | court declares the child to be a ward of the
court and
awards | 22 | | custody or guardianship to the Department of Children and | 23 | | Family
Services, the parents must cooperate with the Department | 24 | | of Children and Family
Services, comply with the terms of the | 25 | | service plans, and correct the
conditions that require the | 26 | | child to be in care, or risk termination of their
parental |
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| 1 | | rights.
| 2 | | Upon an adjudication of wardship of
the court under | 3 | | Sections 2-22, 3-23, 4-20 or 5-705, the court shall inform
the | 4 | | parties of their right to appeal therefrom as well as from any | 5 | | other
final judgment of the court.
| 6 | | When the court finds that a child is an abused, neglected, | 7 | | or dependent
minor under
Section 2-21, the court shall admonish | 8 | | the parents that the parents must
cooperate with
the Department | 9 | | of Children and Family Services, comply with the terms of the
| 10 | | service plans, and correct the conditions that require the | 11 | | child to be in care,
or risk termination of
their parental
| 12 | | rights.
| 13 | | When the court declares a child to be a ward of the court | 14 | | and awards
guardianship to the Department of Children and | 15 | | Family Services under Section
2-22, the court shall admonish | 16 | | the parents,
guardian,
custodian, or responsible relative that | 17 | | the parents must cooperate with the
Department of Children and | 18 | | Family Services, comply
with the terms of the service plans, | 19 | | and correct the conditions that require
the child to be in | 20 | | care, or risk termination of their parental
rights.
| 21 | | (4) No sanction may be applied against the minor who is the | 22 | | subject of
the proceedings by reason of his refusal or failure | 23 | | to testify in the course
of any hearing held prior to final | 24 | | adjudication under Section 2-22, 3-23, 4-20
or 5-705.
| 25 | | (5) In the discretion of the court, the minor may be | 26 | | excluded from any
part or parts of a dispositional hearing and, |
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| 1 | | with the consent of the parent
or parents, guardian, counsel or | 2 | | a guardian ad litem, from any part or parts
of an adjudicatory | 3 | | hearing.
| 4 | | (6) The general public except for the news media and the | 5 | | crime victim, as defined in Section 3 of the Rights of Crime | 6 | | Victims and Witnesses Act, shall be
excluded from any hearing | 7 | | and, except for the persons specified in this
Section only | 8 | | persons, including representatives of agencies and
| 9 | | associations, who in the opinion of the court have a direct | 10 | | interest in the
case or in the work of the court shall be | 11 | | admitted to the hearing. However,
the court may, for the | 12 | | minor's safety and protection and for good cause
shown,
| 13 | | prohibit any person or agency present in court from further | 14 | | disclosing the
minor's identity.
Nothing in this subsection (6) | 15 | | prevents the court from allowing other
juveniles to be present | 16 | | or to participate in a court session being held
under the | 17 | | Juvenile Drug Court Treatment Act.
| 18 | | (7) A party shall not be entitled to exercise the right to | 19 | | a substitution
of a judge without cause under subdivision | 20 | | (a)(2) of Section 2-1001 of the Code
of Civil Procedure in a | 21 | | proceeding under this Act if the judge is currently
assigned to | 22 | | a proceeding involving the alleged abuse, neglect, or | 23 | | dependency of
the minor's sibling or half sibling and that | 24 | | judge has made a substantive
ruling in the proceeding involving | 25 | | the minor's sibling or half sibling.
| 26 | | (Source: P.A. 93-539, eff. 8-18-03; 94-271, eff. 1-1-06.)
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| 1 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 2 | | becoming law.
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