Full Text of HB0551 095th General Assembly
HB0551eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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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 34.11 as follows:
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| (20 ILCS 505/34.11)
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| Sec. 34.11. Lou Jones Grandparent Child Care Program
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| Grandparent child care program .
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| (a) The General Assembly finds and declares the following:
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| (1) An increasing number of children under the age of | 11 |
| 18, including many
children who would otherwise be at risk | 12 |
| of abuse or neglect, are in the care of
a grandparent or | 13 |
| other nonparent relative.
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| (2) The principal causes of this increase include | 15 |
| parental substance
abuse, child abuse, mental illness, | 16 |
| poverty, and death, as well as concerted
efforts by | 17 |
| families and by the child welfare service system to keep | 18 |
| children
with relatives whenever possible.
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| (3) Grandparents and older relatives providing primary | 20 |
| care for at-risk
children may experience unique resultant | 21 |
| problems, such as financial stress due
to limited incomes, | 22 |
| emotional difficulties dealing with the loss of the child's
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| parents or the child's unique behaviors, and decreased |
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| physical stamina coupled
with a much higher incidence of | 2 |
| chronic illness.
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| (4) Many children being raised by nonparent relatives | 4 |
| experience one or a
combination of emotional, behavioral, | 5 |
| psychological, academic, or medical
problems, especially | 6 |
| those born to a substance-abusing mother or at risk of
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| child abuse, neglect, or abandonment.
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| (5) Grandparents and other relatives providing primary | 9 |
| care for children
lack appropriate information about the | 10 |
| issues of kinship care, the special
needs (both physical | 11 |
| and psychological) of children born to a substance-abusing
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| mother or at risk of child abuse, neglect, or abandonment, | 13 |
| and the support
resources currently available to them.
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| (6) An increasing number of grandparents and other | 15 |
| relatives age 60 or older are adopting or becoming the | 16 |
| subsidized guardians of children placed in their care by | 17 |
| the Department. Some of these children will experience the | 18 |
| death of their adoptive parent or guardian before reaching | 19 |
| the age of 18. For most of these children, no legal plan | 20 |
| has been made for the child's future care and custody in | 21 |
| the event of the caregiver's death or incapacity. | 22 |
| (7) Grandparents and other relatives providing primary | 23 |
| care for children lack appropriate information about | 24 |
| future care and custody planning for children in their | 25 |
| care. They also lack access to resources that may assist | 26 |
| them in developing future legal care and custody plans for |
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| children in their legal custody.
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| (b) The Department may establish an informational and | 3 |
| educational program
for grandparents and other relatives who | 4 |
| provide primary care for children who
are at risk of child | 5 |
| abuse, neglect, or abandonment or who were born to
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| substance-abusing mothers. As a part of the program, the | 7 |
| Department may
develop, publish, and distribute an | 8 |
| informational brochure for grandparents and
other relatives | 9 |
| who provide primary care for children who are at risk of child
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| abuse, neglect, or abandonment or who were born to | 11 |
| substance-abusing mothers.
The information provided under the | 12 |
| program authorized by this Section may
include, but is not | 13 |
| limited to the following:
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| (1) The most prevalent causes of kinship care, | 15 |
| especially the risk of
substance exposure or child abuse, | 16 |
| neglect, or abandonment.
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| (2) The problems experienced by children being raised | 18 |
| by nonparent
caregivers.
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| (3) The problems experienced by grandparents and other | 20 |
| nonparent relatives
providing primary care for children | 21 |
| who have special needs.
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| (4) The legal system as it relates to children and | 23 |
| their nonparent primary
caregivers.
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| (5) The benefits available to children and their | 25 |
| nonparent primary
caregivers.
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| (6) A list of support groups and resources located |
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| throughout the State.
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| The brochure may be distributed through hospitals, public | 3 |
| health nurses,
child protective services, medical professional | 4 |
| offices, elementary and
secondary schools, senior citizen | 5 |
| centers, public libraries, community action
agencies selected | 6 |
| by the Department, and the Department of Human Services.
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| (c) In addition to other provisions of this Section, the | 8 |
| Department shall establish a program of information, social | 9 |
| work services, and legal services for any person age 60 or over | 10 |
| and any other person who may be in need of a future legal care | 11 |
| and custody plan who adopt, have adopted, take guardianship of, | 12 |
| or have taken guardianship of children previously in the | 13 |
| Department's custody. This program shall also assist families | 14 |
| of deceased adoptive parents and guardians. As part of the | 15 |
| program, the Department shall:
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| (1) Develop a protocol for identification of persons | 17 |
| age 60 or over and others who may be in need of future care | 18 |
| and custody plans, including ill caregivers, who are | 19 |
| adoptive parents, prospective adoptive parents, guardians, | 20 |
| or prospective guardians of children who are or have been | 21 |
| in Department custody.
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| (2) Provide outreach to caregivers before and after | 23 |
| adoption and guardianship, and to the families of deceased | 24 |
| caregivers, regarding Illinois legal options for future | 25 |
| care and custody of children.
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| (3) Provide training for Department and private agency |
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| staff on methods of assisting caregivers before and after | 2 |
| adoption and guardianship, and the families of older and | 3 |
| ill caregivers, who wish to make future care and custody | 4 |
| plans for children who have been wards of the Department | 5 |
| and who are or will be adopted by or are or will become | 6 |
| wards of those caregivers.
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| (4) Ensure that all caregivers age 60 or over who will | 8 |
| adopt or will become guardians of children previously in | 9 |
| Department custody have specifically designated future | 10 |
| caregivers for children in their care. The Department shall | 11 |
| document this designation, and the Department shall also | 12 |
| document acceptance of this responsibility by any future | 13 |
| caregiver. Documentation of future care designation shall | 14 |
| be included in each child's case file and adoption or | 15 |
| guardianship subsidy files as applicable to the child.
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| (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.
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| (6) With respect to programs of social work and legal | 23 |
| services:
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| (i) Provide social work services to older and ill | 25 |
| caregivers, and the families of deceased caregivers, | 26 |
| including those who will or have adopted or will take |
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| or have taken guardianship of children previously in | 2 |
| Department custody. Social work services to caregivers | 3 |
| will have the goal of securing a future care and | 4 |
| custody plan for children in their care. Such services | 5 |
| will include providing information to the caregivers | 6 |
| and families on standby guardianship, guardianship, | 7 |
| standby adoption, and adoption. The Department will | 8 |
| assist the caregiver in developing a plan for the child | 9 |
| if the caregiver becomes incapacitated or terminally | 10 |
| ill, or dies while the child is a minor. The Department | 11 |
| shall develop a form to document the information given | 12 |
| to caregivers and to document plans for future custody, | 13 |
| in addition to the documentation described in | 14 |
| subsection (b) (4). This form shall be included in each | 15 |
| child's case file and adoption or guardianship subsidy | 16 |
| files as applicable to the child.
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| (ii) Through a program of contracted legal | 18 |
| services, assist older and ill caregivers, and the | 19 |
| families of deceased caregivers, with the goal of | 20 |
| securing court-ordered future care and custody plans | 21 |
| for children in their care. Court-ordered future care | 22 |
| and custody plans may include: standby guardianship, | 23 |
| successor guardianship, standby adoption, and | 24 |
| successor adoption. The program will also study ways in | 25 |
| which to provide timely and cost-effective legal | 26 |
| services to older and ill caregivers, and to families |
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| of deceased caregivers in order to ensure permanency | 2 |
| for children in their care.
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| (7) Ensure that future caregivers designated by | 4 |
| adoptive parents or guardians, and the families of deceased | 5 |
| caregivers, understand their rights and potential | 6 |
| responsibilities and shall be able to provide adequate | 7 |
| support and education for children who may become their | 8 |
| legal responsibility.
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| (8) Ensure that future caregivers designated by | 10 |
| adoptive parents and guardians, and the families of | 11 |
| deceased caregivers, understand the problems of children | 12 |
| who have experienced multiple caregivers and who may have | 13 |
| experienced abuse, neglect, or abandonment or may have been | 14 |
| born to substance-abusing mothers.
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| (9) Ensure that future caregivers designated by | 16 |
| adoptive parents and guardians, and the families of | 17 |
| deceased caregivers, understand the problems experienced | 18 |
| by older and ill caregivers of children, including children | 19 |
| with special needs, such as financial stress due to limited | 20 |
| income and increased financial responsibility, emotional | 21 |
| difficulties associated with the loss of a child's parent | 22 |
| or the child's unique behaviors, the special needs of a | 23 |
| child who may come into their custody or whose parent or | 24 |
| guardian is already deceased, and decreased physical | 25 |
| stamina and a higher rate of chronic illness and other | 26 |
| health concerns.
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| (10) Provide additional services as needed to families | 2 |
| in which a designated caregiver appointed by the court or a | 3 |
| caregiver designated in a will or other legal document | 4 |
| cannot or will not fulfill the responsibilities as adoptive | 5 |
| parent, guardian, or legal custodian of the child.
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| (d) The Department shall consult with the Department on | 7 |
| Aging and any other agency it deems appropriate as the | 8 |
| Department develops the program required by subsection (c).
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| No later than January 1, 2008, the Department shall adopt | 10 |
| rules to implement subsection (c).
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| (Source: P.A. 88-229; 88-670, eff. 12-2-94; 89-507, eff. | 12 |
| 7-1-97.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, | 14 |
| 2007.
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