Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

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305 ILCS 5/11-9

(305 ILCS 5/11-9) (from Ch. 23, par. 11-9)

Sec. 11-9. Protection of records; exceptions.

For the protection of applicants and recipients, the Illinois Department,
the county departments and local governmental units and their respective
officers and employees are prohibited, except as hereinafter provided, from
disclosing the contents of any records, files, papers and communications,
except for purposes directly connected with the administration of public
aid under this Code.

In any judicial proceeding, except a proceeding directly concerned with
the administration of programs provided for in this Code, such records,
files, papers and communications, and their contents shall be deemed
privileged communications and shall be disclosed only upon the order of the
court, where the court finds such to be necessary in the interest of justice.

The Illinois Department shall establish and enforce reasonable rules and
regulations governing the custody, use and preservation of the records,
papers, files, and communications of the Illinois Department, the county
departments and local governmental units receiving State or Federal funds
or aid. The governing body of other local governmental units shall in like
manner establish and enforce rules and regulations governing the same matters.

The contents of case files pertaining to recipients under Articles IV, V,
and VI shall be made available without subpoena or formal notice to the
officers of any court, to all law enforcement agencies, and to such other persons
or
agencies as from time to time may be authorized by any court.
In particular, the contents of those case files shall be made available upon
request to a law enforcement agency for the purpose of determining the current
address of a recipient with respect to whom an arrest warrant is outstanding,
and
the current address of a recipient who was a victim of a felony or a
witness to a felony shall be made available upon
request to a State's Attorney of this State or a State's Attorney's
investigator. Information shall also be disclosed to
the Illinois State Scholarship
Commission pursuant to an investigation or audit by the Illinois State
Scholarship Commission of a delinquent student loan or monetary award.

This Section does not prevent the Illinois Department and local governmental
units from reporting to appropriate law enforcement officials the desertion
or abandonment by a parent of a child, as a result of which financial aid
has been necessitated under Articles IV, V, or VI, or reporting
to
appropriate law enforcement officials instances in which a mother under
age 18 has a child out of wedlock and is an applicant for or recipient of
aid under any Article of this Code. The Illinois Department may provide
by rule for the county departments and local governmental units to initiate
proceedings under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 to have children declared
to be neglected when they deem
such action necessary to protect the children from immoral influences
present in their home or surroundings.

This Section does not preclude the full exercise of the powers of the Board
of Public Aid Commissioners to inspect records and documents, as provided
for all advisory boards pursuant to Section 5-505 of the
Departments of State Government Law (20 ILCS 5/5-505).

This Section does not preclude exchanges of information among the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (formerly Illinois
Department of Public Aid), the Department of Human Services (as successor to the
Department of Public Aid), and the Illinois Department of Revenue for the
purpose of verifying sources and amounts of income and for other purposes
directly connected with the administration of this Code and of the Illinois
Income Tax Act.

The provisions of this Section and of Section 11-11 as they apply to
applicants and recipients of public aid under Article V shall
be operative only to the extent that they do not conflict with any Federal
law or regulation governing Federal grants to this State for such programs.

The Department of Healthcare and Family Services and the Department of Human Services
(as successor to the Illinois Department of Public Aid) shall enter into an
inter-agency agreement with the
Department of Children and Family Services to establish a procedure by which
employees of the Department of Children and Family Services may have immediate
access to records,
files, papers, and communications (except medical, alcohol or drug assessment
or treatment, mental health, or any other medical records) of the Illinois
Department, county
departments, and local governmental units receiving State or federal funds or
aid, if the Department of Children and Family Services determines the
information is necessary to perform its duties under the Abused and Neglected
Child Reporting Act, the Child Care Act of 1969, and the Children and Family
Services Act.

(Source: P.A. 100-201, eff. 8-18-17.)