Public Act 100-1122
 
SB2407 EnrolledLRB100 17926 RJF 33110 b

    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Child Death Review Team Act is amended by
changing Sections 15, 20, 25, and 40 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 515/15)
    Sec. 15. Child death review teams; establishment.
    (a) The Inspector General of the Department Director, in
consultation and cooperation with the Executive Council, law
enforcement, and other professionals who work in the field of
investigating, treating, or preventing child abuse or neglect
in that subregion, shall appoint members to a child death
review team in each of the Department's administrative
subregions of the State outside Cook County and at least one
child death review team in Cook County. The members of a team
shall be appointed for 2-year terms and shall be eligible for
reappointment upon the expiration of the terms. The Inspector
General of the Department Director must fill any vacancy in a
team within 60 days after that vacancy occurs.
    (b) Each child death review team shall consist of at least
one member from each of the following categories:
        (1) Pediatrician or other physician knowledgeable
    about child abuse and neglect.
        (2) Representative of the Department.
        (3) State's attorney or State's attorney's
    representative.
        (4) Representative of a local law enforcement agency.
        (5) Psychologist or psychiatrist.
        (6) Representative of a local health department.
        (7) Representative of a school district or other
    education or child care interests.
        (8) Coroner or forensic pathologist.
        (9) Representative of a child welfare agency or child
    advocacy organization.
        (10) Representative of a local hospital, trauma
    center, or provider of emergency medical services.
        (11) Representative of the Department of State Police.
        (12) Representative of the Department of Public
    Health.
    Each child death review team may make recommendations to
the Inspector General of the Department Director concerning
additional appointments. In the event of a disagreement, the
Executive Council's decision shall control.
    Each child death review team member must have demonstrated
experience and an interest in investigating, treating, or
preventing child abuse or neglect.
    (c) Each child death review team shall select a chairperson
and vice-chairperson from among its members. The chairperson
shall also serve on the Illinois Child Death Review Teams
Executive Council. The vice-chairperson may also serve on the
Illinois Child Death Review Teams Executive Council, but shall
not have a vote on child death review team business unless the
chairperson is unable to attend a meeting.
    (d) The child death review teams shall be funded under a
separate line item in the Department's annual budget.
    (e) The Department shall provide at least one full-time
Statewide Department of Children and Family Services Liaison
who shall attend all child death review team meetings, all
Executive meetings, all Executive Council meetings, and
meetings between the Director and the Executive Council.
(Source: P.A. 100-397, eff. 1-1-18.)
 
    (20 ILCS 515/20)
    Sec. 20. Reviews of child deaths.
    (a) Every child death shall be reviewed by the team in the
subregion which has primary case management responsibility.
The deceased child must be one of the following:
        (1) A youth in care.
        (2) The subject of an open service case maintained by
    the Department.
        (3) The subject of a pending child abuse or neglect
    investigation.
        (4) A child who was the subject of an abuse or neglect
    investigation at any time during the 12 months preceding
    the child's death.
        (5) Any other child whose death is reported to the
    State central register as a result of alleged child abuse
    or neglect which report is subsequently indicated.
    A child death review team may, at its discretion, review
other sudden, unexpected, or unexplained child deaths, and
cases of serious or fatal injuries to a child identified under
the Children's Advocacy Center Act, and all unfounded child
death cases.
    (b) A child death review team's purpose in conducting
reviews of child deaths is to do the following:
        (1) Assist in determining the cause and manner of the
    child's death, when requested.
        (2) Evaluate means by which the death might have been
    prevented.
        (3) Report its findings to appropriate agencies and
    make recommendations that may help to reduce the number of
    child deaths caused by abuse or neglect.
        (4) Promote continuing education for professionals
    involved in investigating, treating, and preventing child
    abuse and neglect as a means of preventing child deaths due
    to abuse or neglect.
        (5) Make specific recommendations to the Director and
    the Inspector General of the Department concerning the
    prevention of child deaths due to abuse or neglect and the
    establishment of protocols for investigating child deaths.
    (c) A child death review team shall review a child death as
soon as practical and not later than 90 days following the
completion by the Department of the investigation of the death
under the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. When there
has been no investigation by the Department, the child death
review team shall review a child's death within 90 days after
obtaining the information necessary to complete the review from
the coroner, pathologist, medical examiner, or law enforcement
agency, depending on the nature of the case. A child death
review team shall meet at least once in each calendar quarter.
    (d) The Director shall, within 90 days, review and reply to
recommendations made by a team under item (5) of subsection
(b). With respect to each recommendation made by a team, the
Director shall submit his or her reply both to the chairperson
of that team and to the chairperson of the Executive Council.
The Director's reply to each recommendation must include a
statement as to whether the Director intends to implement the
recommendation. The Director shall meet in person with the
Executive Council at least every 60 days to discuss
recommendations and the Department's responses.
    The Director shall implement recommendations as feasible
and appropriate and shall respond in writing to explain the
implementation or nonimplementation of the recommendations.
    (e) Within 90 days after the Director submits a reply with
respect to a recommendation as required by subsection (d), the
Director must submit an additional report that sets forth in
detail the way, if any, in which the Director will implement
the recommendation and the schedule for implementing the
recommendation. The Director shall submit this report to the
chairperson of the team that made the recommendation and to the
chairperson of the Executive Council.
    (f) Within 180 days after the Director submits a report
under subsection (e) concerning the implementation of a
recommendation, the Director shall submit a further report to
the chairperson of the team that made the recommendation and to
the chairperson of the Executive Council. This report shall set
forth the specific changes in the Department's policies and
procedures that have been made in response to the
recommendation.
(Source: P.A. 100-159, eff. 8-18-17.)
 
    (20 ILCS 515/25)
    Sec. 25. Team access to information.
    (a) No later than 21 days prior to a child death review
team meeting, the The Department shall provide to a child death
review team and its staff , on the request of the team
chairperson, all records and information in the Department's
possession that are relevant to the team's review of a child
death, including records and information concerning previous
reports or investigations of suspected child abuse or neglect,
all records and information from the Statewide Automated Child
Welfare Information System or from any other database
maintained by the Department, and all documents, including, but
not limited to, police reports and medical information.
    (b) A child death review team shall have access to all
records and information that are relevant to its review of a
child death and in the possession of a State or local
governmental agency, including, but not limited to,
information gained through the Child Advocacy Center protocol
for cases of serious or fatal injury to a child. These records
and information include, without limitation, birth
certificates, all relevant medical and mental health records,
records of law enforcement agency investigations, records of
coroner or medical examiner investigations, records of the
Department of Corrections and Department of Juvenile Justice
concerning a person's parole or aftercare release, records of a
probation and court services department, and records of a
social services agency that provided services to the child or
the child's family.
    (c) Child death review team staff must have full access to
the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System, any
other child welfare database maintained by the Department, and
any child death certificates held by the Office of Vital
Records within the Department of Public Health.
(Source: P.A. 98-558, eff. 1-1-14.)
 
    (20 ILCS 515/40)
    Sec. 40. Illinois Child Death Review Teams Executive
Council.
    (a) The Illinois Child Death Review Teams Executive
Council, consisting of the chairpersons of the 9 child death
review teams in Illinois, is the coordinating and oversight
body for child death review teams and activities in Illinois.
The vice-chairperson of a child death review team, as
designated by the chairperson, may serve as a back-up member or
an alternate member of the Executive Council, if the
chairperson of the child death review team is unavailable to
serve on the Executive Council. The Inspector General of the
Department, ex officio, is a non-voting member of the Executive
Council. The Inspector General of the Department Director may
appoint to the Executive Council any additional ex-officio
members deemed necessary. Persons with expertise needed by the
Executive Council may be invited to meetings. The Executive
Council must select from its members a chairperson and a
vice-chairperson, each to serve a 2-year, renewable term.
    The Executive Council must meet at least 4 times during
each calendar year. At each such meeting, in addition to any
other matters under consideration, the Executive Council shall
review all replies and reports received from the Director
pursuant to subsections (d), (e), and (f) of Section 20 since
the Executive Council's previous meeting. The Executive
Council's review must include consideration of the Director's
proposed manner of and schedule for implementing each
recommendation made by a child death review team.
    (b) The Department must provide or arrange for the staff
support necessary for the Executive Council to carry out its
duties. This includes a full-time Executive Director and
support staff person. The Inspector General of the Department
Director, in cooperation and consultation with the Executive
Council, shall appoint, reappoint, and remove team members. In
the event of a disagreement, the Executive Council's decision
shall control. From funds available, the Director may select
from a list of 2 or more candidates recommended by the
Executive Council to serve as the Child Death Review Teams
Executive Director. The Child Death Review Teams Executive
Director shall oversee the operations of the child death review
teams and shall report directly to the Executive Council.
    (c) The Executive Council has, but is not limited to, the
following duties:
        (1) To serve as the voice of child death review teams
    in Illinois.
        (2) To oversee the regional teams in order to ensure
    that the teams' work is coordinated and in compliance with
    the statutes and the operating protocol.
        (3) To ensure that the data, results, findings, and
    recommendations of the teams are adequately used to make
    any necessary changes in the policies, procedures, and
    statutes in order to protect children in a timely manner.
        (4) To collaborate with the General Assembly, the
    Department, and others in order to develop any legislation
    needed to prevent child fatalities and to protect children.
        (5) To assist in the development of quarterly and
    annual reports based on the work and the findings of the
    teams.
        (6) To ensure that the regional teams' review processes
    are standardized in order to convey data, findings, and
    recommendations in a usable format.
        (7) To serve as a link with child death review teams
    throughout the country and to participate in national child
    death review team activities.
        (8) To develop an annual statewide symposium to update
    the knowledge and skills of child death review team members
    and to promote the exchange of information between teams.
        (9) To provide the child death review teams with the
    most current information and practices concerning child
    death review and related topics.
        (10) To perform any other functions necessary to
    enhance the capability of the child death review teams to
    reduce and prevent child injuries and fatalities.
    (c-5) The Executive Council shall prepare an annual report.
The report must include, but need not be limited to, (i) each
recommendation made by a child death review team pursuant to
item (5) of subsection (b) of Section 20 during the period
covered by the report, (ii) the Director's proposed schedule
for implementing each such recommendation, and (iii) a
description of the specific changes in the Department's
policies and procedures that have been made in response to the
recommendation. The Executive Council shall send a copy of its
annual report to each of the following:
        (1) The Governor.
        (2) Each member of the Senate or the House of
    Representatives, county coroners and medical examiners,
    and State's Attorneys, in the sole discretion of the
    Executive Council. whose legislative district lies wholly
    or partly within the region covered by any child death
    review team whose recommendation is addressed in the annual
    report.
        (3) Each member of each child death review team in the
    State.
    (d) In any instance when a child death review team does not
operate in accordance with established protocol, the Director,
in consultation and cooperation with the Executive Council,
must take any necessary actions to bring the team into
compliance with the protocol.
(Source: P.A. 95-405, eff. 6-1-08; 95-527, eff. 6-1-08; 95-876,
eff. 8-21-08.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.