Public Act 102-0545
 
SB2177 EnrolledLRB102 17317 KTG 22803 b

    AN ACT concerning children.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Children and Family Services Act is amended
by changing Section 7.3a as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 505/7.3a)
    Sec. 7.3a. Normalcy parenting for children in foster care;
participation in childhood activities.
    (a) Legislative findings.
        (1) Every day parents make important decisions about
    their child's participation in extracurricular activities.
    Caregivers for children in out-of-home care are faced with
    making the same decisions.
        (2) When a caregiver makes decisions, he or she must
    consider applicable laws, rules, and regulations to
    safeguard the health, safety, and best interests of a
    child in out-of-home care.
        (3) Participation in extracurricular activities is
    important to a child's well-being, not only emotionally,
    but also in developing valuable life skills.
        (4) The General Assembly recognizes the importance of
    making every effort to normalize the lives of children in
    out-of-home care and to empower a caregiver to approve or
    not approve a child's participation in appropriate
    extracurricular activities based on the caregiver's own
    assessment using the reasonable and prudent parent
    standard, without prior approval of the Department, the
    caseworker, or the court.
        (5) Nothing in this Section shall be presumed to
    discourage or diminish the engagement of families and
    guardians in the child's life activities.
    (b) Definitions. As used in this Section:
    "Appropriate activities" means activities or items that
are generally accepted as suitable for children of the same
chronological age or developmental level of maturity.
Appropriateness is based on the development of cognitive,
emotional, physical, and behavioral capacity that is typical
for an age or age group, taking into account the individual
child's cognitive, emotional, physical, and behavioral
development.
    "Caregiver" means a person with whom the child is placed
in out-of-home care or a designated official for child care
facilities licensed by the Department as defined in the Child
Care Act of 1969.
    "Reasonable and prudent parent standard" means the
standard characterized by careful and sensible parental
decisions that maintain the child's health, safety, and best
interests while at the same time supporting the child's
emotional and developmental growth that a caregiver shall use
when determining whether to allow a child in out-of-home care
to participate in extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and
social activities.
    (c) Requirements for decision-making.
        (1) Each child who comes into the care and custody of
    the Department is fully entitled to participate in
    appropriate extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and
    social activities in a manner that allows that child to
    participate in his or her community to the fullest extent
    possible.
        (2) Caregivers must use the reasonable and prudent
    parent standard in determining whether to give permission
    for a child in out-of-home care to participate in
    appropriate extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and
    social activities. Caregivers are expected to promote and
    support a child's participation in such activities. When
    using the reasonable and prudent parent standard, the
    caregiver shall consider:
            (A) the child's age, maturity, and developmental
        level to promote the overall health, safety, and best
        interests of the child;
            (B) the best interest of the child based on
        information known by the caregiver;
            (C) the importance and fundamental value of
        encouraging the child's emotional and developmental
        growth gained through participation in activities in
        his or her community;
            (D) the importance and fundamental value of
        providing the child with the most family-like living
        experience possible; and
            (E) the behavioral history of the child and the
        child's ability to safely participate in the proposed
        activity.
        (3) A caregiver is not liable for harm caused to a
    child in out-of-home care who participates in an activity
    approved by the caregiver, provided that the caregiver has
    acted as a reasonable and prudent parent in permitting the
    child to engage in the activity.
    (c-5) No youth in care shall be required to store his or
her belongings in plastic bags or in similar forms of
disposable containers, including, but not limited to, trash
bags, paper or plastic shopping bags, or pillow cases when
relocating from one placement type to another placement type
or when discharged from the custody or guardianship of the
Department. The Department shall ensure that each youth in
care has appropriate baggage and other items to store his or
her belongings when moving through the State's child welfare
system. As used in this subsection, "purchase of service
agency" means any entity that contracts with the Department to
provide services that are consistent with the purposes of this
Act.
    (d) Rulemaking. The Department shall adopt, by rule,
procedures no later than June 1, 2017 that promote and protect
the ability of children to participate in appropriate
extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and social activities.
(Source: P.A. 99-839, eff. 8-19-16.)