Public Act 095-0076
 
HB0734 Enrolled LRB095 07140 DRJ 27267 b

    AN ACT concerning aging.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Elder Abuse and Neglect Act is amended by
changing Section 3 as follows:
 
    (320 ILCS 20/3)  (from Ch. 23, par. 6603)
    Sec. 3. Responsibilities.
    (a) The Department shall establish, design and manage a
program of response and services for persons 60 years of age
and older who have been, or are alleged to be, victims of
abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, or self-neglect. The
Department shall contract with or fund or, contract with and
fund, regional administrative agencies, provider agencies, or
both, for the provision of those functions, and, contingent on
adequate funding, with attorneys or legal services provider
agencies for the provision of legal assistance pursuant to this
Act.
    (b) Each regional administrative agency shall designate
provider agencies within its planning and service area with
prior approval by the Department on Aging, monitor the use of
services, provide technical assistance to the provider
agencies and be involved in program development activities.
    (c) Provider agencies shall assist, to the extent possible,
eligible adults who need agency services to allow them to
continue to function independently. Such assistance shall
include but not be limited to receiving reports of alleged or
suspected abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, or
self-neglect, conducting face-to-face assessments of such
reported cases, determination of substantiated cases, referral
of substantiated cases for necessary support services,
referral of criminal conduct to law enforcement in accordance
with Department guidelines, and provision of case work and
follow-up services on substantiated cases. In the case of a
report of alleged or suspected abuse or neglect that places an
eligible adult at risk of injury or death, a provider agency
shall respond to the report on an emergency basis in accordance
with guidelines established by the Department by
administrative rule and shall ensure that it is capable of
responding to such a report 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.
A provider agency may use an on-call system to respond to
reports of alleged or suspected abuse or neglect after hours
and on weekends.
    (d) By January 1, 2008, the Department on Aging, in
cooperation with an Elder Self-Neglect Steering Committee,
shall by rule develop protocols, procedures, and policies for
(i) responding to reports of possible self-neglect, (ii)
protecting the autonomy, rights, privacy, and privileges of
adults during investigations of possible self-neglect and
consequential judicial proceedings regarding competency, (iii)
collecting and sharing relevant information and data among the
Department, provider agencies, regional administrative
agencies, and relevant seniors, (iv) developing working
agreements between provider agencies and law enforcement,
where practicable, and (v) developing procedures for
collecting data regarding incidents of self-neglect. The Elder
Self-Neglect Steering Committee shall be comprised of one
person selected by the Elder Abuse Advisory Committee of the
Department on Aging; 3 persons selected, on the request of the
Director of Aging, by State or regional organizations that
advocate for the rights of seniors, at least one of whom shall
be a legal assistance attorney who represents seniors in
competency proceedings; 2 persons selected, on the request of
the Director of Aging, by statewide organizations that
represent social workers and other persons who provide direct
intervention and care to housebound seniors who are likely to
neglect themselves; an expert on geropsychiatry, appointed by
the Secretary of Human Services; an expert on issues of
physical health associated with seniors, appointed by the
Director of Public Health; one representative of a law
enforcement agency; one representative of the Chicago
Department on Aging; and 3 other persons selected by the
Director of Aging, including an expert from an institution of
higher education who is familiar with the relevant areas of
data collection and study.
(Source: P.A. 94-1064, eff. 1-1-07.)