Public Act 095-0402
 
HB0254 Enrolled LRB095 01987 DRJ 24973 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
adding Section 15 as follows:
 
    (320 ILCS 20/15 new)
    Sec. 15. Elder abuse fatality review teams.
    (a) In this Section, "review team" means a regional
interagency elder abuse fatality review team established under
this Section.
    (b) The Department, or any other State or county agency
with Department approval, may establish regional interagency
elder abuse fatality review teams (i) to assist local agencies
in identifying and reviewing suspicious deaths of elderly
victims of alleged, suspected, or substantiated abuse or
neglect in domestic living situations and (ii) to facilitate
communications between officials responsible for autopsies and
inquests and persons involved in reporting or investigating
alleged or suspected cases of abuse, neglect, or financial
exploitation of persons 60 years of age or older. Each such
team shall be composed of representatives of entities and
individuals including, but not limited to, the Department on
Aging, coroners or medical examiners (or both), State's
Attorneys, local police departments, forensic units, and
providers of services for persons 60 years of age or older in
domestic living situations.
    (c) A review team shall review cases of deaths of persons
60 years of age or older in domestic living situations (i)
involving blunt force trauma or an undetermined manner or
suspicious cause of death, (ii) if requested by the deceased's
attending physician, (iii) upon referral by a health care
provider, or (iv) constituting an open or closed case from a
senior protective services agency, law enforcement agency, or
State's Attorney's office that involves alleged or suspected
abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation. A team may also
review other cases of deaths of persons 60 years of age or
older if the alleged abuse or neglect occurred while the person
was residing in a domestic living situation.
    A review team shall meet not less than 6 times a year to
discuss cases for its possible review. Each review team, with
the advice and consent of the Department, shall establish
criteria to be used by review teams in discussing cases of
alleged, suspected, or substantiated abuse or neglect for
review.
    (d) Any document or oral or written communication shared
within or produced by a review team relating to a case
discussed or reviewed by the review team is confidential and is
not subject to disclosure to or discoverable by another party.
    Any document or oral or written communication provided to a
review team by an individual or entity, and created by that
individual or entity solely for the use of the review team, is
confidential and is not subject to disclosure to or
discoverable by another party.
    Each entity or individual represented on an elder abuse
fatality review team may share with other members of the team
information in the entity's or individual's possession
concerning the decedent who is the subject of the review or
concerning any person who was in contact with the decedent, as
well as any other information deemed by the entity or
individual to be pertinent to the review. Any such information
shared by an entity or individual with other members of a team
is confidential. The intent of this paragraph is to permit the
disclosure to members of a team of any information deemed
confidential or privileged or prohibited from disclosure by any
other provision of law. Release of confidential communication
between domestic violence advocates and a domestic violence
victim shall follow subsection (d) of Section 227 of the
Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986 which allows for the
waiver of privilege afforded to guardians, executors, or
administrators of the estate of the domestic violence victim.
This provision relating to the release of confidential
communication between domestic violence advocates and a
domestic violence victim shall exclude adult protective
service providers.
    A coroner's or medical examiner's office may share with a
review team medical records that have been made available to
the coroner's or medical examiner's office in connection with
that office's investigation of a death.
    (e) A review team's recommendation in relation to a case
discussed or reviewed by the review team, including, but not
limited to, a recommendation concerning an investigation or
prosecution in relation to such a case, may be disclosed by the
review team upon the completion of its review and at the
discretion of a majority of its members who reviewed the case.
    (f) The Department, in consultation with coroners, medical
examiners, and law enforcement agencies, shall use aggregate
data gathered by review teams and review teams' recommendations
to create an annual report and may use those data and
recommendations to develop education, prevention, prosecution,
or other strategies designed to improve the coordination of
services for persons 60 years of age or older and their
families. The Department or other State or county agency, in
consultation with coroners, medical examiners, and law
enforcement agencies, also may use aggregate data gathered by
review teams to create a database of at-risk individuals.