Public Act 099-0351
 
SB1775 EnrolledLRB099 08363 KTG 31219 b

    AN ACT concerning children.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Safeguard Our Children Act.
 
    Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:
    "Caseworker" means an employee of the Department of
Children and Family Services who is assigned case management
duties concerning a child or person under the care and legal
custody of the Department.
    "Child or person" means any child or person, regardless of
age, who is under the care and legal custody of the Department
of Children and Family Services.
    "Department" means the Department of Children and Family
Services.
    "Plan of Care" means a written or electronic document that
details the information required under Section 15 of this Act.
 
    Section 10. Duty to report. Any child or person in the care
of the Department who is placed in a residential facility under
contract with the Department pursuant to the Children and
Family Services Act shall be reported as missing to the local
law enforcement agency within whose jurisdiction the facility
is located, if:
        (1) there is no contact between an employee of the
    residential facility and the child or person within a
    period of 12 hours; and
        (2) the child or person is absent from the residential
    facility without prior approval.
    The operator of the residential facility shall inform the
child's or person's caseworker that the child or person has
been reported as missing to the appropriate local law
enforcement agency. The operator of the residential facility
shall also report the child or person as missing to the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and shall
make a subsequent telephone notification to the sheriff of the
county in which the residential facility is located.
    The operator of the residential facility making the missing
persons report to the local law enforcement agency within whose
jurisdiction the facility is located shall report that the
missing person is a ward of the Department and shall inform the
law enforcement agency taking the report to include the
following statement within the missing persons report, in the
field of the Law Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS) known
as "Miscellaneous":
        "This individual is a ward of the Illinois Department
    of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and, regardless of
    age, shall be released only to the custody of DCFS. Contact
    the 24-hour hotline: 866.503.0184."
 
    Section 15. Plan of Care. The operator of a residential
facility under contract with the Department shall record a Plan
of Care for any child or person who resides at the facility and
who plans to leave the facility temporarily for more than 24
hours. A child's or person's Plan of Care must contain the
following information:
        (1) The location of the place that the child or person
    intends to visit after leaving the residential facility.
        (2) The contact information of the individual the child
    or person intends to stay with after leaving the
    residential facility.
        (3) The duration of the visit.
        (4) The expected time or date the child or person
    intends to return to the residential facility.
 
    Section 20. The Intergovernmental Missing Child Recovery
Act of 1984 is amended by adding Section 3.6 as follows:
 
    (325 ILCS 40/3.6 new)
    Sec. 3.6. Department of Children and Family Services;
missing persons. The Department shall develop and conduct a
training advisory for LEADS reporting of missing persons when
the missing individual, regardless of age, is under the care
and legal custody of the Department of Children and Family
Services.