Public Act 0339 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB1530 Enrolled LRB099 07656 KTG 27787 b

Public Act 099-0339

AN ACT concerning State government.

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 adding Section 4c as follows:

(20 ILCS 505/4c new)

Sec. 4c. Temporary residential shelter services. Any child care facility authorized by the Department to provide temporary residential shelter services to children in the guardianship, temporary custody, or protective custody of the Department shall:

(1) provide interventions and activities that engage the children and youth in its care;

(2) maintain staffing levels that ensure a safe environment;

(3) implement protocols that require screening and assessment upon admission to evaluate behaviors that indicate the risk of elopement and physical aggression, with the findings reflected in the individual service plan and updated periodically as new behaviors manifest;

(4) establish rules and procedures that prevent the violation of curfew laws and that do not permit any child under the age of 18 to leave the facility for any period of time prior to the child's complete discharge from the temporary shelter program, unless the child is accompanied by a responsible adult or the facility or the Department authorizes the child to leave the facility for a particular purpose; and

(5) whenever a child or youth is absent from the facility without authorization, utilize the standards of best practice and adopt actionable steps to locate and return the child or youth to the facility, including, but not limited to, calling any known contacts, interviewing peer groups likely to know whereabouts, searching community places frequented by the child or youth, and checking schools and work sites; actionable steps shall be frequent and documented and available for review by the Department.

A child care facility shall have its admissions placed on hold by the Department whenever unauthorized absences from the facility are excessive; the admissions hold shall remain in effect until the facility has complied with a corrective action plan prescribed by the Department, and if the facility is non-compliant, the Department shall impose licensing sanctions up to and including the revocation of the facility's license.

The Department shall adopt any rules necessary to implement the requirements of this Section and shall monitor a child care facility to ensure that the facility establishes and adheres to these requirements. Nothing in this Section shall be interpreted to create a "secure child care facility" as defined in the Child Care Act of 1969.

Effective Date: 1/1/2016