Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 099-0350
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Public Act 099-0350


 

Public Act 0350 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  
  
  

 


 
Public Act 099-0350
 
SB1763 EnrolledLRB099 10385 KTG 30612 b

    AN ACT concerning children.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 1. The Children and Family Services Act is amended
by adding Section 5.05 and by adding Section 5.40 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 505/5.05 new)
    Sec. 5.05. Victims of sex trafficking.
    (a) Legislative findings. Because of their histories of
trauma, youth in the care of the Department of Children and
Family Services are particularly vulnerable to sex
traffickers. Sex traffickers often target child care
facilities licensed by the Department to recruit their victims.
Foster children who are victims of sex trafficking present
unique treatment needs that existing treatment programs are not
always able to address. The Department of Children and Family
Services needs to develop a comprehensive strategy and
continuum of care to treat foster children who are identified
as victims of sex trafficking.
    (b) Multi-disciplinary workgroup. By January 1, 2016, the
Department shall convene a multi-disciplinary workgroup to
review treatment programs for youth in the Department's care
who are victims of sex trafficking and to make recommendations
regarding a continuum of care for these vulnerable youth. The
workgroup shall do all of the following:
        (1) Conduct a survey of literature and of existing
    treatment program models available in the State and outside
    the State for youth in the Department's care who are
    victims of sex trafficking, taking into account whether the
    programs have been subject to evaluation.
        (2) Evaluate the need for new programs in the State,
    taking into account that youth in the Department's care who
    are victims of sex trafficking can present a variety of
    additional needs, including mental illness, medical needs,
    emotional disturbance, and cognitive delays.
        (3) Review existing State laws and rules that permit
    children to be placed in secured therapeutic residential
    care and recommend (i) whether secured residential care
    should be part of a continuum of care in the State for
    foster youth who have been sexually trafficked and who
    repeatedly run away from treatment facilities, and if so,
    whether any amendments to existing State laws and rules
    should be made; and (ii) the circumstances under which
    youth should be considered for placement in secured
    therapeutic residential care.
        (4) Make recommendations regarding a continuum of care
    for children in the Department's care who are victims of
    sex trafficking.
    (c) Composition of workgroup. The workgroup shall consist
of a minimum of:
        (1) two representatives of the Department, including
    at least one who is familiar with child care facilities
    licensed by the Department under the Child Care Act of 1969
    that provide residential services;
        (2) one representative of a child advocacy
    organization;
        (3) one licensed clinician with expertise in working
    with youth in the Department's care;
        (4) one licensed clinician with expertise in working
    with youth who are victims of sex trafficking;
        (5) one board-certified child and adolescent
    psychiatrist;
        (6) two persons representing providers of residential
    treatment programs operating in the State;
        (7) two persons representing providers of adolescent
    foster care or specialized foster care programs operating
    in the State;
        (8) one representative of the Department of Children
    and Family Services' Statewide Youth Advisory Board;
        (9) one representative of an agency independent of the
    Department who has experience in providing treatment to
    children and youth who are victims of sex trafficking; and
        (10) one representative of a law enforcement agency
    that works with youth who are victims of sex trafficking.
    (d) Records and information. Upon request, the Department
shall provide the workgroup with all records and information in
the Department's possession that are relevant to the
workgroup's review of existing programs and to the workgroup's
review of the need for new programs for victims of sex
trafficking. The Department shall redact any confidential
information from the records and information provided to the
workgroup to maintain the confidentiality of persons served by
the Department.
    (e) Workgroup report. The workgroup shall provide a report
to the General Assembly no later than January 1, 2017 with its
findings and recommendations.
    (f) Department report. No later than March 1, 2017, the
Department shall implement the workgroup's recommendations, as
feasible and appropriate, and shall submit a written report to
the General Assembly that explains the Department's decision to
implement or to not implement each of the workgroup's
recommendations.
 
    (20 ILCS 505/5.40 new)
    Sec. 5.40. Multi-dimensional treatment foster care.
    Subject to appropriations, beginning June 1, 2016, the
Department shall implement a 5-year pilot program of
multi-dimensional treatment foster care, or a substantially
similar evidence-based program of professional foster care,
for (i) children entering care with severe trauma histories,
with the goal of returning the child home or maintaining the
child in foster care instead of placing the child in congregate
care or a more restrictive setting or placement, (ii) children
who require placement in foster care when they are ready for
discharge from a residential treatment facility, and (iii)
children who are identified for residential or group home care
and who, based on a determination made by the Department, could
be placed in a foster home if higher level interventions are
provided.
    The Department shall arrange for an independent evaluation
of the pilot program to determine whether it is meeting the
goal of maintaining children in the least restrictive, most
appropriate family-like setting, near the child's home
community, while they are in the Department's care and to
determine whether there is a long-term cost benefit to
continuing the pilot program.
    At the end of the 5-year pilot program, the Department
shall submit a report to the General Assembly with its findings
of the evaluation. The report shall state whether the
Department intends to continue the pilot program and the
rationale for its decision.
 
    Section 10. The Department of Human Services Act is amended
by adding Section 10-34 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 1305/10-34 new)
    Sec. 10-34. Public awareness of the national hotline
number. The Department of Human Services shall cooperate with
the Department of Transportation to promote public awareness
regarding the national human trafficking hotline. This
includes, but is not limited to, displaying public awareness
signs in high risk areas, such as, but not limited to, truck
stops, bus stations, train stations, airports, and rest stops.
 
    Section 15. The Child Care Act of 1969 is amended by adding
Section 8.5 as follows:
 
    (225 ILCS 10/8.5 new)
    Sec. 8.5. Reporting suspected abuse or neglect. The
Department shall address through rules and procedures the
failure of individual staff at child care facilities or child
welfare agencies to report suspected abuse or neglect of
children within the child care facility as required by the
Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act.
    The rules and procedures shall include provisions for when
the Department learns of the child care facility's staff's
failure to report suspected abuse or neglect of children and
the actions the Department will take to (i) ensure that the
child care facility takes immediate action with the individual
staff involved and (ii) investigate whether the failure to
report suspected abuse and neglect was a single incident or
part of a larger incident involving additional staff members
who failed to report, or whether the failure to report
suspected abuse and neglect is a system-wide problem within the
child care facility or child welfare agency. The rules and
procedures shall also include the use of corrective action
plans and the use of supervisory teams to review staff and
facility understanding of their reporting requirements.
    The Department shall adopt rules by July 1, 2016.
 
    Section 20. The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act is
amended by changing Sections 3, 7.3, and 7.8 as follows:
 
    (325 ILCS 5/3)  (from Ch. 23, par. 2053)
    Sec. 3. As used in this Act unless the context otherwise
requires:
    "Adult resident" means any person between 18 and 22 years
of age who resides in any facility licensed by the Department
under the Child Care Act of 1969. For purposes of this Act, the
criteria set forth in the definitions of "abused child" and
"neglected child" shall be used in determining whether an adult
resident is abused or neglected.
    "Agency" means a child care facility licensed under Section
2.05 or Section 2.06 of the Child Care Act of 1969 and includes
a transitional living program that accepts children and adult
residents for placement who are in the guardianship of the
Department.
    "Blatant disregard" means an incident where the real,
significant, and imminent risk of harm would be so obvious to a
reasonable parent or caretaker that it is unlikely that a
reasonable parent or caretaker would have exposed the child to
the danger without exercising precautionary measures to
protect the child from harm. With respect to a person working
at an agency in his or her professional capacity with a child
or adult resident, "blatant disregard" includes a failure by
the person to perform job responsibilities intended to protect
the child's or adult resident's health, physical well-being, or
welfare, and, when viewed in light of the surrounding
circumstances, evidence exists that would cause a reasonable
person to believe that the child was neglected. With respect to
an agency, "blatant disregard" includes a failure to implement
practices that ensure the health, physical well-being, or
welfare of the children and adult residents residing in the
facility.
    "Child" means any person under the age of 18 years, unless
legally emancipated by reason of marriage or entry into a
branch of the United States armed services.
    "Department" means Department of Children and Family
Services.
    "Local law enforcement agency" means the police of a city,
town, village or other incorporated area or the sheriff of an
unincorporated area or any sworn officer of the Illinois
Department of State Police.
    "Abused child" means a child whose parent or immediate
family member, or any person responsible for the child's
welfare, or any individual residing in the same home as the
child, or a paramour of the child's parent:
        (a) inflicts, causes to be inflicted, or allows to be
    inflicted upon such child physical injury, by other than
    accidental means, which causes death, disfigurement,
    impairment of physical or emotional health, or loss or
    impairment of any bodily function;
        (b) creates a substantial risk of physical injury to
    such child by other than accidental means which would be
    likely to cause death, disfigurement, impairment of
    physical or emotional health, or loss or impairment of any
    bodily function;
        (c) commits or allows to be committed any sex offense
    against such child, as such sex offenses are defined in the
    Criminal Code of 2012 or in the Wrongs to Children Act, and
    extending those definitions of sex offenses to include
    children under 18 years of age;
        (d) commits or allows to be committed an act or acts of
    torture upon such child;
        (e) inflicts excessive corporal punishment or, in the
    case of a person working for an agency who is prohibited
    from using corporal punishment, inflicts corporal
    punishment upon a child or adult resident with whom the
    person is working in his or her professional capacity;
        (f) commits or allows to be committed the offense of
    female genital mutilation, as defined in Section 12-34 of
    the Criminal Code of 2012, against the child;
        (g) causes to be sold, transferred, distributed, or
    given to such child under 18 years of age, a controlled
    substance as defined in Section 102 of the Illinois
    Controlled Substances Act in violation of Article IV of the
    Illinois Controlled Substances Act or in violation of the
    Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act,
    except for controlled substances that are prescribed in
    accordance with Article III of the Illinois Controlled
    Substances Act and are dispensed to such child in a manner
    that substantially complies with the prescription; or
        (h) commits or allows to be committed the offense of
    involuntary servitude, involuntary sexual servitude of a
    minor, or trafficking in persons as defined in Section 10-9
    of the Criminal Code of 2012 against the child.
    A child shall not be considered abused for the sole reason
that the child has been relinquished in accordance with the
Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act.
    "Neglected child" means any child who is not receiving the
proper or necessary nourishment or medically indicated
treatment including food or care not provided solely on the
basis of the present or anticipated mental or physical
impairment as determined by a physician acting alone or in
consultation with other physicians or otherwise is not
receiving the proper or necessary support or medical or other
remedial care recognized under State law as necessary for a
child's well-being, or other care necessary for his or her
well-being, including adequate food, clothing and shelter; or
who is subjected to an environment which is injurious insofar
as (i) the child's environment creates a likelihood of harm to
the child's health, physical well-being, or welfare and (ii)
the likely harm to the child is the result of a blatant
disregard of parent, or caretaker, or agency responsibilities;
or who is abandoned by his or her parents or other person
responsible for the child's welfare without a proper plan of
care; or who has been provided with interim crisis intervention
services under Section 3-5 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987
and whose parent, guardian, or custodian refuses to permit the
child to return home and no other living arrangement agreeable
to the parent, guardian, or custodian can be made, and the
parent, guardian, or custodian has not made any other
appropriate living arrangement for the child; or who is a
newborn infant whose blood, urine, or meconium contains any
amount of a controlled substance as defined in subsection (f)
of Section 102 of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act or a
metabolite thereof, with the exception of a controlled
substance or metabolite thereof whose presence in the newborn
infant is the result of medical treatment administered to the
mother or the newborn infant. A child shall not be considered
neglected for the sole reason that the child's parent or other
person responsible for his or her welfare has left the child in
the care of an adult relative for any period of time. A child
shall not be considered neglected for the sole reason that the
child has been relinquished in accordance with the Abandoned
Newborn Infant Protection Act. A child shall not be considered
neglected or abused for the sole reason that such child's
parent or other person responsible for his or her welfare
depends upon spiritual means through prayer alone for the
treatment or cure of disease or remedial care as provided under
Section 4 of this Act. A child shall not be considered
neglected or abused solely because the child is not attending
school in accordance with the requirements of Article 26 of The
School Code, as amended.
    "Child Protective Service Unit" means certain specialized
State employees of the Department assigned by the Director to
perform the duties and responsibilities as provided under
Section 7.2 of this Act.
    "Person responsible for the child's welfare" means the
child's parent; guardian; foster parent; relative caregiver;
any person responsible for the child's welfare in a public or
private residential agency or institution; any person
responsible for the child's welfare within a public or private
profit or not for profit child care facility; or any other
person responsible for the child's welfare at the time of the
alleged abuse or neglect, including any person that is the
custodian of a child under 18 years of age who commits or
allows to be committed, against the child, the offense of
involuntary servitude, involuntary sexual servitude of a
minor, or trafficking in persons for forced labor or services,
as provided in Section 10-9 of the Criminal Code of 2012, or
any person who came to know the child through an official
capacity or position of trust, including but not limited to
health care professionals, educational personnel, recreational
supervisors, members of the clergy, and volunteers or support
personnel in any setting where children may be subject to abuse
or neglect.
    "Temporary protective custody" means custody within a
hospital or other medical facility or a place previously
designated for such custody by the Department, subject to
review by the Court, including a licensed foster home, group
home, or other institution; but such place shall not be a jail
or other place for the detention of criminal or juvenile
offenders.
    "An unfounded report" means any report made under this Act
for which it is determined after an investigation that no
credible evidence of abuse or neglect exists.
    "An indicated report" means a report made under this Act if
an investigation determines that credible evidence of the
alleged abuse or neglect exists.
    "An undetermined report" means any report made under this
Act in which it was not possible to initiate or complete an
investigation on the basis of information provided to the
Department.
    "Subject of report" means any child reported to the central
register of child abuse and neglect established under Section
7.7 of this Act as an alleged victim of child abuse or neglect
and the parent or guardian of the alleged victim or other
person responsible for the alleged victim's welfare who is
named in the report or added to the report as an alleged
perpetrator of child abuse or neglect.
    "Perpetrator" means a person who, as a result of
investigation, has been determined by the Department to have
caused child abuse or neglect.
    "Member of the clergy" means a clergyman or practitioner of
any religious denomination accredited by the religious body to
which he or she belongs.
(Source: P.A. 96-1196, eff. 1-1-11; 96-1446, eff. 8-20-10;
96-1464, eff. 8-20-10; 97-333, eff. 8-12-11; 97-803, eff.
7-13-12; 97-897, eff. 1-1-13; 97-1063, eff. 8-24-12; 97-1150,
eff. 1-25-13.)
 
    (325 ILCS 5/7.3)  (from Ch. 23, par. 2057.3)
    Sec. 7.3. (a) The Department shall be the sole agency
responsible for receiving and investigating reports of child
abuse or neglect made under this Act, including reports of
adult resident abuse or neglect as defined in this Act, except
where investigations by other agencies may be required with
respect to reports alleging the death of a child, serious
injury to a child or sexual abuse to a child made pursuant to
Sections 4.1 or 7 of this Act, and except that the Department
may delegate the performance of the investigation to the
Department of State Police, a law enforcement agency and to
those private social service agencies which have been
designated for this purpose by the Department prior to July 1,
1980.
    (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the
Department shall adopt rules expressly allowing law
enforcement personnel to investigate reports of suspected
child abuse or neglect concurrently with the Department,
without regard to whether the Department determines a report to
be "indicated" or "unfounded" or deems a report to be
"undetermined".
    (c) By June 1, 2016, the Department shall adopt rules that
address and set forth criteria and standards relevant to
investigations of reports of abuse or neglect committed by any
agency, as defined in Section 3 of this Act, or person working
for an agency responsible for the welfare of a child or adult
resident.
(Source: P.A. 95-57, eff. 8-10-07; 96-1446, eff. 8-20-10.)
 
    (325 ILCS 5/7.8)  (from Ch. 23, par. 2057.8)
    Sec. 7.8. Upon receiving an oral or written report of
suspected child abuse or neglect, the Department shall
immediately notify, either orally or electronically, the Child
Protective Service Unit of a previous report concerning a
subject of the present report or other pertinent information.
In addition, upon satisfactory identification procedures, to
be established by Department regulation, any person authorized
to have access to records under Section 11.1 relating to child
abuse and neglect may request and shall be immediately provided
the information requested in accordance with this Act. However,
no information shall be released unless it prominently states
the report is "indicated", and only information from
"indicated" reports shall be released, except that information
concerning pending reports may be released pursuant to Sections
7.14 and 7.22 of this Act to the attorney or guardian ad litem
appointed under Section 2-17 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987
and to any person authorized under paragraphs (1), (2), (3) and
(11) of Section 11.1. In addition, State's Attorneys are
authorized to receive unfounded reports for prosecution
purposes related to the transmission of false reports of child
abuse or neglect in violation of subsection (a), paragraph (7)
of Section 26-1 of the Criminal Code of 2012 and attorneys and
guardians ad litem appointed under Article II of the Juvenile
Court Act of 1987 shall receive the reports set forth in
Section 7.14 of this Act in conformance with paragraph (19) of
Section 11.1 and Section 7.14 of this Act. The Department is
authorized and required to release information from unfounded
reports, upon request by a person who has access to the
unfounded report as provided in this Act, as necessary in its
determination to protect children and adult residents who are
in child care facilities licensed by the Department under the
Child Care Act of 1969. The names and other identifying data
and the dates and the circumstances of any persons requesting
or receiving information from the central register shall be
entered in the register record.
(Source: P.A. 97-1150, eff. 1-25-13; 98-807, eff. 8-1-14;
revised 11-25-14.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect on
January 1, 2016, except that Section 20 takes effect on June 1,
2016.

Effective Date: 1/1/2016