Public Act 103-0273
 
HB0439 EnrolledLRB103 04009 CPF 49015 b



    AN ACT concerning health.

 
    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 
Illinois Youth in Care Timely Provision of Essential Care Act.
 
    Section 5. Findings.  The General Assembly finds that:
        (1) From 2013 to 2018 more than 500 in-state 
    residential treatment beds were eliminated for youth in 
    the care of the Department of Children and Family Services 
    with serious and ongoing mental health needs. 
        (2) Development of evidence-based alternatives to 
    residential treatment, such as therapeutic foster care and 
    multi-dimensional treatment foster care, has not met the 
    need caused by the elimination of more than 500 
    residential treatment beds.
        (3) Quality residential treatment, evidence-based 
    therapeutic foster care, and specialized foster care are 
    critical components of the system of care for youth in the 
    care of the Department. 
        (4) It is imperative that children identified as 
    requiring residential treatment, therapeutic foster care, 
    or specialized foster care receive that treatment in a 
    timely and competent fashion. 
        (5) One significant barrier to the development of new 
    residential treatment beds has been the ability to attract 
    and retain qualified staff. 
        (6) Community-based providers have a 42%-50% annual 
    staff turnover rate for caseworkers, supervisors, 
    therapists, and residential staff. 
        (7) High rates of staff turnover are directly linked 
    to poor outcomes for children and youth in care, including 
    increased lengths of stay, which especially hurt black 
    children as they are 3 times more likely to languish in 
    care. 
        (8) Due to the lack of in-state residential treatment 
    beds, evidence-based alternatives, and quality specialized 
    foster homes for youth in care:
            (A) Youth in care are waiting long periods of 
        times in temporary settings where they often receive 
        inadequate treatment to address their highly acute 
        needs. The temporary settings also force youth to 
        experience placement changes that are only necessary 
        because of the lack of critical beds.
            (B) Youth in care are left in locked inpatient 
        psychiatric units beyond the time that they clinically 
        need to be hospitalized ("beyond medical necessity") 
        because the outpatient placement resources they need 
        are not available. In State Fiscal Year 2022, youth 
        who were beyond medical necessity remained in 
        psychiatric hospitals for an average of 75 days longer 
        than they needed to be in the hospital because of the 
        lack of placement resources.  These stays cause 
        irreparable harm to youth. 
            (C) Youth in care identified as needing inpatient 
        psychiatric care are being denied admission to 
        inpatient psychiatric units due to the risk that the 
        youth will not have a placement to discharge to when 
        they are ready for discharge. 
            (D) Youth in care are being sent to out-of-state 
        residential facilities where it is more difficult to 
        monitor safety and well-being and more costly and 
        challenging to facilitate achievement of their 
        permanency goals. 
 
    Section 10. Improving access to residential treatment, 
evidence-based alternatives to residential treatment, and 
specialized foster care.  The Department of Children and 
Family Services shall develop a written, strategic plan that 
comprehensively addresses improving timely access to quality 
in-state residential treatment, evidence-based alternatives to 
residential treatment, and specialized foster care for youth 
in the care of the Department who have significant emotional, 
behavioral, and medical needs.   The planning process must be 
transparent and allow for stakeholder input.  
 
    Section 15. Implementation.  The strategic plan developed 
by the Department of Children and Family Services shall be 
finalized and made public no later than one year after the 
effective date of this Act.  The strategic plan shall be 
revised within 6 months after the rate study required under 
Section 35.11 of the Children and Family Services Act is 
complete and available for review, and the Department shall 
incorporate the rate study's recommendations into the 
strategic plan. The strategic plan shall include:
        (1) Benchmarks and a timeline for implementing each 
    provision of the plan.
        (2) Strategy for obtaining resources needed to 
    implement each provision of the plan. 
        (3) Ongoing stakeholder engagement during the 
    implementation of the plan.



Effective Date:  1/1/2024