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Public Act 103-0479


 

Public Act 0479 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY



 


 
Public Act 103-0479
 
SB0505 EnrolledLRB103 02957 SPS 47963 b

    AN ACT concerning employment.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities
Act is amended by changing Section 3 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 2405/3)  (from Ch. 23, par. 3434)
    Sec. 3. Powers and duties. The Department shall have the
powers and duties enumerated herein:
        (a) To cooperate with the federal government in the
    administration of the provisions of the federal
    Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended by the Workforce
    Innovation and Opportunity Act, and of the federal Social
    Security Act to the extent and in the manner provided in
    these Acts.
        (b) To prescribe and supervise such courses of
    vocational training and provide such other services as may
    be necessary for the vocational rehabilitation of persons
    with one or more disabilities, including the
    administrative activities under subsection (e) of this
    Section; to cooperate with State and local school
    authorities and other recognized agencies engaged in
    vocational rehabilitation services; and to cooperate with
    the Department of Children and Family Services, the
    Illinois State Board of Education, and others regarding
    the education of children with one or more disabilities.
        (c) (Blank).
        (d) To report in writing, to the Governor, annually on
    or before the first day of December, and at such other
    times and in such manner and upon such subjects as the
    Governor may require. The annual report shall contain (1)
    information on the programs and activities dedicated to
    vocational rehabilitation, independent living, and other
    community services and supports administered by the
    Director; (2) information on the development of vocational
    rehabilitation services, independent living services, and
    supporting services administered by the Director in the
    State; and (3) information detailing the amounts of money
    received from federal, State, and other sources, and of
    the objects and purposes to which the respective items of
    these several amounts have been devoted.
        (e) (Blank).
        (f) To establish a program of services to prevent the
    unnecessary institutionalization of persons in need of
    long term care and who meet the criteria for blindness or
    disability as defined by the Social Security Act, thereby
    enabling them to remain in their own homes. Such
    preventive services include any or all of the following:
            (1) personal assistant services;
            (2) homemaker services;
            (3) home-delivered meals;
            (4) adult day care services;
            (5) respite care;
            (6) home modification or assistive equipment;
            (7) home health services;
            (8) electronic home response;
            (9) brain injury behavioral/cognitive services;
            (10) brain injury habilitation;
            (11) brain injury pre-vocational services; or
            (12) brain injury supported employment.
        The Department shall establish eligibility standards
    for such services taking into consideration the unique
    economic and social needs of the population for whom they
    are to be provided. Such eligibility standards may be
    based on the recipient's ability to pay for services;
    provided, however, that any portion of a person's income
    that is equal to or less than the "protected income" level
    shall not be considered by the Department in determining
    eligibility. The "protected income" level shall be
    determined by the Department, shall never be less than the
    federal poverty standard, and shall be adjusted each year
    to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index For All
    Urban Consumers as determined by the United States
    Department of Labor. The standards must provide that a
    person may not have more than $10,000 in assets to be
    eligible for the services, and the Department may increase
    or decrease the asset limitation by rule. The Department
    may not decrease the asset level below $10,000. Subject to
    federal approval, the Department shall allow a recipient's
    spouse, guardian, kin, or siblings to serve as his or her
    provider of personal care or similar services.
        The services shall be provided, as established by the
    Department by rule, to eligible persons to prevent
    unnecessary or premature institutionalization, to the
    extent that the cost of the services, together with the
    other personal maintenance expenses of the persons, are
    reasonably related to the standards established for care
    in a group facility appropriate to their condition. These
    non-institutional services, pilot projects or experimental
    facilities may be provided as part of or in addition to
    those authorized by federal law or those funded and
    administered by the Illinois Department on Aging. The
    Department shall set rates and fees for services in a fair
    and equitable manner. Services identical to those offered
    by the Department on Aging shall be paid at the same rate.
        Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph,
    personal assistants shall be paid at a rate negotiated
    between the State and an exclusive representative of
    personal assistants under a collective bargaining
    agreement. In no case shall the Department pay personal
    assistants an hourly wage that is less than the federal
    minimum wage. Within 30 days after July 6, 2017 (the
    effective date of Public Act 100-23), the hourly wage paid
    to personal assistants and individual maintenance home
    health workers shall be increased by $0.48 per hour. Wages
    and other benefits for personal assistants shall not count
    against benefits that guardians receive as outlined in
    Article XIa of the Probate Act of 1975.
        Solely for the purposes of coverage under the Illinois
    Public Labor Relations Act, personal assistants providing
    services under the Department's Home Services Program
    shall be considered to be public employees and the State
    of Illinois shall be considered to be their employer as of
    July 16, 2003 (the effective date of Public Act 93-204),
    but not before. Solely for the purposes of coverage under
    the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act, home care and
    home health workers who function as personal assistants
    and individual maintenance home health workers and who
    also provide services under the Department's Home Services
    Program shall be considered to be public employees, no
    matter whether the State provides such services through
    direct fee-for-service arrangements, with the assistance
    of a managed care organization or other intermediary, or
    otherwise, and the State of Illinois shall be considered
    to be the employer of those persons as of January 29, 2013
    (the effective date of Public Act 97-1158), but not before
    except as otherwise provided under this subsection (f).
    The State shall engage in collective bargaining with an
    exclusive representative of home care and home health
    workers who function as personal assistants and individual
    maintenance home health workers working under the Home
    Services Program concerning their terms and conditions of
    employment that are within the State's control. Nothing in
    this paragraph shall be understood to limit the right of
    the persons receiving services defined in this Section to
    hire and fire home care and home health workers who
    function as personal assistants and individual maintenance
    home health workers working under the Home Services
    Program or to supervise them within the limitations set by
    the Home Services Program. The State shall not be
    considered to be the employer of home care and home health
    workers who function as personal assistants and individual
    maintenance home health workers working under the Home
    Services Program for any purposes not specifically
    provided in Public Act 93-204 or Public Act 97-1158,
    including but not limited to, purposes of vicarious
    liability in tort and purposes of statutory retirement or
    health insurance benefits. Home care and home health
    workers who function as personal assistants and individual
    maintenance home health workers and who also provide
    services under the Department's Home Services Program
    shall not be covered by the State Employees Group
    Insurance Act of 1971.
        The Department shall execute, relative to nursing home
    prescreening, as authorized by Section 4.03 of the
    Illinois Act on the Aging, written inter-agency agreements
    with the Department on Aging and the Department of
    Healthcare and Family Services, to effect the intake
    procedures and eligibility criteria for those persons who
    may need long term care. On and after July 1, 1996, all
    nursing home prescreenings for individuals 18 through 59
    years of age shall be conducted by the Department, or a
    designee of the Department.
        The Department is authorized to establish a system of
    recipient cost-sharing for services provided under this
    Section. The cost-sharing shall be based upon the
    recipient's ability to pay for services, but in no case
    shall the recipient's share exceed the actual cost of the
    services provided. Protected income shall not be
    considered by the Department in its determination of the
    recipient's ability to pay a share of the cost of
    services. The level of cost-sharing shall be adjusted each
    year to reflect changes in the "protected income" level.
    The Department shall deduct from the recipient's share of
    the cost of services any money expended by the recipient
    for disability-related expenses.
        To the extent permitted under the federal Social
    Security Act, the Department, or the Department's
    authorized representative, may recover the amount of
    moneys expended for services provided to or in behalf of a
    person under this Section by a claim against the person's
    estate or against the estate of the person's surviving
    spouse, but no recovery may be had until after the death of
    the surviving spouse, if any, and then only at such time
    when there is no surviving child who is under age 21 or
    blind or who has a permanent and total disability. This
    paragraph, however, shall not bar recovery, at the death
    of the person, of moneys for services provided to the
    person or in behalf of the person under this Section to
    which the person was not entitled; provided that such
    recovery shall not be enforced against any real estate
    while it is occupied as a homestead by the surviving
    spouse or other dependent, if no claims by other creditors
    have been filed against the estate, or, if such claims
    have been filed, they remain dormant for failure of
    prosecution or failure of the claimant to compel
    administration of the estate for the purpose of payment.
    This paragraph shall not bar recovery from the estate of a
    spouse, under Sections 1915 and 1924 of the Social
    Security Act and Section 5-4 of the Illinois Public Aid
    Code, who precedes a person receiving services under this
    Section in death. All moneys for services paid to or in
    behalf of the person under this Section shall be claimed
    for recovery from the deceased spouse's estate.
    "Homestead", as used in this paragraph, means the dwelling
    house and contiguous real estate occupied by a surviving
    spouse or relative, as defined by the rules and
    regulations of the Department of Healthcare and Family
    Services, regardless of the value of the property.
        (g) To establish such subdivisions of the Department
    as shall be desirable and assign to the various
    subdivisions the responsibilities and duties placed upon
    the Department by law.
        (h) To cooperate and enter into any necessary
    agreements with the Department of Employment Security for
    the provision of job placement and job referral services
    to clients of the Department, including job service
    registration of such clients with Illinois Employment
    Security offices and making job listings maintained by the
    Department of Employment Security available to such
    clients.
        (i) To possess all powers reasonable and necessary for
    the exercise and administration of the powers, duties and
    responsibilities of the Department which are provided for
    by law.
        (j) (Blank).
        (k) (Blank).
        (l) To establish, operate, and maintain a Statewide
    Housing Clearinghouse of information on available
    government subsidized housing accessible to persons with
    disabilities and available privately owned housing
    accessible to persons with disabilities. The information
    shall include, but not be limited to, the location, rental
    requirements, access features and proximity to public
    transportation of available housing. The Clearinghouse
    shall consist of at least a computerized database for the
    storage and retrieval of information and a separate or
    shared toll free telephone number for use by those seeking
    information from the Clearinghouse. Department offices and
    personnel throughout the State shall also assist in the
    operation of the Statewide Housing Clearinghouse.
    Cooperation with local, State, and federal housing
    managers shall be sought and extended in order to
    frequently and promptly update the Clearinghouse's
    information.
        (m) To assure that the names and case records of
    persons who received or are receiving services from the
    Department, including persons receiving vocational
    rehabilitation, home services, or other services, and
    those attending one of the Department's schools or other
    supervised facility shall be confidential and not be open
    to the general public. Those case records and reports or
    the information contained in those records and reports
    shall be disclosed by the Director only to proper law
    enforcement officials, individuals authorized by a court,
    the General Assembly or any committee or commission of the
    General Assembly, and other persons and for reasons as the
    Director designates by rule. Disclosure by the Director
    may be only in accordance with other applicable law.
(Source: P.A. 102-264, eff. 8-6-21; 102-826, eff. 5-13-22.)

Effective Date: 1/1/2024