Bill Text: IL HB0010 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Foster Children's Bill of Rights Act. Requires the Department of Children and Family Services to: (1) establish and maintain a decentralized supply of luggage to be used to transport the belongings of any child in the foster care system; and (2) develop procedures for the storage and distribution of luggage. Requires the Department to provide luggage to a child who is being removed from home or changing placement. Requires the Department, subject to appropriation, to purchase luggage that cannot otherwise be provided through grant or donation to ensure a sufficient supply of luggage for foster children. Provides that the Department shall submit an annual report to the Governor and the General Assembly that summarizes: (i) the number of times a trash bag was used to transport a foster child's personal belongings and the reasons the Department failed to provide the child with appropriate luggage; and (ii) the Department's supply inventory and inventory management practices for its luggage supply.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2025-02-18 - Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Harry Benton [HB0010 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2025-HB0010-Introduced.html

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104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 HB0010 Introduced , by Rep. Margaret Croke SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
20 ILCS 521/5
20 ILCS 521/15 new
Amends the Foster Children's Bill of Rights Act. Requires the Department of Children and Family Services to: (1) establish and maintain a decentralized supply of luggage to be used to transport the belongings of any child in the foster care system; and (2) develop procedures for the storage and distribution of luggage. Requires the Department to provide luggage to a child who is being removed from home or changing placement. Requires the Department, subject to appropriation, to purchase luggage that cannot otherwise be provided through grant or donation to ensure a sufficient supply of luggage for foster children. Provides that the Department shall submit an annual report to the Governor and the General Assembly that summarizes: (i) the number of times a trash bag was used to transport a foster child's personal belongings and the reasons the Department failed to provide the child with appropriate luggage; and (ii) the Department's supply inventory and inventory management practices for its luggage supply.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning State government.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Foster Children's Bill of Rights Act is
amended by changing Section 5 and by adding Section 15 as
follows:
(20 ILCS 521/5)
Sec. 5. Foster Children's Bill of Rights. It is the policy
of this State that every child and adult in the care of the
Department of Children and Family Services who is placed in
foster care shall have the following rights:
(1) To live in a safe, healthy, and comfortable home
where they are treated with respect.
(2) To be free from physical, sexual, emotional, or
other abuse, or corporal punishment.
(3) To receive adequate and healthy food, adequate
clothing, and, for youth in group homes, residential
treatment facilities, and foster homes, an allowance.
(4) To receive medical, dental, vision, and mental
health services.
(5) To be free of the administration of medication or
chemical substances, unless authorized by a physician.
(6) To contact family members, unless prohibited by

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court order, and social workers, attorneys, foster youth
advocates and supporters, Court Appointed Special
Advocates (CASAs), and probation officers.
(7) To visit and contact siblings, unless prohibited
by court order.
(8) To contact the Advocacy Office for Children and
Families established under the Children and Family
Services Act or the Department of Children and Family
Services' Office of the Inspector General regarding
violations of rights, to speak to representatives of these
offices confidentially, and to be free from threats or
punishment for making complaints.
(9) To make and receive confidential telephone calls
and send and receive unopened mail, unless prohibited by
court order.
(10) To attend religious services and activities of
their choice.
(11) To maintain an emancipation bank account and
manage personal income, consistent with the child's age
and developmental level, unless prohibited by the case
plan.
(12) To not be locked in a room, building, or facility
premises, unless placed in a secure child care facility
licensed by the Department of Children and Family Services
under the Child Care Act of 1969 and placed pursuant to
Section 2-27.1 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.

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(13) To attend school and participate in
extracurricular, cultural, and personal enrichment
activities, consistent with the child's age and
developmental level, with minimal disruptions to school
attendance and educational stability.
(14) To work and develop job skills at an
age-appropriate level, consistent with State law.
(15) To have social contacts with people outside of
the foster care system, including teachers, church
members, mentors, and friends.
(16) If they meet age requirements, to attend services
and programs operated by the Department of Children and
Family Services or any other appropriate State agency that
aim to help current and former foster youth achieve
self-sufficiency prior to and after leaving foster care.
(17) To attend court hearings and speak to the judge.
(18) To have storage space for private use.
(19) To be involved in the development of their own
case plan and plan for permanent placement.
(20) To review their own case plan and plan for
permanent placement, if they are 12 years of age or older
and in a permanent placement, and to receive information
about their out-of-home placement and case plan, including
being told of changes to the case plan.
(21) To be free from unreasonable searches of personal
belongings.

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(22) To the confidentiality of all juvenile court
records consistent with existing law.
(23) To have fair and equal access to all available
services, placement, care, treatment, and benefits, and to
not be subjected to discrimination or harassment on the
basis of actual or perceived race, ethnic group
identification, ancestry, national origin, color,
religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, mental
or physical disability, or HIV status.
(24) To have caregivers and child welfare personnel
who have received sensitivity training and instruction on
matters concerning race, ethnicity, national origin,
color, ancestry, religion, mental and physical disability,
and HIV status.
(25) To have caregivers and child welfare personnel
who have received instruction on cultural competency and
sensitivity relating to, and best practices for, providing
adequate care to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
youth in out-of-home care.
(26) At 16 years of age or older, to have access to
existing information regarding the educational options
available, including, but not limited to, the coursework
necessary for vocational and postsecondary educational
programs, and information regarding financial aid for
postsecondary education.
(27) To have access to age-appropriate, medically

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accurate information about reproductive health care, the
prevention of unplanned pregnancy, and the prevention and
treatment of sexually transmitted infections at 12 years
of age or older.
(28) To receive a copy of this Act from and have it
fully explained by the Department of Children and Family
Services when the child or adult is placed in the care of
the Department of Children and Family Services.
(29) To be placed in the least restrictive and most
family-like setting available and in close proximity to
their parent's home consistent with their health, safety,
best interests, and special needs.
(30) To participate in an age and developmentally
appropriate intake process immediately after placement in
the custody or guardianship of the Department. During the
intake process, the Department shall provide the youth
with a document describing inappropriate acts of
affection, discipline, and punishment by guardians, foster
parents, foster siblings, or any other adult responsible
for the youth's welfare. During the intake process, the
Department shall also provide the youth with luggage
suitable to transport the youth's personal belongings. The
Department shall review and discuss the document with the
youth child. The Department must document completion of
the intake process in the youth's child's records as well
as giving a copy of the document to the youth child.

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(31) To participate in appropriate intervention and
counseling services after removal from the home of origin
in order to assess whether the youth is exhibiting signs
of traumatic stress, special needs, or mental illness.
(32) To receive a home visit by an assigned child
welfare specialist, per existing Department policies and
procedures, on a monthly basis or more frequently as
needed. In addition to what existing policies and
procedures outline, home visits shall be used to assess
the youth's well-being and emotional health following
placement, to determine the youth's relationship with the
youth's guardian or foster parent or with any other adult
responsible for the youth's welfare or living in or
frequenting the home environment, and to determine what
forms of discipline, if any, the youth's guardian or
foster parent or any other person in the home environment
uses to correct the youth.
(33) To be enrolled in an independent living services
program prior to transitioning out of foster care where
the youth will receive classes and instruction,
appropriate to the youth's age and developmental capacity,
on independent living and self-sufficiency in the areas of
employment, finances, meals, and housing as well as help
in developing life skills and long-term goals.
(34) To be assessed by a third-party entity or agency
prior to enrollment in any independent living services

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program in order to determine the youth's readiness for a
transition out of foster care based on the youth's
individual needs, emotional development, and ability,
regardless of age, to make a successful transition to
adulthood.
(35) To hair care haircare that preserves the child's
desired connection to the child's race, culture, gender,
religion, and identity and to have a corresponding hair
care haircare plan established in accordance with Section
7.3b of the Children and Family Services Act. The
Department must provide, in a timely and consistent
manner, training for all caregivers and child welfare
personnel on how to meet the hair care haircare needs of
children.
(Source: P.A. 102-810, eff. 1-1-23; 103-22, eff. 8-8-23;
103-850, eff. 1-1-25; revised 11-21-24.)
(20 ILCS 521/15 new)
Sec. 15. Luggage.
(a) In this Section, "luggage" means a suitcase, duffel
bag, backpack, or similar container designed to hold an
individual's personal belongings.
(b) The Department shall:
(1) establish and maintain a decentralized supply of
luggage to be used to transport the belongings of any
child in the foster care system; and

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(2) develop procedures for the storage and
distribution of luggage.
(c) The Department shall provide luggage to a child who is
being removed from home or changing placement. Luggage
provided under this subsection belongs to the child it is
provided to and may not be reclaimed by the Department or
retained by the foster parent. The Department is not required
to provide new luggage under this subsection to a child who is
changing placement and has the luggage previously provided by
the Department.
(d) The Department shall, subject to appropriation,
purchase luggage that cannot otherwise be provided through
grant or donation to ensure a sufficient supply of luggage to
comply with subsections (b) and (c). Luggage so purchased
shall be purchased at a retail price of no greater than $150
per bag.
(e) The Department shall maintain a record of each time a
trash bag is used to move a foster child's personal
belongings. The record must include the reason the Department
did not provide the child with appropriate luggage to move the
child's personal belongings.
(f) The Department shall submit an annual report to the
Governor and the General Assembly that includes a summary of:
(1) the number of times a trash bag was used to
transport a foster child's personal belongings and the
reasons the Department failed to provide the child with

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appropriate luggage; and
(2) the Department's supply inventory and inventory
management practices for the luggage supply maintained
under subsection (b).
(g) This subsection and subsection (f) are repealed on
January 1, 2028.