Bill Text: IL HB5097 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Amends the Children and Family Services Act. Provides that every case plan shall include a Haircare Plan for each youth in care that is developed in consultation with the youth based upon the youth's developmental abilities, as well as with the youth's parents or caregivers or appropriate child care facility staff if not contrary to the youth's wishes, and that outlines any training or resources required by the caregiver or appropriate child care facility staff to meet the haircare needs of the youth. Requires a youth's Haircare Plan to at a minimum address (1) necessary haircare steps to be taken to preserve the youth's desired connection to the youth's race, culture, gender, religion, and identity; (2) necessary steps to be taken specific to the youth's haircare needs during emergency and health situations; and (3) the desires of the youth as they pertain to the youth's haircare. Provides that a youth's Haircare Plan must be reviewed at the same time as the case plan review required under the Act as well as during monthly visits to ensure compliance with the Haircare Plan and identify any needed changes. Requires the Department of Children and Family Services to develop, by June 1, 2025, training and resources to make available for caregivers and appropriate child care facility staff to provide culturally competent haircare to youth in care. Requires the Department to adopt rules to implement the amendatory Act by June 1, 2025. Amends the Foster Parent Law. Expands the list of rights for foster parents to include the right to timely training necessary to meet the haircare needs of the children placed in their care. Expands the list of foster parent responsibilities to include the responsibility to provide haircare that preserves the child's desired connection to the child's race, culture, gender, religion, and identity. Amends the Foster Children's Bill of Rights Act. Expands the list of rights of every child placed in foster care to include haircare that preserves the child's desired connection to the child's race, culture, gender, religion, and identity and to have a corresponding haircare plan established in accordance with the Children and Family Services Act. Requires the Department to provide, in a timely and consistent manner, training for all caregivers and child welfare personnel on how to meet the haircare needs of children.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 27-7)

Status: (Enrolled) 2024-06-21 - Sent to the Governor [HB5097 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB5097-Enrolled.html

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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 Children and Family Services Act is amended
by adding Section 7.3b as follows:
(20 ILCS 505/7.3b new)
Sec. 7.3b. Case plan requirements for hair-related needs
of youth in care.
(a) Purposes. Hair plays an important role in fostering
youths' connection to their race, culture, and identity.
Haircare promotes positive messages of self-worth, comfort,
and affection. Because these messages typically are developed
through interactions with family and community members, it is
necessary to establish a framework to ensure that youth in
care are not deprived of these messages and that caregivers
and appropriate child care facility staff are adequately
prepared to provide culturally competent haircare for youth.
(b) Definitions. As used in this Section:
(1) "Haircare" means all care related to the
maintenance of hair, including, but not limited to, the
daily maintenance routine, cutting, styling, or dying of
hair.
(2) "Culture" means the norms, traditions, and

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experiences of a person's community that inform that
person's daily life and long-term goals.
(3) "Identity" means the memories, experiences,
relationships, and values that create one's sense of self.
This amalgamation creates a steady sense of who one is
over time, even as new facets are developed and
incorporated into one's identity.
(c) Haircare plan. Every case plan shall include a
Haircare Plan for each youth in care that is developed in
consultation with the youth based upon the youth's
developmental abilities, as well as with the youth's parents
or caregivers or appropriate child care facility staff if not
contrary to the youth's wishes, and that outlines any training
or resources required by the caregiver or appropriate child
care facility staff to meet the haircare needs of the youth. At
a minimum, the Haircare Plan must address:
(1) necessary haircare steps to be taken to preserve
the youth's desired connection to the youth's race,
culture, gender, religion, and identity;
(2) necessary steps to be taken specific to the
youth's haircare needs during emergency and health
situations; and
(3) the desires of the youth as they pertain to the
youth's haircare.
A youth's Haircare Plan must be reviewed at the same time
as the case plan review required under Section 6a as well as

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during monthly visits to ensure compliance with the Haircare
Plan and identify any needed changes.
(d) By June 1, 2025, the Department shall develop training
and resources to make available for caregivers and appropriate
child care facility staff to provide culturally competent
haircare to youth in care.
(e) By June 1, 2025, the Department must adopt rules to
facilitate the implementation of this Section.
Section 10. The Foster Parent Law is amended by changing
Sections 1-15 and 1-20 as follows:
(20 ILCS 520/1-15)
Sec. 1-15. Foster parent rights. A foster parent's rights
include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) The right to be treated with dignity, respect, and
consideration as a professional member of the child
welfare team.
(2) The right to be given standardized pre-service
training and appropriate ongoing training to meet mutually
assessed needs and improve the foster parent's skills.
(3) The right to be informed as to how to contact the
appropriate child placement agency in order to receive
information and assistance to access supportive services
for children in the foster parent's care.
(4) The right to receive timely financial

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reimbursement commensurate with the care needs of the
child as specified in the service plan.
(5) The right to be provided a clear, written
understanding of a placement agency's plan concerning the
placement of a child in the foster parent's home. Inherent
in this right is the foster parent's responsibility to
support activities that will promote the child's right to
relationships with the child's own family and cultural
heritage.
(6) The right to be provided a fair, timely, and
impartial investigation of complaints concerning the
foster parent's licensure, to be provided the opportunity
to have a person of the foster parent's choosing present
during the investigation, and to be provided due process
during the investigation; the right to be provided the
opportunity to request and receive mediation or an
administrative review of decisions that affect licensing
parameters, or both mediation and an administrative
review; and the right to have decisions concerning a
licensing corrective action plan specifically explained
and tied to the licensing standards violated.
(7) The right, at any time during which a child is
placed with the foster parent, to receive additional or
necessary information that is relevant to the care of the
child.
(7.5) The right to be given information concerning a

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child (i) from the Department as required under subsection
(u) of Section 5 of the Children and Family Services Act
and (ii) from a child welfare agency as required under
subsection (c-5) of Section 7.4 of the Child Care Act of
1969.
(8) The right to be notified of scheduled meetings and
staffings concerning the foster child in order to actively
participate in the case planning and decision-making
process regarding the child, including individual service
planning meetings, administrative case reviews,
interdisciplinary staffings, and individual educational
planning meetings; the right to be informed of decisions
made by the courts or the child welfare agency concerning
the child; the right to provide input concerning the plan
of services for the child and to have that input given full
consideration in the same manner as information presented
by any other professional on the team; and the right to
communicate with other professionals who work with the
foster child within the context of the team, including
therapists, physicians, attending health care
professionals, and teachers.
(9) The right to be given, in a timely and consistent
manner, any information a caseworker has regarding the
child and the child's family which is pertinent to the
care and needs of the child and to the making of a
permanency plan for the child. Disclosure of information

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concerning the child's family shall be limited to that
information that is essential for understanding the needs
of and providing care to the child in order to protect the
rights of the child's family. When a positive relationship
exists between the foster parent and the child's family,
the child's family may consent to disclosure of additional
information.
(10) The right to be given reasonable written notice
of (i) any change in a child's case plan, (ii) plans to
terminate the placement of the child with the foster
parent, and (iii) the reasons for the change or
termination in placement. The notice shall be waived only
in cases of a court order or when the child is determined
to be at imminent risk of harm.
(11) The right to be notified in a timely and complete
manner of all court hearings, including notice of the date
and time of the court hearing, the name of the judge or
hearing officer hearing the case, the location of the
hearing, and the court docket number of the case; and the
right to intervene in court proceedings or to seek
mandamus under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
(12) The right to be considered as a placement option
when a foster child who was formerly placed with the
foster parent is to be re-entered into foster care, if
that placement is consistent with the best interest of the
child and other children in the foster parent's home.

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(13) The right to have timely access to the child
placement agency's existing appeals process and the right
to be free from acts of harassment and retaliation by any
other party when exercising the right to appeal.
(14) The right to be informed of the Foster Parent
Hotline established under Section 35.6 of the Children and
Family Services Act and all of the rights accorded to
foster parents concerning reports of misconduct by
Department employees, service providers, or contractors,
confidential handling of those reports, and investigation
by the Inspector General appointed under Section 35.5 of
the Children and Family Services Act.
(15) The right to timely training necessary to meet
the haircare needs of the children placed in the foster
parent's care.
(Source: P.A. 103-22, eff. 8-8-23.)
(20 ILCS 520/1-20)
Sec. 1-20. Foster parent responsibilities. A foster
parent's responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the
following:
(1) The responsibility to openly communicate and share
information about the child with other members of the
child welfare team.
(2) The responsibility to respect the confidentiality
of information concerning foster children and their

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families and act appropriately within applicable
confidentiality laws and regulations.
(3) The responsibility to advocate for children in the
foster parent's care.
(4) The responsibility to treat children in the foster
parent's care and the children's families with dignity,
respect, and consideration.
(5) The responsibility to recognize the foster
parent's own individual and familial strengths and
limitations when deciding whether to accept a child into
care; and the responsibility to recognize the foster
parent's own support needs and utilize appropriate
supports in providing care for foster children.
(6) The responsibility to be aware of the benefits of
relying on and affiliating with other foster parents and
foster parent associations in improving the quality of
care and service to children and families.
(7) The responsibility to assess the foster parent's
ongoing individual training needs and take action to meet
those needs.
(8) The responsibility to develop and assist in
implementing strategies to prevent placement disruptions,
recognizing the traumatic impact of placement disruptions
on a foster child and all members of the foster family; and
the responsibility to provide emotional support for the
foster children and members of the foster family if

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preventive strategies fail and placement disruptions
occur.
(9) The responsibility to know the impact foster
parenting has on individuals and family relationships; and
the responsibility to endeavor to minimize, as much as
possible, any stress that results from foster parenting.
(10) The responsibility to know the rewards and
benefits to children, parents, families, and society that
come from foster parenting and to promote the foster
parenting experience in a positive way.
(11) The responsibility to know the roles, rights, and
responsibilities of foster parents, other professionals in
the child welfare system, the foster child, and the foster
child's own family.
(12) The responsibility to know and, as necessary,
fulfill the foster parent's responsibility to serve as a
mandated reporter of suspected child abuse or neglect
under the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act; and
the responsibility to know the child welfare agency's
policy regarding allegations that foster parents have
committed child abuse or neglect and applicable
administrative rules and procedures governing
investigations of those allegations.
(13) The responsibility to know and receive training
regarding the purpose of administrative case reviews,
client service plans, and court processes, as well as any

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filing or time requirements associated with those
proceedings; and the responsibility to actively
participate in the foster parent's designated role in
these proceedings.
(14) The responsibility to know the child welfare
agency's appeal procedure for foster parents and the
rights of foster parents under the procedure.
(15) The responsibility to know and understand the
importance of maintaining accurate and relevant records
regarding the child's history and progress; and the
responsibility to be aware of and follow the procedures
and regulations of the child welfare agency with which the
foster parent is licensed or affiliated.
(16) The responsibility to share information, through
the child welfare team, with the subsequent caregiver
(whether the child's parent or another substitute
caregiver) regarding the child's adjustment in the foster
parent's home.
(17) The responsibility to provide care and services
that are respectful of and responsive to the child's
cultural needs and are supportive of the relationship
between the child and the child's own family; the
responsibility to recognize the increased importance of
maintaining a child's cultural identity when the race or
culture of the foster family differs from that of the
foster child; the responsibility to provide haircare that

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preserves the child's desired connection to the child's
race, culture, gender, religion, and identity; and the
responsibility to take action to address these issues.
(Source: P.A. 103-22, eff. 8-8-23.)
Section 15. The Foster Children's Bill of Rights Act is
amended by changing Section 5 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
court order, and social workers, attorneys, foster youth

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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.
(13) To attend school and participate in

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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.
(22) To the confidentiality of all juvenile court

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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
accurate information about reproductive health care, the

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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. The Department shall review and
discuss the document with the child. The Department must
document completion of the intake process in the child's
records as well as giving a copy of the document to the
child.
(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

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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
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,

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