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| Public Act 102-0070
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| SB0063 Enrolled | LRB102 12026 KTG 17362 b |
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AN ACT concerning children.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Children and Family Services Act is amended |
by changing Sections 7.3a and 35.10 as follows:
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(20 ILCS 505/7.3a) |
Sec. 7.3a. Normalcy parenting for children in foster care; |
participation in childhood activities. |
(a) Legislative findings. |
(1) Every day parents make important decisions about |
their child's
participation in extracurricular activities. |
Caregivers for children in out-of-home
care are faced with |
making the same decisions. |
(2) When a caregiver makes decisions, he or she must |
consider applicable laws, rules, and regulations to |
safeguard the health, safety, and best interests of a |
child in out-of-home care. |
(3) Participation in extracurricular activities is |
important to a child's
well-being, not only emotionally, |
but also in developing valuable life skills. |
(4) The General Assembly recognizes the importance of |
making every effort to normalize
the lives of children in |
out-of-home care and to empower a caregiver
to approve or |
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not approve a child's participation in appropriate |
extracurricular activities based on
the caregiver's own |
assessment using the reasonable and prudent
parent |
standard, without prior approval of the Department, the
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caseworker, or the court. |
(5) Nothing in this Section shall be presumed to |
discourage or diminish the engagement of families and |
guardians in the child's life activities. |
(b) Definitions. As used in this Section: |
"Appropriate activities" means activities or items that |
are generally
accepted as suitable for children of the same |
chronological age or
developmental level of maturity. |
Appropriateness is based on the development
of cognitive, |
emotional, physical, and behavioral capacity that is
typical |
for an age or age group, taking into account the individual |
child's cognitive, emotional, physical, and behavioral |
development. |
"Caregiver" means a person with whom the child is placed |
in
out-of-home care or a designated official for child care |
facilities
licensed by the Department as
defined in the Child |
Care Act of 1969. |
"Reasonable and prudent parent standard" means the |
standard
characterized by careful and sensible parental |
decisions that maintain
the child's health, safety, and best |
interests while at the same time
supporting the child's |
emotional and developmental growth that a
caregiver shall use |
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when determining whether to allow a child in out-of-home care |
to participate in extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and |
social
activities. |
(c) Requirements for decision-making. |
(1) Each child who comes into the care and custody of |
the Department
is fully entitled to participate in |
appropriate extracurricular,
enrichment, cultural, and |
social activities in a manner that allows that child to |
participate in his or her community to the fullest extent |
possible. |
(2) Caregivers must use the reasonable and prudent |
parent standard
in determining whether to give permission |
for a child in out-of-home
care to participate in |
appropriate extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and |
social activities.
Caregivers are expected to promote and |
support a child's participation in such activities. When |
using the reasonable and prudent parent standard, the
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caregiver shall consider: |
(A) the child's age, maturity, and developmental |
level to promote the
overall health, safety, and best |
interests of the child; |
(B) the best interest of the child based on |
information known by the
caregiver; |
(C) the importance and fundamental value of |
encouraging the child's emotional and
developmental |
growth gained through participation in activities in |
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his or her community; |
(D) the importance and fundamental value of |
providing the child with the most family-like
living |
experience possible; and |
(E) the behavioral history of the child and the |
child's ability to safely
participate in the proposed |
activity. |
(3) A caregiver is not liable for harm
caused to a |
child in out-of-home care who participates in an activity |
approved by
the caregiver, provided that the caregiver has |
acted as a reasonable
and prudent parent in permitting the |
child to engage in the activity. |
(d) Rulemaking. The Department shall adopt, by rule,
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procedures no later than June 1, 2017 that promote and protect |
the ability
of children to participate in appropriate |
extracurricular,
enrichment, cultural, and social activities.
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(e) The Department shall ensure that every youth in care |
who is entering his or her final year of high school has |
completed a Free Application for Federal Student Aid form, if |
applicable, or an application for State financial aid on or |
after October 1, but no later than November 1, of the youth's |
final year of high school. |
(Source: P.A. 99-839, eff. 8-19-16.)
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(20 ILCS 505/35.10) |
Sec. 35.10. Documents necessary for adult living. The |
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Department shall assist a youth in care in identifying and |
obtaining documents necessary to function as an independent |
adult prior to the closure of the youth's case to terminate |
wardship as provided in Section 2-31 of the Juvenile Court Act |
of 1987. These necessary documents shall include, but not be |
limited to, any of the following: |
(1) State identification card or driver's license. |
(2) Social Security card. |
(3) Medical records, including, but not limited to, |
health passport, dental records, immunization records, |
name and contact information for all current medical, |
dental, and mental health providers, and a signed |
certification that the Department provided the youth with |
education on executing a healthcare power of attorney. |
(4) Medicaid card or other health eligibility |
documentation. |
(5) Certified copy of birth certificate. |
(6) Any applicable religious documents. |
(7) Voter registration card. |
(8) Immigration, citizenship, or naturalization |
documentation, if applicable. |
(9) Death certificates of parents, if applicable. |
(10) Life book or compilation of personal history and |
photographs. |
(11) List of known relatives with relationships, |
addresses, telephone numbers, and other contact |
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information, with the permission of the involved relative. |
(12) Resume. |
(13) Educational records, including list of schools |
attended, and transcript, high school diploma, or high |
school equivalency certificate. |
(14) List of placements while in care. |
(15) List of community resources with referral |
information, including the Midwest Adoption Center for |
search and reunion services for former youth in care, |
whether or not they were adopted, and the Illinois Chapter |
of Foster Care Alumni of America. |
(16) All documents necessary to complete a Free |
Application for Federal Student Aid form, if applicable, |
or an application for State financial aid. |
If a court determines that a youth in care no longer requires |
wardship of the court and orders the wardship terminated and |
all proceedings under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 |
respecting the youth in care finally closed and discharged, |
the Department shall ensure that the youth in care receives a |
copy of the court's order.
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(Source: P.A. 100-680, eff. 1-1-19.)
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