Bill Title: Amends the Children and Family Services Act. Provides that the Department of Children and Family Services must maintain the name, electronic mail address, and telephone number for each minor's court-appointed guardian ad litem and, if applicable, the guardian ad litem's supervisor. Provides that the Department must update this contact information within 5 days of receiving notice of a change. Provides that the Advocacy Office for Children and Families must make this contact information available to the minor, current foster parent or caregiver, or caseworker, if requested. Provides that the Department shall adopt rules for maintaining and providing this information by December 31, 2021. Provides that the Advocacy Office shall include an electronic mail address in addition to a toll-free telephone number that may be used to file complaints, to obtain information about the delivery of child welfare service by the Department or its agents, and to obtain the contact information for the guardian ad litem. Provides that the telephone number and electronic mail address shall be included in all appropriate notices and handbooks regarding services available through the Department. Provides that the Department shall provide a flyer to all youth entering care describing the responsibilities of the Advocacy Office, the telephone number and electronic mailing address for the Advocacy Office, and a description of the role of a guardian ad litem. Provides that the Department shall also provide this flyer to youth at every administrative case review. Amends the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. Makes conforming changes. Effective immediately.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-07-30 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 102-0208
[SB0755 Detail]Download: Illinois-2021-SB0755-Chaptered.html
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| Public Act 102-0208
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| SB0755 Enrolled | LRB102 04572 LNS 14591 b |
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AN ACT concerning courts.
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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 Section 5e and by adding Section 6b-1 as follows:
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(20 ILCS 505/5e)
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Sec. 5e. Advocacy Office for Children and Families. |
(a) The
Department of Children and Family Services shall |
establish and maintain
an Advocacy Office for Children and |
Families that shall, in addition to
other duties assigned by |
the Director, receive and respond to complaints
that may be |
filed by children, parents, caretakers, and relatives of |
children
receiving child welfare services from the Department |
of Children and
Family Services or its agents. The Department |
shall promulgate policies
and procedures for filing, |
processing, investigating, and resolving the
complaints. The |
Department shall make a final report to the complainant
of its |
findings. If a final report is not completed, the Department |
shall
report on its disposition every 30 days. |
(b) If a youth in care, current foster parent or |
caregiver, or caseworker requests the information, the |
Advocacy Office shall make available the name, electronic mail |
address, and telephone number for each youth's court-appointed |
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guardian ad litem and, if applicable, the guardian ad litem's |
supervisor. |
(c) The Advocacy Office shall include
a statewide |
toll-free telephone number and an electronic mail address that |
may be used to file complaints,
or to obtain information about |
the delivery of child welfare services by the
Department or |
its agents, and to obtain the contact information for the |
guardian ad litem. This telephone number and electronic mail |
address shall be included in all
appropriate notices and |
handbooks regarding services available through
the Department.
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(d) The Department shall provide a flyer to all youth |
entering care describing the responsibilities of the Advocacy |
Office listed in this Section, the toll-free telephone number |
and electronic mailing address for the Advocacy Office, and a |
description of the role of a guardian ad litem. The Department |
shall also provide this flyer to youth at every administrative |
case review. |
(Source: P.A. 92-334, eff. 8-10-01; 92-651, eff. 7-11-02.)
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(20 ILCS 505/6b-1 new) |
Sec. 6b-1. Maintaining and tracking information on |
guardians ad litem. The Department must maintain the name, |
electronic mail address, and telephone number for each youth |
in care's court-appointed guardian ad litem and, if |
applicable, the guardian ad litem's supervisor. The Department |
must update this contact information within 5 days of |
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receiving notice of a change. The Advocacy Office for Children |
and Families, established pursuant to Section 5e, must make |
this contact information available to the youth in care, |
current foster parent or caregiver, or caseworker, if |
requested. By December 31, 2021, the Department shall adopt |
rules for maintaining and providing this information.
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Section 10. The Juvenile Court Act of 1987 is amended by |
changing Section 2-17 as follows:
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(705 ILCS 405/2-17) (from Ch. 37, par. 802-17)
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Sec. 2-17. Guardian ad litem.
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(1) Immediately upon the filing of a petition alleging |
that the minor is
a person described in Sections 2-3 or 2-4 of |
this Article, the court shall
appoint a guardian ad litem for |
the minor if:
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(a) such petition alleges that the minor is an abused |
or neglected
child; or
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(b) such petition alleges that charges alleging the |
commission
of any of the sex offenses defined in Article |
11 or in Sections 11-1.20, 11-1.30, 11-1.40, 11-1.50, |
11-1.60, 12-13,
12-14,
12-14.1,
12-15 or 12-16 of the |
Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012, have |
been
filed against a defendant in any court and that such |
minor is the alleged
victim of the acts of defendant in the |
commission of such offense.
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Unless the guardian ad litem appointed pursuant to this |
paragraph
(1) is an attorney at law, he or she shall be |
represented in the performance
of his or her duties by |
counsel. The guardian ad litem shall represent the best
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interests of the minor and shall present recommendations to |
the court
consistent with that duty.
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(2) Before proceeding with the hearing, the court shall
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appoint a guardian ad litem for the minor if:
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(a) no parent, guardian, custodian or relative of the |
minor appears
at the first or any subsequent hearing of |
the case;
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(b) the petition prays for the appointment of a |
guardian with power
to consent to adoption; or
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(c) the petition for which the minor is before the |
court resulted
from a report made pursuant to the Abused |
and Neglected Child Reporting
Act.
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(3) The court may appoint a guardian ad litem for the minor |
whenever
it finds that there may be a conflict of interest |
between the minor and
his parents or other custodian or that it |
is otherwise in the minor's
best interest to do so.
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(4) Unless the guardian ad litem is an attorney, he or she |
shall be
represented by counsel. |
(4.5) Pursuant to Section 6b-1 of the Children and Family |
Services Act, the Department of Children and Family Services |
must maintain the name, electronic mail address, and telephone |
number for each minor's court-appointed guardian ad litem and, |
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if applicable, the guardian ad litem's supervisor. The |
Department of Children and Family Services must update this |
contact information within 5 days of receiving notice of a |
change. The Advocacy Office for Children and Families, |
established pursuant to Section 5e of the Children and Family |
Services Act, must make this contact information available to |
the minor, current foster parent or caregiver, or caseworker, |
if requested.
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(5) The reasonable fees of a guardian ad litem appointed |
under this
Section shall be fixed by the court and charged to |
the parents of the
minor, to the extent they are able to pay. |
If the parents are unable to
pay those fees, they shall be paid |
from the general fund of the county.
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(6) A guardian ad litem appointed under this Section, |
shall receive
copies of any and all classified reports of |
child abuse and neglect made
under the Abused and Neglected |
Child Reporting Act in which the minor who
is the subject of a |
report under the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting
Act, is |
also the minor for whom the guardian ad litem is appointed |
under
this Section.
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(6.5) A guardian ad litem appointed under this Section or |
attorney appointed under this Act shall receive a copy of each |
significant event report that involves the minor no later than |
3 days after the Department learns of an event requiring a |
significant event report to be written, or earlier as required |
by Department rule. |
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(7) The appointed
guardian ad
litem shall remain the |
minor's child's guardian ad litem throughout the entire |
juvenile
trial court
proceedings, including permanency |
hearings and termination of parental rights
proceedings, |
unless there is a substitution entered by order of the court.
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(8) The guardian
ad
litem or an agent of the guardian ad |
litem shall have a minimum of one
in-person contact with the |
minor and one contact with one
of the
current foster parents or |
caregivers prior to the
adjudicatory hearing, and at
least one |
additional in-person contact with the child and one contact |
with
one of the
current foster
parents or caregivers after the |
adjudicatory hearing but
prior to the first permanency hearing
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and one additional in-person contact with the child and one |
contact with one
of the current
foster parents or caregivers |
each subsequent year. For good cause shown, the
judge may |
excuse face-to-face interviews required in this subsection.
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(9) In counties with a population of 100,000 or more but |
less than
3,000,000, each guardian ad litem must successfully |
complete a training program
approved by the Department of |
Children and Family Services. The Department of
Children and |
Family Services shall provide training materials and documents |
to
guardians ad litem who are not mandated to attend the |
training program. The
Department of Children and Family |
Services shall develop
and
distribute to all guardians ad |
litem a bibliography containing information
including but not |
limited to the juvenile court process, termination of
parental |
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rights, child development, medical aspects of child abuse, and |
the
child's need for safety and permanence.
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(Source: P.A. 100-689, eff. 1-1-19; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19.)
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