Bill Text: IL SB1993 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Amends the Child Care Act of 1969. Includes religious institutions in the definition of "child welfare agency". Amends the Adoption Act. Provides that a church, synagogue, temple, mosque, or other religious institution that is an agency providing adoption services and that is licensed as a child welfare agency, as those terms are defined in the Child Care Act of 1969, may adopt faith-based policies and practices relating to the placement of children for adoption that provide for the placement of a child with a prospective adoptive parent who holds the same religious beliefs as those held by that religious institution provided that: the best interest of the child must always be the primary factor in placement decisions; an agency's religious preference for placement must never override the birth parent's religious preference in making a placement decision; if an agency uses religion as a factor in making a placement decision, this must be disclosed to prospective adoptive applicants before any fees are accepted by the agency; if an agency uses religion as a factor in making a placement decision, this must be disclosed to all birth parents seeking counseling or placement services at the outset of services; a placement when practicable shall be made to an agency under the control of persons of the same religious faith as that of the child or in the custody of someone of the same religious faith as that of the child. Provides for an adoption placement, when practicable, with a person of the same religious faith as the parent or the child. Defines "expressed religious wishes". Makes other similar changes.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2013-01-08 - Session Sine Die [SB1993 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-SB1993-Amended.html

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Sen. Shane Cultra

Filed: 3/11/2011

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AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1993
AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1993 by replacing
everything after the enacting clause with the following:
"Section 5. The Child Care Act of 1969 is amended by
changing Section 2.08 as follows:
(225 ILCS 10/2.08) (from Ch. 23, par. 2212.08)
Sec. 2.08. "Child welfare agency" means a public or private
child care facility, receiving any child or children for the
purpose of placing or arranging for the placement or free care
of the child or children in foster family homes, unlicensed
pre-adoptive and adoptive homes, or other facilities for child
care, apart from the custody of the child's or children's
parents. The term "child welfare agency" includes all agencies
established and maintained by a municipality or other political
subdivision of the State of Illinois to protect, guard, train
or care for children outside their own homes and all agencies,

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persons, groups of persons, associations, organizations,
corporations, institutions, religious institutions, centers,
or groups providing adoption services, but does not include any
circuit court or duly appointed juvenile probation officer or
youth counselor of the court who receives and places children
under an order of the court.
(Source: P.A. 94-586, eff. 8-15-05.)
Section 10. The Adoption Act is amended by changing Section
4.1 as follows:
(750 ILCS 50/4.1) (from Ch. 40, par. 1506)
Sec. 4.1. Except for children placed with relatives by the
Department of Children and Family Services pursuant to
subsection (b) of Section 7 of the Children and Family Services
Act, placements under this Act shall comply with the Child Care
Act of 1969 and the Interstate Compact on the Placement of
Children. Placements of children born outside the United States
or a territory thereof shall comply with rules promulgated by
the United States Department of Immigration and
Naturalization.
Rules promulgated by the Department of Children and Family
Services shall include but not be limited to the following:
(a) Any agency providing adoption services as defined in
Section 2.24 of the Child Care Act of 1969 in this State:
(i) Shall be licensed in this State as a child welfare

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agency as defined in Section 2.08 of the Child Care Act of
1969; or
(ii) Shall be licensed as a child placement agency in a
state which is a party to the Interstate Compact on the
Placement of Children and shall be approved by the
Department to place children into Illinois in accordance
with subsection (a-5) of this Section; or
(iii) Shall be licensed as a child placement agency in
a country other than the United States or, if located in
such a country but not so licensed, shall provide
information such as a license or court document which
authorizes that agency to place children for adoption and
to establish that such agency has legal authority to place
children for adoption; or
(iv) Shall be a child placement agency which is so
licensed in a non-compact state and shall be approved by
the Department to place children into Illinois in
accordance with subsection (a-5) of this Section, if such
agency first files with the Department of Children and
Family Services a bond with surety in the amount of $5,000
for each such child to ensure that such child shall not
become a public charge upon this State. Such bond shall
remain in effect until a judgment for adoption is entered
with respect to such child pursuant to this Act. The
Department of Children and Family Services may accept, in
lieu of such bond, a written agreement with such agency

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which provides that such agency shall be liable for all
costs associated with the placement of such child in the
event a judgment of adoption is not entered, upon such
terms and conditions as the Department deems appropriate.
(a-3) Notwithstanding other provisions of this Act, a
church, synagogue, temple, mosque, or other religious
institution that is an agency providing adoption services, as
defined in Section 2.24 of the Child Care Act of 1969, and that
is licensed as a child welfare agency, as defined in Section
2.08 of the Child Care Act of 1969, may adopt faith-based
policies and practices relating to the placement of children
for adoption which provide for the placement of a child with a
prospective adoptive parent who holds the same religious
beliefs as those held by that religious institution; provided,
however, that:
(1) The best interest of the child must always be the
primary factor in placement decisions.
(2) An agency's religious preference for placement
must never override the religious faith of the child in
making a placement decision; in the absence of expressed
religious wishes, as defined in this subsection, a
determination of the religious wishes, if any, of the
biological parent shall be made upon other facts in the
particular case, and if there is no evidence to the
contrary, it shall be presumed that the biological parent
wishes the child to be reared in the religion of the

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biological parent.
(3) If an agency uses religion as a factor in making a
placement decision, this must be disclosed to prospective
adoptive applicants before any fees are accepted by the
agency.
(4) If an agency uses religion as a factor in making
placement decisions, this must be disclosed to all
biological parents seeking counseling or placement
services at the outset of services.
(5) In appointing a guardian of a child, and in
granting an order of adoption of a child, the court shall,
when practicable, appoint as guardian, and give custody
through adoption, only to a person or persons of the same
religious faith as that of the child.
(6) The provisions of paragraph (5) of this subsection
shall be interpreted so as to assure that in the care,
protection, adoption, guardianship, discipline, and
control of any child, the child's religious faith shall be
preserved and protected.
(7) Whenever a child is placed in the custody, or under
the supervision or control, of a person or persons of a
religious faith different from that of the child, or if a
guardian of a child is appointed whose religious faith is
different from that of the child, or if letters of adoption
of a child are granted to a person or persons whose
religious faith is different from that of the child or if a

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child is placed with an authorized child welfare agency
which is closely affiliated with a religious faith
different from that of the child, the court or public
official shall state or recite the facts which impelled the
placement to be made contrary to the religious faith of the
child or to any person whose religious faith is different
from that of the child and the statement shall be a part of
the record of the proceeding or documented in appropriate
agency records, and subject to inspection by the Department
of Children and Family Services or an authorized agency.
This item shall not apply to institutions supported and
controlled by the State or a subdivision thereof.
(8) The provisions of this subsection in relation to
the protection of the religious faith of children shall
also apply to a minor who is at least 16 years old but not
yet 18 years old.
(9) The provisions of paragraphs (5), (6), (7), and (8)
of this subsection shall, so far as consistent with the
best interests of the child, and where practicable, be
applied so as to give effect to the religious wishes of the
birth mother, and of the birth father whose consent would
be required for the child's adoption pursuant to the Act,
if the child is born out of wedlock, or if born in wedlock,
the religious wishes of the biological parents of the
child, or if only one of the birth parents of an in wedlock
child is then living, the religious wishes of the birth

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parent then living. Religious wishes of a parent shall
include wishes that the child receive a placement that is:
in the same religion as the birth parent; in a different
religion from the birth parent; not based on religion in
any manner; or is based on religion, but only as a
subordinate consideration.
"Expressed religious wishes" of a birth parent shall mean
those which have been set forth in a writing signed by the
birth parent, except that, in a non-agency adoption, such
writing shall be an affidavit of the biological parent. In the
absence of expressed religious wishes, as defined in this
subdivision, determination of the religious wishes, if any, of
the biological parent, shall be made upon the other facts of
the particular case, and, if there is no evidence to the
contrary, it shall be presumed that the biological parent
wishes the child to be reared in the religion of the birth
parent.
The rules shall also provide that any agency that places
children for adoption in this State may not, in any policy or
practice relating to the placement of children for adoption,
discriminate against any child or prospective adoptive parent
on the basis of race.
(a-5) Out-of-state private placing agencies that seek to
place children into Illinois for the purpose of foster care or
adoption shall provide all of the following to the Department:
(i) A copy of the agency's current license or other

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form of authorization from the approving authority in the
agency's state. If no such license or authorization is
issued, the agency must provide a reference statement from
the approving authority stating the agency is authorized to
place children in foster care or adoption or both in its
jurisdiction.
(ii) A description of the program, including home
studies, placements, and supervisions that the child
placing agency conducts within its geographical area, and,
if applicable, adoptive placements and the finalization of
adoptions. The child placing agency must accept continued
responsibility for placement planning and replacement if
the placement fails.
(iii) Notification to the Department of any
significant child placing agency changes after approval.
(iv) Any other information the Department may require.
If the adoption is finalized prior to bringing or sending
the child to Illinois, Department approval of the out-of-state
child placing agency involved is not required under this
Section, nor is compliance with the Interstate Compact on the
Placement of Children.
(b) As an alternative to requiring the bond provided for in
paragraph (a)(iv) of this Section, the Department of Children
and Family Services may require the filing of such a bond by
the individual or individuals seeking to adopt such a child
through placement of such child by a child placement agency

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located in a state which is not a party to the Interstate
Compact on the Placement of Children.
(c) In the case of any foreign-born child brought to the
United States for adoption in this State, the following
preadoption requirements shall be met:
(1) Documentation that the child is legally free for
adoption prior to entry into the United States shall be
submitted.
(2) A medical report on the child, by authorized
medical personnel in the country of the child's origin,
shall be provided when such personnel are available.
(3) Verification that the adoptive family has been
licensed as a foster family home pursuant to the Child Care
Act of 1969, as now or hereafter amended, shall be
provided.
(4) A valid home study conducted by a licensed child
welfare agency that complies with guidelines established
by the United States Immigration and Naturalization
Service at 8 CFR 204.4(d)(2)(i), as now or hereafter
amended, shall be submitted. A home study is considered
valid if it contains:
(i) A factual evaluation of the financial,
physical, mental and moral capabilities of the
prospective parent or parents to rear and educate the
child properly.
(ii) A detailed description of the living

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accommodations where the prospective parent or parents
currently reside.
(iii) A detailed description of the living
accommodations in the United States where the child
will reside, if known.
(iv) A statement or attachment recommending the
proposed adoption signed by an official of the child
welfare agency which has conducted the home study.
(5) The placing agency located in a non-compact state
or a family desiring to adopt through an authorized
placement party in a non-compact state or a foreign country
shall file with the Department of Children and Family
Services a bond with surety in the amount of $5,000 as
protection that a foreign-born child accepted for care or
supervision not become a public charge upon the State of
Illinois.
(6) In lieu of the $5,000 bond, the placement agency
may sign a binding agreement with the Department of
Children and Family Services to assume full liability for
all placements should, for any reason, the adoption be
disrupted or not be completed, including financial and
planning responsibility until the child is either returned
to the country of its origin or placed with a new adoptive
family in the United States and that adoption is finalized.
(7) Compliance with the requirements of the Interstate
Compact on the Placement of Children, when applicable,

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shall be demonstrated.
(8) When a child is adopted in a foreign country and a
final, complete and valid Order of Adoption is issued in
that country, as determined by both the United States
Department of State and the United States Department of
Justice, this State shall not impose any additional
preadoption requirements. The adoptive family, however,
must comply with applicable requirements of the United
States Department of Immigration and Naturalization as
provided in 8 CFR 204.4 (d)(2)(ii), as now or hereafter
amended.
(d) The Department of Children and Family Services shall
maintain the office of Intercountry Adoption Coordinator,
shall maintain and protect the rights of families and children
participating in adoption of foreign born children, and shall
develop ongoing programs of support and services to such
families and children. The Intercountry Adoption Coordinator
shall determine that all preadoption requirements have been met
and report such information to the Department of Immigration
and Naturalization.
(Source: P.A. 94-586, eff. 8-15-05.)".