Bill Text: IL SB2909 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Amends the Children and Family Services Act. In provisions concerning the Department of Children and Family Services' case tracking system, requires the Department to use the case tracking system to monitor and provide data concerning families subject to safety plans. Provides that the Department shall ensure that any safety plan with a duration of 5 days or more shall be in writing, signed by each affected parent or guardian and all participants responsible for carrying out the plan, and shall be reviewed by a child protection supervisor. Requires the child protection supervisor to provide a sworn certification stating that the plan has been determined to be the least restrictive possible and that the Department, at the time of entering into the safety plan, possesses objectively reasonable evidence of abuse or neglect of the child by the person or persons whose access to the child is limited by the safety plan. Beginning with fiscal year 2015, requires the Department to (i) provide certain data in its annual report and case tracking system concerning children and families subject to safety plans and (ii) track certain safety plans. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Passed) 2014-08-01 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 98-0830 [SB2909 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2013-SB2909-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 changing Section 21 as follows:
(20 ILCS 505/21) (from Ch. 23, par. 5021)
Sec. 21. Investigative powers; training.
(a) To make such investigations as it may deem necessary to
the performance of its duties.
(b) In the course of any such investigation any qualified
person authorized by the Director may administer oaths and
secure by its subpoena both the attendance and testimony of
witnesses and the production of books and papers relevant to
such investigation. Any person who is served with a subpoena by
the Department to appear and testify or to produce books and
papers, in the course of an investigation authorized by law,
and who refuses or neglects to appear, or to testify, or to
produce books and papers relevant to such investigation, as
commanded in such subpoena, shall be guilty of a Class B
misdemeanor. The fees of witnesses for attendance and travel
shall be the same as the fees of witnesses before the circuit
courts of this State. Any circuit court of this State, upon
application of the person requesting the hearing or the

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Department, may compel the attendance of witnesses, the
production of books and papers, and giving of testimony before
the Department or before any authorized officer or employee
thereof, by an attachment for contempt or otherwise, in the
same manner as production of evidence may be compelled before
such court. Every person who, having taken an oath or made
affirmation before the Department or any authorized officer or
employee thereof, shall willfully swear or affirm falsely,
shall be guilty of perjury and upon conviction shall be
punished accordingly.
(c) Investigations initiated under this Section shall
provide individuals due process of law, including the right to
a hearing, to cross-examine witnesses, to obtain relevant
documents, and to present evidence. Administrative findings
shall be subject to the provisions of the Administrative Review
Law.
(d) Beginning July 1, 1988, any child protective
investigator or supervisor or child welfare specialist or
supervisor employed by the Department on the effective date of
this amendatory Act of 1987 shall have completed a training
program which shall be instituted by the Department. The
training program shall include, but not be limited to, the
following: (1) training in the detection of symptoms of child
neglect and drug abuse; (2) specialized training for dealing
with families and children of drug abusers; and (3) specific
training in child development, family dynamics and interview

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techniques. Such program shall conform to the criteria and
curriculum developed under Section 4 of the Child Protective
Investigator and Child Welfare Specialist Certification Act of
1987. Failure to complete such training due to lack of
opportunity provided by the Department shall in no way be
grounds for any disciplinary or other action against an
investigator or a specialist.
The Department shall develop a continuous inservice staff
development program and evaluation system. Each child
protective investigator and supervisor and child welfare
specialist and supervisor shall participate in such program and
evaluation and shall complete a minimum of 20 hours of
inservice education and training every 2 years in order to
maintain certification.
Any child protective investigator or child protective
supervisor, or child welfare specialist or child welfare
specialist supervisor hired by the Department who begins his
actual employment after the effective date of this amendatory
Act of 1987, shall be certified pursuant to the Child
Protective Investigator and Child Welfare Specialist
Certification Act of 1987 before he begins such employment.
Nothing in this Act shall replace or diminish the rights of
employees under the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act, as
amended, or the National Labor Relations Act. In the event of
any conflict between either of those Acts, or any collective
bargaining agreement negotiated thereunder, and the provisions

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of subsections (d) and (e), the former shall prevail and
control.
(e) The Department shall develop and implement the
following:
(1) A standardized child endangerment risk assessment
protocol.
(2) Related training procedures.
(3) A standardized method for demonstration of
proficiency in application of the protocol.
(4) An evaluation of the reliability and validity of
the protocol.
All child protective investigators and supervisors and child
welfare specialists and supervisors employed by the Department
or its contractors shall be required, subsequent to the
availability of training under this Act, to demonstrate
proficiency in application of the protocol previous to being
permitted to make decisions about the degree of risk posed to
children for whom they are responsible. The Department shall
establish a multi-disciplinary advisory committee appointed by
the Director, including but not limited to representatives from
the fields of child development, domestic violence, family
systems, juvenile justice, law enforcement, health care,
mental health, substance abuse, and social service to advise
the Department and its related contractors in the development
and implementation of the child endangerment risk assessment
protocol, related training, method for demonstration of

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proficiency in application of the protocol, and evaluation of
the reliability and validity of the protocol. The Department
shall develop the protocol, training curriculum, method for
demonstration of proficiency in application of the protocol and
method for evaluation of the reliability and validity of the
protocol by July 1, 1995. Training and demonstration of
proficiency in application of the child endangerment risk
assessment protocol for all child protective investigators and
supervisors and child welfare specialists and supervisors
shall be completed as soon as practicable, but no later than
January 1, 1996. The Department shall submit to the General
Assembly on or before May 1, 1996, and every year thereafter,
an annual report on the evaluation of the reliability and
validity of the child endangerment risk assessment protocol.
The Department shall contract with a not for profit
organization with demonstrated expertise in the field of child
endangerment risk assessment to assist in the development and
implementation of the child endangerment risk assessment
protocol, related training, method for demonstration of
proficiency in application of the protocol, and evaluation of
the reliability and validity of the protocol.
(f) The Department shall provide each parent or guardian
and responsible adult caregiver participating in a safety plan
a copy of the written safety plan as signed by each parent or
guardian and responsible adult caregiver and by a
representative of the Department. The Department shall also

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provide each parent or guardian and responsible adult caregiver
safety plan information on their rights and responsibilities
that shall include, but need not be limited to, information on
how to obtain medical care, emergency phone numbers, and
information on how to notify schools or day care providers as
appropriate. The Department's representative shall ensure that
the safety plan is reviewed and approved by the child
protection supervisor.
(Source: P.A. 91-61, eff. 6-30-99; 92-154, eff. 1-1-02.)