Bill Text: IL SB3666 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Amends the Adoption Act. In the definition of "depravity", adds language providing that a parent is depraved if he or she has inherent deficiencies of moral sense and rectitude.

Sponsorship: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Failed) 2013-01-08 - Session Sine Die [SB3666 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-SB3666-Amended.html

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Sen. Darin M. LaHood

Filed: 3/2/2012

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AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 3666
AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 3666 by replacing
everything after the enacting clause with the following:
"Section 5. The Adoption Act is amended by changing Section
1 as follows:
(750 ILCS 50/1) (from Ch. 40, par. 1501)
Sec. 1. Definitions. When used in this Act, unless the
context otherwise requires:
A. "Child" means a person under legal age subject to
adoption under this Act.
B. "Related child" means a child subject to adoption where
either or both of the adopting parents stands in any of the
following relationships to the child by blood or marriage:
parent, grand-parent, brother, sister, step-parent,
step-grandparent, step-brother, step-sister, uncle, aunt,
great-uncle, great-aunt, or cousin of first degree. A child

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whose parent has executed a final irrevocable consent to
adoption or a final irrevocable surrender for purposes of
adoption, or whose parent has had his or her parental rights
terminated, is not a related child to that person, unless the
consent is determined to be void or is void pursuant to
subsection O of Section 10.
C. "Agency" for the purpose of this Act means a public
child welfare agency or a licensed child welfare agency.
D. "Unfit person" means any person whom the court shall
find to be unfit to have a child, without regard to the
likelihood that the child will be placed for adoption. The
grounds of unfitness are any one or more of the following,
except that a person shall not be considered an unfit person
for the sole reason that the person has relinquished a child in
accordance with the Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act:
(a) Abandonment of the child.
(a-1) Abandonment of a newborn infant in a hospital.
(a-2) Abandonment of a newborn infant in any setting
where the evidence suggests that the parent intended to
relinquish his or her parental rights.
(b) Failure to maintain a reasonable degree of
interest, concern or responsibility as to the child's
welfare.
(c) Desertion of the child for more than 3 months next
preceding the commencement of the Adoption proceeding.
(d) Substantial neglect of the child if continuous or

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repeated.
(d-1) Substantial neglect, if continuous or repeated,
of any child residing in the household which resulted in
the death of that child.
(e) Extreme or repeated cruelty to the child.
(f) There is a rebuttable presumption, which can be
overcome only by clear and convincing evidence, that a
parent is unfit if:
(1) Two or more findings of physical abuse have
been entered regarding any children under Section 2-21
of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, the most recent of
which was determined by the juvenile court hearing the
matter to be supported by clear and convincing
evidence; or
(2) The parent has been convicted or found not
guilty by reason of insanity and the conviction or
finding resulted from the death of any child by
physical abuse; or
(3) There is a finding of physical child abuse
resulting from the death of any child under Section
2-21 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
No conviction or finding of delinquency pursuant
to Article 5 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 shall be
considered a criminal conviction for the purpose of
applying any presumption under this item (f).
(g) Failure to protect the child from conditions within

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his environment injurious to the child's welfare.
(h) Other neglect of, or misconduct toward the child;
provided that in making a finding of unfitness the court
hearing the adoption proceeding shall not be bound by any
previous finding, order or judgment affecting or
determining the rights of the parents toward the child
sought to be adopted in any other proceeding except such
proceedings terminating parental rights as shall be had
under either this Act, the Juvenile Court Act or the
Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
(i) Depravity. Conviction of any one of the following
crimes shall create a presumption that a parent is depraved
which can be overcome only by clear and convincing
evidence: (1) first degree murder in violation of paragraph
1 or 2 of subsection (a) of Section 9-1 of the Criminal
Code of 1961 or conviction of second degree murder in
violation of subsection (a) of Section 9-2 of the Criminal
Code of 1961 of a parent of the child to be adopted; (2)
first degree murder or second degree murder of any child in
violation of the Criminal Code of 1961; (3) attempt or
conspiracy to commit first degree murder or second degree
murder of any child in violation of the Criminal Code of
1961; (4) solicitation to commit murder of any child,
solicitation to commit murder of any child for hire, or
solicitation to commit second degree murder of any child in
violation of the Criminal Code of 1961; (5) predatory

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criminal sexual assault of a child in violation of Section
11-1.40 or 12-14.1 of the Criminal Code of 1961; (6)
heinous battery of any child in violation of the Criminal
Code of 1961; or (7) aggravated battery of any child in
violation of the Criminal Code of 1961.
There is a rebuttable presumption that a parent is
depraved if the parent has been criminally convicted of at
least 3 felonies under the laws of this State or any other
state, or under federal law, or the criminal laws of any
United States territory; and at least one of these
convictions took place within 5 years of the filing of the
petition or motion seeking termination of parental rights.
There is a rebuttable presumption that a parent is
depraved if that parent has been criminally convicted of
either first or second degree murder of any person as
defined in the Criminal Code of 1961 within 10 years of the
filing date of the petition or motion to terminate parental
rights.
No conviction or finding of delinquency pursuant to
Article 5 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 shall be
considered a criminal conviction for the purpose of
applying any presumption under this item (i).
(j) Open and notorious adultery or fornication.
(j-1) (Blank).
(k) Habitual drunkenness or addiction to drugs, other
than those prescribed by a physician, for at least one year

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immediately prior to the commencement of the unfitness
proceeding.
There is a rebuttable presumption that a parent is
unfit under this subsection with respect to any child to
which that parent gives birth where there is a confirmed
test result that at birth the child's blood, urine, or
meconium contained any amount of a controlled substance as
defined in subsection (f) of Section 102 of the Illinois
Controlled Substances Act or metabolites of such
substances, the presence of which in the newborn infant was
not the result of medical treatment administered to the
mother or the newborn infant; and the biological mother of
this child is the biological mother of at least one other
child who was adjudicated a neglected minor under
subsection (c) of Section 2-3 of the Juvenile Court Act of
1987.
(l) Failure to demonstrate a reasonable degree of
interest, concern or responsibility as to the welfare of a
new born child during the first 30 days after its birth.
(m) Failure by a parent (i) to make reasonable efforts
to correct the conditions that were the basis for the
removal of the child from the parent, or (ii) (blank), to
make reasonable progress toward the return of the child to
the parent within 9 months after an adjudication of
neglected or abused minor under Section 2-3 of the Juvenile
Court Act of 1987 or dependent minor under Section 2-4 of

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that Act, or (iii) to make reasonable progress toward the
return of the child to the parent during any 9-month period
after the end of the initial 9-month period following the
adjudication of neglected or abused minor under Section 2-3
of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 or dependent minor under
Section 2-4 of that Act. If a service plan has been
established as required under Section 8.2 of the Abused and
Neglected Child Reporting Act to correct the conditions
that were the basis for the removal of the child from the
parent and if those services were available, then, for
purposes of this Act, "failure to make reasonable progress
toward the return of the child to the parent" includes (I)
the parent's failure to substantially fulfill his or her
obligations under the service plan and correct the
conditions that brought the child into care within 9 months
after the adjudication under Section 2-3 or 2-4 of the
Juvenile Court Act of 1987 and (II) the parent's failure to
substantially fulfill his or her obligations under the
service plan and correct the conditions that brought the
child into care during any 9-month period after the end of
the initial 9-month period following the adjudication
under Section 2-3 or 2-4 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
Notwithstanding any other provision, when a petition or
motion seeks to terminate parental rights on the basis of
item (iii) of this subsection (m), the petitioner shall
file with the court and serve on the parties a pleading

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that specifies the 9-month period or periods relied on. The
pleading shall be filed and served on the parties no later
than 3 weeks before the date set by the court for closure
of discovery, and the allegations in the pleading shall be
treated as incorporated into the petition or motion.
Failure of a respondent to file a written denial of the
allegations in the pleading shall not be treated as an
admission that the allegations are true.
(m-1) Pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, a
child has been in foster care for 15 months out of any 22
month period which begins on or after the effective date of
this amendatory Act of 1998 unless the child's parent can
prove by a preponderance of the evidence that it is more
likely than not that it will be in the best interests of
the child to be returned to the parent within 6 months of
the date on which a petition for termination of parental
rights is filed under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. The
15 month time limit is tolled during any period for which
there is a court finding that the appointed custodian or
guardian failed to make reasonable efforts to reunify the
child with his or her family, provided that (i) the finding
of no reasonable efforts is made within 60 days of the
period when reasonable efforts were not made or (ii) the
parent filed a motion requesting a finding of no reasonable
efforts within 60 days of the period when reasonable
efforts were not made. For purposes of this subdivision

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(m-1), the date of entering foster care is the earlier of:
(i) the date of a judicial finding at an adjudicatory
hearing that the child is an abused, neglected, or
dependent minor; or (ii) 60 days after the date on which
the child is removed from his or her parent, guardian, or
legal custodian.
(n) Evidence of intent to forgo his or her parental
rights, whether or not the child is a ward of the court,
(1) as manifested by his or her failure for a period of 12
months: (i) to visit the child, (ii) to communicate with
the child or agency, although able to do so and not
prevented from doing so by an agency or by court order, or
(iii) to maintain contact with or plan for the future of
the child, although physically able to do so, or (2) as
manifested by the father's failure, where he and the mother
of the child were unmarried to each other at the time of
the child's birth, (i) to commence legal proceedings to
establish his paternity under the Illinois Parentage Act of
1984 or the law of the jurisdiction of the child's birth
within 30 days of being informed, pursuant to Section 12a
of this Act, that he is the father or the likely father of
the child or, after being so informed where the child is
not yet born, within 30 days of the child's birth, or (ii)
to make a good faith effort to pay a reasonable amount of
the expenses related to the birth of the child and to
provide a reasonable amount for the financial support of

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the child, the court to consider in its determination all
relevant circumstances, including the financial condition
of both parents; provided that the ground for termination
provided in this subparagraph (n)(2)(ii) shall only be
available where the petition is brought by the mother or
the husband of the mother.
Contact or communication by a parent with his or her
child that does not demonstrate affection and concern does
not constitute reasonable contact and planning under
subdivision (n). In the absence of evidence to the
contrary, the ability to visit, communicate, maintain
contact, pay expenses and plan for the future shall be
presumed. The subjective intent of the parent, whether
expressed or otherwise, unsupported by evidence of the
foregoing parental acts manifesting that intent, shall not
preclude a determination that the parent has intended to
forgo his or her parental rights. In making this
determination, the court may consider but shall not require
a showing of diligent efforts by an authorized agency to
encourage the parent to perform the acts specified in
subdivision (n).
It shall be an affirmative defense to any allegation
under paragraph (2) of this subsection that the father's
failure was due to circumstances beyond his control or to
impediments created by the mother or any other person
having legal custody. Proof of that fact need only be by a

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preponderance of the evidence.
(o) Repeated or continuous failure by the parents,
although physically and financially able, to provide the
child with adequate food, clothing, or shelter.
(p) Inability to discharge parental responsibilities
supported by competent evidence from a psychiatrist,
licensed clinical social worker, or clinical psychologist
of mental impairment, mental illness or an intellectual
disability as defined in Section 1-116 of the Mental Health
and Developmental Disabilities Code, or developmental
disability as defined in Section 1-106 of that Code, and
there is sufficient justification to believe that the
inability to discharge parental responsibilities shall
extend beyond a reasonable time period. However, this
subdivision (p) shall not be construed so as to permit a
licensed clinical social worker to conduct any medical
diagnosis to determine mental illness or mental
impairment.
(q) (Blank).
(r) The child is in the temporary custody or
guardianship of the Department of Children and Family
Services, the parent is incarcerated as a result of
criminal conviction at the time the petition or motion for
termination of parental rights is filed, prior to
incarceration the parent had little or no contact with the
child or provided little or no support for the child, and

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the parent's incarceration will prevent the parent from
discharging his or her parental responsibilities for the
child for a period in excess of 2 years after the filing of
the petition or motion for termination of parental rights.
(s) The child is in the temporary custody or
guardianship of the Department of Children and Family
Services, the parent is incarcerated at the time the
petition or motion for termination of parental rights is
filed, the parent has been repeatedly incarcerated as a
result of criminal convictions, and the parent's repeated
incarceration has prevented the parent from discharging
his or her parental responsibilities for the child.
(t) A finding that at birth the child's blood, urine,
or meconium contained any amount of a controlled substance
as defined in subsection (f) of Section 102 of the Illinois
Controlled Substances Act, or a metabolite of a controlled
substance, with the exception of controlled substances or
metabolites of such substances, the presence of which in
the newborn infant was the result of medical treatment
administered to the mother or the newborn infant, and that
the biological mother of this child is the biological
mother of at least one other child who was adjudicated a
neglected minor under subsection (c) of Section 2-3 of the
Juvenile Court Act of 1987, after which the biological
mother had the opportunity to enroll in and participate in
a clinically appropriate substance abuse counseling,

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treatment, and rehabilitation program.
E. "Parent" means the father or mother of a lawful child of
the parties or child born out of wedlock. For the purpose of
this Act, a person who has executed a final and irrevocable
consent to adoption or a final and irrevocable surrender for
purposes of adoption, or whose parental rights have been
terminated by a court, is not a parent of the child who was the
subject of the consent or surrender, unless the consent is void
pursuant to subsection O of Section 10.
F. A person is available for adoption when the person is:
(a) a child who has been surrendered for adoption to an
agency and to whose adoption the agency has thereafter
consented;
(b) a child to whose adoption a person authorized by
law, other than his parents, has consented, or to whose
adoption no consent is required pursuant to Section 8 of
this Act;
(c) a child who is in the custody of persons who intend
to adopt him through placement made by his parents;
(c-1) a child for whom a parent has signed a specific
consent pursuant to subsection O of Section 10;
(d) an adult who meets the conditions set forth in
Section 3 of this Act; or
(e) a child who has been relinquished as defined in
Section 10 of the Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act.
A person who would otherwise be available for adoption

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shall not be deemed unavailable for adoption solely by reason
of his or her death.
G. The singular includes the plural and the plural includes
the singular and the "male" includes the "female", as the
context of this Act may require.
H. "Adoption disruption" occurs when an adoptive placement
does not prove successful and it becomes necessary for the
child to be removed from placement before the adoption is
finalized.
I. "Foreign placing agency" is an agency or individual
operating in a country or territory outside the United States
that is authorized by its country to place children for
adoption either directly with families in the United States or
through United States based international agencies.
J. "Immediate relatives" means the biological parents, the
parents of the biological parents and siblings of the
biological parents.
K. "Intercountry adoption" is a process by which a child
from a country other than the United States is adopted.
L. "Intercountry Adoption Coordinator" is a staff person of
the Department of Children and Family Services appointed by the
Director to coordinate the provision of services by the public
and private sector to prospective parents of foreign-born
children.
M. "Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children" is a
law enacted by most states for the purpose of establishing

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uniform procedures for handling the interstate placement of
children in foster homes, adoptive homes, or other child care
facilities.
N. "Non-Compact state" means a state that has not enacted
the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children.
O. "Preadoption requirements" are any conditions
established by the laws or regulations of the Federal
Government or of each state that must be met prior to the
placement of a child in an adoptive home.
P. "Abused child" means a child whose parent or immediate
family member, or any person responsible for the child's
welfare, or any individual residing in the same home as the
child, or a paramour of the child's parent:
(a) inflicts, causes to be inflicted, or allows to be
inflicted upon the child physical injury, by other than
accidental means, that causes death, disfigurement,
impairment of physical or emotional health, or loss or
impairment of any bodily function;
(b) creates a substantial risk of physical injury to
the child by other than accidental means which would be
likely to cause death, disfigurement, impairment of
physical or emotional health, or loss or impairment of any
bodily function;
(c) commits or allows to be committed any sex offense
against the child, as sex offenses are defined in the
Criminal Code of 1961 and extending those definitions of

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sex offenses to include children under 18 years of age;
(d) commits or allows to be committed an act or acts of
torture upon the child; or
(e) inflicts excessive corporal punishment.
Q. "Neglected child" means any child whose parent or other
person responsible for the child's welfare withholds or denies
nourishment or medically indicated treatment including food or
care denied solely on the basis of the present or anticipated
mental or physical impairment as determined by a physician
acting alone or in consultation with other physicians or
otherwise does not provide the proper or necessary support,
education as required by law, or medical or other remedial care
recognized under State law as necessary for a child's
well-being, or other care necessary for his or her well-being,
including adequate food, clothing and shelter; or who is
abandoned by his or her parents or other person responsible for
the child's welfare.
A child shall not be considered neglected or abused for the
sole reason that the child's parent or other person responsible
for his or her welfare depends upon spiritual means through
prayer alone for the treatment or cure of disease or remedial
care as provided under Section 4 of the Abused and Neglected
Child Reporting Act. A child shall not be considered neglected
or abused for the sole reason that the child's parent or other
person responsible for the child's welfare failed to vaccinate,
delayed vaccination, or refused vaccination for the child due

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to a waiver on religious or medical grounds as permitted by
law.
R. "Putative father" means a man who may be a child's
father, but who (1) is not married to the child's mother on or
before the date that the child was or is to be born and (2) has
not established paternity of the child in a court proceeding
before the filing of a petition for the adoption of the child.
The term includes a male who is less than 18 years of age.
"Putative father" does not mean a man who is the child's father
as a result of criminal sexual abuse or assault as defined
under Article 12 of the Criminal Code of 1961.
S. "Standby adoption" means an adoption in which a parent
consents to custody and termination of parental rights to
become effective upon the occurrence of a future event, which
is either the death of the parent or the request of the parent
for the entry of a final judgment of adoption.
T. (Blank).
(Source: P.A. 96-1551, eff. 7-1-11; 97-227, eff. 1-1-12;
revised 9-15-11.)".