(20 ILCS 505/5) (from Ch. 23, par. 5005)
Sec. 5. Direct child welfare services; Department of Children and Family Services. To provide direct child welfare services when not available through other public or private child care or program facilities.
(a) For purposes of this Section:
(1) "Children" means persons found within the State |
| who are under the age of 18 years. The term also includes persons under age 21 who: |
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(A) were committed to the Department pursuant to |
| the Juvenile Court Act or the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, as amended, prior to the age of 18 and who continue under the jurisdiction of the court; or |
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(B) were accepted for care, service and training |
| by the Department prior to the age of 18 and whose best interest in the discretion of the Department would be served by continuing that care, service and training because of severe emotional disturbances, physical disability, social adjustment or any combination thereof, or because of the need to complete an educational or vocational training program. |
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(2) "Homeless youth" means persons found within the |
| State who are under the age of 19, are not in a safe and stable living situation and cannot be reunited with their families. |
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(3) "Child welfare services" means public social |
| services which are directed toward the accomplishment of the following purposes: |
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(A) protecting and promoting the health, safety |
| and welfare of children, including homeless, dependent or neglected children; |
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(B) remedying, or assisting in the solution of |
| problems which may result in, the neglect, abuse, exploitation or delinquency of children; |
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(C) preventing the unnecessary separation of |
| children from their families by identifying family problems, assisting families in resolving their problems, and preventing the breakup of the family where the prevention of child removal is desirable and possible when the child can be cared for at home without endangering the child's health and safety; |
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(D) restoring to their families children who have |
| been removed, by the provision of services to the child and the families when the child can be cared for at home without endangering the child's health and safety; |
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(E) placing children in suitable adoptive homes, |
| in cases where restoration to the biological family is not safe, possible or appropriate; |
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(F) assuring safe and adequate care of children |
| away from their homes, in cases where the child cannot be returned home or cannot be placed for adoption. At the time of placement, the Department shall consider concurrent planning, as described in subsection (l‑1) of this Section so that permanency may occur at the earliest opportunity. Consideration should be given so that if reunification fails or is delayed, the placement made is the best available placement to provide permanency for the child; |
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(G) (blank);
(H) (blank); and
(I) placing and maintaining children in |
| facilities that provide separate living quarters for children under the age of 18 and for children 18 years of age and older, unless a child 18 years of age is in the last year of high school education or vocational training, in an approved individual or group treatment program, in a licensed shelter facility, or secure child care facility. The Department is not required to place or maintain children: |
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(i) who are in a foster home, or
(ii) who are persons with a developmental |
| disability, as defined in the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code, or |
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(iii) who are female children who are |
| pregnant, pregnant and parenting or parenting, or |
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(iv) who are siblings, in facilities that |
| provide separate living quarters for children 18 years of age and older and for children under 18 years of age. |
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(b) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to authorize the expenditure of public funds for the purpose of performing abortions.
(c) The Department shall establish and maintain tax‑supported child welfare services and extend and seek to improve voluntary services throughout the State, to the end that services and care shall be available on an equal basis throughout the State to children requiring such services.
(d) The Director may authorize advance disbursements for any new program initiative to any agency contracting with the Department. As a prerequisite for an advance disbursement, the contractor must post a surety bond in the amount of the advance disbursement and have a purchase of service contract approved by the Department. The Department may pay up to 2 months operational expenses in advance. The amount of the advance disbursement shall be prorated over the life of the contract or the remaining months of the fiscal year, whichever is less, and the installment amount shall then be deducted from future bills. Advance disbursement authorizations for new initiatives shall not be made to any agency after that agency has operated during 2 consecutive fiscal years. The requirements of this Section concerning advance disbursements shall not apply with respect to the following: payments to local public agencies for child day care services as authorized by Section 5a of this Act; and youth service programs receiving grant funds under Section 17a‑4.
(e) (Blank).
(f) (Blank).
(g) The Department shall establish rules and regulations concerning its operation of programs designed to meet the goals of child safety and protection, family preservation, family reunification, and adoption, including but not limited to:
(1) adoption;
(2) foster care;
(3) family counseling;
(4) protective services;
(5) (blank);
(6) homemaker service;
(7) return of runaway children;
(8) (blank);
(9) placement under Section 5‑7 of the Juvenile Court |
| Act or Section 2‑27, 3‑28, 4‑25 or 5‑740 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 in accordance with the federal Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980; and |
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(10) interstate services.
Rules and regulations established by the Department shall include provisions for training Department staff and the staff of Department grantees, through contracts with other agencies or resources, in alcohol and drug abuse screening techniques approved by the Department of Human Services, as a successor to the Department of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, for the purpose of identifying children and adults who should be referred to an alcohol and drug abuse treatment program for professional evaluation.
(h) If the Department finds that there is no appropriate program or facility within or available to the Department for a ward and that no licensed private facility has an adequate and appropriate program or none agrees to accept the ward, the Department shall create an appropriate individualized, program‑oriented plan for such ward. The plan may be developed within the Department or through purchase of services by the Department to the extent that it is within its statutory authority to do.
(i) Service programs shall be available throughout the State and shall include but not be limited to the following services:
(1) case management;
(2) homemakers;
(3) counseling;
(4) parent education;
(5) day care; and
(6) emergency assistance and advocacy.
In addition, the following services may be made available to assess and meet the needs of children and families:
(1) comprehensive family‑based services;
(2) assessments;
(3) respite care; and
(4) in‑home health services.
The Department shall provide transportation for any of the services it makes available to children or families or for which it refers children or families.
(j) The Department may provide categories of financial assistance and education assistance grants, and shall establish rules and regulations concerning the assistance and grants, to persons who adopt physically or mentally handicapped, older and other hard‑to‑place children who (i) immediately prior to their adoption were legal wards of the Department or (ii) were determined eligible for financial assistance with respect to a prior adoption and who become available for adoption because the prior adoption has been dissolved and the parental rights of the adoptive parents have been terminated or because the child's adoptive parents have died. The Department may continue to provide financial assistance and education assistance grants for a child who was determined eligible for financial assistance under this subsection (j) in the interim period beginning when the child's adoptive parents died and ending with the finalization of the new adoption of the child by another adoptive parent or parents. The Department may also provide categories of financial assistance and education assistance grants, and shall establish rules and regulations for the assistance and grants, to persons appointed guardian of the person under Section 5‑7 of the Juvenile Court Act or Section 2‑27, 3‑28, 4‑25 or 5‑740 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 for children who were wards of the Department for 12 months immediately prior to the appointment of the guardian.
The amount of assistance may vary, depending upon the needs of the child and the adoptive parents, as set forth in the annual assistance agreement. Special purpose grants are allowed where the child requires special service but such costs may not exceed the amounts which similar services would cost the Department if it were to provide or secure them as guardian of the child.
Any financial assistance provided under this subsection is inalienable by assignment, sale, execution, attachment, garnishment, or any other remedy for recovery or collection of a judgment or debt.
(j‑5) The Department shall not deny or delay the placement of a child for adoption if an approved family is available either outside of the Department region handling the case, or outside of the State of Illinois.
(k) The Department shall accept for care and training any child who has been adjudicated neglected or abused, or dependent committed to it pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act or the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
(l) The Department shall offer family preservation services, as defined in Section 8.2 of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, to help families, including adoptive and extended families. Family preservation services shall be offered (i) to prevent the placement of children in substitute care when the children can be cared for at home or in the custody of the person responsible for the children's welfare, (ii) to reunite children with their families, or (iii) to maintain an adoptive placement. Family preservation services shall only be offered when doing so will not endanger the children's health or safety. With respect to children who are in substitute care pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, family preservation services shall not be offered if a goal other than those of subdivisions (A), (B), or (B‑1) of subsection (2) of Section 2‑28 of that Act has been set. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to create a private right of action or claim on the part of any individual or child welfare agency, except that when a child is the subject of an action under Article II of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 and the child's service plan calls for services to facilitate achievement of the permanency goal, the court hearing the action under Article II of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 may order the Department to provide the services set out in the plan, if those services are not provided with reasonable promptness and if those services are available.
The Department shall notify the child and his family of the Department's responsibility to offer and provide family preservation services as identified in the service plan. The child and his family shall be eligible for services as soon as the report is determined to be "indicated". The Department may offer services to any child or family with respect to whom a report of suspected child abuse or neglect has been filed, prior to concluding its investigation under Section 7.12 of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. However, the child's or family's willingness to accept services shall not be considered in the investigation. The Department may also provide services to any child or family who is the subject of any report of suspected child abuse or neglect or may refer such child or family to services available from other agencies in the community, even if the report is determined to be unfounded, if the conditions in the child's or family's home are reasonably likely to subject the child or family to future reports of suspected child abuse or neglect. Acceptance of such services shall be voluntary. The Department may also provide services to any child or family after completion of a family assessment, as an alternative to an investigation, as provided under the "differential response program" provided for in subsection (a‑5) of Section 7.4 of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act.
The Department may, at its discretion except for those children also adjudicated neglected or dependent, accept for care and training any child who has been adjudicated addicted, as a truant minor in need of supervision or as a minor requiring authoritative intervention, under the Juvenile Court Act or the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, but no such child shall be committed to the Department by any court without the approval of the Department. A minor charged with a criminal offense under the Criminal Code of 1961 or adjudicated delinquent shall not be placed in the custody of or committed to the Department by any court, except (i) a minor less than 15 years of age committed to the Department under Section 5‑710 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, (ii) a minor for whom an independent basis of abuse, neglect, or dependency exists, which must be defined by departmental rule, or (iii) a minor for whom the court has granted a supplemental petition to reinstate wardship pursuant to subsection (2) of Section 2‑33 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. An independent basis exists when the allegations or adjudication of abuse, neglect, or dependency do not arise from the same facts, incident, or circumstances which give rise to a charge or adjudication of delinquency.
As soon as is possible after August 7, 2009 (the effective date of Public Act 96‑134), the Department shall develop and implement a special program of family preservation services to support intact, foster, and adoptive families who are experiencing extreme hardships due to the difficulty and stress of caring for a child who has been diagnosed with a pervasive developmental disorder if the Department determines that those services are necessary to ensure the health and safety of the child. The Department may offer services to any family whether or not a report has been filed under the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. The Department may refer the child or family to services available from other agencies in the community if the conditions in the child's or family's home are reasonably likely to subject the child or family to future reports of suspected child abuse or neglect. Acceptance of these services shall be voluntary. The Department shall develop and implement a public information campaign to alert health and social service providers and the general public about these special family preservation services. The nature and scope of the services offered and the number of families served under the special program implemented under this paragraph shall be determined by the level of funding that the Department annually allocates for this purpose. The term "pervasive developmental disorder" under this paragraph means a neurological condition, including but not limited to, Asperger's Syndrome and autism, as defined in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association.
(l‑1) The legislature recognizes that the best interests of the child require that the child be placed in the most permanent living arrangement as soon as is practically possible. To achieve this goal, the legislature directs the Department of Children and Family Services to conduct concurrent planning so that permanency may occur at the earliest opportunity. Permanent living arrangements may include prevention of placement of a child outside the home of the family when the child can be cared for at home without endangering the child's health or safety; reunification with the family, when safe and appropriate, if temporary placement is necessary; or movement of the child toward the most permanent living arrangement and permanent legal status.
When determining reasonable efforts to be made with respect to a child, as described in this subsection, and in making such reasonable efforts, the child's health and safety shall be the paramount concern.
When a child is placed in foster care, the Department shall ensure and document that reasonable efforts were made to prevent or eliminate the need to remove the child from the child's home. The Department must make reasonable efforts to reunify the family when temporary placement of the child occurs unless otherwise required, pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. At any time after the dispositional hearing where the Department believes that further reunification services would be ineffective, it may request a finding from the court that reasonable efforts are no longer appropriate. The Department is not required to provide further reunification services after such a finding.
A decision to place a child in substitute care shall be made with considerations of the child's health, safety, and best interests. At the time of placement, consideration should also be given so that if reunification fails or is delayed, the placement made is the best available placement to provide permanency for the child.
The Department shall adopt rules addressing concurrent planning for reunification and permanency. The Department shall consider the following factors when determining appropriateness of concurrent planning:
(1) the likelihood of prompt reunification;
(2) the past history of the family;
(3) the barriers to reunification being addressed by |
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(4) the level of cooperation of the family;
(5) the foster parents' willingness to work with the |
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(6) the willingness and ability of the foster family |
| to provide an adoptive home or long‑term placement; |
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(7) the age of the child;
(8) placement of siblings.
(m) The Department may assume temporary custody of any child if:
(1) it has received a written consent to such |
| temporary custody signed by the parents of the child or by the parent having custody of the child if the parents are not living together or by the guardian or custodian of the child if the child is not in the custody of either parent, or |
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(2) the child is found in the State and neither a |
| parent, guardian nor custodian of the child can be located. |
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If the child is found in his or her residence without a parent, guardian, custodian or responsible caretaker, the Department may, instead of removing the child and assuming temporary custody, place an authorized representative of the Department in that residence until such time as a parent, guardian or custodian enters the home and expresses a willingness and apparent ability to ensure the child's health and safety and resume permanent charge of the child, or until a relative enters the home and is willing and able to ensure the child's health and safety and assume charge of the child until a parent, guardian or custodian enters the home and expresses such willingness and ability to ensure the child's safety and resume permanent charge. After a caretaker has remained in the home for a period not to exceed 12 hours, the Department must follow those procedures outlined in Section 2‑9, 3‑11, 4‑8, or 5‑415 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
The Department shall have the authority, responsibilities and duties that a legal custodian of the child would have pursuant to subsection (9) of Section 1‑3 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. Whenever a child is taken into temporary custody pursuant to an investigation under the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, or pursuant to a referral and acceptance under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 of a minor in limited custody, the Department, during the period of temporary custody and before the child is brought before a judicial officer as required by Section 2‑9, 3‑11, 4‑8, or 5‑415 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, shall have the authority, responsibilities and duties that a legal custodian of the child would have under subsection (9) of Section 1‑3 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
The Department shall ensure that any child taken into custody is scheduled for an appointment for a medical examination.
A parent, guardian or custodian of a child in the temporary custody of the Department who would have custody of the child if he were not in the temporary custody of the Department may deliver to the Department a signed request that the Department surrender the temporary custody of the child. The Department may retain temporary custody of the child for 10 days after the receipt of the request, during which period the Department may cause to be filed a petition pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. If a petition is so filed, the Department shall retain temporary custody of the child until the court orders otherwise. If a petition is not filed within the 10 day period, the child shall be surrendered to the custody of the requesting parent, guardian or custodian not later than the expiration of the 10 day period, at which time the authority and duties of the Department with respect to the temporary custody of the child shall terminate.
(m‑1) The Department may place children under 18 years of age in a secure child care facility licensed by the Department that cares for children who are in need of secure living arrangements for their health, safety, and well‑being after a determination is
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