HB1397eng 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB1397 Engrossed LRB094 06294 LCB 36367 b

AN ACT concerning children.

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 adding Section 6d as follows:

(20 ILCS 505/6d new)

Sec. 6d. Alternate care plans for children and youth.

(a) The General Assembly finds that:

(1) Children entering the child welfare system experience trauma related not only to abuse and neglect but also to out of home placement.

(2) Untreated, the effects of trauma escalate over time.

(3) Placement instability causes service delays and interruptions that jeopardize children's physical and emotional well-being.

(4) A significant portion of children entering residential programs designed to treat complex clinical or development needs do so only after multiple failed foster care placements and without any intensive service intervention.

(5) Relevant and timely service intervention has a direct impact on the quality of life for children in care, the length of time the children are in care and the long-term outcomes when the children leave care.

(b) To ensure that children and youth have efficient and effective access to interventions, programs, and services when needs are identified, the Department shall implement procedures for the establishment of regionally based, multi-disciplinary teams that shall be responsible for developing and ensuring the implementation of plans for youth in care. The Department shall promulgate rules and procedures for the appointment of the teams and for use of uniform assessment tools.

(c) The teams shall:

(1) Use a team-decision making process that collaboratively determines the optimal plan for the youth.

(2) Focus on the current and immediate clinical and social needs of the youth.

(3) Administer a uniform assessment tool, as provided for in Department rules, to assist in determining the child's current level of functioning and well-being.

(4) Be empowered to identify youth's service and placement needs without restriction to program type.

(5) Identify the best plan to meet the child's need based on the individual strengths, needs, and circumstances of the child's case.

(d) The Department shall establish criteria for identifying cases and shall define events that require a meeting of participants in addition to the appointed team members. The criteria or events shall include, at a minimum, all children or youths who have experienced 2 unplanned placement disruptions within a period of 18 months.

(e) Participants in a meeting required by the Department shall include:

(1) individuals with relevant current information about the child or youth;

(2) individuals with a professional capacity that is critical to informed, sound decision-making of the team about the individual youth;

(3) current foster parents or other caregiver, the caseworker, and supervisor;

(4) depending on the child's age and presenting issues, the youth; and

(5) if appropriate, a psychologist, early childhood specialist, education advisor, nurse, therapist, any existing SOC provider of services, the child's guardian ad litem, probation personnel, and any relevant Department of Children and Family Services specialist.

(f) The biological families of the child may be included at the meeting, where appropriate.

(g) The Department may assign staff of the Department to coordinate, prepare, and facilitate the team meetings.

(h) The Department shall develop quality assurance mechanisms to track the appropriateness of service recommendations and implementation performance. The quality assurance mechanisms shall include measures to collect data as to timeliness and effectiveness of the team's decision, as well as service gaps that are identified as the byproduct of these meetings.

(i) By January 15th of each year, the Department shall report to the General Assembly identified service gaps and recommendations for addressing the identified service needs.