Bill Text: IL HB0634 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Creates the McHenry County Children and Family Services Agency Division in the Counties Code (which may be referred to as AJ's Law). Establishes a county children and family services agency in McHenry County for a 5-year period to replace the operations of the Department of Children and Family Services within that county. Provides that the McHenry County children and family services agency shall have all powers and duties of the Department under the Children and Family Services Act and the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. Provides for the appointment of an executive director and employment of employees. Provides for requirements for operation of the county children and family services agency, including unit-based multidisciplinary teams. Provides for State funding of the agency after submission of a budget to the Department each year. Provides for transfer of power and duties back to the Department should the county children and family services agency cease operators after the initial 5-year period. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-27 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB0634 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-HB0634-Introduced.html

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102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2021 and 2022 HB0634 Introduced , by Rep. Steven Reick SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
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Creates the McHenry County Children and Family Services Agency Division in the Counties Code (which may be referred to as AJ's Law). Establishes a county children and family services agency in McHenry County for a 5-year period to replace the operations of the Department of Children and Family Services within that county. Provides that the McHenry County children and family services agency shall have all powers and duties of the Department under the Children and Family Services Act and the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. Provides for the appointment of an executive director and employment of employees. Provides for requirements for operation of the county children and family services agency, including unit-based multidisciplinary teams. Provides for State funding of the agency after submission of a budget to the Department each year. Provides for transfer of power and duties back to the Department should the county children and family services agency cease operators after the initial 5-year period. Effective immediately.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY HOUSING AFFORDABILITY IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
HB0634 LRB102 10856 AWJ 16186 b
AN ACT concerning local government.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by adding Division
5-45 as follows:
(55 ILCS 5/Div. 5-45 heading new)
Division 5-45. McHenry County Children
and Family Services Agency
(55 ILCS 5/5-45001 new)
Sec. 5-45001. Reference to Division. This Division may be
referred to as AJ's Law.
(55 ILCS 5/5-45005 new)
Sec. 5-45005. Definitions. As used in this Division:
"Agency" means the McHenry County children and family
services agency.
"County" means McHenry County.
"County board" means the McHenry County Board.
"Department" means the Department of Children and Family
Services.
(55 ILCS 5/5-45010 new)

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Sec. 5-45010. McHenry County children and family services
agency; Department transfer of duties.
(a) The McHenry County children and family services agency
is established. The agency shall begin operating no earlier
than 90 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of
the 102nd General Assembly. Once operations begin, the agency
shall be a full-time agency of the county whose personnel,
other than consultants, clinicians, or part-time clerical
staff, shall devote full time during business hours to agency
duties.
The county shall give the Department at least 45 days'
notice as to the date the agency will begin operations. The
agency will operate for at least 5 full years after the date
the agency began its operations.
(b) On the date the county indicated to the Department
that it would begin its agency operations in the notice
provided to the Department under subsection (a), the
Department's powers and duties under the Children and Family
Services Act and the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act
are assumed by the agency. Duties under these Acts include,
but are not limited to, maintaining and managing: current
services offered under the Acts; a crisis line or hotline; and
the files transferred from the Department and created by the
agency. The agency may modify their duties under the Acts if
those changes are in the best interests of the children and
families in the county and by reporting such changes to the

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Department no earlier than 30 days before any such change.
(c) Once powers and duties are assumed by the agency under
this Section, the agency shall perform its work in accordance
with Department criteria, including any needed revised
criteria based upon changes to the agency's duties reported to
the Department under subsection (b).
(55 ILCS 5/5-45015 new)
Sec. 5-45015. Agency duties; investigatory functions. The
agency shall protect the health, safety, and best interests of
children in all situations in which children are vulnerable to
child abuse or neglect, offer protective services in order to
prevent any further harm to the child and to other children in
the same environment or family, stabilize the home
environment, and preserve family life whenever possible.
The agency shall employ policies and procedures to protect
children from being abused and neglected as provided for in
the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, including, but
not limited to, being responsible for receiving and
investigating reports of adult resident abuse or neglect. In
performing any of these duties, the agency may utilize
protective services of voluntary agencies as are available.
(55 ILCS 5/5-45020 new)
Sec. 5-45020. Executive director; appointment. The county
board chairperson shall appoint an executive director of the

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agency, with the advice and consent of the county board. The
executive director shall possess such qualifications as
prescribed by the county board. The executive director of the
agency may appoint such professional employees who meet the
qualification requirements of the agency as allowed by the
funds available to the agency.
(55 ILCS 5/5-45025 new)
Sec. 5-45025. Employees; facilities.
(a) All investigators and employees of the agency shall be
employees of the county with the same qualifications and
accreditation as required under the statutes, rules,
procedures, and standards governing investigators and
employees the Department. Current employees or contractors of
the Department may be employed or contracted by the agency as
deemed appropriate by the executive director, including those
employees and investigators employed by the State within the
facilities of the Department within the county. Agency
employees shall be enrolled in such benefits and pension
programs as deemed appropriate by the executive director that
would be commensurate with county employees within other
county agencies and departments. County employees of the
agency shall be eligible for the same training eligible to for
similar roles as State employees or contractors of the
Department.
(b) The agency may lease or purchase facilities to operate

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the agency and to house its employees and contractors,
including leasing or purchasing facilities from the
Department.
(55 ILCS 5/5-45030 new)
Sec. 5-45030. Operations. The agency will be operated as
recommended in the February 2016 report, "The Urgent Need in
Illinois for Unit-Based Multidisciplinary Teams to Investigate
Child Abuse", published by the Illinois Children's Justice
Task Force.
The agency may contract with the State, units of local
government, providers, contractors, and servicers in order to
provide its services with the highest standards as determined
by the executive director and the agency, including contracts
with pediatric child abuse physicians and neglect centers of
excellence.
(55 ILCS 5/5-45035 new)
Sec. 5-45035. Agency funding; continuing appropriation.
(a) No later than 45 days after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 102nd General assembly and each year
thereafter no later than 45 days before the anniversary of the
date the agency began operations, the executive director shall
prepare a budget and file the proposed budget with the
Director of the Department. Each budget shall be no less than
the total amount of all appropriations that were used by the

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Department in the county in the fiscal year immediately
preceding the date the agency began its operations.
On the date the agency begins its operations under
subsection (a) of Section 5-45010, the Department shall make
grants to the county for use by the agency in amounts equal to
the moneys the Department was appropriated or otherwise
received that the Department would have used for the remainder
of the current fiscal year in the county. The grants,
including those amounts appropriated and transferred to the
Department under subsection (b), shall be distributed to the
county no later than 14 days after the Department receives the
applicable moneys and shall continue indefinitely unless the
agency ceases operations under Section 5-45045. For moneys in
possession of the Department designated for use in the county
on the date the agency begins its operations, those moneys
shall be distributed to the county no later than 14 days after
the agency began its operations.
(b) For the 5 State fiscal years immediately following the
date the agency begins its operations under subsection (a) of
Section 5-45010:
(1) The Governor shall submit to the General Assembly
a proposed budget for the Department for use by the county
in which total General Revenue Fund appropriations are no
less than the total amount of all appropriations that were
used by the Department in the county in the fiscal year
immediately preceding the date the agency began its

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operations. In addition, the Governor shall specify the
total amount of funds to be transferred from all Funds to
the Department for use by the county during the budget
year, which shall be no less than the total amount of all
appropriations that were used by the Department in the
county in the fiscal year immediately preceding the date
the agency began its operations. The Governor may submit a
proposed budget in which the total appropriated and
transferred amounts the Department for use by the county
are less than the total amount of all appropriations that
were used by the Department in the county in the fiscal
year immediately preceding the date the agency began its
operations if the Governor declares in writing to the
General Assembly the reason for the lesser amounts.
(2) The General Assembly shall appropriate amounts for
the Department for use by the county for each fiscal year
so that the total appropriation from all Funds is no less
than the total amount of appropriations that were used by
the Department in the county in the fiscal year
immediately preceding the date the agency began its
operations. In addition, the General Assembly shall
legislatively transfer to the Department for use by the
county for the fiscal year a total amount that is no less
than the total amount of all appropriations that were used
by the Department in the county in the fiscal year
immediately preceding the date the agency began its

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operations. The General Assembly may appropriate or
transfer lesser amounts if it declares by Joint Resolution
the reason for the lesser amounts.
(55 ILCS 5/5-45040 new)
Sec. 5-45040. Reporting; accountability.
(a) The agency shall issue annual reports to the
Department, the Governor, and the General Assembly no later
than 30 days after each anniversary of the date the agency
began its operations. The report shall detail the agency's
performance according to standard performance metrics,
including, but not limited to: time of response to hotline
reports; time of communication of hotline reports among
various county stakeholders, including law enforcement; number
and quality of indicated reports as measured against the
Department's last baseline established in the county before
the date the agency began its operations; caseload management
by investigators as measured against the Department's last
baseline established in the county before the date the agency
began its operations; and other metrics as may be recommended
by the executive director of the agency, the Director of the
Department, or the Office of the Inspector General of the
Department.
(b) The Office of the Inspector General of the Department
has the authority to investigate any agency matter that would
otherwise fall within the Inspector General's authority if

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those matters involved the Department.
(55 ILCS 5/5-45045 new)
Sec. 5-45045. Agency ceasing operations.
(a) No earlier than 5 years after the agency began
operations, the county may cease operations under this
Section. Before ceasing operations, the county shall give the
Department no less than 90 days' notice of the date the agency
will cease operations. On the date agency ceases operations,
the Department will resume its powers and duties under the
Children and Family Services Act and the Abused and Neglected
Child Reporting Act and cease all grants to the county under
this Division.
For moneys in possession of the agency from grants from
the Department on the date the agency ceases operations, those
moneys shall be distributed to the Department no later than 14
days after the agency ceases its operations.
(b) The agency shall cease operations on the date of
repeal of this Division under Section 5-45050 if the General
Assembly has not repealed that Section. On that date, the
Department shall resume its powers and duties and the agency
shall distribute moneys as provided in subsection (a).
(55 ILCS 5/5-45050 new)
Sec. 5-45050. Repeal. This Act is repealed 6 years after
the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General

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Assembly.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.
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INDEX
Statutes amended in order of appearance