Bill Text: IL HB2942 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Amends the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. Permits a reporting source, whether mandated or not, to appeal a finding by the Child Protective Service Unit that his or her report of abuse or neglect is unfounded. Provides that the Department of Children and Family Services shall establish by rule the appeal process and that if upon appeal a determination is made that there is no credible evidence of abuse or neglect, the reporting source, whether mandated or not, may petition the Attorney General or the appropriate State's Attorney to review his or her report.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)

Status: (Failed) 2013-01-08 - Session Sine Die [HB2942 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-HB2942-Amended.html

Rep. Patricia R. Bellock

Filed: 3/24/2011

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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2942
2 AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2942 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
4 "Section 5. The Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act is
5amended by changing Section 7.21 as follows:
6 (325 ILCS 5/7.21)
7 Sec. 7.21. Review of unfounded reports. Multidisciplinary
8Review Committee.
9 (a) Whenever the Department determines that a reported
10incident of child abuse or neglect from a reporter is
11"unfounded", the reporter may request an appeal of the
12investigation within 10 days of the notification of the final
13finding. Whenever the Department determines that any reported
14incident of child abuse or neglect is "unfounded", the minor's
15guardian ad litem appointed under the Juvenile Court Act of
161987 may request an appeal of the investigation within 10 days

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1of the notification of the final finding and receipt of the
2investigative packet, if the subject of the report is also the
3minor for whom the guardian ad litem has been appointed.
4Appeals under this subsection will be conducted by a neutral
5third party. The neutral third party shall make recommendations
6to the Department as to the adequacy of the investigation and
7the accuracy of the final finding determination. The Department
8may establish multidisciplinary review committees in each
9region of the State to assure that mandated reporters have the
10ability to have a review conducted on any situation where a
11child abuse or neglect report made by them was "unfounded", and
12they have concerns about the adequacy of the investigation.
13These committees shall draw upon the expertise of the Child
14Death Review Teams as necessary and practicable. Each committee
15will be composed of the following: a health care professional,
16a Department employee, a law enforcement official, a licensed
17social worker, and a representative of the State's attorney's
18office. In appointing members of a committee, primary
19consideration shall be given to a prospective member's prior
20experience in dealing with cases of suspected child abuse or
21neglect.
22 (b) (Blank). Whenever the Department determines that a
23reported incident of child abuse or neglect from a mandated
24reporter is "unfounded", the mandated reporter may request a
25review of the investigation within 10 days of the notification
26of the final finding. Whenever the Department determines that a

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1reported incident of child abuse or neglect from a mandated
2reporter or any other reporter is "unfounded", the minor's
3guardian ad litem appointed under the Juvenile Court Act of
41987 may request a review of the investigation within 10 days
5of the notification of the final finding if the subject of the
6report is also the minor for whom the guardian ad litem has
7been appointed. The review of the investigation requested by
8the guardian ad litem may be conducted by the Regional Child
9Protection Manager.
10 A review under this subsection will be conducted by the
11committee, except those requests for review that are made by
12the guardian ad litem, which shall be conducted by the Regional
13Child Protection Manager. The Department shall make available
14to the committee all information in the Department's possession
15concerning the case. The committee shall make recommendations
16to the Department as to the adequacy of the investigation and
17of the accuracy of the final finding determination. These
18findings shall be forwarded to the Regional Child Protection
19Manager.
20 (c) The Department shall provide complete records of these
21investigations to the committee. Records provided to the
22committee and recommendation reports generated by the
23committee shall not be public record.
24 (c-5) On or before October 1 of each year, the Department
25shall prepare a report setting forth (i) the number of
26investigations appealed reviewed by each committee during the

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1previous fiscal year and (ii) the number of those
2investigations that the committee found to be inadequate, and
3(iii) the number of recommendations to reverse final findings.
4The report shall also include a summary of the committee's
5comments and a summary of the corrective action, if any, that
6was taken in response to the committee's recommendations. The
7report shall be a public record. The Department shall submit
8the report to the General Assembly and shall make the report
9available to the public upon request.
10 (d) The Department shall adopt rules to implement this
11Section by October 1, 2011. The rules may limit the rights of a
12reporter to appeal unfounded cases when the reporter has been
13determined to be engaging in harassing conduct.
14(Source: P.A. 90-239, eff. 7-28-97; 91-812, eff. 6-13-00.)".
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