Bill Text: IL HB4676 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Creates the Second Chance State Behavioral Health Workforce Development Act. Contains findings. Provides that each institution of higher education shall annually allow for the admission of at least one returning resident (a person who is a resident of and domiciled in Illinois, has graduated from high school or the equivalent, has been convicted of a felony by a specified court, was sentenced to incarceration pursuant to that conviction, and is no longer incarcerated) in an undergraduate or graduate academic program that will lead to the qualification of the returning resident as a behavioral health care professional. Provides that the returning resident shall not be required to pay any tuition, fee, or other charge for any class the returning resident takes if the State appropriates funds for reimbursement. Provides that the Illinois Student Assistance Commission shall contract with community-based organizations and legal service providers to provide specified services to returning residents. Provides that certain criminal convictions and dispositions are not cause for a licensing agency to deny an individual a license, permission, or authorization to be a behavioral health care professional. Provides that a licensing agency shall consider specified mitigating factors when considering an application for a license, permission, or other authorization to be a behavioral health care professional. Provides that, if a licensing agency refuses to issue a license, permission, or other authorization to perform a behavioral health care profession based upon a conviction, the licensing agency shall notify the individual of the denial with specified information included in the notice of denial. Provides that neither the Commission nor a community-based organization providing services under the Act shall enter into a contractual or other financial, service, or volunteer relationship with and shall not pay any money or provide any other form of consideration to specified persons or entities. Provides that institutions of higher education shall strictly comply with the Act and the Commission shall take actions necessary to obtain compliance and enforce the Act. Contains provisions concerning judicial proceedings, certifications, adoption of rules, notices, conflicts, severability, and other matters. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-03-04 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB4676 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-HB4676-Introduced.html

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102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2021 and 2022 HB4676 Introduced , by Rep. Deb Conroy SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
New Act
Creates the Second Chance State Behavioral Health Workforce Development Act. Contains findings. Provides that each institution of higher education shall annually allow for the admission of at least one returning resident (a person who is a resident of and domiciled in Illinois, has graduated from high school or the equivalent, has been convicted of a felony by a specified court, was sentenced to incarceration pursuant to that conviction, and is no longer incarcerated) in an undergraduate or graduate academic program that will lead to the qualification of the returning resident as a behavioral health care professional. Provides that the returning resident shall not be required to pay any tuition, fee, or other charge for any class the returning resident takes if the State appropriates funds for reimbursement. Provides that the Illinois Student Assistance Commission shall contract with community-based organizations and legal service providers to provide specified services to returning residents. Provides that certain criminal convictions and dispositions are not cause for a licensing agency to deny an individual a license, permission, or authorization to be a behavioral health care professional. Provides that a licensing agency shall consider specified mitigating factors when considering an application for a license, permission, or other authorization to be a behavioral health care professional. Provides that, if a licensing agency refuses to issue a license, permission, or other authorization to perform a behavioral health care profession based upon a conviction, the licensing agency shall notify the individual of the denial with specified information included in the notice of denial. Provides that neither the Commission nor a community-based organization providing services under the Act shall enter into a contractual or other financial, service, or volunteer relationship with and shall not pay any money or provide any other form of consideration to specified persons or entities. Provides that institutions of higher education shall strictly comply with the Act and the Commission shall take actions necessary to obtain compliance and enforce the Act. Contains provisions concerning judicial proceedings, certifications, adoption of rules, notices, conflicts, severability, and other matters. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning regulation.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Second
Chance State Behavioral Health Workforce Development Act.
Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds that:
(1) The insufficient number of behavioral health
professionals in Illinois' behavioral health workforce has
created a public health crisis.
(2) A University of Southern California study estimates
that this shortage increased by approximately 201% between
2017 and 2018, alone. As a result, about 38% or nearly 4.9
million Illinoisans reside in behavioral health workforce
shortage areas.
(3) Justice-involved individuals are among the populations
in Illinois who are most severely impacted by this shortage.
According to the University of Southern California study,
people living with mental illness are more likely to encounter
the criminal justice system, resulting in a large number of
arrests and incarcerations and recidivism. The overall cost of
incarceration of more than 8,000 prisoners with serious mental
illness in the State of Illinois exceeds $190 million per
year. It costs Illinois over $151,000 each time one of those

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individuals recidivates.
(4) Studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of
allowing persons with similarly lived experiences to provide
behavioral health services to this population.
(5) To end the behavioral health workforce shortage that
affects Illinois as a whole and the justice-involved
population in particular, it is therefore in this State's best
interest to provide pathways for those with lived carceral
experience to gain the training and credentials they need to
provide behavioral health services.
Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
"Behavioral health care profession" means a profession
involving the provision of behavioral health care including,
without limitation, qualified mental health professionals,
certified alcohol and drug counselors, peer support
specialists, clinical psychologists, licensed clinical social
workers, licensed social workers, marriage and family
therapists, professional counselors, clinical professional
counselors, and sex offender treatment providers.
"Behavioral health care professional" means a person
engaged in a behavioral health care profession.
"Commission" means the Illinois Student Assistance
Commission.
"Community-based organization" means a private, non-profit
entity that has established and demonstrable experience

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providing behavioral health care and other services to
Illinois' returning resident community and an understanding of
the issues affecting those returning residents, which is
evidenced by (1) the provision of behavioral health and other
services to returning residents in Illinois for at least 5
years; (2) experience providing returning residents with
assistance regarding issues necessary for those returning
residents' success in life, including, without limitation, job
preparation training, skills training, job placement, housing,
financial and digital literacy and physical and behavioral
health; (3) experience providing educational programming to
returning residents; (4) experience providing that assistance
on a comprehensive, coordinated, and holistic basis; (5)
having established relationships with other community-based
service providers that serve returning residents' needs; (6) a
history of employing returning residents; and (7) leadership
that reflects the diversity of the community in which the
organization operates.
"Degree granting institution" shall have the meaning set
forth in Section 2 of the Academic Degree Act.
"For-profit correctional entity" means a person or entity
that directly, indirectly, or beneficially operates a
correctional or detention facility for profit.
"Institution of higher education" means any publicly or
privately operated university, college, community college,
business, technical, or vocational school, or other

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educational institution offering degrees or instruction beyond
the secondary school level, including, without limitation, a
degree granting institution, post-secondary educational
institution, public institution of higher education, or any
institution that operates pursuant to authority provided to it
by the Board of Higher Education or the Board of Higher
Education Act.
"Licensing agency" means the State or any agency or other
political subdivision of the State that is authorized to grant
a license, permission, or other authorization for an
individual to be a behavioral health care professional,
including, without limitation, individuals providing services
as qualified mental health professionals, certified alcohol
and drug counselors, peer support specialists, clinical
psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, licensed
social workers, marriage and family therapists, professional
counselors, clinical professional counselors, and sex offender
treatment providers.
"Post-secondary educational institution" has the meaning
set forth in Section 1 of the Private College Act.
"Public institutions of higher education" has the meaning
set forth in Section 1 of the Board of Higher Education Act.
"Returning resident" means a person who: (1) is a resident
of and domiciled in Illinois; (2) has graduated from high
school or the equivalent; (3) has been convicted of a felony or
similar crime by any state or federal court sitting in the

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United States, any territory thereof, the District of
Columbia, or any United States military tribunal; (4) was
sentenced to incarceration pursuant to that conviction; and
(5) is no longer incarcerated.
Section 15. Administration of Act. The Commission shall
administer all programs, services, and all other provisions of
Sections 20 and 25, provide administrative support for the
implementation of those Sections, and is authorized to adopt
rules necessary to implement those Sections.
Section 20. Returning resident enrollment rights.
(a) Each institution of higher education shall annually
allow for the admission of at least one returning resident in
an academic program that is intended to culminate in the
granting of undergraduate and graduate degrees by that
institution of higher education that will satisfy academic
prerequisites and lead to the qualification of the returning
resident to be a behavioral health care professional.
(b) If the institution of higher education requires
students to have completed an entrance examination as a
precondition to admission to the program in which the
returning resident seeks admission, the returning resident
shall be admitted to that program if the returning resident's
score on such examination is at least equivalent to the lowest
score achieved by a person who was admitted in the previous

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year to the same program at the institution of higher
education to which the returning resident seeks admission.
(c) The returning resident shall not be subject to any
residency requirements otherwise applicable to enrollment in a
class at the institution of higher education; however, the
returning resident shall be a resident of and domiciled in
Illinois.
(d) Except as provided herein, the returning resident
shall be subject to all other academic requirements that apply
to other students in the academic program in which the
returning resident is enrolled.
(e) The returning resident shall not be required to pay
any tuition, fee, or other charge for any class the returning
resident takes pursuant to this Act if the State appropriates
funds to reimburse the institution of higher education for the
tuition, fees, or other charges that the returning resident
would have otherwise paid to the institution for higher
education.
(f) The returning resident shall complete the screening
process set forth in Section 25 and shall not have the status
of being unconditionally disqualified from obtaining the
license, permission, or other authorization the returning
resident would require in order to engage in the specific
behavioral health care profession for which the returning
resident seeks training pursuant to this Act.

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Section 25. Returning resident pre-enrollment screening
and services.
(a) Subject to appropriation, the Commission shall:
(1) contract with one or more community-based
organizations to: (A) screen each returning resident who
seeks enrollment in an institution of higher education
pursuant to this Act to determine and advise the returning
resident of the statutory disqualifications or conditions
that apply to the returning resident's ability to obtain a
license, permission, or other authorization from a State
agency that the returning resident would require in order
to engage in the specific behavioral health care
profession for which the returning resident seeks training
pursuant to this Act; and (B) provide courses and other
training necessary to prepare returning residents for
entrance examinations and other matters required for
admission to institutions of higher education pursuant to
this Act; and
(2) contract with one or more legal service providers
to provide legal services to returning residents that are
needed to fulfill the statutory conditions that apply to
the returning resident's ability to obtain a license,
permission, or other authorization that the returning
resident would require in order to engage in the specific
behavioral health care profession for which the returning
resident seeks training pursuant to this Act, including,

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without limitation, sealing-related, expungement-related,
and clemency-related proceedings.
(b) Within 6 months of the effective date of this Act, the
Commission shall publish notice of proposed rules in the
Illinois Register that set forth procedures for the screening
of returning residents for admission to institutions of higher
education pursuant to this Act.
Section 30. Returning resident licensure.
(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law:
(1) A non-conviction disposition of a criminal
proceeding against an individual shall not be cause for a
licensing agency to deny that individual a license or any
other permission or authorization legally required to be a
behavioral health care professional.
(2) A misdemeanor conviction shall not be cause for a
licensing agency to deny that individual a license or any
other permission or authorization legally required to be a
behavioral health care professional, regardless of the
sentence imposed pursuant to that conviction.
(3) A conviction that is unrelated to the specific
behavioral health care profession in which the convicted
individual seeks to engage shall not be cause for a
licensing agency to deny that individual a license or any
other permission or authorization legally required to
engage in that behavioral health care profession. Without

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limiting the foregoing, convictions for (i) drug related
offenses; (ii) offenses involving dishonesty or fraud;
(iv) violation of any provision of the Illinois Vehicle
Code; (v) second degree murder; (vi) involuntary
manslaughter; (vii) reckless homicide; (viii) drug induced
homicide; or (xi) any other offense that did not involve
the actual use of physical force, except, promoting
juvenile prostitution, patronizing a minor engaged in
prostitution, grooming, traveling to meet a child,
terrorism, or treason, shall be construed to be unrelated
to any behavioral health care profession.
(b) When a licensing agency is considering an application
for a license, permission, or other authorization to be a
behavioral health care professional by an individual who has
been convicted of an offense that is related to the specific
behavioral health care profession in which the convicted
individual seeks to engage, the licensing agency shall
consider the following mitigating factors in connection with
the individual's conviction:
(1) the bearing, if any, the criminal offense or
offenses for which the individual was previously convicted
will have on the individual's fitness or ability to
perform one or more such duties and responsibilities of
the specific behavioral health care profession in which
the individual wishes to engage;
(2) the time that has elapsed since the criminal

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conviction;
(3) the age of the individual at the time of the
criminal conviction;
(4) if the individual was previously licensed or
employed in this State or other states or jurisdictions,
the lack of prior misconduct arising from or related to
the licensed position or position of employment;
(5) successful completion of sentence and, for
individuals serving a term of parole, probation, or
mandatory supervised release, a progress report provided
by the applicant's probation or parole officer that
documents the individual's compliance with conditions of
supervision;
(6) evidence of the applicant's present fitness and
professional character;
(7) evidence of rehabilitation or rehabilitative
effort during or after incarceration, or during or after a
term of supervision, including, but not limited to, a
certificate of good conduct under Section 5-5.5-25 of the
Unified Code of Corrections or a certificate of relief
from disabilities under Section 5-5.5-10 of the Unified
Code of Corrections;
(8) the financial and other impacts that failure to
grant the license, permission, or other authorization will
have on the individual; and
(9) any other mitigating factors that contribute to

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the individual's potential and current ability to perform
the duties of the behavioral health care profession in
which the individual wishes to engage.
(c) If a licensing agency refuses to issue a license,
permission, or other authorization for an individual to
perform a behavioral health care profession based upon a
conviction or convictions, in whole or in part, the licensing
agency shall notify the individual of the denial in writing
with the following included in the notice of denial:
(1) a detailed explanation of all reasons for the
refusal to grant the license, permission, or other
authorization, including, without limitation, the factual
and legal basis for the refusal;
(2) a list of convictions that a licensing agency
determined will impair the individual's ability to engage
in the position for which a license, permission, or other
authorization is required;
(3) a list of convictions that formed the sole or
partial basis for the refusal to issue a license,
permission, or other authorization; and
(4) a summary of the appeal process or the earliest
the individual may reapply for a license, permission, or
other authorization, whichever is applicable.
(d) Each licensing agency that has not promulgated rules
providing an individual who has been denied a license,
permission, or other authorization to be a behavioral health

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care professional due to a conviction with a means of
appealing that denial, shall publish notice of proposed rules
in the Illinois Register within 6 months of the effective date
of this Act.
Section 35. Prohibition on relationships with for-profit
correctional entities.
(a) Neither the Commission nor any community-based
organization providing services pursuant to this Act shall
enter into a contractual or other financial, service, or
volunteer relationship with and shall not pay any money or
provide any other form of consideration to:
(1) a for-profit correctional entity;
(2) a person or entity that directly, indirectly, or
beneficially, in the person's or entity's own name or in
the name of a nominee, has an ownership interest in or
other form of control over more than 7 1/2% of a for-profit
correctional entity;
(3) an entity where a person or entity described in
paragraph (1) or (2) directly, indirectly, or
beneficially, in the person's or entity's own name or in
the name of a nominee, has an ownership interest in or
other form of control over more than 7 1/2%;
(4) an entity where a person described in paragraph
(2) is an officer, director, trustee, administrator, or
employee;

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(5) a person who is or has been an officer, director,
trustee, administrator, or employee of a for-profit
correctional entity;
(6) an entity where a person described in paragraph
(5) is an officer, director, trustee, administrator, or
employee;
(7) an entity in which a for-profit correctional
entity, directly, indirectly, or beneficially, in its own
name or in the name of a nominee, has an ownership interest
in or other form of control over more than 7 1/2%;
(8) a non-profit entity that was or is organized by,
operated by, funded in part by, or has an officer,
director, trustee, administrator, or employee any person
or entity described in paragraphs (1) through (7).
(b) A community-based organization providing services
pursuant to this Act shall not assign or otherwise transfer
any of its powers, duties, or obligations that are set forth in
this Act or any agreement it enters pursuant to this Act to any
person or entity described in subsection (a). The Commission,
any officer, director, administrator, or employee of the
Commission, a community-based organization providing services
pursuant to this Act or any officer, director, trustee,
administrator, or employee of such community-based
organization shall not refer a returning resident for any
service whatsoever to a person or entity described in
paragraphs (1) through (7) of subsection (a).

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(c) Each party to any contract, agreement, memorandum of
understanding, or similar instrument with the Commission or a
community-based organization providing services pursuant to
this Act shall certify in writing that under penalty of
perjury, the party has performed due diligence to determine
whether the party complies with this Section and, after
performing the due diligence, has determined that the party
complies with this Section.
(d) Each employee of the Commission and each
community-based organization providing services pursuant to
this Act shall certify in writing that the employee or
organization has performed due diligence to determine whether
the employee or organization complies with this Section and,
after performing the due diligence, has determined that the
employee or organization complies with this Section.
Section 40. Enforcement. Institutions of higher education
shall strictly comply with the provisions of this Act. The
Commission is authorized, directed, and required to take all
actions necessary to obtain such compliance and otherwise
enforce the provisions of this Act. Notwithstanding and in
addition to any other requirement of this Act or any other
provision of law:
(1) The provisions of this Act may be enforced
pursuant to judicial proceedings against an alleged
violator that seek to require the violator to cease and

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desist from violating this Act, allow one or more
returning residents to be admitted to an institution of
higher education or enroll in the class or classes they
are entitled to enroll in pursuant to this Act, and pay any
damages suffered by one or more returning residents for
violation of this Act.
(2) A returning resident shall have a private right of
action to enforce the provisions of this Act by personally
bringing an action pursuant to paragraph (1). Any
institution of higher education that is found liable for
violation of this Act pursuant to this subsection shall,
in addition to other damages, be liable to pay all
reasonable attorney's fees, costs, and expenses incurred
by the returning resident and that pertain to the
returning resident's actions to enforce the returning
resident's rights against that institution of higher
education pursuant to this Act.
(3) Venue for any action brought pursuant to this
Section shall be in the county where the returning
resident who is the subject of the action is domiciled.
Section 45. Provisions of Act mandatory; conflicts.
Subject only to appropriation, the provisions of this Act are
mandatory and shall not be considered to be directory or
discretionary. In the event of a conflict between the
provisions of this Act and the provisions of the Higher

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Education Student Assistance Act, the provisions of this Act
shall prevail.
Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.