Bill Text: IL SB3531 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Children and Family Services Act. Provides that beginning in State Fiscal Year 2021, and for every State fiscal year thereafter, the Department of Children and Family Services shall implement the rate reimbursement methodology outlined in a specified provision of the Illinois Administrative Code when calculating and determining the payment rates for private agencies that contract with the Department to provide any specified services, including, but not limited to: (i) residential services; (ii) specialized, adolescent, treatment, or other non-traditional or Home-of-Relative foster care services; and (iii) intact family services. Provides that the payment rates calculated and determined, as provided in the amendatory Act, shall include an amount equal to any increase in the general inflation as determined by the consumer price index and shall be subject to appropriations. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Failed) 2021-01-13 - Session Sine Die [SB3531 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-SB3531-Introduced.html

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101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2019 and 2020 SB3531 Introduced 2/13/2020, by Sen. Sara Feigenholtz SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
20 ILCS 505/5g new
Amends the Children and Family Services Act. Provides that beginning in State Fiscal Year 2021, and for every State fiscal year thereafter, the Department of Children and Family Services shall implement the rate reimbursement methodology outlined in a specified provision of the Illinois Administrative Code when calculating and determining the payment rates for private agencies that contract with the Department to provide any specified services, including, but not limited to: (i) residential services; (ii) specialized, adolescent, treatment, or other non-traditional or Home-of-Relative foster care services; and (iii) intact family services. Provides that the payment rates calculated and determined, as provided in the amendatory Act, shall include an amount equal to any increase in the general inflation as determined by the consumer price index and shall be subject to appropriations. Effective immediately.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning children.
WHEREAS, The Department of Children and Family Services'
stated mission is to protect children who are reported to be
abused or neglected and to increase their families' capacity to
safely care for them; provide for the well-being of children in
their care; provide appropriate, permanent families as quickly
as possible for those children who cannot safely return home;
support early intervention and child abuse prevention
activities and work in partnerships with communities to fulfill
this mission; and
WHEREAS, Community-based agencies provide care and
services for more than 80% of children involved with the child
welfare system on behalf of the State of Illinois, which has a
moral, legal, and financial responsibility to provide them with
the best possible care; and
WHEREAS, The Department of Children and Family Services
contracts with community-based agencies to provide services
for, but not limited to, children and youth in foster care,
intact families, and congregate care settings, at an
established fixed rate which should include all costs
associated with the delivery of those services; and
WHEREAS, The community-based agencies that provide these
vital services continually face rising operational and

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personnel costs such as competitive employee wages, increasing
insurance premiums, employee benefits, occupancy, utilities,
training costs, and travel costs, yet the rates provided to the
community-based agencies are not adjusted for these
costs-of-doing-business expenses; and
WHEREAS, It is the obligation of the General Assembly to
promote the health, safety, and well-being of children, youth,
and families in the care of the Department of Children and
Family Services; and
WHEREAS, Investing in community-based agencies will help
the General Assembly meet its obligation and improve outcomes
for all families to reach their full potential and to ensure a
stronger and more equitable future for the children, youth, and
families in the care of the Department of Children and Family
Services; and
WHEREAS, It is imperative that the General Assembly
establish a standardized annual process that includes
adjustments for the cost of doing business, as measured by the
Consumer Price Index, and for evaluating and setting the rates
for child welfare services to ensure sufficient resources to
obtain the appropriate outcomes for children, youth, and
families involved in the Illinois child welfare system;
therefore

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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 5g as follows:
(20 ILCS 505/5g new)
Sec. 5g. Payment rate increases for reimbursable services.
(a) As used in this Section, "consumer price index" means
the index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the
United States Department of Labor that measures the consumer
price index of all items less medical care in Midwest urban
areas, for all urban consumers, not seasonally adjusted.
(b) Beginning in State Fiscal Year 2021, and for every
State fiscal year thereafter, the Department shall implement
the rate reimbursement methodology outlined in 89 Ill. Adm.
Code 356.50(f) when calculating and determining the payment
rates for private agencies that contract with the Department to
provide any of the services enumerated in 89 Ill. Adm. Code
356.50(f) and in paragraph (1) of this subsection. Payment
rates calculated and determined as provided in this Section
shall include an amount equal to any increase in the general
inflation as determined by the consumer price index. The
contractual and grant services under this Section to which the

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rate methodology shall apply include the following:
(1) Residential services, including child care
institution, group home care, independent living services,
or transitional living services.
(2) Specialized, adolescent, treatment, or other
non-traditional or Home-of-Relative foster care.
(3) Traditional or Home-of-Relative foster care.
(4) Intact Family Services.
(5) Teen Parenting Services.
(c) The payment rates calculated and determined as provided
in this Section shall be subject to appropriations.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.