Public Act 0166 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB1743 Enrolled LRB101 09307 KTG 54401 b

Public Act 101-0166

AN ACT concerning State government.

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 Sections 39.3 and 42 as follows:

(20 ILCS 505/39.3)

Sec. 39.3. Suggestion boxes. The Department must place in each residential treatment center, group home, shelter, and transitional living arrangement that accepts youth in care for placement by the Department a locked suggestion box into which residents may place comments and concerns to be addressed by the Department. Only employees of the Department shall have access to the contents of the locked suggestion boxes. An employee of the Department must check the locked suggestion boxes at least once per week. The Department shall submit a report to the General Assembly each year outlining the issues and concerns submitted to the locked suggestion box and the solution to each issue and concern.

(Source: P.A. 99-342, eff. 8-11-15; 100-159, eff. 8-18-17.)

(20 ILCS 505/42 new)

Sec. 42. Foster care survey. The Department, in coordination with the Foster Care Alumni of America Illinois Chapter, the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the Department's Statewide Youth Advisory Board, shall develop and process a standardized survey to gather feedback from children who are aging out of foster care and from children who have transitioned out of the foster care system. The survey shall include requests for information regarding the children's experience with and opinion of State foster care services, the children's recommendations for improvement of such services, the amount of time the children spent in the foster care system, and any other information deemed relevant by the Department. After the survey is created the Department shall circulate the survey to all youth participating in transitional living programs, independent living programs, or Youth in College and to all youth receiving scholarships or tuition waivers under the DCFS Scholarship Program. The Department shall conduct the survey every 5 years. At the completion of each survey, the Department, in coordination with the Foster Care Alumni of America Illinois Chapter, the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the Department's Statewide Youth Advisory Board, shall submit a report with a detailed review of the survey results to the Governor and the General Assembly. The first report shall be submitted no later than December 1, 2021 and every 5 years thereafter.