Public Act 103-0770
 
SB2980 EnrolledLRB103 35564 SPS 65636 b

    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Child Care Act of 1969 is amended by 
changing Section 4 as follows:
 
    (225 ILCS 10/4)  (from Ch. 23, par. 2214)
    Sec. 4. License requirement; application; notice. 
    (a) Any person, group of persons or corporation who or 
which receives children or arranges for care or placement of 
one or more children unrelated to the operator must apply for a 
license to operate one of the types of facilities defined in 
Sections 2.05 through 2.19 and in Section 2.22 of this Act. Any 
relative, as defined in Section 2.17 of this Act, who receives 
a child or children for placement by the Department on a 
full-time basis may apply for a license to operate a foster 
family home as defined in Section 2.17 of this Act.
    (a-5) Any agency, person, group of persons, association, 
organization, corporation, institution, center, or group 
providing adoption services must be licensed by the Department 
as a child welfare agency as defined in Section 2.08 of this 
Act. "Providing adoption services" as used in this Act, 
includes facilitating or engaging in adoption services. 
    (b) Application for a license to operate a child care 
facility must be made to the Department in the manner and on 
forms prescribed by it. An application to operate a foster 
family home shall include, at a minimum: a completed written 
form; written authorization by the applicant and all adult 
members of the applicant's household to conduct a criminal 
background investigation; medical evidence in the form of a 
medical report, on forms prescribed by the Department, that 
the applicant and all members of the household are free from 
communicable diseases or physical and mental conditions that 
affect their ability to provide care for the child or 
children; the names and addresses of at least 3 persons not 
related to the applicant who can attest to the applicant's 
moral character; the name and address of at least one relative 
who can attest to the applicant's capability to care for the 
child or children; and fingerprints submitted by the applicant 
and all adult members of the applicant's household.
    (b-5) Prior to submitting an application for a foster 
family home license, a quality of care concerns applicant as 
defined in Section 2.22a of this Act must submit a preliminary 
application to the Department in the manner and on forms 
prescribed by it. The Department shall explain to the quality 
of care concerns applicant the grounds for requiring a 
preliminary application. The preliminary application shall 
include a list of (i) all children placed in the home by the 
Department who were removed by the Department for reasons 
other than returning to a parent and the circumstances under 
which they were removed and (ii) all children placed by the 
Department who were subsequently adopted by or placed in the 
private guardianship of the quality of care concerns applicant 
who are currently under 18 and who no longer reside in the home 
and the reasons why they no longer reside in the home. The 
preliminary application shall also include, if the quality of 
care concerns applicant chooses to submit, (1) a response to 
the quality of care concerns, including any reason the 
concerns are invalid, have been addressed or ameliorated, or 
no longer apply and (2) affirmative documentation 
demonstrating that the quality of care concerns applicant's 
home does not pose a risk to children and that the family will 
be able to meet the physical and emotional needs of children. 
The Department shall verify the information in the preliminary 
application and review (i) information regarding any prior 
licensing complaints, (ii) information regarding any prior 
child abuse or neglect investigations, (iii) information 
regarding any involuntary foster home holds placed on the home 
by the Department, and (iv) information regarding all child 
exit interviews, as provided in Section 5.26 of the Children 
and Family Services Act, regarding the home. Foster home 
applicants with quality of care concerns are presumed 
unsuitable for future licensure.
    Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection (b-5), 
the Department may make an exception and issue a foster family 
license to a quality of care concerns applicant if the 
Department is satisfied that the foster family home does not 
pose a risk to children and that the foster family will be able 
to meet the physical and emotional needs of children. In 
making this determination, the Department must obtain and 
carefully review all relevant documents and shall obtain 
consultation from its Clinical Division as appropriate and as 
prescribed by Department rule and procedure. The Department 
has the authority to deny a preliminary application based on 
the record of quality of care concerns of the foster family 
home. In the alternative, the Department may (i) approve the 
preliminary application, (ii) approve the preliminary 
application subject to obtaining additional information or 
assessments, or (iii) approve the preliminary application for 
purposes of placing a particular child or children only in the 
foster family home. If the Department approves a preliminary 
application, the foster family shall submit an application for 
licensure as described in subsection (b) of this Section. The 
Department shall notify the quality of care concerns applicant 
of its decision and the basis for its decision in writing.
    (c) The Department shall notify the public when a child 
care institution, maternity center, or group home licensed by 
the Department undergoes a change in (i) the range of care or 
services offered at the facility or , (ii) the age or type of 
children served, or (iii) the area within the facility used by 
children. The Department shall notify the public of the change 
in a newspaper of general circulation in the county or 
municipality in which the applicant's facility is or is 
proposed to be located.
    (c-5) When a child care institution, maternity center, or 
a group home licensed by the Department undergoes a change in 
(i) the age of children served or (ii) the area within the 
facility used by children, the Department shall post 
information regarding proposed changes on its website as 
required by rule. 
    (d) If, upon examination of the facility and investigation 
of persons responsible for care of children and, in the case of 
a foster home, taking into account information obtained for 
purposes of evaluating a preliminary application, if 
applicable, the Department is satisfied that the facility and 
responsible persons reasonably meet standards prescribed for 
the type of facility for which application is made, it shall 
issue a license in proper form, designating on that license 
the type of child care facility and, except for a child welfare 
agency, the number of children to be served at any one time.
    (e) The Department shall not issue or renew the license of 
any child welfare agency providing adoption services, unless 
the agency (i) is officially recognized by the United States 
Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt organization 
described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 (or any successor provision of federal tax law) and (ii) 
is in compliance with all of the standards necessary to 
maintain its status as an organization described in Section 
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (or any 
successor provision of federal tax law). The Department shall 
grant a grace period of 24 months from the effective date of 
this amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly for existing 
child welfare agencies providing adoption services to obtain 
501(c)(3) status. The Department shall permit an existing 
child welfare agency that converts from its current structure 
in order to be recognized as a 501(c)(3) organization as 
required by this Section to either retain its current license 
or transfer its current license to a newly formed entity, if 
the creation of a new entity is required in order to comply 
with this Section, provided that the child welfare agency 
demonstrates that it continues to meet all other licensing 
requirements and that the principal officers and directors and 
programs of the converted child welfare agency or newly 
organized child welfare agency are substantially the same as 
the original. The Department shall have the sole discretion to 
grant a one year extension to any agency unable to obtain 
501(c)(3) status within the timeframe specified in this 
subsection (e), provided that such agency has filed an 
application for 501(c)(3) status with the Internal Revenue 
Service within the 2-year timeframe specified in this 
subsection (e). 
    (f) The Department shall adopt rules to implement the 
changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act of the 
103rd General Assembly no later than January 1, 2025. 
(Source: P.A. 101-63, eff. 7-12-19; 102-763, eff. 1-1-23.)