Public Act 0251 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB0051 Enrolled LRB095 04473 DRJ 24520 b

Public Act 095-0251

AN ACT concerning public aid.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Department of Human Services Act is amended by changing Section 10-26 as follows:

(20 ILCS 1305/10-26)

Sec. 10-26. Disability database.

(a) The Department of Human Services shall compile and maintain a cross-disability database of Illinois residents with a disability who are potentially in need of disability services funded by the Department. The database shall consist of individuals with mental illness, physical disabilities, and developmental disabilities, and autism spectrum disorders and shall include, but not be limited to, individuals transitioning from special education to adulthood, individuals in State-operated facilities, individuals in private nursing and residential facilities, and individuals in community integrated living arrangements. Within 30 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly, the Secretary of Human Services shall seek input from advisory bodies to the Department, including advisory councils and committees working with the Department in the areas of mental illness, physical disabilities, and developmental disabilities. The database shall be operational by July 1, 2004. The information collected and maintained for the disability database shall include, but is not limited to, the following: (i) the types of services of which the individual is potentially in need; (ii) demographic and identifying information about the individual; (iii) factors indicating need, including diagnoses, assessment information, age of primary caregivers, and current living situation; (iv) if applicable, the date information about the individual is submitted for inclusion in the database and the types of services sought by the individual; and (v) the representative district in which the individual resides. In collecting and maintaining information under this Section, the Department shall give consideration to cost-effective appropriate services for individuals.

(b) This amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly does not create any new entitlement to a service, program, or benefit, but shall not affect any entitlement to a service, program, or benefit created by any other law. Except for a service, program, or benefit that is an entitlement, a service, program, or benefit provided as a result of the collection and maintenance of the disability database shall be subject to appropriations made by the General Assembly.

(c) The Department, consistent with applicable federal and State law, shall make general information from the disability database available to the public such as: (i) the number of individuals potentially in need of each type of service, program, or benefit and (ii) the general characteristics of those individuals. The Department shall protect the confidentiality of each individual in the database when releasing database information by not disclosing any personally identifying information.

(Source: P.A. 93-503, eff. 8-11-03.)

Section 10. The Developmental Disability and Mental Disability Services Act is amended by adding Section 5-4 as follows:

(405 ILCS 80/5-4 new)

Sec. 5-4. Home and Community-Based Services Waivers; autism spectrum disorder. A person diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder may be assessed for eligibility for services under Home and Community-Based Services Waivers for persons with developmental disabilities, without regard to whether that person is also diagnosed with mental retardation, so long as the person otherwise meets applicable level-of-care criteria under those waivers. This amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly does not create any new entitlement to a service, program, or benefit, but shall not affect any entitlement to a service, program, or benefit created by any other law.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.