HB5598eng 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB5598 Engrossed LRB098 20085 KTG 55345 b

AN ACT concerning State government.

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 Custody Relinquishment Prevention Act.

Section 5. Purpose. This Act establishes a pathway for families on the verge of seeking services for their child's serious mental illness or serious emotional disturbance through relinquishment of parental custody to the Department of Children and Family Services, despite the absence of abuse or neglect, to receive services through the appropriate State child-serving agency. This pathway shall be outlined in an interagency agreement between all the relevant State agencies.

Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Family income" means the sum of a family's annual earnings and cash benefits from all sources before taxes, less payments made for child support.

"Serious mental illness" means a diagnosis set forth in the most current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

"Serious emotional disturbance" means a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder in a child or youth that resulted in functional impairment which substantially interferes with or limits his or her role or functioning in family, school, or community activities.

"Child or youth at risk of custody relinquishment" means a child or youth whose parents or guardians refuse to take the child or youth home from a hospital or similar treatment facility because the parents or guardians have a reasonable belief that the child or youth will harm himself or herself or other family members upon the child or youth's return home, and there is no evidence of abuse or neglect.

Section 15. Interagency agreement. In order to intercept and divert children and youth at risk of custody relinquishment to the Department of Children and Family Services, within 180 days after the effective date of this Act, the Department of Children of Family Services, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, the Illinois State Board of Education, the Department of Juvenile Justice, and the Department of Public Health shall enter into an interagency agreement for the purpose of preventing children and youth who are not otherwise abused or neglected from entering the custody or guardianship of the Department of Children and Family Services solely for purposes of receiving services for a serious mental illness or serious emotional disturbance.

The intergovernmental agreement shall require the agencies listed in this Section to establish an interagency clinical team to review cases of children and youth who are at risk of relinquishment who are at a hospital or other similar treatment facility, and to connect the child or youth and his or her family with the appropriate services, treatment, and support to stabilize the child or youth's serious mental illness or serious emotional disturbance and prevent custody relinquishment to the Department of Children and Family Services.

The interagency agreement, among other things, shall address all of the following:

(1) Requiring families with private health insurance to exhaust their private insurance coverage.

(2) Establishing cost sharing for services received for families whose income exceeds the federal poverty level that would qualify them for Medicaid, based on the family's ability to pay.

(3) For children or youth who are not otherwise Medicaid eligible, performing a crisis stabilization assessment and developing a care plan for the child or youth and the family with the goal of determining what services are necessary to (i) stabilize the child or youth and (ii) prevent custody relinquishment to the Department of Children and Family Services when there is no abuse or neglect.

(4) Set criteria for short-term crisis stabilization services, including intensive community-based services or a short-term residential placement, as the child or youth's treatment plan is being developed.

Section 20. Outcomes and data reported annually to the General Assembly.

(a) The Department of Children and Family Services shall submit an annual report to the General Assembly which includes the following with respect to the time period covered by the report:

(1) The number of children and youth who were relinquished to the Department of Children and Family Services for purposes of receiving treatment for their serious mental illness or serious emotional disturbance.

(2) The length of treatment and the status of children and youth at the termination of services.

(b) The interagency agreement required under Section 15 shall require reporting to the General Assembly with respect to the following criteria:

(1) The number of children and youth who were intercepted during the reporting period and the services they were connected with to prevent custody relinquishment and to stabilize the child or youth.

(2) The duration of the services the child or youth received in order to stabilize his or her serious mental illness or serious emotional disturbance.

(3) Following the connection to services through the most appropriate State agency to address the child or youth's needs, the number of families that failed to stabilize and turned to the Department of Children and Family Services for services, and that relinquished custody or whose child was adjudicated a dependent minor pursuant to subdivision (c) of paragraph (1) of Section 2-4 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.