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| [ Introduced ] | [ House Amendment 002 ] |
90_HB0063ham001
LRB9000712DJcdam03
1 AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 63
2 AMENDMENT NO. . Amend House Bill 63 by replacing the
3 title with the following:
4 "AN ACT to amend the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 by
5 changing Section 1-5."; and
6 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the
7 following:
8 "Section 5. The Juvenile Court Act of 1987 is amended by
9 changing Section 1-5 as follows:
10 (705 ILCS 405/1-5) (from Ch. 37, par. 801-5)
11 Sec. 1-5. Rights of parties to proceedings.
12 (1) Except as provided in this Section and paragraph (2)
13 of Sections 2-22, 3-23, 4-20 or 5-22, the minor who is the
14 subject of the proceeding and his parents, guardian, legal
15 custodian or responsible relative who are parties respondent
16 have the right to be present, to be heard, to present
17 evidence material to the proceedings, to cross-examine
18 witnesses, to examine pertinent court files and records and
19 also, although proceedings under this Act are not intended to
20 be adversary in character, the right to be represented by
21 counsel. At the request of any party financially unable to
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1 employ counsel, with the exception of a foster parent
2 permitted to intervene under this Section, the court shall
3 appoint the Public Defender or such other counsel as the case
4 may require.
5 No hearing on any petition filed under this Act may be
6 commenced unless the minor who is the subject of the
7 proceeding is represented by counsel. Each adult respondent
8 shall be furnished a written "Notice of Rights" at or before
9 the first hearing at which he or she appears.
10 (2) (a) Though not appointed guardian or legal custodian
11 or otherwise made a party to the proceeding, any current or
12 previously appointed foster parent or representative of an
13 agency or association interested in the minor has the right
14 to be heard by the court, but does not thereby become a party
15 to the proceeding.
16 In addition to the foregoing right to be heard by the
17 court, any current foster parent of a minor and the agency
18 designated by the court or the Department of Children and
19 Family Services as custodian of the minor who has been
20 adjudicated an abused or neglected minor under Section 2-3 or
21 a dependent minor under Section 2-4 of this Act has the right
22 to and shall be given adequate notice at all stages of any
23 hearing or proceeding under this Act wherein the custody or
24 status of the minor may be changed. Such notice shall
25 contain a statement regarding the nature and denomination of
26 the hearing or proceeding to be held, the change in custody
27 or status of the minor sought to be obtained at such hearing
28 or proceeding, and the date, time and place of such hearing
29 or proceeding. The Department of Children and Family
30 Services or the licensed child welfare agency that has placed
31 the minor with the foster parent shall notify the clerk of
32 the court of the name and address of the current foster
33 parent. The clerk shall mail the notice by certified mail
34 marked for delivery to addressee only. The regular return
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1 receipt for certified mail is sufficient proof of service.
2 Any foster parent who is denied his or her right to be
3 heard under this Section may bring a mandamus action under
4 Article XIV of the Code of Civil Procedure against the court
5 or any public agency to enforce that right. The mandamus
6 action may be brought immediately upon the denial of those
7 rights but in no event later than 30 days after the foster
8 parent has been denied the right to be heard.
9 (b) If after an adjudication that a minor is abused or
10 neglected as provided under Section 2-21 of this Act and an
11 application has been made to restore the minor to any parent,
12 guardian, or legal custodian found by the court to have
13 caused the neglect or to have inflicted the abuse on the
14 minor, a foster parent may petition the court to intervene in
15 the proceeding for the sole purpose of requesting that the
16 minor be placed with the foster parent, provided that the
17 foster parent (i) is the current foster parent of the minor
18 or (ii) has previously been a foster parent for the minor for
19 one year or more, has a foster care license or is eligible
20 for a license, and is not the subject of any findings of
21 abuse or neglect of any child. The juvenile court may only
22 enter orders placing a minor with a specific foster parent
23 under this subsection (2)(b) and nothing in this Section
24 shall be construed to confer any jurisdiction or authority on
25 the juvenile court to issue any other orders requiring the
26 appointed guardian or custodian of a minor to place the minor
27 in a designated foster home or facility. This Section is not
28 intended to encompass any matters that are within the scope
29 or determinable under the administrative and appeal process
30 established by rules of the Department of Children and Family
31 Services under Section 5(o) of the Children and Family
32 Services Act. Nothing in this Section shall relieve the
33 court of its responsibility, under Section 2-14(a) of this
34 Act to act in a just and speedy manner to reunify families
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1 where it is the best interests of the minor and, if
2 reunification is not in the best interests of the minor, to
3 find another permanent home for the minor. Nothing in this
4 Section, or in any order issued by the court with respect to
5 the placement of a minor with a foster parent, shall impair
6 the ability of the Department of Children and Family
7 Services, or anyone else authorized under Section 5 of the
8 Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, to remove a minor
9 from the home of a foster parent if the Department of
10 Children and Family Services or the person removing the minor
11 has reason to believe that the circumstances or conditions of
12 the minor are such that continuing in the residence or care
13 of the foster parent present an imminent risk of harm to that
14 minor's life or health.
15 (c) If a foster parent has had the minor who is the
16 subject of the proceeding under Article II in his or her home
17 for more than one year on or after July 3, 1994 and if the
18 minor's placement is being terminated from that foster
19 parent's home, that foster parent shall have standing and
20 intervenor status except in those circumstances where the
21 Department of Children and Family Services or anyone else
22 authorized under Section 5 of the Abused and Neglected Child
23 Reporting Act has removed the minor from the foster parent
24 because of a reasonable belief that the circumstances or
25 conditions of the minor are such that continuing in the
26 residence or care of the foster parent presents an imminent
27 risk of harm to the minor's life or health.
28 (d) The court may grant standing to any foster parent if
29 the court finds that it is in the best interest of the child
30 for the foster parent to have standing and intervenor status.
31 (3) Parties respondent are entitled to notice in
32 compliance with Sections 2-15 and 2-16, 3-17 and 3-18, 4-14
33 and 4-15 or 5-15 and 5-16, as appropriate. At the first
34 appearance before the court by the minor, his parents,
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1 guardian, custodian or responsible relative, the court shall
2 explain the nature of the proceedings and inform the parties
3 of their rights under the first 2 paragraphs of this Section.
4 Upon an adjudication of wardship of the court under Sections
5 2-22, 3-23, 4-20 or 5-22, the court shall inform the parties
6 of their right to appeal therefrom as well as from any other
7 final judgment of the court.
8 (4) No sanction may be applied against the minor who is
9 the subject of the proceedings by reason of his refusal or
10 failure to testify in the course of any hearing held prior to
11 final adjudication under Section 2-22, 3-23, 4-20 or 5-22. In
12 a proceeding under Article II of this Act the minor shall be
13 given the opportunity to address the court personally or
14 through counsel and to testify on his or her own behalf. The
15 testimony by the minor shall be in chambers, and cross
16 examination shall be restricted to questions submitted in
17 writing to the court and propounded by the court.
18 (5) It is the absolute right of the minor to be present
19 in court. In the discretion of the court, based on a finding
20 of irreparable harm to the minor, the minor may be excluded
21 from any part or parts of a dispositional hearing and, with
22 the consent of the parent or parents, guardian, counsel or a
23 guardian ad litem, from any part or parts of an adjudicatory
24 hearing.
25 (6) The general public except for the news media and the
26 victim shall be excluded from any hearing and, except for the
27 persons specified in this Section only persons, including
28 representatives of agencies and associations, who in the
29 opinion of the court have a direct interest in the case or in
30 the work of the court shall be admitted to the hearing.
31 However, the court may, for the minor's protection and for
32 good cause shown, prohibit any person or agency present in
33 court from further disclosing the minor's identity.
34 (Source: P.A. 87-759; 88-7; 88-549, eff. 7-3-94; 88-550, eff.
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1 7-3-94; 88-691, eff. 1-24-95; 89-235, eff. 8-4-95.)
2 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
3 becoming law.".