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91_SB0774eng SB774 Engrossed LRB9105932DHmg 1 AN ACT to amend the Children's Advocacy Center Act by 2 changing Section 4. 3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 4 represented in the General Assembly: 5 Section 5. The Children's Advocacy Center Act is amended 6 by changing Section 4 as follows: 7 (55 ILCS 80/4) (from Ch. 23, par. 1804) 8 Sec. 4. Children's Advocacy Center. 9 (a) Subject to the referendum provisions of this Act, a 10 Children's Advocacy Center ("Center") may be established to 11 coordinate the activities of the various agencies involved in 12 the investigation, prosecution and treatment referral of 13 child sexual abuse. The Advisory Board shall serve as the 14 governing board for the Center and, by the majority vote of 15 its members, shall submit a proposed annual budget for the 16 operation of the Center to the county board. The county board 17 shall appropriate funds and levy a tax sufficient to operate 18 the Center. Each county shall establish a Children's Advocacy 19 Center Fund and shall deposit the net proceeds of the tax 20 authorized by Section 6 of this Act in that Fund, which shall 21 be kept separate from all other county funds and shall only 22 be used for the purposes of this Act. 23 (b) The Advisory Board shall pay from the Children's 24 Advocacy Center Fund the salaries of all employees of the 25 Center, all of whom shall be county employees, and the 26 expenses of acquiring a physical plant for the Center by 27 construction or lease and maintaining the Center, including 28 the expenses of administering the coordination of the 29 investigation, prosecution and treatment referral of child 30 sexual abuse under the provisions of the protocol adopted 31 pursuant to this Act. SB774 Engrossed -2- LRB9105932DHmg 1 (c) Every Center shall include at least the following 2 components: 3 (1) An interdisciplinary, coordinated systems 4 approach to the investigation of child sexual abuse which 5 shall include, at a minimum; 6 (i) an interagency notification procedure; 7 (ii) a dispute resolution process between the 8 involved agencies when a conflict arises on how to 9 proceed with the investigation of a case; 10 (iii) a policy on interagency decision-making; 11 and 12 (iv) a description of the role each agency has 13 in the investigation of the case; 14 (2) A safe, separate space with assigned personnel 15 designated for the investigation and coordination of 16 child sexual abuse cases; 17 (3) An interdisciplinary case review process for 18 purposes of decision-making, problem solving, systems 19 coordination, and information sharing; 20 (4) A comprehensive tracking system to receive and 21 coordinate information concerning child sexual abuse 22 cases from each participating agency; 23 (5) Interdisciplinary specialized training for all 24 professionals involved with the victims and families of 25 child sexual abuse cases; and 26 (6) A process for evaluating the effectiveness of 27 the Center and its operations. 28 (d) In the event that a Center has been established as 29 provided in this Section, the Advisory Board of that Center 30 may, by a majority of the members, authorize the Center to 31 coordinate the activities of the various agencies involved in 32 the investigation, prosecution, and treatment referral of 33 serious child physical abuse cases. The Advisory Board shall 34 provide for the financial support of these activities in a SB774 Engrossed -3- LRB9105932DHmg 1 manner similar to that set out in subsections (a) and (b) of 2 this Section and shall be allowed to submit a budget that 3 includes support for physical abuse and neglect activities to 4 the County Board, which shall appropriate funds that may be 5 available under Section 5 of this Act. 6 (e) The Illinois Child Advocacy Commission may also 7 provide technical assistance and guidance to the Advisory 8 Boards and shall make a single annual grant for the purpose 9 of providing technical support and assistance for advocacy 10 center development in Illinois whenever an appropriation is 11 made by the General Assembly specifically for that purpose. 12 The grant may be made only to an Illinois not-for-profit 13 corporation that qualifies for tax treatment under Section 14 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and that has a voting 15 membership consisting of children's advocacy centers. The 16 grant may be spent on staff, office space, equipment, and 17 other expenses necessary for the development of resource 18 materials and other forms of technical support and 19 assistance. The grantee shall report to the Commission on 20 the specific uses of grant funds by no later than October 1 21 of each year and shall retain supporting documentation for a 22 period of at least 5 years after the corresponding report is 23 filed. 24 (Source: P.A. 89-543, eff. 1-1-97.) 25 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 26 becoming law.