(20 ILCS 515/15)
Sec. 15.
Child death review teams; establishment.
(a) The Director, in consultation with the Executive Council, law
enforcement, and other
professionals who work in the field of investigating, treating, or preventing
child abuse or neglect in that subregion, shall appoint members to a child
death review
team in each of the Department's administrative subregions of the State outside
Cook County and at least one child death review team in Cook County. The
members of a team shall be appointed for 2‑year terms and
shall be eligible for reappointment upon the expiration of the terms.
(b) Each child death review team shall consist of at least one member from
each of the following categories:
(1) Pediatrician or other physician knowledgeable |
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about child abuse and neglect.
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(2) Representative of the Department.
(3) State's attorney or State's attorney's
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(4) Representative of a local law enforcement agency.
(5) Psychologist or psychiatrist.
(6) Representative of a local health department.
(7) Representative of a school district or other
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education or child care interests.
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(8) Coroner or forensic pathologist.
(9) Representative of a child welfare agency or
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child advocacy organization.
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(10) Representative of a local hospital, trauma
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center, or provider of emergency medical services.
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Each child death review team may make recommendations to the Director
concerning additional appointments.
Each child death review team member must have demonstrated experience and an
interest in investigating, treating, or preventing child abuse or neglect.
(c) Each child death review team shall select a chairperson from among its
members.
The chairperson shall also serve on the Illinois Child Death Review Teams
Executive
Council.
(Source: P.A. 92‑468, eff. 8‑22‑01.)
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(20 ILCS 515/20)
Sec. 20.
Reviews of child deaths.
(a) Every child death shall be reviewed by the team in the subregion which
has
primary case management responsibility. The deceased child must be one of the
following:
(1) A ward of the Department.
(2) The subject of an open service case maintained |
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(3) The subject of a pending child abuse or neglect
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(4) A child who was the subject of an abuse or
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neglect investigation at any time during the 12 months preceding the child's death.
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(5) Any other child whose death is reported to the
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State central register as a result of alleged child abuse or neglect which report is subsequently indicated.
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A child death review team may, at its discretion, review other sudden,
unexpected, or unexplained child deaths.
(b) A child death review team's purpose in conducting reviews of child
deaths
is to do the following:
(1) Assist in determining the cause and manner of
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the child's death, when requested.
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(2) Evaluate means by which the death might have
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(3) Report its findings to appropriate agencies and
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make recommendations that may help to reduce the number of child deaths caused by abuse or neglect.
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(4) Promote continuing education for professionals
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involved in investigating, treating, and preventing child abuse and neglect as a means of preventing child deaths due to abuse or neglect.
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(5) Make specific recommendations to the Director
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and the Inspector General of the Department concerning the prevention of child deaths due to abuse or neglect and the establishment of protocols for investigating child deaths.
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(c) A child death review team shall review a child death as soon as
practical and not later than
90 days following
the
completion by the Department of the investigation of the death under the
Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. When there has been no investigation
by the Department, the child death review team shall review a child's death
within 90 days after obtaining the information necessary to complete the review
from the coroner, pathologist, medical examiner, or law enforcement agency,
depending on the nature of the case. A child death
review
team shall meet at
least once in
each calendar quarter.
(d) The Director shall, within 90 days, review and reply to recommendations
made by a team under
item (5) of
subsection (b). The Director shall implement recommendations as feasible and
appropriate and shall respond in writing to explain the implementation or
nonimplementation of the recommendations.
(Source: P.A. 90‑239, eff. 7‑28‑97; 90‑608, eff. 6‑30‑98.)
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(20 ILCS 515/30)
Sec. 30.
Public access to information.
(a) Meetings of the child death review teams and the Executive
Council shall be closed to the public.
Meetings of the child death review teams and the Executive Council are
not subject to the Open Meetings Act
(5 ILCS 120), as provided in that Act.
(b) Records and information provided to a child death review team and the
Executive Council, and
records maintained by a team or the Executive Council, are confidential and
not subject to the Freedom
of Information Act (5 ILCS 140), as provided in that Act.
Nothing contained in this subsection (b) prevents the sharing or disclosure
of records, other than those produced by a Child Death Review Team or the
Executive Council, relating or
pertaining to the death of a minor under the care of or
receiving services from the Department of Children and Family Services and
under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court with the juvenile court, the
State's Attorney, and the minor's attorney.
(c) Members of a child death review team and the Executive Council
are not subject to examination, in any civil or criminal
proceeding, concerning information presented to members of the team or the
Executive Council or opinions
formed by members of the team or the Executive Council based on that
information. A person may,
however, be examined concerning information provided to a child death review
team or the Executive Council that is otherwise available to the public.
(d) Records and information produced by a child death review team and the
Executive Council are
not subject to discovery or subpoena and are not admissible as evidence in any
civil or criminal proceeding. Those records
and information are, however, subject to discovery or a subpoena, and are
admissible as evidence, to the extent they are otherwise available to the
public.
(Source: P.A. 92‑468, eff. 8‑22‑01)
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(20 ILCS 515/40)
Sec. 40.
Illinois Child Death Review Teams Executive Council.
(a) The Illinois Child Death Review Teams Executive Council, consisting of
the
chairpersons of the 9 child death review teams in Illinois, is the coordinating
and
oversight body for child death review teams and activities in Illinois. The
vice‑chairperson of a child death review team, as designated by the
chairperson, may
serve
as a back‑up member or an alternate member of the Executive Council, if the
chairperson of the child death review team is unavailable to serve on the
Executive Council. The Inspector General of the Department, ex officio, is a
non‑voting member of the Executive Council. The Director may
appoint to the Executive Council any
ex‑officio members deemed necessary. Persons with
expertise needed by the Executive Council may be invited to meetings. The
Executive Council must select from its members a chairperson and a
vice‑chairperson, each
to serve a 2‑year, renewable term.
The Executive Council must meet at least 4 times during each calendar year.
(b) The Department must provide or arrange for the staff support necessary
for the
Executive Council to carry out its duties.
The Director, in cooperation and consultation with the Executive Council, shall
appoint, reappoint, and remove team members.
(c) The Executive Council has, but is not limited to, the following duties:
(1) To serve as the voice of child death review |
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(2) To oversee the regional teams in order to ensure
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that the teams' work is coordinated and in compliance with the statutes and the operating protocol.
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(3) To ensure that the data, results, findings, and
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recommendations of the teams are adequately used to make any necessary changes in the policies, procedures, and statutes in order to protect children in a timely manner.
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(4) To collaborate with the General Assembly, the
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Department, and others in order to develop any legislation needed to prevent child fatalities and to protect children.
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(5) To assist in the development of quarterly and
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annual reports based on the work and the findings of the teams.
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(6) To ensure that the regional teams' review
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processes are standardized in order to convey data, findings, and recommendations in a usable format.
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(7) To serve as a link with child death review teams
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throughout the country and to participate in national child death review team activities.
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(8) To develop an annual statewide symposium to
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update the knowledge and skills of child death review team members and to promote the exchange of information between teams.
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(9) To provide the child death review teams with the
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most current information and practices concerning child death review and related topics.
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(10) To perform any other functions necessary to
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enhance the capability of the child death review teams to reduce and prevent child injuries and fatalities.
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(d) In any instance when a child death review team does not operate in
accordance with
established protocol, the Director, in consultation and cooperation
with the Executive Council,
must take any necessary actions to bring the team into compliance
with the
protocol.
(Source: P.A. 92‑468, eff. 8‑22‑01.)
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