Information For Illinois Parents
ILLINOIS_FAMILY_RIGHTS_ASSOCIATION
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Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect: Summary of State Laws of Illinois

To better understand this issue and to view it across States, see the Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect: Summary of State Laws (PDF - 553 KB) publication.

Physical Abuse
Citation: Ch. 325, § 5/3

Abused child means a child whose parent, immediate family member, any person responsible for the child’s welfare, any individual residing in the same home as the child, or a paramour of the child’s parent:
  • Inflicts, causes or allows to be inflicted, or creates a substantial risk of physical injury, by other than accidental means, that causes death, disfigurement, impairment of physical or emotional health, or loss or impairment of any bodily function
  • Commits or allows to be committed an act or acts of torture upon the child
  • Inflicts excessive corporal punishment
  • Commits or allows to be committed the offense of female genital mutilation
  • Causes to be sold, transferred, distributed, or given to the child under 18 years of age a controlled substance, except for controlled substances that are prescribed and dispensed to the child in accordance with the law
Neglect
Citation: Ch. 325, § 5/3

Neglected child means any child who is:
  • Not receiving the proper or necessary nourishment or medically indicated treatment including food or care, not provided solely on the basis of the present or anticipated mental or physical impairment as determined by a physician, or otherwise is not receiving the proper or necessary support or medical or other remedial care as necessary for a child’s well-being
  • Not receiving other care necessary for his or her well-being, including adequate food, clothing, and shelter
  • A newborn infant whose blood, urine, or meconium contains any amount of a controlled substance or a metabolite thereof
Sexual Abuse
Citation: Ch. 325, § 5/3

Abused child means a child whose parent, immediate family member, any person responsible for the child’s welfare, any individual residing in the same home as the child, or a paramour of the child’s parent commits or allows to be committed any sex offense against the child.
Emotional Abuse
Citation: Ch. 325, § 5/3

Abused child includes impairment or substantial risk of impairment to the child’s emotional health.
Abandonment
Citation: Ch. 325, § 5/3

Neglected child includes a child who is abandoned by his or her parents or other person responsible for the child’s welfare without a proper plan of care.
Standards for Reporting
Citation: Ch. 325, § 5/3
  • Inflicts, causes to be inflicted, or allows to be inflicted
  • Creates a substantial risk of injury
  • Commits or allows to be committed
Persons Responsible for the Child
Citation: Ch. 325, § 5/3

Person responsible for the child’s welfare means:
  • The child’s parent, guardian, foster parent, or relative caregiver
  • Any person responsible for the child’s welfare in a public or private residential agency, institution, or childcare facility
  • Any other person responsible for the child’s welfare at the time of the alleged abuse or neglect, including an immediate family member, any person residing in the child’s home, or a paramour of the child’s parent
  • Any person who came to know the child through an official capacity or position of trust, including but not limited to health care professionals, educational personnel, recreational supervisors, members of the clergy, and volunteers or support personnel in any setting where children may be subject to abuse or neglect
Exceptions
Citation: Ch. 325, § 5/3

A child shall not be considered abused or neglected if:
  • The child is a newborn who has been relinquished in accordance with the Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act.
  • The presence of a controlled substance in a newborn is the result of medical treatment.
  • The child has been left in the care of an adult relative.
  • The child’s parent relies upon spiritual means through prayer for the treatment of disease.
  • The child is not attending school as required by the School Act.

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Reporting Laws

- To view the Clergy as Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect issue across states, see the Clergy as Mandated Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect: Full-Text Excerpts of State Laws (PDF - 1687 KB) publication.
- To view the Cross Reporting Among Systems issue across states, see the Reporting Laws: Cross-Reporting Among Systems (PDF - 186 KB) publication.
- To view the Parental Drug Use as Child Abuse issue across states, see the Parental Drug Use as Child Abuse: Full-Text Excerpts of State Laws (PDF - 1883 KB) publication.
- To view the Immunity for Reporters issue across states, see the Reporting Laws: Immunity for Reporters (PDF - 407 KB) publication.

Clergy as Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect

Citation: 325 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 5/4 (West, WESTLAW through 2003 Reg. Sess.)
Statute Text:

Any member of the clergy having reasonable cause to believe that a child known to that member of the clergy in his or her professional capacity may be an abused child as defined by law shall immediately report or cause a report to be made to the department.

Whenever such person is required to report under this act in his capacity as...a member of the clergy, he shall make report immediately to the Department in accordance with the provisions of this Act and may also notify the person in charge of such...church, synagogue, temple, mosque, or other religious institution, or his designated agent that such report has been made. Under no circumstances shall any person in charge of such...church, synagogue, temple, mosque, or other religious institution, or his designated agent to whom such notification is made, exercise any control, restraint, modification or other change in the report or the forwarding of such report to the Department.

The privileged quality of communication between any professional person required to report and his or her patient or client shall not apply to situations involving abused or neglected children and shall not constitute grounds for failure to report.

A member of the clergy may claim the privilege under § 8-803 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Citation: 735 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 5/8-803 (West, WESTLAW through 2003 Reg. Sess.)
Statute Text:

A clergyman or practitioner of any religious denomination accredited by the religious body to which he or she belongs, shall not be compelled to disclose in any court, or to any administrative body or agency, or to any public officer, a confession or admission made to him or her in his or her professional character or as a spiritual advisor in the course of the discipline enjoined by the rules or practice of such religious body or of the religion which he or she professes, nor be compelled to divulge any information which has been obtained by him or her in such professional character or such spiritual advisor.

Cross Reporting Among Systems

Citation: 325 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 5/7 (West, WESTLAW through 2003 Reg. Sess.)
Statute Text:

Reports made to the central register through the statewide, toll-free telephone number shall be immediately transmitted to the appropriate Child Protective Service Unit. The Department of Children and Family Services shall, within 24 hours, orally notify local law enforcement personnel and the office of the State's Attorney of the involved county of the receipt of any report alleging:
  • The death of a child;
  • Serious injury to a child including, but not limited to, brain damage, skull fractures, subdural hematomas, and internal injuries;
  • Torture of a child;
  • Malnutrition of a child; and
  • Sexual abuse to a child, including, but not limited to, sexual intercourse, sexual exploitation, sexual molestation, and sexually transmitted disease in a child age 12 and under.

All oral reports made by the Department of Children and Family Services to local law enforcement personnel and the office of the State's Attorney of the involved county shall be confirmed in writing within 48 hours of the oral report.

Parental Drug Use as Child Abuse

Citation: 325 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. § 5/3 (LexisNexis through 3/20/04)
Statute Text:
'Abused child' means a child whose parent or immediate family member, or any person responsible for the child's welfare, or any individual residing in the same home as the child, or a paramour of the child's parent:
  • Causes to be sold, transferred, distributed, or given to such child under 18 years of age, a controlled substance, as defined by law, except for controlled substances that are prescribed in accordance with the Illinois Controlled Substances Act and are dispensed to such child in a manner that substantially complies with the prescription.
'Neglected child' means any child who is not receiving the proper or necessary nourishment or medically indicated treatment including food or care not provided solely on the basis of the present or anticipated mental or physical impairment as determined by a physician acting alone or in consultation with other physicians or otherwise is not receiving the proper or necessary support or medical or other remedial care recognized under State law as necessary for a child's well-being, or other care necessary for his or her well-being, including adequate food, clothing and shelter; or who is abandoned by his or her parents or other person responsible for the child's welfare without a proper plan of care; or who is a newborn infant whose blood, urine, or meconium contains any amount of a controlled substance as defined in the Illinois Controlled Substances Act or a metabolite thereof.
Citation: 325 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. § 5/7.3b (West Supp. 1998)
Statute Text:
All persons required to report may refer to the Department of Human Services any pregnant person in this State who is addicted as defined in the Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse and Dependency Act.

The Department of Human Services shall notify the local Infant Mortality Reduction Network service provider or Department-funded prenatal care provider in the area in which the person resides. The service provider shall prepare a case management plan and assist the pregnant woman in obtaining counseling and treatment from a local substance abuse service provider licensed by the Department of Human Services or a licensed hospital which provides substance abuse treatment services. The local Infant Mortality Reduction Network service provider and Department-funded prenatal care provider shall monitor the pregnant woman through the service program.

Citation: 705 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. § 405/2-3(1)(c) (West, WESTLAW through 2003. Reg. Sess.)
Statute Text:
Those who are neglected include any newborn infant whose blood, urine, or meconium contains any amount of a controlled substance as defined § 102(f) of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act, or a metabolite of a controlled substance, with the exception of controlled substances or metabolites of such substances, the presence of which in the newborn infant is the result of medical treatment administered to the mother or the newborn infant.

Immunity for Reporters

Citation: 325 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 5/9 (West Supp. 1998)
Statute Text:
Any person, institution, or agency, under the reporting laws, participating in good faith in the making of a report or referral, or in the investigation of such a report or referral, or in the taking of photographs and X-rays, or in the retaining a child in temporary protective custody, or in making a disclosure of information concerning reports of child abuse and neglect in compliance with the reporting laws, shall have immunity from any civil, criminal, or other liability that might result by reason of such actions.

For the purpose of any civil or criminal proceedings, the good faith of any persons required or permitted to report or refer under the reporting laws, or required to disclose information concerning reports of child abuse and neglect, cases of suspected child abuse or neglect, shall be presumed.

Grounds for Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights

To better understand this issue and to view it across States, see the Grounds for Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights: Summary of State Laws (PDF - 792 KB) publication.

Circumstances That Are Grounds for Termination of Parental Rights
705 ILCS 405/1-2; 405/2-13.1; 750 ILCS 50/1
  • The parent has abandoned the child.
  • The parent is unable to discharge his or her parental duties due to:
    • Mental illness, mental deficiency, or developmental disability
    • A conviction and incarceration for a felony
  • The parent has substantially and continuously or repeatedly neglected the child.
  • The parent has been found, two or more times, to have physically abused any child, or to have caused the death of any child by physical child abuse.
  • The parent has subjected the child to an aggravated circumstance, including, but not limited to, abandonment, torture, or chronic abuse.
  • Reasonable efforts to rehabilitate the parent have failed.
  • A child was born exposed to controlled substances, and a substance-exposed child was previously born to the same mother.
  • The parent has been convicted of:
    • Murder or voluntary manslaughter of any child
    • Aiding, abetting, attempting, or soliciting to commit murder or voluntary manslaughter of any child
    • Aggravated battery or felony domestic battery that has resulted in serious bodily injury to any child
    • Aggravated criminal sexual assault
  • The parent has repeatedly and continuously failed to provide the child with adequate food, clothing, and shelter, although financially able to do so.
  • The parent has failed to maintain regular visitation, contact, or communication with the child for a period of 12 months.
  • A putative father has failed to establish paternity.
  • A child has been in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months.
  • Parental rights to another child of the parent have been involuntarily terminated.
Circumstances That Are Exceptions to Termination of Parental Rights
705 ILCS 405/2-23; 750 ILCS 50/1
A petition will be filed when the child has been in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months unless the parent can prove by a preponderance of the evidence that it is more likely than not that the child will be returned to the parent within 6 months.

A petition to terminate parental rights will be filed when there are grounds unless:

  • The child is being cared for by a relative.
  • The department has documented a compelling reason that filing such petition will not be in the best interests of the child.
  • The court has found that the department has failed to make reasonable efforts to reunify the child and family.

Come To My Garden is the background for The Illinois_Family_Rights_Association. The music is written by Lucy Simon and Marsha Mason for the 1999 Broadway Music "The Secret Garden."
I hope you enjoy it.
 
~Karissa~

CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES IS NOT ABOUT PROTECTING CHILDREN IT IS ABOUT TAX INCENTIVE PAYMENTS TO THE STATE BY ADMINISTRATION OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES.