Section 301.20 Definitions

Section 301

Section 301.20  Definitions

"Administrative

case review" means case reviews required by 42 U.S.C. 675(1) and 20 ILCS

505/6a.

"Child

only standard of need" means the assistance standard for cases in which no

adult member is included, as defined by the Illinois Department of Human

Services in 89 Ill. Adm. Code 112.60(a).

"Children

for whom the Department is legally responsible" means children for whom

the Department has temporary protective custody, custody or guardianship via

court order, or children whose parents signed an adoptive surrender or

voluntary placement agreement with the Department.

"Contact

between siblings" means contact among siblings who are residing apart from

one another, and may include, but is not limited to: telephone calls; video

conferencing; in person visitation; sending/receiving cards, letters, emails,

text messages, gifts, etc.; sharing photographs or information; use of any

approved social media (e.g., Facebook); and any other agreed upon forms of

communication technology.

"Department"

as used in this Part, means the Department of Children and Family Services.

"Diligent

search", as used in this Part, means the efforts used by the Department to

find a joint placement for siblings who must be placed apart from their families.

Diligent search is further defined in Section 301.70(f).

"Family"

means one or more adults and children, related by blood, marriage, civil union

or adoption and residing in the same household

nt of Children and Family Services.

"Diligent

search", as used in this Part, means the efforts used by the Department to

find a joint placement for siblings who must be placed apart from their families.

Diligent search is further defined in Section 301.70(f).

"Family"

means one or more adults and children, related by blood, marriage, civil union

or adoption and residing in the same household.

"Father"

means

the parent-child relationship is established between a man and a child

by:

An unrebutted presumption of

the man's parentage of the child under Section 204 of the Illinois Parentage

Act of 2015

[750 ILCS 46] (Parentage Act)

;

An effective voluntary

acknowledgment of paternity by the man under Article 3 of the Parentage Act,

unless the acknowledgment has been rescinded or successfully challenged;

An adjudication of the man's

parentage;

Adoption of the child by the

man; or

A valid gestational surrogacy

arrangement that complies with the Gestational Surrogacy Act

[750 ILCS 47]

or

other law.

[750 ILCS 46/201(b)]

AGENCY NOTE: When paternity has

been established, the relatives of the biological father, as well as those of

the mother, may be considered for the placement of related children.

"Federally

funded foster care" means foster care maintenance payments made in

accordance with Title IV-E of the Social Security Act for which federal

matching grants are received.

"Fictive

kin" means any individual, unrelated by birth or marriage, who:

is shown to

have significant and close personal or emotional ties with the child or the child's

family prior to the child's placement with the individual; or

is the current foster parent of

a child in the custody or guardianship of the Department pursuant to the Child

and Family Services Act and the Juvenile Court Act of 1987

[705 ILCS 405]

,

if the child has been placed in the home for at least one year and has

established a significant and family-like relationship with the foster parent,

and the foster parent has been identified by the Department as the

urrent foster parent of

a child in the custody or guardianship of the Department pursuant to the Child

and Family Services Act and the Juvenile Court Act of 1987

[705 ILCS 405]

,

if the child has been placed in the home for at least one year and has

established a significant and family-like relationship with the foster parent,

and the foster parent has been identified by the Department as the child's permanent

connection.

[20 ILCS 505/7(b)]

"Foster

care payment" means the amount paid by the Department for a child's room,

board, clothing, and personal allowance in a licensed foster family home.

"Godparent"

is a person who sponsors a child at baptism or one in whom the parents have

entrusted a special duty that includes assisting in raising the child if the parent

cannot raise the child.  If the person is considered to be the child's

godparent, in order for placement to occur, the same placement selection

criteria as contained in Section 301.60 (Placement Selection Criteria) must be

met. If the godparent is not a licensed foster parent, all the conditions

currently in effect for placement with relatives in Section 301.80 (Relative

Home Placement) must be met.

"Independent Assessment"

means, for a child who is placed in a qualified residential treatment program,

an evaluation that assesses the strengths and needs of the child using an

age-appropriate, evidence-based, validated, functional assessment tool

.

(42

U.S.C. 675a(c)(1)(A)(i))

"Joint

placement", in the context of sibling placement, means the siblings are placed

in the same substitute care setting.

"LEADS"

means Law Enforcement Agency Data System.

"Parents"

means the child's legal parents whose parental rights have not been

terminated.  Biological fathers are considered legal parents when paternity has

been established as required by the definition of "father" in this

Section

ement", in the context of sibling placement, means the siblings are placed

in the same substitute care setting.

"LEADS"

means Law Enforcement Agency Data System.

"Parents"

means the child's legal parents whose parental rights have not been

terminated.  Biological fathers are considered legal parents when paternity has

been established as required by the definition of "father" in this

Section.

"Permanency

goal" means the desired outcome of intervention and service, which is

determined to be consistent with the health, safety, well-being, and best

interests of the child.  A permanent legal status is usually a component of the

permanency goal.

"Permanent

connection" means a family-like relationship, consistent with a child's

best interests, health, safety and well-being, that provides:

safe, stable and committed

parenting;

unconditional love and lifelong

support; and

permanent legal status between

child and family.

For a child for whom the

Department is legally responsible, a permanent connection may be the child's

parents or another caregiver in the child's home of origin.  When the child

cannot be safely returned home, a permanent connection may be the current or

former foster parent or relative caregiver, an individual identified as an

adoptive or legal guardianship placement resource, or another individual from among

the child's or family's lifelong connections with whom a child has developed a

familial relationship.

"Permanent

family placement" means placement in a foster family home or a relative

home that is intended to last until the child reaches age 21 or until the child

is capable of self-sufficiency.  The Department may retain guardianship of the

child or the foster parent or relative may assume guardianship of the child.

"Permanent

legal status" means a legally binding relationship between a child and a family

as established by birth or a court of law

family home or a relative

home that is intended to last until the child reaches age 21 or until the child

is capable of self-sufficiency.  The Department may retain guardianship of the

child or the foster parent or relative may assume guardianship of the child.

"Permanent

legal status" means a legally binding relationship between a child and a family

as established by birth or a court of law.

"Placement

Clearance Process" means the approval of a child's placement in foster

care or unlicensed relative care from the Placement Clearance Unit.

"Placement

decision" means the decision made by the Department, within 90 days after

the initial placement of a child with a relative, to leave or remove the child

in the relative home based on the evaluation of the results of the criminal

background check of the relative and household members and based on the best

interest of the child.

"Placing

worker" means the Child Protection Specialist, Permanency Worker or Intact

Family Worker with responsibility to select the substitute care placement for a

child.

"Qualified

Residential Treatment Program" means a program that:

has a trauma-informed treatment

model that is designed to address the needs, including clinical needs as

appropriate, of children with serious emotional or behavioral disorders or

disturbances and, with respect to a child, is able to implement the treatment

identified for the child by the independent assessment of the child required

under 42 U.S.C

tial Treatment Program" means a program that:

has a trauma-informed treatment

model that is designed to address the needs, including clinical needs as

appropriate, of children with serious emotional or behavioral disorders or

disturbances and, with respect to a child, is able to implement the treatment

identified for the child by the independent assessment of the child required

under 42 U.S.C. 675a(c);

has registered or licensed nursing

staff and other licensed clinical staff who:

provide care within the scope of

their practice as defined by state law;

are on-site

according to a trauma informed treatment model; and

are available 24

hours a day and 7 days a week;

to the extent appropriate, and in

accordance with the child's best interests, facilitates participation of family

members in the child's treatment program;

facilitates outreach to the family

members of the child, including siblings, documents how the outreach is made

(including contact information), and maintains contact information for any

known biological family and fictive kin of the child;

documents how family members are

integrated into the treatment process for the child, including post-discharge,

and how sibling connections are maintained;

provides discharge planning and

family-based aftercare support for at least 6 months post-discharge; and

is licensed in accordance with 42

U.S.C. 671(a)(10) and is accredited by any of the following independent,

not-for-profit organizations:

The Commission on Accreditation of

Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF);

The Joint Commission on

Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO);

The Council on

Accreditation (COA); and

Any other independent,

not-for-profit accrediting organization approved by the Secretary of Health and

Human Services. (42 U.S.C. 672(k)(1)-(4))

"Region"

means Cook County or any of the downstate Department of Children and Family

Services regions

ehabilitation Facilities (CARF);

The Joint Commission on

Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO);

The Council on

Accreditation (COA); and

Any other independent,

not-for-profit accrediting organization approved by the Secretary of Health and

Human Services. (42 U.S.C. 672(k)(1)-(4))

"Region"

means Cook County or any of the downstate Department of Children and Family

Services regions.

"Relative",

for purposes of placement of children for whom the Department is legally

responsible,

means any person, 21 years of age or over, other than the

parent, who:

is currently related to the child in any of the following ways by

blood or adoption:  grandparent, sibling, great-grandparent, uncle, aunt,

nephew, niece, first cousin,

first cousin once removed (children of one's

first cousin to oneself)

, second cousin

(children of first cousins are

second cousins to each other),

godparent

(as defined in this Section),

great-uncle,

or great-aunt; or

is the spouse

, or party to a civil union,

of such a relative;

or

is the child's step-father, step-mother,

step-grandfather,

step-grandmother

, or adult step-brother or step-sister; or

is the partner, or adult child of a partner, in a civil union with the

child's mother or father; or

is a fictive

kin as defined in this Section.

Relative

also includes a person related in any of the foregoing ways to a sibling of a

child, even though the person is not related to the child, when the child and

its sibling are placed together with that person.

For children who have

been in the guardianship of the Department, have been adopted, and are

subsequently returned to the temporary custody or guardianship of the

Department, a "relative" may also include any person who would have

qualified as a relative under this definition prior to the adoption, but only

if the Department determines that it would be in the best interests of the

child to consider this person a relative.

[20 ILCS 505/7(b)]

"Residential

facility", for the purposes of the Aristotle P

urned to the temporary custody or guardianship of the

Department, a "relative" may also include any person who would have

qualified as a relative under this definition prior to the adoption, but only

if the Department determines that it would be in the best interests of the

child to consider this person a relative.

[20 ILCS 505/7(b)]

"Residential

facility", for the purposes of the Aristotle P. Consent Decree, means all

non-foster care or relative home care placements.

"Service

plan" means a written plan on a form prescribed by the Department in the

plan toward the permanency goal for the children required by 42 U.S.C. 675(5),

325 ILCS 5/8.2, and 89 Ill. Adm. Code 315 (Permanency Planning).

"Siblings"

means children who have at least one parent in common.  Children continue to be

considered siblings after parental rights are terminated, if parental rights

were terminated while a petition under Article II of the Juvenile Court Act of

1987 was pending.  Children continue to be considered siblings after one or

more of the children are adopted or placed in private guardianship, if they

were in the custody or guardianship of the Department pursuant to Article II of

the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 [705 ILCS 405] immediately prior to the adoption

or guardianship.  Step-siblings may be considered "siblings" when the

children enter into substitute care together, have a positive relationship and share

at least one parent in common.

"Substitute

care" means the care of children who require placement away from their

families.  Substitute care includes foster family care, care of a child for

whom the Department is legally responsible provided in a relative family home,

care provided in a group home, and care provided in a child care or other

institution

have a positive relationship and share

at least one parent in common.

"Substitute

care" means the care of children who require placement away from their

families.  Substitute care includes foster family care, care of a child for

whom the Department is legally responsible provided in a relative family home,

care provided in a group home, and care provided in a child care or other

institution.

"Visitation"

means face-to-face contact:

between

parents and their children who are in substitute care;

between

siblings in substitute care who are placed apart from one another; or

between

siblings in substitute care with siblings who are not in substitute care (e.g.,

emancipated, case closed due to independence, adopted, placed in private

guardianship, living in home of parent, etc.).

"Voluntary

placement agreement" means a time-limited written request and consent from

a parent, guardian or legal custodian of a child for placement of the child out

of the home. When signed by designated Department staff, the Department agrees

to provide child welfare services which include placement.