705 ILCS 405/1-5
2021 Illinois Compiled Statutes|Chapter 705 - COURTS|705 ILCS 405/ - Juvenile Court Act of 1987.|Article I - General Provisions

 (from Ch. 37, par. 801-5)Sec. 1-5. Rights of parties to proceedings.(1) Except as provided in this Section and paragraph (2) of Sections  2-22, 3-23, 4-20, 5-610 or 5-705, the minor who is the subject of the  proceeding  and his or her parents, guardian, legal custodian or responsible relative who are  parties respondent have the right to be present, to be heard, to present  evidence material to the proceedings, to cross-examine witnesses, to  examine pertinent court files and records and also, although proceedings  under this Act are not intended to be adversary in character, the right to  be represented by counsel.  At the request of any party financially unable  to employ counsel, with the exception of a foster parent permitted to  intervene under this Section, the court shall appoint the Public Defender or  such other counsel as the case may require.  Counsel appointed for the minor and any indigent party shall appear at all  stages of the trial court proceeding, and such appointment shall continue  through the permanency hearings and  termination of parental rights proceedings subject to withdrawal, vacating of appointment, or  substitution pursuant to Supreme Court Rules or the Code of Civil Procedure.  Following the dispositional hearing, the court may require appointed counsel,  other than counsel for the minor or counsel for the guardian ad litem,  to withdraw his or her appearance upon failure of the party for whom counsel  was appointed under this Section to attend any subsequent proceedings.No hearing on any petition or motion filed under this Act may be  commenced unless  the minor who is the subject of the proceeding is represented by counsel.  Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, if a guardian ad litem has been  appointed for the minor under Section 2-17 of this  Act and the guardian ad litem is a licensed attorney at law of this State, or  in the event that a court appointed special advocate has been appointed as  guardian ad litem and counsel has been appointed to represent the court  appointed special advocate, the  court may not require the appointment of counsel to represent the  minor unless the court finds that the minor's interests are in conflict with  what the guardian ad litem determines to be in the best interest of the  minor. Each  adult respondent shall be furnished a written "Notice of Rights" at  or before the first hearing at which he or she appears.(1.5) The Department shall maintain  a system of response to inquiry made by parents or putative  parents as to whether their child is under the custody or guardianship of the  Department; and if so, the Department shall direct the parents or putative  parents to the appropriate court of jurisdiction, including where inquiry may  be made of the clerk of the court regarding the case number and the next  scheduled court date  of the minor's case.  Effective notice and the means of accessing information shall be given to the  public on a continuing basis  by the  Department.(2) (a) Though not appointed guardian or legal custodian or otherwise made  a party to the proceeding, any current or previously appointed foster parent  or relative caregiver, or representative of an agency or association  interested in the minor has  the right to be heard by the court, but does not thereby become a party  to the proceeding.In addition to the foregoing right to be heard by the court, any current  foster parent or relative caregiver of a minor and the agency designated  by the court or the  Department of Children and Family Services as custodian of the minor who  is alleged to be or has been adjudicated an abused or neglected minor under  Section 2-3 or a  dependent minor under Section 2-4 of this Act has the right to and shall be  given adequate notice at all stages of any hearing or proceeding under this  Act.Any foster parent or relative caregiver who is denied his or her  right to be heard under this  Section may bring a mandamus action under Article XIV of the Code of Civil  Procedure against the court or any public agency to enforce that right.  The  mandamus action may be brought immediately upon the denial of those rights but  in no event later than 30 days after the foster parent has been denied the  right to be heard.(b) If after an adjudication that a minor is abused or neglected as provided  under Section 2-21 of this Act and a motion has been  made to restore the  minor to any parent, guardian, or legal custodian found by the court to have  caused the neglect or to have inflicted the abuse on the minor, a foster parent  may file a motion to intervene in the proceeding for  the sole purpose of  requesting that the minor be placed with the foster parent, provided that the  foster parent (i) is the current foster parent of the minor or (ii) has  previously been a foster parent for the minor for one year or more, has a  foster care license or is eligible for a license or is not required to have a license, and is not the subject of any  findings of abuse or neglect of any child.  The juvenile court may only enter  orders placing a minor with a specific foster parent under this subsection  (2)(b) and nothing in this Section shall be construed to confer any  jurisdiction or authority on the juvenile court to issue any other orders  requiring the appointed guardian or custodian of a minor to place the minor in  a designated foster home or facility.  This Section is not intended to  encompass any matters that are within the  scope or determinable under the administrative and appeal process established  by rules of the Department of Children and Family Services under Section  5(o) of the Children and Family Services Act.  Nothing in this Section shall  relieve the court of its responsibility, under Section 2-14(a) of  this Act to act in a just and speedy manner to reunify families where it is  the best interests of the minor and the child can be cared for at home  without endangering the child's health or safety and, if reunification is not  in the best  interests of the minor, to find another permanent home for the minor.  Nothing  in this Section, or in any order issued by the court with respect to the  placement of a minor with a foster parent, shall impair the ability of the  Department of Children and Family Services, or anyone else authorized under  Section 5 of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, to remove a minor  from the home of a foster parent if the Department of Children and Family  Services or the person removing the minor has reason to believe that the  circumstances or conditions of the minor are such that continuing in the  residence or care of the foster parent will jeopardize the child's health and  safety or present an imminent risk of harm to that  minor's life.(c) If a foster parent has had the minor who is the subject of the  proceeding under Article II in his or her home for more than one year on or  after July 3, 1994 and if the minor's  placement is being terminated from that foster parent's home, that foster  parent shall have standing and intervenor status except in those  circumstances where the Department of Children and Family Services or anyone  else authorized under Section 5 of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act  has removed the minor from the foster parent because of a reasonable belief  that the circumstances or conditions of the minor are such that continuing in  the residence or care of the foster parent will jeopardize the child's health  or safety or presents an imminent risk of harm to  the minor's life.(d) The court may grant standing to any foster parent  if the court finds that it is in the best interest of the child for the foster  parent to have standing and intervenor status.(3) Parties respondent are entitled to notice in compliance with Sections  2-15 and 2-16, 3-17 and 3-18, 4-14 and 4-15 or 5-525 and 5-530, as appropriate.  At the first appearance before the court by the minor, his  parents, guardian, custodian or responsible relative, the court shall explain  the nature of the proceedings and inform the parties of their rights under the  first 2 paragraphs of this Section.If the child is alleged to be abused, neglected or dependent, the court  shall  admonish the parents that if the court declares the child to be a ward of the  court and  awards custody or guardianship to the Department of Children and Family  Services, the parents must cooperate with the Department of Children and Family  Services, comply with the terms of the service plans, and correct the  conditions that require the child to be in care, or risk termination of their  parental rights.Upon an adjudication of wardship of  the court under Sections 2-22, 3-23, 4-20 or 5-705, the court shall inform  the parties of their right to appeal therefrom as well as from any other  final judgment of the court.When the court finds that a child is an abused, neglected, or dependent  minor under  Section 2-21, the court shall admonish the parents that the parents must  cooperate with  the Department of Children and Family Services, comply with the terms of the  service plans, and correct the conditions that require the child to be in care,  or risk termination of  their parental  rights.When the court declares a child to be a ward of the court and awards  guardianship to the Department of Children and Family Services under Section  2-22, the court shall admonish the parents,  guardian,  custodian, or responsible relative that the parents must cooperate with the  Department of Children and Family Services, comply  with the terms of the service plans, and correct the conditions that require  the child to be in care, or risk termination of their parental  rights.(4) No sanction may be applied against the minor who is the subject of  the proceedings by reason of his refusal or failure to testify in the course  of any hearing held prior to final adjudication under Section 2-22, 3-23, 4-20  or 5-705.(5) In the discretion of the court, the minor may be excluded from any  part or parts of a dispositional hearing and, with the consent of the parent  or parents, guardian, counsel or a guardian ad litem, from any part or parts  of an adjudicatory hearing.(6) The general public except for the news media and the crime victim, as defined in Section 3 of the Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act, shall be  excluded from any hearing and, except for the persons specified in this  Section only persons, including representatives of agencies and  associations, who in the opinion of the court have a direct interest in the  case or in the work of the court shall be admitted to the hearing.  However,  the court may, for the minor's safety and protection and for good cause  shown,  prohibit any person or agency present in court from further disclosing the  minor's identity.  Nothing in this subsection (6) prevents the court from allowing other  juveniles to be present or to participate in a court session being held  under the Juvenile Drug Court Treatment Act.(7) A party shall not be entitled to exercise the right to a substitution  of a judge without cause under subdivision (a)(2) of Section 2-1001 of the Code  of Civil Procedure in a proceeding under this Act if the judge is currently  assigned to a proceeding involving the alleged abuse, neglect, or dependency of  the minor's sibling or half sibling and that judge has made a substantive  ruling in the proceeding involving the minor's sibling or half sibling.  (Source: P.A. 101-147, eff. 1-1-20.)