2023 Illinois Compiled Statutes › Chapter 305 - PUBLIC AID › 305 ILCS 80/ - Murdered Children Funeral and Burial Assistance Act.

(305 ILCS 80/1)
Sec. 1. Short title; references to Act.
(a)  Short title.  This Act may be cited as the Murdered Children Funeral and Burial Assistance Act.
(b)  References to Act. This Act may be referred to as the Mychal
Moultry, Jr. Funeral and Burial Assistance Act.
(Source: P.A. 102-754, eff. 5-10-22.)
(305 ILCS 80/5)
Sec. 5. Purpose; findings.
(a) Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children
and teenagers in Illinois.
(b) Parents and guardians who experience the death of a
child by gun violence face the painful process of bereavement while
also bearing the responsibilities of planning a funeral and paying
for funeral and burial expenses, usually through some form of debt.
(c) While the State assists the families of murdered
children with funeral and burial expenses, assistance is primarily
in the form of a reimbursement to the family after a formal
application is submitted. After submission, the application
undergoes a lengthy evaluation process by a review committee and a
subsequent hearing before an administrative court. The process
takes months, even years, before a final decision is rendered,
during which time the victim's family can incur an overwhelming
amount of debt.
(d) This debt is particularly burdensome for low-income families, who struggle to repay the debt while continuing to provide
for the family's basic needs. Many families rely on in-kind
donations to support their basic needs while they work to pay off
funeral and burial expenses.
(e) It is the intent of this Act to assist the families of
children murdered in Illinois with funeral and burial expenses by
having the State issue direct payments to funeral establishments
and cemetery authorities instead of having the victim's family
struggle to pay the cost and wait for reimbursement. Direct payments
will enable families to secure burial rights and funeral and burial services and merchandise without enduring
significant financial hardship and debt.
(f) This Act provides for expedited processing and
payment of all disbursement requests for child victim funeral and
burial expenses.
(Source: P.A. 102-754, eff. 5-10-22.)
(305 ILCS 80/10)
Sec. 10. Definitions. In this Act:
"Burial rights" means rights of internment, inurnment, or entombment.
"Cemetery authority" means any individual or legal entity
that owns or controls cemetery lands or property that provides
burial rights and burial services and merchandise to a child
victim consistent with the Cemetery Oversight Act.
"Child victim" means a person under 17 years of age killed in this State by a firearm as a result of first degree murder, second degree murder, voluntary manslaughter of an unborn child, involuntary manslaughter, and involuntary manslaughter of an unborn child.
"Department" means the Department of Human Services.
"Eligible survivor" means the parent or guardian of a child victim, or anyone living in the household of a child victim in a relationship with the victim that is substantially similar to that of a parent, who has a household income of less than 150% of the federal poverty level, qualifies for payment of funeral and burial expenses under this Act, and has or shares the authority to
direct the disposition of the remains of the victim pursuant to the
Disposition of Remains Act.
"Funeral and burial expenses" means expenses that include, but are not limited to, the transport of deceased human remains to
a funeral establishment; the preparation of deceased human
remains for burial, including cleaning, disinfecting, and embalming; the preparation, direction, and supervision of the
burial, cremation, or other disposition of deceased human
remains, including furnishing a casket, vault, mausoleum, columbarium, or urn;
the administration of funeral arrangements, including providing
printed materials, providing transportation of the deceased human
remains to the burial site, and furnishing necessary facilities
and equipment; and any other service related to the carrying out
of funeral or burial services that the Department may allow, if
 consistent with the law, up to the total allowable amount
of disbursement under Section 40.
"Funeral establishment" means a State-licensed funeral home, funeral chapel, funeral parlor, or other business that provides funeral and burial services to a child victim.
(Source: P.A. 102-754, eff. 5-10-22.)
(305 ILCS 80/15)
Sec. 15. Felon as victim or survivor.

    An eligible survivor's or child victim's criminal history
or felony status shall not automatically prevent an award for payment of the child victim's funeral and burial expenses.
(Source: P.A. 102-754, eff. 5-10-22.)
(305 ILCS 80/20)
Sec. 20. Additional powers; Department of Human Services.
   In addition to other powers and duties set forth in this Act
and other powers exercised by the Department,
the Department shall conduct a review of disbursement
requests submitted by a funeral establishment or cemetery
authority, which includes verification of the eligible survivor's
household income, verification of the child victim's death
certificate, and a review of the
statement of goods and services provided by the funeral
establishment or cemetery authority. Upon conclusion of the review, the Department shall provide the funeral establishment or cemetery authority with a payment determination letter. The Department shall disburse payment to a funeral establishment or cemetery authority.
(Source: P.A. 102-754, eff. 5-10-22.)
(305 ILCS 80/25)
Sec. 25. Right to disbursement.
(a)
With respect to the provision of burial rights and funeral and
burial services and merchandise within the applicable scope of
practice, a funeral establishment or cemetery authority is
entitled to a disbursement under this Act if within one year of the occurrence of the crime upon
which a disbursement request is made, the funeral establishment or
cemetery authority submits the request to the Department
on a form prescribed in accordance with Section 30 as furnished by
the Department.
(b) The Department may accept a request presented after
the period provided in subsection (a) if it determines that the
funeral establishment or cemetery authority had a good cause for a
delay.
(Source: P.A. 102-754, eff. 5-10-22.)
(305 ILCS 80/30)
Sec. 30. Disbursement request requirements.
(a)
A disbursement request shall include:
(1) the name and address of the eligible survivor and     his or her relationship to the child victim;
(2) the date and nature of the crime on which the     disbursement request is based;
(3) the nature and extent of the injuries sustained     by the child victim, and the names and addresses of those giving any medical and hospitalization treatment to the child victim;
(4) a copy of the child victim's death certificate;
(5)  an affidavit of facts of death;
(6) documentation verifying an eligible survivor's     household income;
(7) a copy of the invoice detailing funeral and     burial expenses, including any applicable taxes, surcharges, and fees;
(8) releases authorizing the surrender to the      Department of reports, documents and other information relating to matters specified under this Act and rules adopted in accordance with this Act; and
(9) such other information as the Department     reasonably requires.
(b)   The Department may require that materials
substantiating the facts stated in the disbursement request
be submitted with that request.
(c)   A funeral establishment or cemetery authority, on
its own volition, may file an amended request or additional substantiating materials to correct inadvertent
errors or omissions at any time before the original request has been disposed of by the Department. In either case, the
filing of additional information or of an amended request shall
be considered for the purpose of this Act to have been filed at
the same time as the original request.
(Source: P.A. 102-754, eff. 5-10-22.)
(305 ILCS 80/35)
Sec. 35. Additional materials requested.
     If a funeral establishment or cemetery authority does not
submit all materials substantiating its disbursement request as
requested by the Department, the Department shall notify the
establishment in writing of the specific additional items of
information or materials required and that it has 30 days in which
to furnish those items to the Department. No disbursement shall be made
for any portion of the request from a funeral establishment or
cemetery authority that is not substantiated by the establishment
or authority. An establishment or authority may request an extension
of time from the Department prior to the expiration of the 30-day
period.
(Source: P.A. 102-754, eff. 5-10-22.)
(305 ILCS 80/40)
Sec. 40. Amount of disbursement.
(a) The total amount of disbursement for funeral and burial
expenses for a child victim shall be no more than $10,000, to be apportioned
between the funeral establishment and cemetery authority by those
eligible survivors authorized to direct the disposition of remains
pursuant to the Disposition of Remains Act.
(b) Upon submitting a disbursement request to the
Department, and upon the Department's review of such request
verifying that a survivor is an eligible survivor, a funeral
establishment and cemetery authority shall each receive
disbursement from the Department in the amount of the total
cost of burial rights and funeral services and merchandise
provided, up to the allocation amount. The Department shall
process all payment vouchers within 30 days of submission of a
complete disbursement request, and shall pay all such vouchers
within 30 days of receipt. All disbursement requests that are not
paid within 60 days shall thereafter accrue interest at the rate
set by the Prompt Payment Act.
(c) Beginning on July 1, 2024, the maximum
allowable disbursement amount shall be increased each year by an amount equal to any increase in the general inflation, as determined by
the index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor that measures the average change in prices of goods and services purchased by all urban consumers, United States city average, all items, 1982-84 = 100.
(Source: P.A. 102-754, eff. 5-10-22.)
(305 ILCS 80/45)
Sec. 45. Prohibition against double payment; recordkeeping; payment recapture.
(a) If any funeral and burial expenses are paid under this Act, no award for such assistance shall be granted to any party in relation to funeral and burial expenses for the same child victim under the Crime
Victims Compensation Act or the Department of Human
Services Funeral and Burial Benefits Program.
(b) No person or entity receiving assistance
under this Act shall receive or  retain a duplicate award for funeral and
burial expenses for a child victim from any State agency or
agencies. For the purposes of this Section, a duplicate award is
one that results in a total award from the State for the cost of
funeral and burial expenses for a child victim in excess of that
authorized by the Department. To prevent such duplicate awards,
the Department shall maintain an electronic record of each
disbursement to a funeral establishment or cemetery authority
and provide access to such records to any State agency
providing funeral or burial assistance to Illinois residents.
(c) The Department is authorized to contract with third-party entities to conduct payment recapture audits to detect and
recapture payments made in error or as a result of fraud or
abuse. A payment recapture audit shall include the process of
identifying improper payments paid to a funeral
establishment or cemetery authority or to an eligible survivor
whereby accounting specialists examine payment records and uncover
duplicate payments, payments for services not rendered,
overpayments, payments for unauthorized services, and fictitious
vendors. This audit may include the use of professional and
specialized auditors on a contingency basis, with compensation tied
to the identification of misspent funds.
(Source: P.A. 102-754, eff. 5-10-22.)
(305 ILCS 80/50)
Sec. 50. Notice to public of available assistance.
(a) The Department  shall
develop a brochure informing the public of the existence of funeral and burial assistance for the families of murdered children under this Act and make the brochure available on its website.
(b) Any law enforcement agency that investigates an offense
committed in this State shall inform the parent or guardian of the
child victim concerning the availability of assistance for funeral
and burial expenses under this Act and advise such persons that any
information concerning this Act may be obtained from the
Department.
(Source: P.A. 102-754, eff. 5-10-22.)
(305 ILCS 80/900)
Sec. 900. (Amendatory provisions; text omitted).
(Source: P.A. 102-754, eff. 5-10-22; text omitted.)
(305 ILCS 80/999)
Sec. 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.
(Source: P.A. 102-754, eff. 5-10-22.)