2023 Illinois Compiled Statutes › Chapter 20 - EXECUTIVE BRANCH › 20 ILCS 615/ - Displaced Homemakers Assistance Act.

(20 ILCS 615/1) (from Ch. 23, par. 3451)
Sec. 1. 
		
		This Act shall be known and may be cited as
the "Displaced Homemakers Assistance Act".
(Source: P.A. 80-884.)
(20 ILCS 615/2) (from Ch. 23, par. 3452)
Sec. 2. 
		
		The General Assembly finds that there is an
increasing number of persons in the State who, in their
middle years and having fulfilled the role of homemaker,
find themselves displaced because of dissolution of marriage,
death of spouse or other loss of family income.  As a consequence,
displaced homemakers have a greatly reduced income, a high rate of
unemployment due to age, a lack of paid work experience and
limited opportunities to collect funds of assistance from social
security, unemployment compensation, medicaid and other health
insurance benefits, or pension plans of the spouse.  The General
Assembly further finds that assistance should be offered such
displaced homemakers to enable them to contribute to society
and maintain independence and economic security.
(Source: P.A. 80-884.)
(20 ILCS 615/3) (from Ch. 23, par. 3453)
Sec. 3. As used in this Act, unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise:
(a) "Displaced homemaker" means a person who (1) has worked in the
home for a substantial number of years providing unpaid household
services for family members; (2) is not gainfully employed; (3) has
difficulty in securing employment; and (4) was dependent on the income
of another family member but is no longer supported by such income, or
was dependent on federal assistance but is no longer eligible for such
assistance.
(b) "Director" means the Director of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
						
or its successor agency.
(Source: P.A. 94-793, eff. 5-19-06.)
(20 ILCS 615/4) (from Ch. 23, par. 3454)
Sec. 4. 
		
		The services to be offered under this Act shall be
provided to, but not necessarily be limited to, those
displaced homemakers between the ages of 35 and 60.
(Source: P.A. 80-884.)
(20 ILCS 615/5) (from Ch. 23, par. 3455)
Sec. 5. 
		Director; duties.
(a) The Director shall designate multipurpose service
centers for displaced homemakers operated by community nonprofit
agencies or organizations.  To the greatest extent possible, the
Director shall rely on such agencies or organizations whose major
emphasis has been to provide social services.
(b) The Director shall search for such nonprofit agencies or organizations to
carry out the programs created under this Act.
(c) The Director shall designate the agencies or organizations to carry out such
programs.
(d) The Director shall begin to provide the necessary funds to the nonprofit agencies
or organizations to set up and begin the operation of the multipurpose
service centers.  Thereafter the Director shall provide the funds
appropriated to the centers as the costs of the centers are incurred.
(e) The Director shall, with the advice of the staff of the centers,
promulgate rules and regulations to implement this Act. Such rules and
regulations shall include eligibility of persons for job training
programs, the level of stipends for the job training programs and a
sliding fee scale for the service programs.
(f) The Director, with the advice of the staff of the centers, shall
by rule establish performance goals for the purpose of program evaluation.
The goals shall be comparable to those established under the federal Job
Training Partnership Act.  The goals shall be renegotiated with the staff of
the centers each biennium.
(Source: P.A. 87-878.)
(20 ILCS 615/6) (from Ch. 23, par. 3456)
Sec. 6. 
		
		(a) The multipurpose service centers shall develop
job counseling and placement services by cooperating with
federal, State and local governmental agencies and private
employers.  The services shall include:
(1) Counseling displaced homemakers with respect to
appropriate job opportunities;
(2) Identifying community needs and seeking funding for new
public and private sector jobs in relation to this Act;
(3) Providing displaced homemakers training, skills and
referral services to become gainfully employed and independent;
(4) Developing plans to include more displaced homemakers in
existing training and placement programs; and
(5) Referring displaced homemakers to agencies which provide
information and assistance with respect to health care,
financial matters, education,
nutrition and legal problems.
(b) To the extent possible, the centers shall serve
surrounding rural areas through a rural outreach effort.
(c) To the extent possible, supervisory, technical and
administrative positions relating to the multipurpose service
programs shall be filled by displaced homemakers.
(d) The director of each center shall submit an annual report
to the Director.  The report shall include evaluations
of the effectiveness of the job training, placement and service
programs to displaced homemakers including the number of
persons trained, the number of persons placed in employment,
follow-up data on such persons, the number of persons served
by the various service programs and cost effectiveness of the
various components of the center.
(e) The director of each center may accept, use and
dispose of contributions of money, services and property
for the purposes of this Act.
(Source: P.A. 80-884.)
(20 ILCS 615/7) (from Ch. 23, par. 3457)
Sec. 7. 
		
		(a) The sponsoring nonprofit agency or
organization shall cooperate with federal, State and
local agencies to coordinate the multiservice programs
established under this Act.
(b) The agency or organization and the communities
served by programs established under this Act shall
provide a total of not less than 5% of the cost of the
operation of the centers to supplement monies appropriated
to implement and continue this Act.
(Source: P.A. 80-884.)
(20 ILCS 615/8) (from Ch. 23, par. 3458)
Sec. 8. Transfer of powers and duties to the Department of Labor. On
July 1, 1992, all powers and duties of the Department of Commerce and
 Community Affairs (now Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity) under this Act shall be transferred to the Department of
Labor, and references in other Sections of this Act to the Department of
Commerce and  Community Affairs (now Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity) shall be deemed to refer to the Department
of Labor.  All rules, standards and procedures adopted by the Department of
Commerce and  Community Affairs (now Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity) shall continue in effect as the rules,
standards and procedures of the Department of Labor, until they are
modified or abolished by that Department.
(Source: P.A. 94-793, eff. 5-19-06.)