Illinois Administrative Code › Title 89 - SOCIAL SERVICES › Part 302 - SERVICES DELIVERED BY THE DEMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES › Subpart A - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 302.20 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
"Adoption assistance" or "adoption subsidy" means financial
				  assistance from the Department that is provided to the adoptive parents after
				  the finalization of an adoption.
"Adoption placement" means a living arrangement with a family
				  that is directed toward establishing that family as the child's new legal
				  parents. To be considered an adoptive placement the child must be placed in a
				  licensed foster family home or a license-exempt relative home and
				  either:
be legally free (parental rights have been terminated or both
				  parents have surrendered their parental rights); or
be placed in a legal risk adoptive placement that has passed
				  legal screening as described in 89 Ill. Adm. Code 309 (Adoption Services for
				  Children for Whom the Department of Children and Family Services is Legally
				  Responsible).
"Biological father" means a man who was not married to the
				  mother when the child was born and who has acknowledged his paternity in open
				  court, or who has signed a statement acknowledging paternity, or who is legally
				  presumed to be the father because he married the child's mother after the
				  child's birth and his name appears on the child's official record of birth, or
				  whose paternity is adjudicated in court. When paternity has been established in
				  the above manner, the relatives of the biological father as well as those of
				  the mother may be considered for the placement of the related children.
"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 have signed
				  an adoptive surrender or voluntary placement agreement with the
				  Department.
"Child welfare services" means public social
				  services
that
are directed toward the accomplishment of the
				  following purposes:
protecting and promoting the health, safety and
				  welfare of
all
children, including homeless, dependent, or
				  neglected children;
preventing,
remedying, or assisting in the
				  solution of problems
that
may result in, the neglect, abuse,
				  exploitation, or delinquency of children;
preventing the unnecessary separation of children
				  from their families by identifying family problems, assisting families in
				  resolving their problems, and preventing breakup of the family where the
				  prevention of child removal is desirable and possible when the child can be
				  cared for at home without endangering the child's health and
				  safety
;
restoring to their families children who have been
				  removed, by the provision of services to the child and the families when the
				  child can be cared for at home without endangering the child's health and
				  safety;
placing children in suitable adoptive homes, in cases
				  where restoration to the biological family is not safe, possible or
				  appropriate;
assuring safe and adequate care of children away from
				  their homes, in cases where the child cannot be returned home or cannot be
				  placed for adoption
.
At the time of placement, the Department
				  shall consider concurrent planning so that permanency may occur at the earliest
				  opportunity. Consideration should be given so that if reunification fails or is
				  delayed, the placement made is the best available placement to provide
				  permanency for the child;
providing supportive services and living maintenance that
				  contributes to the physical, emotional and social well-being of children for
				  whom the Department is legally responsible who are pregnant and
				  unmarried;
providing shelter and independent living services for
				  homeless youth; and
placing and maintaining children in facilities that
				  provide separate living quarters for children under the age of 18 and for
				  children 18 years of age and older, unless a child 18 years of age is in the
				  last year of high school education or vocational training, in an approved
				  individual or group treatment program, in a licensed shelter facility,
				  or
in a
secure child care facility. The Department is not
				  required to place or maintain children:
who are in a foster home;, or
who are persons with a developmental disability, as
				  defined in the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code
[ 405
				  ILCS 5 ]; or
who are female children who are pregnant, pregnant
				  and parenting or parenting;, or
who are siblings
;
in facilities that provide separate living quarters
				  for children 18 years of age and older and for children under 18 years of
				  age.
[
				  20
				  ILCS 505/5 ]
These services include but are not limited to: counseling,
				  advocacy, protective and family maintenance day care, homemaker, emergency
				  caretaker, family planning, adoption, placement, child protection, and
				  information and referral.
"Custodial Caregiver" means an individual with whom a child
				  resides who is directly responsible for the day-to-day care of the child
				  ensuring the child's safety and well-being.
"Department" means the Department of Children and Family
				  Services.
"Family" means one or more adults and children, related by
				  blood, marriage, civil union, or adoption and residing in the same
				  household.
"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, 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) ]
"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 89 Ill. Adm. Code
				  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 89 Ill. Adm. Code
				  301.80
				  (Relative Home Placement) must be met.
"Level of care" means one of the following types of
				  substitute care that would be appropriate for the child, if placed in foster
				  care: regular foster care, intensive foster care, or specialized foster
				  care.
"Minimum parenting standards" means that a parent or other
				  person responsible for the child's welfare sees that the child is adequately
				  fed, clothed appropriately for the weather conditions, provided with adequate
				  shelter, protected from physical, mental and emotional harm, and provided with
				  necessary medical care and education as required by law.
"Parents" means the child's legal parents whose rights have
				  not been terminated. Biological fathers are considered legal parents when
				  paternity has been established as required by the definition in this
				  Section.
"Permanency goal" means the desired outcome of intervention
				  and service that 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
a 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 legal status" means a legally binding relationship
				  between a child and a family as established by birth or a court of law.
"Pre-existing condition" means, for purposes of adoption
				  assistance and subsidized guardianship, a disabling physical, emotional or
				  mental health condition that the child had prior to the finalization of the
				  adoption or transfer of guardianship. Such condition must be documented by a
				  duly licensed or credentialed professional.
"Private guardianship" means an individual person appointed
				  by the court to assume the responsibilities of the guardianship of the person
				  as defined in Section 1-3 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 [
				  705
				  ILCS 405/1-3 ] or Article XI of the Probate Act of
				  1975 [ 755 ILCS 5 ].
"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 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) ]
"Service constellation" means a variety of services provided
				  to a child and his/her family.
"Service plan" means a written plan on a form prescribed by
				  the Department in the plan toward the permanency goal for the children.
"Siblings" means children who have at least one parent in
				  common. Children continue to be considered siblings after parental rights are
				  terminated or 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 immediately
				  prior to the private 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.
"Subsidized Guardianship Program" means a program of the
				  Department that offers a financial subsidy to relative care or licensed foster
				  home caregivers who are willing to assume private guardianship of children who
				  are eligible for the program. The Subsidized Guardianship Program is further
				  defined in Section
				  302.405
				  (Subsidized Guardianship) and Section
				  302.410
				  (Subsidized Guardianship (KinGap)).
"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 that include
				  placement.