Illinois Administrative Code › Title 89 - SOCIAL SERVICES › Part 431 - CONFIDENTIALITY OF PERSONAL INFORMATION OF PERSONS SERVED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES › Section 431.80 - Disclosure of Records of Child Abuse and Neglect Investigations

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
Record information about child abuse and neglect investigations
				may be shared with the following individuals without the consent of the
				subjects of the report.
a) Department
			 staff in the furtherance of their responsibilities under ANCRA or for the
			 purpose of completing background investigations on persons or agencies licensed
			 by the Department or through whom the Department provides child welfare
			 services, and on court appointed special advocates, or for purposes of an
			 investigation conducted by the DCFS-Office of the Inspector General under
			 Section
			 35.5 of the Children
			 and Family Services Act. Unfounded reports may be made available to the child
			 protective service unit only when an investigator in the unit is investigating
			 a subsequent report of suspected abuse or neglect involving a subject named in
			 the unfounded report;
b) Department
			 and purchase of service provider staff assessing children and families in which
			 abuse or neglect has occurred or providing services to these children and
			 families;
c) Department staff
			 verifying whether a child care facility subject to Department licensing is
			 owned or operated by known perpetrators of child abuse or neglect or whether
			 members of the household of a family home in which a child care facility
			 operates, or employees or volunteers who have access to children have been
			 found to be the perpetrators of child abuse or neglect;
d) Law enforcement officers investigating a
			 report of suspected child abuse or neglect, known or suspected involvement with
			 child pornography, known or suspected criminal sexual assault, known or
			 suspected criminal sexual abuse, or any other sexual offense when children are
			 alleged to be involved;
e)
The Department of State Police when administering the provisions of the
			 Intergovernmental Missing Child Recovery Act of 1984
[325 ILCS
			 5/11.1(a)(30) ];
f) State's Attorneys who need access to child
			 abuse or neglect information in the course of their assigned duties;
g) Physicians examining a child where abuse
			 or neglect is suspected;
h) A
			 court, upon its finding that access is necessary to determine an issue before
			 the court. Unless the court determines that disclosure of the information in
			 open court is necessary, this access is limited to an inspection by the judge
			 in his or her chambers or in a courtroom free of spectators;
i) A grand jury that determines that access
			 is necessary to conduct its official business;
j) Persons who have been authorized by the
			 Director, in writing, to review the records for audit or research purposes or
			 to review the records in the regular course of the Department's business. This
			 access shall be time limited or limited to specific staff functions;
k) Persons authorized to take temporary
			 protective custody if the information is needed to determine whether to take
			 the child into temporary protective custody;
l) A person who has legal responsibility or
			 authorization to care for, treat, or supervise a child or a parent, foster
			 parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the welfare of a child who is
			 the subject of a report;
m)
			 Federal, state or local law enforcement officers, coroners or medical
			 examiners, physicians, courts, school superintendents and child welfare
			 agencies in other states who are responsible for child abuse or neglect
			 investigations or background investigations. This information shall be
			 requested only for the purpose of aiding the investigation, assessment or
			 service provision or background investigation in the requesting
			 state;
n) The Illinois Department
			 of Financial and Professional Regulation, when determining whether a mandated
			 reporter (as detailed in ANCRA Section 4) who failed to report child abuse or
			 neglect should be subject to license suspension or revocation, or when
			 determining whether to refuse to issue, suspend or revoke a State-issued
			 license due to the person having been named a perpetrator in an indicated
			 report of child abuse or neglect;
o) School superintendents and the State Board
			 of Education when determining whether a teacher's certificate shall be
			 suspended because the teacher has been named as a perpetrator in an indicated
			 report of child abuse or neglect;
p)
A coroner or medical examiner who
			 has reason to believe that a child has died as the result of abuse or
			 neglect
[325 ILCS
			 5/11.1(a)(13) ];
q)
The Director of a State-operated
			 facility when an employee of that facility has been named as a perpetrator of
			 an indicated report
[325 ILCS
			 5/11.1(a)(14) ];
r)
Members of a multidisciplinary
			 team in the furtherance of its responsibilities
under this Act
			 [325 ILCS
			 5/11.1(a)(16) ];
s) The operator of a licensed child care
			 facility or a facility licensed by the Department of Human Services in which
			 children reside when a current or prospective employee of that facility has
			 been named as a perpetrator in an indicated child abuse or neglect
			 report;
t)
A probation
			 officer or other authorized representative of a probation or court services
			 department conducting an investigation ordered by a court under the Juvenile
			 Court Act of 1987
[325 ILCS
			 5/11.1(a) (8.1 )];
u)
The Department of Human Services,
			 as provided in Section 17 of the Disabled Person's Rehabilitation Act
[325 ILCS
			 5/11.1(a) (17)];
v)
Any other agency or investigative
			 body, including the Department of Public Health and a local board of health,
			 authorized by State law to conduct an investigation into the quality of care
			 provided to children in hospitals and other State regulated care facilities.
			 The access to and release of information from
child abuse
records shall be subject to the approval of the Director of the
			 Department or his
or her
designee
[325 ILCS
			 5/11.1(a)(18) ];
w)
The Department of Human Services,
			 as provided in Section 10 of the Early Intervention Services System
			 Act
[325 ILCS 20 ]
, and the operator of a facility providing
			 early intervention services pursuant to that Act, for the purpose of
			 determining whether a current or prospective employee who provides or may
			 provide direct services under that Act is the perpetrator in an indicated
			 report of child abuse or neglect filed under
ANCRA [325 ILCS
			 5/11.1(a)(20) ];
x)
The guardian ad litem of a minor
			 who is the subject of a report or records under
ANCRA [325 ILCS
			 5/11.1(a)(19) ];
y) Child death review teams in accordance
			 with 89 Ill. Adm. Code 300 (Reports of Child Abuse and Neglect), Section
			 300.165;
z) The general public as specified in Section
			 431.85;
			 or
aa) The state's attorney, law
			 enforcement, courtroom personnel or treatment providers when that information
			 pertains to juveniles subject to the provisions of the Serious Habitual
			 Offender Comprehensive Action Program [705
			 ILCS 405/5-145 ] and is used to assist in the early
			 identification and treatment of habitual juvenile offenders.