Illinois Administrative Code › Title 89 - SOCIAL SERVICES › Part 315 - PERMANENCY PLANNING › Subpart A - PRINCIPLES OF PERMANENCY PLANNING › Section 315.20 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
"Administrative case review" means a review of permanency
				  planning open to the participation of the parents of the child, conducted by a
				  person who is not responsible for the case management of, or the delivery of
				  services to, either the child or the parents who are the subjects of the
				  review. (See
				  42
				  USC 675(6).) The
				  administrative case review is also open to the participation of other
				  professionals involved in assessing or treating the child, any legal
				  representative of the parent or child, and the foster parents as specified in
				  89 Ill. Adm. Code 316 (Administrative Case Reviews and Court Hearings).
"Best interest of the child", as defined in the Juvenile
				  Court Act of 1987, means consideration of the following factors:
the physical safety and welfare of the child,
				  including food, shelter, health, and clothing;
the development of the child's
				  identity;
the child's background and ties, including familial,
				  cultural, and religious;
the child's sense of attachments,
				  including:
where the child actually feels love, attachment, and
				  a sense of being valued (as opposed to where adults believe the child should
				  feel such love, attachment, and a sense of being valued);
the child's sense of security;
the child's sense of familiarity;
continuity of affection for the
				  child;
the least disruptive placement alternative for the
				  child;
the child's wishes and long-term
				  goals;
the child's community ties, including church, school,
				  and friends;
the child's need for permanence, which includes the
				  child's need for stability and continuity of relationships with parent figures
				  and with siblings and other relatives;
the uniqueness of every family and
				  child;
the risks attendant to entering and being in
				  substitute care; and the preferences of the persons available to care for the
				  child.
[
				  705
				  ILCS 405/1-3 ]
"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.
"Client service plan" means a written plan on a form
				  prescribed by the Department that guides all participants in the plan of
				  intervention toward the permanency goals for the children.
"Concurrent planning" means a process whereby the Department
				  or its service provider works toward family reunification with a family whose
				  children has been removed from the home while, at the same time, developing an
				  alternative plan, if reunification with the family cannot be attained.
"Contact between siblings" means contact between or among
				  siblings who are residing apart from one another, and may include, but is not
				  limited to: telephone calls; video conferencing; in person visitation;
				  sending/receiving cards, letters, emails, text messages, gifts, etc.; sharing
				  photographs or information; use of any approved social media (e.g., Facebook);
				  and any other agreed upon forms of communication technology.
"Family" means one or more adults and children, related by
				  blood, marriage, civil union, or adoption and residing in the same
				  household.
"Father" means a man
presumed to be the natural
				  father of a child if:
he and the child's natural mother are or have been
				  married to each other, even though the marriage is or could be declared
				  invalid, and the child is born or conceived during such
				  marriage;
after the child's birth, he and the child's natural
				  mother have married each other, even though the marriage is or could be
				  declared invalid, and he is named, with his consent, as the child's father on
				  the child's birth certificate
pursuant to Section 12 of the Vital
				  Records Act [
				  410 ILCS
				  535/12 ];
he and the child's natural mother have signed an
				  acknowledgment of paternity in accordance with rules adopted by the Illinois
				  Department of Healthcare and Family Services under Section 10-17.7 of the
				  Illinois Public Aid Code
[
				  305 ILCS
				  5/10-17.7];
he and the child's mother have signed
an
				  acknowledgement of parentage or, if the natural father is someone other than
				  the one presumed to be the father under this Section, an acknowledgement of
				  parentage and denial of paternity in accordance with Section 12 of the Vital
				  Records Act.
[
				  750 ILCS 45/5 ]
A man can rebut a presumption of paternity only as provided
				  in Section 5(b) of the Illinois Parentage Act of 1984 [
				  750 ILCS
				  45/5(b) ]. Father also means a man
				  who adopts a child or has been determined by court or administrative
				  adjudication to be the child's father.
"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
				  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.
"Guardian" 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 ].
"Individual Treatment Plan" or "ITP" or "Treatment Plan" as
				  defined in 59 Ill. Adm. Code 132 (Medicaid Community Mental Health Services
				  Program) means a written document developed by the appropriate service provider
				  staff with the participation of the client with a mental illness and, if
				  applicable, the client's guardian, which specifies the client's diagnosis,
				  problems, and service needs to be addressed, the intermediate objectives and
				  long-term goals for the services and the planned interventions for achieving
				  these goals.
"Individualized Education Plan/Program" or "IEP" means the
				  document prepared by the local school district, as a result of a
				  Multi-disciplinary Conference, that identifies the specific special education
				  services that will be provided to the child. The IEP also includes education
				  goals, services, frequency, quantity and duration. IEP is further defined in 23
				  Ill. Adm. Code 226 (Special Education).
"Individualized Family Service Plan" or "IFSP" means a
				  written working document developed for each child in order to facilitate the
				  provisions of Early Intervention (EI) services. The IFSP is created by the
				  family, an inter-disciplinary team, the core EI agency, and the case manager
				  (service coordinator). The EI agency is responsible for coordinating the IFSP
				  implementation.
"Minimum parenting standards" means that a parent or other
				  person responsible for the child's welfare is able and willing to ensure that a
				  child is healthy and safe, which includes ensuring 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 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 by a court of
				  law.
"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, adoption
, marriage, or civil union
:
				  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 a 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 termination planning" means service planning that
				  starts with the first contact with the family and that focuses on providing a
				  smooth transition from Department guardianship or custody. It includes the
				  receipt of child welfare services to discharge from guardianship or custody and
				  the termination of Department funded services.
"Siblings" means children who have at least one parent in
				  common. Children continue to be considered siblings after parental rights are
				  terminated, if parental rights were terminated while a petition under Article
				  II of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 was pending. Children continue to be
				  considered siblings 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 [ 705 ILCS
				  405 ] immediately prior to the 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.
"Substitute care" means the care of children who require
				  placement away from their families or private guardians. Substitute care
				  includes foster family care, care provided in a relative home placement as
				  defined in 89 Ill. Adm. Code 301 (Placement and Visitation Services), Section
				  301.80
				  (Relative Home Placement), care provided in a group home, care provided in a
				  maternity center or a child care, mental health or other institution, and care
				  provided in an independent living arrangement.
"Termination of parental rights" means a court order that
				  relieves the legal parents of parental responsibility for the child and revokes
				  all legal rights with respect to the child. The termination order also frees
				  the child from all obligations of maintenance and obedience with respect to the
				  legal parents.
"Visitation" means face-to-face contact:
between parents and their children who are in substitute
				  care;
between siblings in substitute care who are placed apart from
				  one another; or
between siblings in substitute care with siblings who are not
				  in substitute care (e.g., emancipated, case closed due to independence,
				  adopted, placed in private guardianship, living in home of parent,
				  etc.).