Illinois Administrative Code › Title 89 - SOCIAL SERVICES › Part 403 - LICENSING STANDARDS FOR GROUP HOMES › Section 403.2 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
"Access to children" means an employee's job
				duties require that the employee be present in a licensed child care facility
				during the hours that children are present in the facility. In addition, any
				person who is permitted to be alone outside the visual or auditory supervision
				of facility staff with children receiving care in a licensed child care
				facility is subject to the background check requirements of this Part.
"Appropriate activities" means activities or items that are
				generally accepted as suitable for children of the same chronological age or
				developmental level of maturity. Appropriateness is based on the development of
				cognitive, emotional, physical, and behavioral capacity that is typical for an
				age or age group, taking into account the individual child's cognitive,
				emotional, physical, and behavioral development.
[
				20
				ILCS 505/7.3a ]
"Background check"
				means:
a criminal history check via fingerprints of persons age 18
				and over that are submitted to the Illinois State Police and the Federal Bureau
				of Investigation (FBI) for comparison to their criminal history records, as
				appropriate, or via a LEADS check of persons ages 13 through 17; and
a check of Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS)
				and other state child protection systems, as appropriate, to determine whether
				an individual is currently alleged or has been indicated as a perpetrator of
				child abuse or neglect; and
a check of the Illinois Sex Offender
				Registry.
"Caregiver" means a licensed foster parent or unlicensed
				relative caregiver who provides care for a child in DCFS custody or
				guardianship, or a designated official employed by and present at the licensed
				child care facility in which a child in DCFS custody or guardianship is placed.
				For purposes of this Part, the "caregiver" for a youth under 18 years of age in
				a group home is assigned or designated staff of the facility.
"Child" means any person under 18 years of age.
(Section
				2.01 of the Child Care Act of 1969 [
				225 ILCS 10/2.01 ])
"Child care facility" means any person, group of persons, agency,
				association or organization, whether established for gain or otherwise, who or
				which receives or arranges for care or placement of one or more children,
				unrelated to the operator of the facility, apart from the parents, with or
				without the transfer of the right of custody in any facility as defined in the
				Child Care Act of 1969, established and maintained for the care of
				children.
(Section 2.05 of the Child Care Act of 1969)
"Child with a disability" means a child up to the age of 22 years old
				with mental retardation, hearing impairments (including deafness), speech or
				language impairments, visual impairments (including blindness), serious
				emotional disturbance (hereinafter referred to as emotional disturbance),
				orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health
				impairments, or specific learning disabilities; and who, due to these
				conditions, needs special education and related services. (Federal Individuals
				with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004;
				34 CFR
				300.8 )
"Department"
				means the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
(Section 2.02 of the Child Care Act of 1969)
"Employee" means any
				staff person employed by a child care facility, and includes any substitute or
				assistant. This definition includes administrative, professional and other
				support staff who have access to children.
"Group home"
				means a child care facility that provides care for no more than 10 children
				placed by and under the supervision of a licensed child welfare agency with
				these homes being owned or rented, staffed, maintained and otherwise operated
				by the agency.
(Section 2.17 of the Child Care Act of 1969)
"Initial background check" means the individual has cleared a check of
				SACWIS and the Illinois Sex Offender Registry.
"License" means a
				document issued by the Department that authorizes child care facilities to
				operate in accordance with applicable standards and the provisions of the Child
				Care Act.
"License applicant",
for purposes of
				background checks,
means the operator or persons with direct
				responsibility for daily operation of the facility to be licensed.
(Section 4.4 of the Child Care Act of 1969)
"Licensee" means those
				individuals, agencies or organizations who hold a license or permit issued by
				the Department.
"Licensing representative" means persons
				authorized by the Department under the Child Care Act of 1969 to examine
				facilities for licensure.
"Medical examination" means a physical
				examination conducted by a Medical Doctor or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine
				licensed to practice medicine in the State of Illinois, an Advanced Practice
				Nurse (APN) or Physician Assistant (PA). The medical examination must be
				documented on forms prescribed by the Department and signed and dated by the
				examining practitioner.
"Normalcy parenting" means empowering a
				caregiver to approve or not approve a child's or youth's participation in
				appropriate extracurricular activities based on the caregiver's assessment
				using the reasonable and prudent parent standard, without prior approval of the
				Department, the permanency worker or the court. The goal of normalcy parenting
				and the reasonable and prudent parent standard is to allow the child's
				participation in extracurricular, enrichment, cultural and social activities
				that are appropriate for the child's normal growth and development.
"Permit" means a one-time only document issued by the Department for a
				6-month period to allow the individual, agency or organization to become
				eligible for a license.
"Persons subject to background checks"
				means:
the operator of the child care facility; and
all current and conditional employees of the child care facility;
				and
any person who is used to replace or supplement staff;
				and
any person who has access to children, as defined in 89 Ill.
				Adm. Code
				385.20 (Background
				Checks).
If the child care facility operates in a family home, the
				license applicant and all members of the household age 13 and over are subject
				to background checks, as appropriate, even if these members of the household
				are not usually present in the home during the hours the child care facility is
				in operation.
"Reasonable and prudent parent standard" means the
				standard, characterized by careful and sensible parental decisions that
				maintain the health, safety, and best interests of a child while at the same
				time encouraging the emotional and developmental growth of the child, that a
				caregiver shall use when determining whether to allow a child in foster care
				under the responsibility of the State to participate in extracurricular,
				enrichment, cultural, and social activities. (
				42
				USC 675(10) )
"Supervising agency", for the purpose of this Part, means a licensed
				child welfare agency, as defined in the Child Care Act of 1969, that supervises
				the operation of group homes.