Illinois Administrative Code › Title 20 - CORRECTIONS, CRIMINAL JUSTICE, AND LAW ENFORCEMENT › Part 2603 - COUNTY SHELTER CARE STANDARDS › Section 2603.170 - Mail Procedures

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a)
			 Introduction
Frequent communication with family, relatives, friends, and
				others concerned with the child shall be encouraged. It is essential to morale,
				maintenance of family ties, legal rights, and an eventual healthy reentry into
				the community.
b) Minimum
			 Standards
1) Scope
A child shall be allowed to correspond with
				anyone.
2) Incoming Mail
Children shall be permitted to receive an unlimited number of
				letters.
A) Incoming mail shall not be
			 read, censored or reproduced, but shall be opened and examined for contraband
			 in the presence of the addressee. Packages shall also be examined for
			 contraband in the presence of the addressee.
B) Cashier checks, money orders, certified
			 checks or cash shall be recorded in the child's personal property record or
			 trust fund account indicating the sender, the amount, and the date received.
			 Such funds will be given to the child unless he/she wants the funds placed in
			 safekeeping.
C) Incoming letters or
			 packages containing prohibited items i.e., controlled substances, firearms or
			 items easily converted for use as a weapon, shall be held for further
			 inspection and disposition by the superintendent.
i) Prohibited items received shall be handled
			 with care and labeled with the date of receipt, the name and address of the
			 sender, the name of the addressee, and the date and names of persons handling
			 same.
ii) The appropriate law
			 enforcement agencies shall be notified and the items safeguarded in the event
			 they are to be used as evidence in criminal proceedings or disciplinary
			 action.
D) All mail
			 shall be distributed to children on the day it is received. A released child's
			 mail shall be forwarded unopened. If no forwarding address is available, mail
			 shall be returned, unopened, to the sender.
E) A child shall not be allowed to open, read
			 or deliver another youth's mail.
3) Outgoing Mail
Each child shall be permitted to send, at personal expense, an
				unlimited number of letters and packages.
A) Postage shall be provided to indigent
			 children for at least three letters per week.
B) Postage supplied to children shall not be
			 transferable.
C) Appropriate
			 stationery, envelopes, and a writing implement shall be supplied, but children
			 may use such items as they themselves provide.
D) A program permitting children to send
			 special messages or greeting cards for anniversaries and birthdays or during
			 special holidays such as Christmas, Easter, and Mother's Day shall be designed
			 and implemented. Greeting cards and postage shall be provided indigent children
			 on request.
E) Children shall
			 submit outgoing mail in sealed envelopes.
F) Outgoing mail shall not be
			 opened.
4) Certified or
			 Registered Mail
Each shelter care facility shall establish procedures for
				processing certified or registered mail.
5) Privileged Mail, Incoming
A) Incoming privileged mail may be opened
			 only for the purpose of verifying the addressee and the addressor and to
			 ascertain that prohibited items are not enclosed. Mail opening must be in the
			 presence of the youth.
B)
			 Privileged mail is mail received from any of the following:
i) Elected or appointed federal or state
			 officials including any U.S. Senator or Representative; any federal judge or
			 the clerk of any federal court; the Attorney General of the United States; the
			 Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons; the Governor of the State of
			 Illinois; any Illinois Circuit, Appellate or Supreme Court judge; the Illinois
			 Attorney General; and any member of the Illinois General Assembly.
ii) The Director of the Department and the
			 Chief of the Office of Detention and Audit Services.
iii) Any attorney licensed to practice
			 law.
iv) Legal aid organizations
			 and any other organization whose official declared purpose is to provide legal
			 services for youth.
v) Members of
			 the news media.
6) Disciplinary Denial
Children shall not be denied mail rights for disciplinary
				purposes.
7) Release
On release, a child shall be permitted to take all personal
				mail.