Illinois Administrative Code › Title 89 - SOCIAL SERVICES › Part 401 - LICENSING STANDARDS FOR CHILD WELFARE AGENCIES › Subpart A - INTRODUCTION AND DEFINITIONS › Section 401.40 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
"Adequate assets" means the child welfare
				agency has sufficient liquid assets in reserve or has other sources of income
				and a line of credit independent of Department contracts which would allow it
				to provide continuous agency operations and provide services such as staff,
				taxes, rent, utilities, and supplies for a period of at least 30 days.
"Administrative order of closure" means a severe administrative sanction,
				approved by the Director of the Department of Children and Family Services, to
				close immediately an unlicensed child care facility, a child care facility
				which is exempt from licensure, or a licensed child care facility prior to
				revocation of the facility's license. An administrative order of closure is
				issued only when continued operation of the child care facility jeopardizes the
				health, safety, morals, or welfare of children served by the facility.
"Adoption services" includes any one or more of the following services
				performed for any type of compensation or thing of value, directly or
				indirectly:
arranging for the placement of or placing out of a
				child,
identifying a child for adoption,
matching
				adoptive parents with biological parents,
arranging or
				facilitating an adoption,
taking or acknowledging consents or
				surrenders for termination of parental rights for purposes of adoption, as
				defined in the Adoption Act,
performing background studies on a
				child or adoptive parents,
making determinations of the best
				interests of a child and the appropriateness of adoptive placement for the
				child, or
post-placement monitoring of a child prior to
				adoption.
"Adoption services" does not include the
				following:
the provision of legal services by a licensed attorney
				for which the attorney must be licensed as an attorney under Illinois
				law,
adoption-related services performed by public governmental
				entities or entities or persons performing investigations by court appointment
				as described in subsection A of Section 6 of the Adoption Act,
prospective adoptive parents operating on their own behalf,
the provision of general education and training on adoption-related
				topics, or
post-adoption services, including supportive services
				to families to promote the well-being of members of adoptive families or birth
				families. [225 ILCS 10/2.24 ]
"Advertise" means communication by any public medium originating or
				distributed in this State, including, but not limited to, newspapers,
				periodicals, telephone book listings, outdoor advertising signs, radio, or
				television. [225 ILCS 10/12
				]
"Age appropriate safety restraint" means, for a child under four
				years of age, a child restraint system (infant carrier, infant/toddler seat, or
				convertible safety seat) which meets the standards of the United States
				Department of Transportation designed to restrain, seat or position children.
				For a child four years of age or older, an age-appropriate safety restraint
				means a child restraint system or seat belt (lap belt or lap-shoulder belt
				combination).
"Authorized representative of the governing body"
				means the person authorized by formal action at a meeting of the Board of
				Directors to act on behalf of the child welfare agency and sign the license
				renewal application (but not the initial application for license), contracts,
				and other such documents, on behalf of the governing body. Such authorization
				shall be in writing on agency letterhead, submitted to the Department licensing
				worker, and signed by the president or chairperson of the Board of Directors
				and the secretary of the Board of Directors.
"Background check"
				means:
a criminal history check via fingerprints of persons age 18
				and over which are submitted to the Illinois State Police and the Federal
				Bureau of Investigation (FBI), for comparison to their criminal history
				records, as appropriate; and
a check of the 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.
"Chief fiscal officer" means the staff position with primary
				responsibility for the receipt, distribution and accounting for all financial
				transactions of the agency.
"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 this Act, established and maintained for
				the care of children. "Child care facility" includes a relative who is licensed
				as a foster family home under Section 4 of the Child Care Act of 1969.
				[225 ILCS
				10/2.05 ]
"Child welfare agency" means a
				public or private child care facility, receiving any child or children for the
				purpose of placing or arranging for the placement or free care of the child or
				children in foster family homes, unlicensed pre-adoptive and adoptive homes, or
				other facilities for child care, apart from the custody of the child's or
				children's parents. The term "child welfare agency" includes all agencies
				established and maintained by a municipality or other political subdivision of
				the State of Illinois to protect, guard, train or care for children outside
				their own homes and all agencies, persons, groups of persons, associations,
				organizations, corporations, institutions, centers, or groups providing
				adoption services, but does not include any circuit court or duly appointed
				juvenile probation officer or youth counselor of the court, who receives and
				places children under an order of the court. [225 ILCS
				10/2.08 ]
"Complaint", for purposes of
				this Part, means any oral or written report made to or by the Department or
				supervising agency or by the public alleging a violation of licensing standards
				or the Child Care Act of 1969 or relating to the conduct of an agency or its
				staff.
"Conditional license" means a nonrenewable license for a
				period not to exceed six months which may be granted to a child care facility
				when the facility has agreed to a corrective plan to amend identified
				deficiencies and bring the facility into reasonable compliance with all
				licensing standards. Conditional licenses may be issued with the approval of
				the Department only where no threat to the health, safety, morals or welfare of
				the children served exists. Any other license held by the facility shall be
				revoked when the conditional license is issued.
"Corporal
				punishment" means hitting, spanking, beating, shaking, pinching, excessive
				exercise, exposure to extreme temperatures, and other measures that produce
				physical pain. (National Health and Safety Performance Standards, Guidelines
				for Out-Of-Home Child Care Programs, American Public Health Association and
				American Academy of Pediatrics, 2002).
"Corrective plan" means a
				written plan approved by the Department's regional licensing administrator
				which identifies deficiencies in a child care facility's operations and which
				allows the facility a maximum of six months to correct the identified
				deficiencies and come into reasonable compliance with all applicable licensing
				standards.
"Deemed compliant" means that an eligible agency,
				accredited by the Council on Accreditation for Children and Family Services
				(COA), is presumed to be in compliance with requirements of this Part, provided
				that the Department has determined that current Council on Accreditation for
				Children and Family Services (COA) standards are at least substantially
				equivalent to this Part's requirements. [225 ILCS
				10/2.27 ]
"Deemed status" means the
				Department has approved a child welfare agency as in compliance with the
				requirements of this Part because the agency:
has received full
				accreditation status from the Council on Accreditation for Children and Family
				Services (2001 Standards); and
during the past four years, there
				have been no substantiated licensing violations that affect the health, safety,
				morals, or welfare of children served by the accredited agency.
"Department" means the Illinois Department of Children and Family
				Services. [225 ILCS 10/2.02 ]
"Eligible agency" means a licensed child welfare agency that is currently
				fully accredited by the Council on Accreditation for Children and Family
				Services (COA) for adoption services and has had no Department substantiated
				licensing violations or COA accrediting violations that affect the health,
				safety, morals, or welfare of children served by that agency for the 4 years
				immediately preceding a determination of eligibility. [225 ILCS
				10/2.26 ]
"Excessive fees" means an
				amount that exceeds what is usual, reasonable and customary in the community
				for the delivery of adoption services in Illinois and shall take into account
				the full range and duration of services provided by the agency to birth parents
				and their children, and to adoptive parents, for expenses paid by the agency
				for medcial costs and whether the agency providers a program of reduced-fee
				placements and services and places special needs children for adopttion.
				Adoption service fees must be based on the costs associated with service
				delivery and clients may be charged only for services provided.
"Full license" means the agency is operating under a current child
				welfare agency license rather than a permit, a provisional license, a
				conditional license, or a license which has been revoked or which has expired
				after the agency failed to file a timely and sufficient application for license
				renewal.
"Governing body" means all members of the board of
				directors of a corporation.
"Guardian" means the guardian of the
				person of a minor. [225 ILCS 10/2.03 ]
"Immediate family member" means a person's spouse, son, daughter, mother,
				father, sibling, brother- or sister-in-law, or other legal dependent.
"Inadequate assets" means the child welfare agency has less than 30 days
				of operating expenses available to them in liquid assets as required by the
				definition of adequate assets in this Section.
"Initial
				application for license" means the first application for licensure as a child
				welfare agency submitted by the individual, corporation, or other legal
				entity.
"License" means a document issued by the Department of
				Children and Family Services which authorizes child care facilities to operate
				in accordance with applicable standards and the provisions of the Child Care
				Act of 1969.
"License applicant" means those individuals,
				corporations, or other legal entities who have applied for a license from the
				Department of Children and Family Services.
"Licensee" means those
				individuals, corporations or other legal entities who hold a license or permit
				issued by the Department of Children and Family Services.
"Licensing worker" means persons authorized by the Department under the
				Child Care Act of 1969 to examine facilities for licensure.
"Minor
				traffic violation" means a traffic violation under the laws of the State of
				Illinois or any municipal authority therein or another state or municipal
				authority which is punishable solely as a petty offense. (See Section 6-601 of
				the Illinois Driver Licensing Law [625 ILCS
				5/6-601 ].)
"New application for child
				welfare agency license" means a license is sought to operate a child welfare
				agency when:
the applicant has applied previously for a child
				welfare agency license and withdrew the license application before a decision
				was made on the application for license; or
the applicant had been
				licensed previously as a child welfare agency, but voluntarily surrendered the
				license; or
the applicant had been licensed previously as a child
				welfare agency, but the Department revoked or refused to renew the
				license.
"Permit" means a one-time only document issued by the
				Department of Children and Family Services to allow the license applicant to
				become eligible for an initial license. Permits may be for a maximum six month
				period, except that permits granted to foster family homes and day care homes
				are limited to a maximum of two months.
"Petty offense" means any
				offense for which a sentence to a fine only is provided. (Section 5-1-17 of the
				Unified Code of Corrections [730 ILCS 5/5-1 -17])
"Preferential
				treatment" means any action that allows board members, contributors,
				volunteers, employees, agents, consultants, or independent contractors, or
				their relatives, to receive consideration with respect to the placement of a
				child or any matter that relates to adoption services that are different or
				more favorable than any other similarly situated applicants.
"Provisional license" means a license issued for a period not to exceed
				two years to allow a licensed child welfare agency to demonstrate the ability
				to operate a business in compliance with applicable standards. During the
				provisional license period, the Department may exercise more stringent
				oversight or place more stringent requirements on the child welfare
				agency.
"Psychotropic medication" means medication whose use for
				antipsychotic, antidepressant, antimanic, antianxiety, behavioral modification
				or behavioral management purposes is listed in the AMA Drug Evaluations (Drug
				Evaluation Subscription, American Medical Association, Vols. I-III, Summer
				1993) or Physician's Desk Reference (Medical Economics Data Production Company,
				49th Edition, 1995) or which are administered for
				any of these purposes. (Section 1-121.1 of the Mental Health and Developmental
				Disabilities Code [405 ILCS 5/1-121.1])
"Reasonable living expenses" means expenses of the biological parents
				related to activities of daily living and meeting basic needs, including but
				not limited to lodging, food and clothing. The term does not include expenses
				of lost wages, gifts or education or other similar expenses of the biological
				parent.
"Refusal to issue license" means the formal decision of
				the Department to decline to issue a license to the holder of a permit.
"Refusal to renew a license" means the formal decision of the Department
				to decline to issue a succeeding license, although the licensee has submitted a
				timely and sufficient application for license renewal, to the holder of a child
				care facility license or permit.
"Replacement or supplemental
				staff" means any paid or unpaid individual who is used to perform essential
				staff duties as evidenced by being counted in the staff-child ratio or being
				allowed to be alone with children receiving care in a licensed child care
				facility outside the visual or auditory supervision of facility staff.
"Reputable character" means there is satisfactory evidence that the moral
				character of the applicant is trustworthy.
"Responsible" means
				trustworthy performance of expected duties in accordance with established
				professional standards, State and federal law, and the rules of the Department
				of Children and Family Services.
"Revocation" means the
				termination of a full license or provisional license to operate a child care
				facility by a formal action of the Department. License revocations shall be
				conducted in accordance with Section 8 or
				8.1 of the Child Care
				Act of 1969 [225 ILCS 10/8 and 8.1].
"Risk management plan" means
				a document developed in accordance with Appendix D of this Part that outlines
				the process for identifying and analyzing loss exposures, examining alternative
				risk control methods, and making and carrying out decisions that will minimize
				the adverse effects of accidental losses.
"SACWIS" means the
				Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System operated by the Illinois
				Department of Children and Family Services that is replacing the Child Abuse
				and Neglect Tracking System (CANTS).
"Surrender for adoption"
				means a voluntary final and irrevocable act, in writing, by a biological parent
				to relinquish all parental rights of a child to an agency for the purpose of
				placing the child for adoption.
"Suspension of license" means an
				action, imposed in writing, by the authorized designee of the Department that
				requires cessation of all adoption related activities by the adoption
				agency.
"Timely and sufficient application for license renewal"
				means the child welfare agency submitted the application for renewal of the
				license at least 90 days before the expiration date, the application was
				complete, dated, and signed by an authorized party, and the materials required
				by Section
				401.140
				were attached to the application for license renewal. License renewal
				applications for foster family homes or day care homes under the supervision of
				the child welfare agency are considered timely if the application was returned
				to the agency within the time frames required by the respective licensing
				standards 89 Ill. Adm. Code 402 (Licensing Standards for Foster Family Homes)
				or 89 Ill. Adm. Code 406 (Licensing Standards for Day Care Homes).
"Unlicensed pre-adoptive and adoptive home" means any home that is not
				licensed by the Department and that receives a child or children for the
				purpose of adopting the child or children. [225 ILCS
				10/2.25 ]
"Valid license" means a license
				which has not been revoked or expired, or which would have expired except that
				the child welfare agency submitted a timely and sufficient application for
				license renewal and the Department has not yet rendered a decision on the
				application, and the facility has not been issued an administrative order of
				closure.
"Voluntary surrender of license" means that, in writing,
				the licensee has offered and the Department has accepted the licensee's offer
				to give up a valid license of his, her or its own free will. The Department is
				not required to accept the offer of the license and, in the Department's sole
				discretion, may decline to accept the license.