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HB 3169

Relating to school-based health centers; declaring an emergency.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Pam Marsh and 1 co-sponsor

DCFS must inform parents when a medical professional gives an abuse/neglect opinion, offer access to the opinion and a paid second opinion, and publish annual referral data.

In committee upon adjournment.
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Bill Summary · HB 3169

Summary — HB 3169 (ANCRA — Medical Professional)

Status: Introduced Feb 2025; passed the House May 16, 2025; received by Senate May 19, 2025; read in Senate May 21, 2025; re‑referred to Rules/Economic Development committees. Companion: SB 1703.

Purpose

HB 3169 amends the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act (ANCRA, 325 ILCS 5/7.4) to establish procedural protections and transparency when the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) refers a child to a medical professional as part of an abuse or neglect investigation. The bill aims to ensure parents/guardians are informed about the role and conclusions of medical consultants and to require DCFS reporting on such referrals.

Key provisions

  • Defines the term "medical professional" for purposes of investigations (full statutory text of the definition not included in excerpt).
  • When DCFS refers a child to a medical professional, the medical professional must, whenever they have direct contact with the child or family, explain to the parent/guardian that they are providing an opinion to DCFS about whether the child’s injury or condition is suspicious for child maltreatment.
  • DCFS must inform the parent/guardian in any investigation where a medical professional is providing a medical opinion of all of the following rights:
    1. The right to request and receive a copy of the medical professional’s opinion, including the factual and clinical basis for that opinion, and any written report the medical professional has provided to DCFS.
    2. The right to obtain, at the parent’s/guardian’s expense, a second medical opinion and submit it to DCFS for consideration at any time before the investigation is concluded.
    3. That any second medical opinion submitted before DCFS’s final determination will be treated and considered by DCFS as inculpatory or exculpatory evidence.
    4. Information about DCFS’s time frames for completing the investigative process.
  • Annual reporting requirement: DCFS must prepare and post on its Reports and Statistics webpage an annual report on the number of children/families referred by DCFS to medical professionals during abuse/neglect investigations. The bill specifies required data elements for these reports (detailed elements in statutory text). The first report must be posted within 9 months after the effective date of the amendatory Act.

Who is affected

  • Parents and guardians of children who are the subject of DCFS investigations.
  • Medical professionals consulted by DCFS.
  • DCFS (new notification, recordkeeping, and public reporting duties).
  • Potentially investigators and legal actors who rely on medical opinions in determinations.

Potential impacts and considerations

  • Increases transparency and procedural fairness by giving families access to medical opinions and the ability to submit competing medical evaluations.
  • Allows parents to obtain a second opinion but places cost burden on families (they pay for the second opinion).
  • May impose additional administrative duties on DCFS (notification, tracking, and annual reporting), and could affect investigation timelines if families seek and submit second opinions.
  • Aims to formalize how medical evidence is communicated and considered in child maltreatment investigations.

For full statutory language, including the precise definition of “medical professional” and the complete list of data elements required in annual reports, consult the bill text (HB 3169) as introduced.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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