HB5669 - REUNITING FAMILY INITIATIVE

1 Co-Sponsor

Provides that the amendatory Act may be referred to as the Reuniting Family Initiative Act. Amends the Children and Family Services Act. Creates the Family Advocacy Initiating Recovery (F.A.I.R.) Pilot Program within the Department of Children and Family Services. Provides that the F.A.I.R. pilot shall operate for a 2-year period and that the Department shall partner with peer-led organizations to assess the Department's performance and management of child placement and parental termination cases that involve a parent with a substance use disorder. Provides that the purpose of the F.A.I.R. pilot is to: (i) create a system of continuing safe care for mothers and families involved in the Department's parental termination and child placement case process in order to resolve decades-old family reunification failures by the Department; and (ii) ensure transparency between the Department and those peer-led organizations advocating on behalf of mothers and families. Contains provisions concerning the development of guidelines and best practices on how to create a sustainable pathway to family reunification in child placement cases; family needs assessments; reporting requirements; and other matters. Amends the Adoption Act. Provides that a petition to adopt a child may include an adoption contact agreement under which a petitioner may request an agreement for contact between a child and the child's birth parent or parents. Provides that the adoption contact agreement may include provisions for contact, visitation, or the exchange of information, and the grounds, if any, on which the adoptive parent or parents may decline to permit visits or cease providing contact or information. Provides that if the child is 12 years old or older, the court may not order an adoption contact agreement unless the child consents to all terms of the agreement. Provides that in DCFS cases a consent to adopt or surrender a child is not valid unless the legal mother has received pre-consent counseling or refused to participate in pre-consent counseling.