Illinois 2025-2026 Regular Session

Illinois House Bill HB3619 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 HB3619 Introduced , by Rep. Anne Stava-Murray SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: New Act Creates the Keeping Children Safe from Family Violence Act. Prohibits a court from ordering family reunification treatments, programs, or services that, as a condition of enrollment or participation, require or result in any of the following: (i) a no contact order, (ii) an overnight, out-of-state, or multiday stay, (iii) a transfer of physical or legal custody of the child, (iv) the use of private youth transporters or private transportation agents engaged in the use of force, threat of force, physical obstruction, acutely distressing circumstances, or circumstances that place the safety of the child at risk, or (v) the use of threats of physical force, undue coercion, verbal abuse, isolation from the child's family, community, or other sources of support, or other acutely distressing circumstances. Applies the Act to any proceeding involving the support, custody, visitation, allocation of parental responsibilities, education, parentage, property interest, or general welfare of a child. Provides that the Act does not affect the authority granted to the courts and the Department of Children and Family Services under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. LRB104 08292 JRC 18343 b A BILL FOR 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 HB3619 Introduced , by Rep. Anne Stava-Murray SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: New Act New Act Creates the Keeping Children Safe from Family Violence Act. Prohibits a court from ordering family reunification treatments, programs, or services that, as a condition of enrollment or participation, require or result in any of the following: (i) a no contact order, (ii) an overnight, out-of-state, or multiday stay, (iii) a transfer of physical or legal custody of the child, (iv) the use of private youth transporters or private transportation agents engaged in the use of force, threat of force, physical obstruction, acutely distressing circumstances, or circumstances that place the safety of the child at risk, or (v) the use of threats of physical force, undue coercion, verbal abuse, isolation from the child's family, community, or other sources of support, or other acutely distressing circumstances. Applies the Act to any proceeding involving the support, custody, visitation, allocation of parental responsibilities, education, parentage, property interest, or general welfare of a child. Provides that the Act does not affect the authority granted to the courts and the Department of Children and Family Services under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. LRB104 08292 JRC 18343 b LRB104 08292 JRC 18343 b A BILL FOR
2	2	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 HB3619 Introduced , by Rep. Anne Stava-Murray SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
3	3	New Act New Act
4	4	New Act
5	5	Creates the Keeping Children Safe from Family Violence Act. Prohibits a court from ordering family reunification treatments, programs, or services that, as a condition of enrollment or participation, require or result in any of the following: (i) a no contact order, (ii) an overnight, out-of-state, or multiday stay, (iii) a transfer of physical or legal custody of the child, (iv) the use of private youth transporters or private transportation agents engaged in the use of force, threat of force, physical obstruction, acutely distressing circumstances, or circumstances that place the safety of the child at risk, or (v) the use of threats of physical force, undue coercion, verbal abuse, isolation from the child's family, community, or other sources of support, or other acutely distressing circumstances. Applies the Act to any proceeding involving the support, custody, visitation, allocation of parental responsibilities, education, parentage, property interest, or general welfare of a child. Provides that the Act does not affect the authority granted to the courts and the Department of Children and Family Services under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
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11	11	1 AN ACT concerning civil law.
12	12	2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
13	13	3 represented in the General Assembly:
14	14	4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
15	15	5 Keeping Children Safe Act.
16	16	6 Section 5. Legislative findings.
17	17	7 (a) The General Assembly finds and declares the following:
18	18	8 (1) Approximately one in 15 children in the United
19	19	9 States is exposed to domestic violence each year.
20	20	10 (2) Most child abuse in America is perpetrated in the
21	21	11 family and by a parent, and intimate partner violence and
22	22	12 child abuse overlap in the same families at rates between
23	23	13 30% and 60%. A child's risk of abuse increases after a
24	24	14 perpetrator of intimate partner violence separates from a
25	25	15 domestic partner, even when the perpetrator has not
26	26	16 previously directly abused the child. Children in the
27	27	17 United States who have witnessed intimate partner violence
28	28	18 are approximately 4 times more likely to experience direct
29	29	19 child maltreatment than children who have not witnessed
30	30	20 intimate partner violence.
31	31	21 (3) More than 75% of child sexual abuse in America is
32	32	22 perpetrated by a family member or a person known to the
33	33	23 child. Data from the United States Department of Justice
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37	37	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 HB3619 Introduced , by Rep. Anne Stava-Murray SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
38	38	New Act New Act
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40	40	Creates the Keeping Children Safe from Family Violence Act. Prohibits a court from ordering family reunification treatments, programs, or services that, as a condition of enrollment or participation, require or result in any of the following: (i) a no contact order, (ii) an overnight, out-of-state, or multiday stay, (iii) a transfer of physical or legal custody of the child, (iv) the use of private youth transporters or private transportation agents engaged in the use of force, threat of force, physical obstruction, acutely distressing circumstances, or circumstances that place the safety of the child at risk, or (v) the use of threats of physical force, undue coercion, verbal abuse, isolation from the child's family, community, or other sources of support, or other acutely distressing circumstances. Applies the Act to any proceeding involving the support, custody, visitation, allocation of parental responsibilities, education, parentage, property interest, or general welfare of a child. Provides that the Act does not affect the authority granted to the courts and the Department of Children and Family Services under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
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68	68	1 shows that family members are 49%, or almost one-half, of
69	69	2 the perpetrators of crimes against child sex assault
70	70	3 victims younger than 6 years of age.
71	71	4 (4) Research suggests that a child's exposure to an
72	72	5 abuser is among the strongest indicators of risk of incest
73	73	6 victimization. One national study found that female
74	74	7 children with fathers who are abusers of their mothers
75	75	8 were 6 and one-half times more likely to experience
76	76	9 father-daughter incest than female children who do not
77	77	10 have abusive fathers.
78	78	11 (5) Child abuse is a major public health issue in the
79	79	12 United States. Total lifetime financial costs associated
80	80	13 with just one year of confirmed cases of child
81	81	14 maltreatment, including child physical abuse, sexual
82	82	15 abuse, psychological abuse, and neglect, result in
83	83	16 $124,000,000,000 in annual costs to the economy of the
84	84	17 United States, or approximately 1% of the gross domestic
85	85	18 product of the United States.
86	86	19 (6) On April 13, 2023, the United Nations Special
87	87	20 Rapporteur on violence against women and girls called for
88	88	21 a ban on highly traumatizing reunification treatments
89	89	22 promoted through unlicensed, unregulated, for-profit
90	90	23 industries, which result in children being isolated
91	91	24 through extended no-contact orders from the other parent,
92	92	25 family, friends, schools, and communities.
93	93	26 (b) It is the intent of the General Assembly to do the
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104	104	1 following:
105	105	2 (1) Increase the priority given to child safety in any
106	106	3 State court proceeding that affects or may affect the
107	107	4 custody and care of children.
108	108	5 (2) To prohibit Illinois courts from ordering
109	109	6 reunification treatments, programs, or services,
110	110	7 including, but not limited to, camps, therapeutic
111	111	8 vacations, workshops, and parenting programs, that cut off
112	112	9 the relationship with a parent or sequester the child from
113	113	10 extended family, friends, and community under acutely
114	114	11 distressing circumstances, such as using professional
115	115	12 transport agents that force a child into a threat-based,
116	116	13 coercive environment to address, repair, or remediate the
117	117	14 relationship with the other parent whom the child is
118	118	15 rejecting or resisting.
119	119	16 (3) Ensure that persons involved in cases containing
120	120	17 domestic violence or child abuse allegations receive
121	121	18 trauma-informed and culturally appropriate training on the
122	122	19 dynamics, signs, and impact of domestic violence and child
123	123	20 abuse, including child sexual abuse.
124	124	21 (4) Ensure training is designed to improve the ability
125	125	22 of judges and attorneys, court employees involved in
126	126	23 family law proceedings covered under this Act, and those
127	127	24 persons appointed by a court to assist the court in
128	128	25 resolving these family law proceedings to recognize and
129	129	26 respond to child abuse, domestic violence, and trauma in
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140	140	1 family victims.
141	141	2 (5) Ensure training that is designed to improve the
142	142	3 ability of these persons who perform duties in domestic
143	143	4 violence or child custody matters to prioritize children
144	144	5 and make appropriate custody decisions in the best
145	145	6 interest of child safety and well-being and that are
146	146	7 culturally responsive and appropriate for diverse
147	147	8 communities.
148	148	9 (6) Move Illinois toward becoming eligible for
149	149	10 additional grant funding through the United States
150	150	11 Department of Justice's STOP Violence Against Women
151	151	12 Formula Grant Program, as appropriated for states that
152	152	13 meet the requirements of the federal Violence Against
153	153	14 Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022 (Division W of
154	154	15 Public Law 117-103).
155	155	16 (c) The General Assembly does not intend, by passage of
156	156	17 this bill, to discriminate against parents or children based
157	157	18 on either a parent's or the child's actual or perceived sex,
158	158	19 gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression,
159	159	20 race, color, ancestry, national origin, ethnic group
160	160	21 identification, age, religion, marital or parental status,
161	161	22 physical or mental disability or genetic information, or
162	162	23 association with a person or group with one or more of these
163	163	24 actual or perceived characteristics.
164	164	25 Section 10. Certain reunification efforts prohibited.
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175	175	1 (a) Notwithstanding any other law, a court may not order
176	176	2 family reunification treatments, programs, or services,
177	177	3 including, but not limited to, camps, workshops, therapeutic
178	178	4 vacations, or educational programs, that, as a condition of
179	179	5 enrollment or participation, require or result in any of the
180	180	6 following:
181	181	7 (1) A no contact order.
182	182	8 (2) An overnight, out-of-state, or multiday stay.
183	183	9 (3) A transfer of physical or legal custody of the
184	184	10 child.
185	185	11 (4) The use of private youth transporters or private
186	186	12 transportation agents engaged in the use of force, threat
187	187	13 of force, physical obstruction, acutely distressing
188	188	14 circumstances, or circumstances that place the safety of
189	189	15 the child at risk.
190	190	16 (5) The use of threats of physical force, undue
191	191	17 coercion, verbal abuse, isolation from the child's family,
192	192	18 community, or other sources of support, or other acutely
193	193	19 distressing circumstances.
194	194	20 (b) This Section applies to any proceeding involving the
195	195	21 support, custody, visitation, allocation of parental
196	196	22 responsibilities, education, parentage, property interest, or
197	197	23 general welfare of a child.
198	198	24 (c) This Section does not affect the authority granted to
199	199	25 the courts and the Department of Children and Family Services
200	200	26 under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
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211	211	1 Section 15. Training of court personnel.
212	212	2 (a) The Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts is
213	213	3 encouraged and authorized to establish judicial training
214	214	4 programs for individuals who perform duties in domestic
215	215	5 violence or child custody matters, including, but not limited
216	216	6 to, judges, attorneys, court personnel who are assigned to or
217	217	7 working in cases involving domestic violence or child custody
218	218	8 matters, and any person employed by the court or attorneys who
219	219	9 perform duties in domestic violence or child custody matters
220	220	10 to include, but not be limited to, guardians ad litem, custody
221	221	11 evaluators, mediators, expert witnesses in these matters,
222	222	12 child custody recommending counselors, and others who are
223	223	13 deemed appropriate by the Administrative Office of the
224	224	14 Illinois Courts.
225	225	15 (b)(1) The training program described in this Section
226	226	16 shall be an ongoing training and education program designed to
227	227	17 improve the ability of courts to recognize and respond to
228	228	18 child physical abuse, child sexual abuse, domestic violence,
229	229	19 and trauma in family victims, particularly children, and to
230	230	20 make appropriate custody decisions that prioritize child
231	231	21 safety and well-being and are culturally sensitive and
232	232	22 appropriate for diverse communities.
233	233	23 (2) The training program described in this Section shall
234	234	24 include a domestic violence session in any orientation session
235	235	25 conducted for newly appointed or elected judges, an annual
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246	246	1 training session on domestic violence, and periodic updates in
247	247	2 all aspects of domestic violence, including, but not limited
248	248	3 to:
249	249	4 (A) Child sexual abuse.
250	250	5 (B) Physical abuse.
251	251	6 (C) Emotional abuse.
252	252	7 (D) Coercive control.
253	253	8 (E) Implicit and explicit bias related to parties
254	254	9 involved in domestic violence cases.
255	255	10 (F) Trauma.
256	256	11 (G) Long-term and short-term impacts of domestic
257	257	12 violence and child abuse on children.
258	258	13 (H) The detriment to children of residing with a
259	259	14 person who perpetrates domestic violence.
260	260	15 (I) That domestic violence can occur without a
261	261	16 party seeking or obtaining a restraining order,
262	262	17 without a substantiated finding by a child protective
263	263	18 service of abuse, or without other documented evidence
264	264	19 of abuse.
265	265	20 (J) Victim and perpetrator behavioral patterns and
266	266	21 relationship dynamics within the cycle of violence.
267	267	22 Section 20. Judicial reporting of training.
268	268	23 (a) The Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts must
269	269	24 report to the General Assembly and the relevant policy
270	270	25 committees, on or before January 1, 2027, and each January
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