Illinois 2025-2026 Regular Session

Illinois Senate Bill SB1696 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1696 Introduced 2/5/2025, by Sen. Laura Fine SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: New Act Creates the Temporary Immunity for Child Welfare Agencies Act. Creates immunity from civil liability for a licensed child welfare agency that provides service for youth in foster care for a 2-year period unless the agency's acts or omissions constitute willful and wanton conduct. Provides that the immunity extends to the agency's employees, volunteers, and agents acting within the scope of their employment. Defines a "child welfare agency" to mean a public or private child care facility that receives a 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, adoption-only 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 (i) all agencies established and maintained by a municipality or other political subdivision of the State to protect, guard, train or care for children outside their own homes; and (ii) all agencies, persons, groups of persons, organizations, corporations, institutions, centers, or group providing adoption services but does not include a circuit court, appointed juvenile probation officer, or youth counselor of the court who receive and place children under an order of the court. Creates the Child Welfare Agency Liability Task Force to develop and recommend a permanent solution to address the unavailability of liability insurance for child welfare agencies in the State. Requires that the Task Force submit its first report to the General Assembly no later than December 26, 2026. Effective immediately. LRB104 09536 JRC 19599 b A BILL FOR 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1696 Introduced 2/5/2025, by Sen. Laura Fine SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: New Act New Act Creates the Temporary Immunity for Child Welfare Agencies Act. Creates immunity from civil liability for a licensed child welfare agency that provides service for youth in foster care for a 2-year period unless the agency's acts or omissions constitute willful and wanton conduct. Provides that the immunity extends to the agency's employees, volunteers, and agents acting within the scope of their employment. Defines a "child welfare agency" to mean a public or private child care facility that receives a 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, adoption-only 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 (i) all agencies established and maintained by a municipality or other political subdivision of the State to protect, guard, train or care for children outside their own homes; and (ii) all agencies, persons, groups of persons, organizations, corporations, institutions, centers, or group providing adoption services but does not include a circuit court, appointed juvenile probation officer, or youth counselor of the court who receive and place children under an order of the court. Creates the Child Welfare Agency Liability Task Force to develop and recommend a permanent solution to address the unavailability of liability insurance for child welfare agencies in the State. Requires that the Task Force submit its first report to the General Assembly no later than December 26, 2026. Effective immediately. LRB104 09536 JRC 19599 b LRB104 09536 JRC 19599 b A BILL FOR
2	2	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1696 Introduced 2/5/2025, by Sen. Laura Fine SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
3	3	New Act New Act
4	4	New Act
5	5	Creates the Temporary Immunity for Child Welfare Agencies Act. Creates immunity from civil liability for a licensed child welfare agency that provides service for youth in foster care for a 2-year period unless the agency's acts or omissions constitute willful and wanton conduct. Provides that the immunity extends to the agency's employees, volunteers, and agents acting within the scope of their employment. Defines a "child welfare agency" to mean a public or private child care facility that receives a 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, adoption-only 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 (i) all agencies established and maintained by a municipality or other political subdivision of the State to protect, guard, train or care for children outside their own homes; and (ii) all agencies, persons, groups of persons, organizations, corporations, institutions, centers, or group providing adoption services but does not include a circuit court, appointed juvenile probation officer, or youth counselor of the court who receive and place children under an order of the court. Creates the Child Welfare Agency Liability Task Force to develop and recommend a permanent solution to address the unavailability of liability insurance for child welfare agencies in the State. Requires that the Task Force submit its first report to the General Assembly no later than December 26, 2026. Effective immediately.
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8	8	A BILL FOR
9	9	SB1696LRB104 09536 JRC 19599 b SB1696 LRB104 09536 JRC 19599 b
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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 Temporary Immunity for Child Welfare Agencies Act.
16	16	6 Section 5. Purpose. The purpose of this Act is to ensure
17	17	7 that child welfare agencies in the State can provide for the
18	18	8 uninterrupted delivery of child welfare services for youth in
19	19	9 foster care.
20	20	10 Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
21	21	11 "Child welfare agency" means a public or private child
22	22	12 care facility that receives a child or children for the
23	23	13 purpose of placing or arranging for the placement or free care
24	24	14 of the child or children in foster family homes, unlicensed
25	25	15 pre-adoptive and adoptive homes, adoption-only homes, or other
26	26	16 facilities for child care apart from the custody of the
27	27	17 child's or children's parents. The term "child welfare agency"
28	28	18 includes (i) all agencies established and maintained by a
29	29	19 municipality or other political subdivision of the State to
30	30	20 protect, guard, train, or care for children outside their own
31	31	21 homes; and (ii) all agencies, persons, groups of persons,
32	32	22 organizations, corporations, institutions, centers, or group
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36	36	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1696 Introduced 2/5/2025, by Sen. Laura Fine SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
37	37	New Act New Act
38	38	New Act
39	39	Creates the Temporary Immunity for Child Welfare Agencies Act. Creates immunity from civil liability for a licensed child welfare agency that provides service for youth in foster care for a 2-year period unless the agency's acts or omissions constitute willful and wanton conduct. Provides that the immunity extends to the agency's employees, volunteers, and agents acting within the scope of their employment. Defines a "child welfare agency" to mean a public or private child care facility that receives a 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, adoption-only 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 (i) all agencies established and maintained by a municipality or other political subdivision of the State to protect, guard, train or care for children outside their own homes; and (ii) all agencies, persons, groups of persons, organizations, corporations, institutions, centers, or group providing adoption services but does not include a circuit court, appointed juvenile probation officer, or youth counselor of the court who receive and place children under an order of the court. Creates the Child Welfare Agency Liability Task Force to develop and recommend a permanent solution to address the unavailability of liability insurance for child welfare agencies in the State. Requires that the Task Force submit its first report to the General Assembly no later than December 26, 2026. Effective immediately.
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42	42	A BILL FOR
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48	48	New Act
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67	67	1 providing adoption services. It does not include any circuit
68	68	2 court, appointed juvenile probation officer, or youth
69	69	3 counselor of the court who receive and place children under an
70	70	4 order of the court.
71	71	5 "Willful and wanton conduct" as used in this Act means a
72	72	6 course of action that shows actual or deliberate intention to
73	73	7 cause harm or which, if not intentional, shows an utter
74	74	8 indifference to or conscious disregard for the safety of
75	75	9 others or their property. This definition applies in any case
76	76	10 in which a "willful and wanton" exception is incorporated into
77	77	11 immunity under this Act.
78	78	12 Section 15. Child welfare agency limited immunity.
79	79	13 (a) For 2 years after the effective date of this Act, a
80	80	14 child welfare agency acting within the scope of its
81	81	15 contractual obligations to provide foster care services to
82	82	16 children and families of Illinois has limited immunity from
83	83	17 civil liability, including civil damages.
84	84	18 (b) A child welfare agency is not liable for its acts or
85	85	19 omissions in the execution of its contractual obligations with
86	86	20 the Department of Children and Family Services unless the act
87	87	21 or omission constitutes willful and wanton conduct.
88	88	22 (c) The limited immunity granted under this Act extends to
89	89	23 a child welfare agency's employees, volunteers, and agents
90	90	24 acting within their employment unless the act or omission
91	91	25 constitutes willful and wanton conduct.
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102	102	1 Section 20. Child welfare agency compliance.
103	103	2 (a) For the immunity granted under this Act to apply, the
104	104	3 child welfare agency must be a licensed child welfare agency
105	105	4 as defined in the Children and Family Services Act and in good
106	106	5 standing with the State.
107	107	6 (b) Nothing in this Act relieves the child welfare agency
108	108	7 of the protections or obligations established under the
109	109	8 Children and Family Services Act.
110	110	9 Section 25. Inspector General oversight and authority.
111	111	10 (a) The Inspector General appointed under Section 35.5 of
112	112	11 the Children and Family Services Act shall use its authority
113	113	12 under that Act to conduct investigations into allegations of
114	114	13 or incidents of possible misconduct, misfeasance, malfeasance,
115	115	14 or violations of rules, procedures, or laws by any child
116	116	15 welfare agency while this Act is effective.
117	117	16 (b) The Inspector General retains all authority granted
118	118	17 under the Children and Family Services Act to investigate
119	119	18 allegations made against any child welfare agency or its
120	120	19 employees while this Act is effective, including, but not
121	121	20 limited to, imposing sanctions for violations.
122	122	21 Section 30. Child Welfare Agency Liability Task Force.
123	123	22 (a) The Child Welfare Agency Liability Task Force is
124	124	23 created. The mission of the Child Welfare Agency Liability
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135	135	1 Task Force is to develop and recommend a permanent solution to
136	136	2 address the unavailability of liability insurance for child
137	137	3 welfare agencies in the State.
138	138	4 (b) The Task Force shall consist of the following members:
139	139	5 (1) The Director of Department of Insurance or the
140	140	6 Director's designee, who shall serve as chair;
141	141	7 (2) One member appointed by the Senate President;
142	142	8 (3) One member appointed by the Minority Leader of the
143	143	9 Senate;
144	144	10 (4) One member appointed by the Speaker of the House;
145	145	11 (5) One member appointed by the Minority Leader of the
146	146	12 House;
147	147	13 (6) The Director of Children and Family Services or
148	148	14 the Director's designee;
149	149	15 (7) One representative from the insurance industry
150	150	16 with expertise in liability coverage;
151	151	17 (8) One representative from a statewide organization
152	152	18 that advocates on behalf of Illinois attorneys; and
153	153	19 (9) One representative from a statewide organization
154	154	20 that advocates on behalf of the community-based services
155	155	21 for children and families.
156	156	22 Initial appointments to the Task Force shall be made no
157	157	23 more than 3 months after the effective date of this Act. If a
158	158	24 vacancy occurs in the Task Force membership, the vacancy shall
159	159	25 be filled in the same manner as the original appointment until
160	160	26 the Task Force is dissolved. Task Force members serve without
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171	171	1 compensation.
172	172	2 (c) The Task Force shall hold its first meeting within 30
173	173	3 days after all Task Force members have been appointed and then
174	174	4 on a monthly basis thereafter.
175	175	5 (d) The Task Force shall evaluate and develop a long-term
176	176	6 solution to address the unavailability of liability insurance
177	177	7 for child welfare agencies in the State.
178	178	8 (e) The Task Force shall submit its first report to the
179	179	9 General Assembly no later than December 31, 2026.
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