(325 ILCS 2/35)
Sec. 35.
Information for relinquishing person.
(a) A hospital, police station, fire station, or emergency medical facility that receives a newborn infant relinquished in accordance with this Act must offer an information packet to the relinquishing person and, if possible, must clearly inform the relinquishing person that his or her acceptance of the information is completely voluntary. The information packet must include all of the following:
(1) Blank.
(2) Written notice of the following:
(A) No sooner than 60 days following the date of
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| the initial relinquishment of the infant to a hospital, police station, fire station, or emergency medical facility, the child‑placing agency or the Department will commence proceedings for the termination of parental rights and placement of the infant for adoption. |
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(B) Failure of a parent of the infant to contact |
| the Department and petition for the return of custody of the infant before termination of parental rights bars any future action asserting legal rights with respect to the infant. |
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(3) A resource list of providers of counseling |
| services including grief counseling, pregnancy counseling, and counseling regarding adoption and other available options for placement of the infant. |
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Upon request of a parent, the Department of Public Health shall provide the application forms for the Illinois Adoption Registry and Medical Information Exchange.
(b) The information packet given to a relinquishing parent in accordance with this Act shall include, in addition to other information required under this Act, the following:
(1) A brochure (with a self‑mailer attached) that |
| describes this Act and the rights of birth parents, including an optional section for the parent to complete and mail to the Department of Children and Family Services, that shall ask for basic anonymous background information about the relinquished child. This brochure shall be maintained by the Department on its website. |
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(2) A brochure that describes the Illinois Adoption |
| Registry, including a toll‑free number and website information. This brochure shall be maintained on the Office of Vital Records website. |
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(3) A brochure describing postpartum health |
| information for the mother. |
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The information packet shall be designed in coordination between the Office of Vital Records and the Department of Children and Family Services, with the exception of the resource list of providers of counseling services and adoption agencies, which shall be provided by the hospital, fire station, police station, sheriff's office, or emergency medical facility.
(Source: P.A. 96‑1114, eff. 7‑20‑10.) |
(325 ILCS 2/50)
Sec. 50.
Child‑placing agency procedures.
(a) The Department's State Central Registry must maintain a list of licensed child‑placing agencies willing to take legal custody of newborn infants relinquished in accordance with this Act. The child‑placing agencies on the list must be contacted by the Department on a rotating basis upon notice from a hospital that a newborn infant has been relinquished in accordance with this Act.
(b) Upon notice from the Department that a newborn infant has been relinquished in accordance with this Act, a child‑placing agency must accept the newborn infant if the agency has the accommodations to do so. The child‑placing agency must seek an order for legal custody of the infant upon its acceptance of the infant.
(c) Within 3 business days after assuming physical custody of the infant, the child‑placing agency shall file a petition in the division of the circuit court in which petitions for adoption would normally be heard. The petition shall allege that the newborn infant has been relinquished in accordance with this Act and shall state that the child‑placing agency intends to place the infant in an adoptive home.
(d) If no licensed child‑placing agency is able to accept the relinquished newborn infant, then the Department must assume responsibility for the infant as soon as practicable.
(e) A custody order issued under subsection (b) shall remain in effect until a final adoption order based on the relinquished newborn infant's best interests is issued in accordance with this Act and the Adoption Act.
(f) When possible, the child‑placing agency must place a relinquished newborn infant in a prospective adoptive home.
(g) The Department or child‑placing agency must initiate proceedings to (i) terminate the parental rights of the relinquished newborn infant's known or unknown parents, (ii) appoint a guardian for the infant, and (iii) obtain consent to the infant's adoption in accordance with this Act no sooner than 60 days following the date of the initial relinquishment of the infant to the hospital, police station, fire station, or emergency medical facility.
(h) Before filing a petition for termination of parental rights, the Department or child‑placing agency must do the following:
(1) Search its Putative Father Registry for the
| purpose of determining the identity and location of the putative father of the relinquished newborn infant who is, or is expected to be, the subject of an adoption proceeding, in order to provide notice of the proceeding to the putative father. At least one search of the Registry must be conducted, at least 30 days after the relinquished newborn infant's estimated date of birth; earlier searches may be conducted, however. Notice to any potential putative father discovered in a search of the Registry according to the estimated age of the relinquished newborn infant must be in accordance with Section 12a of the Adoption Act. | |
(2) Verify with law enforcement officials, using the |
| National Crime Information Center, that the relinquished newborn infant is not a missing child. | |
(Source: P.A. 92‑408, eff. 8‑17‑01; 92‑432, eff. 8‑17‑01; 93‑820, eff. 7‑27‑04 .) |
(325 ILCS 2/55)
Sec. 55.
Petition for return of custody.
(a) A parent of a newborn infant relinquished in accordance with this Act may petition for the return of custody of the infant before the termination of parental rights with respect to the infant.
(b) A parent of a newborn infant relinquished in accordance with this Act may petition for the return of custody of the infant by contacting the Department for the purpose of obtaining the name of the child‑placing agency and then filing a petition for return of custody in the circuit court in which the proceeding for the termination of parental rights is pending.
(c) If a petition for the termination of parental rights has not been filed by the Department or the child‑placing agency, the parent of the relinquished newborn infant must contact the Department, which must notify the parent of the appropriate court in which the petition for return of custody must be filed.
(d) The circuit court may hold the proceeding for the termination of parental rights in abeyance for a period not to exceed 60 days from the date that the petition for return of custody was filed without a showing of good cause. During that period:
(1) The court shall order genetic testing to
| establish maternity or paternity, or both. | |
(2) The Department shall conduct a child protective |
| investigation and home study to develop recommendations to the court. | |
(3) When indicated as a result of the Department's |
| investigation and home study, further proceedings under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 as the court determines appropriate, may be conducted. However, relinquishment of a newborn infant in accordance with this Act does not render the infant abused, neglected, or abandoned solely because the newborn infant was relinquished to a hospital, police station, fire station, or emergency medical facility in accordance with this Act. | |
(e) Failure to file a petition for the return of custody of a relinquished newborn infant before the termination of parental rights bars any future action asserting legal rights with respect to the infant unless the parent's act of relinquishment that led to the termination of parental rights involved fraud perpetrated against and not stemming from or involving the parent. No action to void or revoke the termination of parental rights of a parent of a newborn infant relinquished in accordance with this Act, including an action based on fraud, may be commenced after 12 months after the date that the newborn infant was initially relinquished to a hospital, police station, fire station, or emergency medical facility.
(Source: P.A. 92‑408, eff. 8‑17‑01; 92‑432, eff. 8‑17‑01; 93‑820, eff. 7‑27‑04 .) |
(325 ILCS 2/60)
Sec. 60.
Department's duties.
The Department must implement a public information program to promote safe placement alternatives for newborn infants. The public information program must inform the public of the following:
(1) The relinquishment alternative provided for in
| this Act, which results in the adoption of a newborn infant under 7 days of age and which provides for the parent's anonymity, if the parent so chooses. | |
(2) The alternative of adoption through a public or |
| private agency, in which the parent's identity may or may not be known to the agency, but is kept anonymous from the adoptive parents, if the birth parent so desires, and which allows the parent to be actively involved in the child's adoption plan. | |
The public information program may include, but need not be limited to, the following elements:
(i) Educational and informational materials in |
| print, audio, video, electronic or other media. | |
(ii) Establishment of a web site.
(iii) Public service announcements and |
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(iv) Establishment of toll‑free telephone hotlines |
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(Source: P.A. 94‑941, eff. 6‑26‑06.) |