SB2781 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB094 15531 DRJ 50730 b

94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006
SB2781

Introduced 1/20/2006, by Sen. Debbie DeFrancesco Halvorson

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

20 ILCS 2435/55	from Ch. 23, par. 3395-55
740 ILCS 110/11	from Ch. 91 1/2, par. 811

Amends the Abuse of Adults with Disabilities Intervention Act; provides that a person making a report of alleged abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an adult with disabilities, functioning in the person's capacity as a licensed professional, may be entitled to the result of the report and of the investigative assessment as authorized by the Inspector General. Amends the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act; provides for the disclosure of mental health or developmental disabilities service records and communications in accordance with the Abused and Neglected Long Term Care Facility Residents Reporting Act and the Abuse of Adults with Disabilities Intervention Act. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning health.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Abuse of Adults with Disabilities Intervention Act is amended by changing Section 55 as follows:

(20 ILCS 2435/55) (from Ch. 23, par. 3395-55)

Sec. 55. Access to records. All records concerning reports of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an adult with disabilities and all records generated as a result of the reports shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed except as specifically authorized by this Act or other applicable law. A person making a report of alleged abuse, neglect, or exploitation functioning in his or her capacity as a licensed professional may be entitled to the result of the report and of the investigative assessment as authorized by the Inspector General. Access to the records, but not access to the identity of the person or persons making a report of alleged abuse, neglect, or exploitation as contained in the records, shall be allowed to the following persons and for the following purposes:

(a) Adults with Disabilities Abuse Project staff in the furtherance of their responsibilities under this Act;

(b) A law enforcement agency investigating alleged or suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an adult with disabilities;

(c) An adult with disabilities reported to be abused, neglected, or exploited, or the guardian of an adult with disabilities unless the guardian is the alleged perpetrator of the abuse, neglect, or exploitation;

(d) A court, upon its finding that access to the records may be necessary for the determination of an issue before the court. However, the access shall be limited to an in camera inspection of the records, unless the court determines that disclosure of the information contained therein is necessary for the resolution of an issue then pending before it;

(e) A grand jury, upon its determination that access to the records is necessary to the conduct of its official business;

(f) Any person authorized by the Secretary, in writing, for audit or bona fide research purposes;

(g) A coroner or medical examiner who has reason to believe that abuse or neglect contributed to or resulted in the death of an adult with disabilities;

(h) The agency designated pursuant to the Protection and Advocacy for Developmentally Disabled Persons Act and the Protection and Advocacy for Mentally Ill Persons Act.

(Source: P.A. 91-671, eff. 7-1-00.)

Section 10. The Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act is amended by changing Section 11 as follows:

(740 ILCS 110/11) (from Ch. 91 1/2, par. 811)

Sec. 11. Disclosure of records and communications. Records and communications may be disclosed:

(i) in accordance with the provisions of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;

(ii) when, and to the extent, a therapist, in his or her sole discretion, determines that disclosure is necessary to initiate or continue civil commitment proceedings under the laws of this State or to otherwise protect the recipient or other person against a clear, imminent risk of serious physical or mental injury or disease or death being inflicted upon the recipient or by the recipient on himself or another;

(iii) when, and to the extent disclosure is, in the sole discretion of the therapist, necessary to the provision of emergency medical care to a recipient who is unable to assert or waive his or her rights hereunder;

(iv) when disclosure is necessary to collect sums or receive third party payment representing charges for mental health or developmental disabilities services provided by a therapist or agency to a recipient under Chapter V of the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code or to transfer debts under the Uncollected State Claims Act; however, disclosure shall be limited to information needed to pursue collection, and the information so disclosed shall not be used for any other purposes nor shall it be redisclosed except in connection with collection activities;

(v) when requested by a family member, the Department of Human Services may assist in the location of the interment site of a deceased recipient who is interred in a cemetery established under Section 100-26 of the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Administrative Act;

(vi) in judicial proceedings under Article VIII of Chapter III and Article V of Chapter IV of the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code and proceedings and investigations preliminary thereto, to the State's Attorney for the county or residence of a person who is the subject of such proceedings, or in which the person is found, or in which the facility is located, to the attorney representing the recipient in the judicial proceedings, to any person or agency providing mental health services that are the subject of the proceedings and to that person's or agency's attorney, to any court personnel, including but not limited to judges and circuit court clerks, and to a guardian ad litem if one has been appointed by the court, provided that the information so disclosed shall not be utilized for any other purpose nor be redisclosed except in connection with the proceedings or investigations;

(vii) when, and to the extent disclosure is necessary to comply with the requirements of the Census Bureau in taking the federal Decennial Census;

(viii) when, and to the extent, in the therapist's sole discretion, disclosure is necessary to warn or protect a specific individual against whom a recipient has made a specific threat of violence where there exists a therapist-recipient relationship or a special recipient-individual relationship;

(ix) in accordance with the Sex Offender Registration Act; and

(x) in accordance with the Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act; .

(xi) in accordance with Section 6 of the Abused and Neglected Long Term Care Facility Residents Reporting Act; and

(xii) in accordance with Section 55 of the Abuse of Adults with Disabilities Intervention Act.

Any person, institution, or agency, under this Act, participating in good faith in the making of a report under the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act or in the disclosure of records and communications under this Section, shall have immunity from any liability, civil, criminal or otherwise, that might result by reason of such action. For the purpose of any proceeding, civil or criminal, arising out of a report or disclosure under this Section, the good faith of any person, institution, or agency so reporting or disclosing shall be presumed.

(Source: P.A. 90-423, eff. 8-15-97; 90-538, eff. 12-1-97; 90-655, eff. 7-30-98; 91-357, eff. 7-29-99.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.