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92_HB1077
LRB9206718TAtm
1 AN ACT concerning children.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Department of Public Health Powers and
5 Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is
6 amended by changing Section 2310-255 as follows:
7 (20 ILCS 2310/2310-255) (was 20 ILCS 2310/55.75)
8 Sec. 2310-255. Immunization outreach programs.
9 (a) The Illinois General Assembly finds and declares the
10 following:
11 (1) There is a growing number of 2-year-old
12 children who have not received the necessary childhood
13 immunizations to prevent communicable diseases.
14 (2) The reasons these children do not receive
15 immunizations are many and varied. These reasons
16 include, but are not limited to, the following:
17 (A) Their parents live in poverty and do not
18 have access to insurance coverage for health care
19 and immunizations.
20 (B) Their parents come from non-English
21 speaking cultures where the importance of early
22 childhood immunizations has not been emphasized.
23 (C) Their parents do not receive adequate
24 referral to immunization programs or do not have
25 access to public immunization programs through other
26 public assistance services.
27 (3) The percentage of fully immunized
28 African-American and Hispanic 2-year-old children is
29 significantly less than that for Whites.
30 (4) The ages of concern that remain are infancy and
31 preschool, especially for those children at high risk
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1 because of a medical condition or because of social and
2 environmental factors.
3 (5) Ensuring protective levels of immunization
4 against communicable disease for these children is the
5 most historically proven cost-effective preventive
6 measure available to public health agencies.
7 (6) It is the intent of the General Assembly to
8 establish an immunization outreach program to respond to
9 this problem.
10 (b) The Department, in cooperation with county, multiple
11 county, and municipal health departments, may establish
12 permanent, temporary, or mobile sites for immunizing children
13 or referring parents to other programs that provide
14 immunizations and comprehensive health services. These sites
15 may include, but are not limited to, the following:
16 (1) Public places where parents of children at high
17 risk of remaining unimmunized reside, shop, worship, or
18 recreate.
19 (2) School grounds, either during regular hours,
20 evening hours, or on weekends.
21 (3) Places on or adjacent to sites of public or
22 community-based agencies or programs that either provide
23 or refer persons to public assistance programs or
24 services.
25 (c) Outreach programs shall, to the extent feasible,
26 include referral components intended to link immunized
27 children with available public or private primary care
28 providers to increase access to continuing pediatric care
29 including subsequent immunization services.
30 (d) The population to be targeted by the programs shall
31 include children who do not receive immunizations through
32 private third-party sources or other public sources with
33 priority given to infants and children from birth up to age
34 3. Outreach programs shall provide information to the
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1 families of children being immunized about possible reactions
2 to the vaccine and about follow-up referral sources.
3 (e) The Department shall make a detailed report each
4 quarter to the General Assembly regarding the progress
5 achieved in implementing the requirements and goals of this
6 Section.
7 (Source: P.A. 91-239, eff. 1-1-00.)
8 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
9 becoming law.
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