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92_HB1302enr
HB1302 Enrolled LRB9204732JMpr
1 AN ACT concerning aging.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Illinois Act on the Aging is amended by
5 changing Section 4.01 as follows:
6 (20 ILCS 105/4.01) (from Ch. 23, par. 6104.01)
7 Sec. 4.01. Additional powers and duties of the
8 Department. In addition to powers and duties otherwise
9 provided by law, the Department shall have the following
10 powers and duties:
11 (1) To evaluate all programs, services, and facilities
12 for the aged and for minority senior citizens within the
13 State and determine the extent to which present public or
14 private programs, services and facilities meet the needs of
15 the aged.
16 (2) To coordinate and evaluate all programs, services,
17 and facilities for the Aging and for minority senior citizens
18 presently furnished by State agencies and make appropriate
19 recommendations regarding such services, programs and
20 facilities to the Governor and/or the General Assembly.
21 (3) To function as the sole State agency to develop a
22 comprehensive plan to meet the needs of the State's senior
23 citizens and the State's minority senior citizens.
24 (4) To receive and disburse State and federal funds made
25 available directly to the Department including those funds
26 made available under the Older Americans Act and the Senior
27 Community Service Employment Program for providing services
28 for senior citizens and minority senior citizens or for
29 purposes related thereto, and shall develop and administer
30 any State Plan for the Aging required by federal law.
31 (5) To solicit, accept, hold, and administer in behalf
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1 of the State any grants or legacies of money, securities, or
2 property to the State of Illinois for services to senior
3 citizens and minority senior citizens or purposes related
4 thereto.
5 (6) To provide consultation and assistance to
6 communities, area agencies on aging, and groups developing
7 local services for senior citizens and minority senior
8 citizens.
9 (7) To promote community education regarding the
10 problems of senior citizens and minority senior citizens
11 through institutes, publications, radio, television and the
12 local press.
13 (8) To cooperate with agencies of the federal government
14 in studies and conferences designed to examine the needs of
15 senior citizens and minority senior citizens and to prepare
16 programs and facilities to meet those needs.
17 (9) To establish and maintain information and referral
18 sources throughout the State when not provided by other
19 agencies.
20 (10) To provide the staff support as may reasonably be
21 required by the Council and the Coordinating Committee of
22 State Agencies Serving Older Persons.
23 (11) To make and enforce rules and regulations necessary
24 and proper to the performance of its duties.
25 (12) To establish and fund programs or projects or
26 experimental facilities that are specially designed as
27 alternatives to institutional care.
28 (13) To develop a training program to train the
29 counselors presently employed by the Department's aging
30 network to provide Medicare beneficiaries with counseling and
31 advocacy in Medicare, private health insurance, and related
32 health care coverage plans. The Department shall report to
33 the General Assembly on the implementation of the training
34 program on or before December 1, 1986.
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1 (14) To make a grant to an institution of higher
2 learning to study the feasibility of establishing and
3 implementing an affirmative action employment plan for the
4 recruitment, hiring, training and retraining of persons 60 or
5 more years old for jobs for which their employment would not
6 be precluded by law.
7 (15) To present one award annually in each of the
8 categories of community service, education, the performance
9 and graphic arts, and the labor force to outstanding Illinois
10 senior citizens and minority senior citizens in recognition
11 of their individual contributions to either community
12 service, education, the performance and graphic arts, or the
13 labor force. The awards shall be presented to four senior
14 citizens and minority senior citizens selected from a list of
15 44 nominees compiled annually by the Department. Nominations
16 shall be solicited from senior citizens' service providers,
17 area agencies on aging, senior citizens' centers, and senior
18 citizens' organizations. The Department shall consult with
19 the Coordinating Committee of State Agencies Serving Older
20 Persons to determine which of the nominees shall be the
21 recipient in each category of community service. The
22 Department shall establish a central location within the
23 State to be designated as the Senior Illinoisans Hall of Fame
24 for the public display of all the annual awards, or replicas
25 thereof.
26 (16) To establish multipurpose senior centers through
27 area agencies on aging and to fund those new and existing
28 multipurpose senior centers through area agencies on aging,
29 the establishment and funding to begin in such areas of the
30 State as the Department shall designate by rule and as
31 specifically appropriated funds become available.
32 (17) To develop the content and format of the
33 acknowledgment regarding non-recourse reverse mortgage loans
34 under Section 6.1 of the Illinois Banking Act; to provide
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1 independent consumer information on reverse mortgages and
2 alternatives; and to refer consumers to independent
3 counseling services with expertise in reverse mortgages.
4 (18) To develop a pamphlet in English and Spanish which
5 may be used by physicians licensed to practice medicine in
6 all of its branches pursuant to the Medical Practice Act of
7 1987, pharmacists licensed pursuant to the Pharmacy Practice
8 Act and Illinois residents 65 years of age or older for the
9 purpose of assisting physicians, pharmacists, and patients in
10 monitoring prescriptions provided by various physicians and
11 to aid persons 65 years of age or older in complying with
12 directions for proper use of pharmaceutical prescriptions.
13 The pamphlet may provide space for recording information
14 including but not limited to the following:
15 (a) name and telephone number of the patient;
16 (b) name and telephone number of the prescribing
17 physician;
18 (c) date of prescription;
19 (d) name of drug prescribed;
20 (e) directions for patient compliance; and
21 (f) name and telephone number of dispensing
22 pharmacy.
23 In developing the pamphlet, the Department shall consult
24 with the Illinois State Medical Society, the Center for
25 Minority Health Services, the Illinois Pharmacists
26 Association and senior citizens organizations. The
27 Department shall distribute the pamphlets to physicians,
28 pharmacists and persons 65 years of age or older or various
29 senior citizen organizations throughout the State.
30 (19) To conduct a study by April 1, 1994 of the
31 feasibility of implementing the Senior Companion Program
32 throughout the State for the fiscal year beginning July 1,
33 1994.
34 (20) With respect to contracts in effect on July 1,
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1 1994, the Department shall increase the grant amounts so that
2 the reimbursement rates paid through the community care
3 program for chore housekeeping services and homemakers are at
4 the same rate, which shall be the higher of the 2 rates
5 currently paid. With respect to all contracts entered into,
6 renewed, or extended on or after July 1, 1994, the
7 reimbursement rates paid through the community care program
8 for chore housekeeping services and homemakers shall be the
9 same.
10 (21) From funds appropriated to the Department from the
11 Meals on Wheels Fund, a special fund in the State treasury
12 that is hereby created, and in accordance with State and
13 federal guidelines and the intrastate funding formula, to
14 make grants to area agencies on aging, designated by the
15 Department, for the sole purpose of delivering meals to
16 homebound persons 60 years of age and older.
17 (21.1) Beginning July 1, 2001, to distribute any new
18 funds to the area agencies on aging, with the exception of
19 legislatively directed programs requiring funding at a
20 designated level for a defined target population, according
21 to the intrastate funding formula.
22 (22) To distribute, through its area agencies on aging,
23 information alerting seniors on safety issues regarding
24 emergency weather conditions, including extreme heat and
25 cold, flooding, tornadoes, electrical storms, and other
26 severe storm weather. The information shall include all
27 necessary instructions for safety and all emergency telephone
28 numbers of organizations that will provide additional
29 information and assistance.
30 (23) To develop guidelines for the organization and
31 implementation of Volunteer Services Credit Programs to be
32 administered by Area Agencies on Aging or community based
33 senior service organizations. The Department shall hold
34 public hearings on the proposed guidelines for public
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1 comment, suggestion, and determination of public interest.
2 The guidelines shall be based on the findings of other states
3 and of community organizations in Illinois that are currently
4 operating volunteer services credit programs or demonstration
5 volunteer services credit programs. The Department shall
6 offer guidelines for all aspects of the programs including,
7 but not limited to, the following:
8 (a) types of services to be offered by volunteers;
9 (b) types of services to be received upon the
10 redemption of service credits;
11 (c) issues of liability for the volunteers and the
12 administering organizations;
13 (d) methods of tracking service credits earned and
14 service credits redeemed;
15 (e) issues of time limits for redemption of service
16 credits;
17 (f) methods of recruitment of volunteers;
18 (g) utilization of community volunteers, community
19 service groups, and other resources for delivering
20 services to be received by service credit program
21 clients;
22 (h) accountability and assurance that services will
23 be available to individuals who have earned service
24 credits; and
25 (i) volunteer screening and qualifications.
26 The Department shall submit a written copy of the guidelines
27 to the General Assembly by July 1, 1998.
28 (Source: P.A. 89-249, eff. 8-4-95; 89-580, eff. 1-1-97;
29 90-251, eff. 1-1-98.)
30 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
31 becoming law.
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