SPRINGFIELD – Children in the state’s foster care system will be given an opportunity to have their voices heard about issues within the system that affect them under a measure sponsored by State Senator Robert Peters (D-Chicago) that was signed into law today.

“The kids in the foster care system know it better than anyone else,” Peters said. “DCFS will have a much easier time fixing the deficiencies in areas where the system is failing if they’re getting their information directly from the children who are impacted.”

Senate Bill 1743 mandates the Department of Children and Family Services to create a standardized survey to gather feedback from youth who are currently aging out or who have recently aged out of the foster care system, with the goal of helping DCFS and its supporting agencies identify and fix issues within the system by learning about them from the people directly affected by them. Peters called it a first step toward policy changes to help address these issues.

The bill passed the Senate and House of Representatives unanimously and is effective immediately.

SPRINGFIELD – Access to services available to post-placement and post-adoption children will be expanded thanks to a new law sponsored by State Senator Robert Peters (D-Chicago) that was signed by the governor today.

“As a child of adoption myself, I experienced first-hand the importance of these services to youth in care,” Peters said. “I have been fully committed to improving the lives of youth in care during my time in the Senate, and this new law will give kids who are adopted or placed in foster care a better ability than I had to access the helpful services they require.”

The law, which was House Bill 3587, will:

• add mental health treatment, counseling and support services for emotional, behavioral, or developmental needs, and treatment for substance abuse to the definition of “post-placement and post-adoption services”;
• expand the requirements of the Department of Children and Family Services to establish and maintain accessible services;
• require DCFS to establish and maintain a toll-free number to respond to public requests about the service; and
• require DCFS to properly publicize the new services and the toll-free number.

The bill is an initiative of the Adoption Law Committee of the Chicago Bar Association, which has argued the legislation will better ensure successful adoptions and lower the rate of children being returned to state care.

The bill passed both chambers of the General Assembly with unanimous support and is effective immediately.

SPRINGFIELD – Youth who are transitioning out of DCFS care will be eligible to receive support from various state agencies under a measure sponsored by State Senator Robert Peters (D-Chicago) that was signed into law today.

“Former foster children between the ages of 19 and 21 have a significantly higher risk of facing many hardships, including homelessness, substance abuse and incarceration, and often have difficulty receiving a quality education,” Peters said. “If we can offer services to the kids who are at risk of facing these disadvantages, then we can provide them with a much higher quality of life than they otherwise might have.”

Senate Bill 1808 requires many state agencies to enter into an interagency agreement to provide preventative services, including housing support, education support and employment support, to youth who are currently or who soon will be aging out of DCFS care. Agencies affected by the bill include DCFS, the Illinois State Board of Education, The Illinois Urban Development Authority, and the Departments of Human Services, Juvenile Justice, Corrections, Healthcare and Family Services, and Human Services.

“I understand better than most how kids in this situation can face a real struggle since I am a child of adoption,” Peters said. “Since the ability for these state agencies to offer services into adulthood exists, then we should work to provide those services. This bill achieves that.”

The bill, which is effective immediately, passed through both chambers of the General Assembly unanimous support.

CHICAGO – The operation of private detention centers would be banned under a new law spearheaded by State Senator Robert Peters (D-Chicago).

“For-profit detention centers are a breeding ground for mistreatment and they encourage bad actors to worsen the already poor living conditions as a way to save a few bucks,” Peters said. “They do not belong in our state. I’m proud to have led the charge on this fight, and I’m grateful to Gov. Pritzker for signing this important piece of legislation.”

House Bill 2040 was filed in response to a vote approving plans to build a 1,200 bed detention facility taken in March by the Board of Trustees of Dwight, IL. It takes the already existing ban on private prisons one step further by closing a looping and to extending the ban to all civil detention centers.

“I’m proud to have stood side by side with organizers and advocates on this important issue that impacts so many lives throughout the state,” Peters said. “Whether it is mass incarceration or mass deportation, the individuals affected by these cruel policies are all tied together, and we must fight to protect them.”

The bill was signed by Gov. Pritzker today, and is effective immediately.