Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, March 22, 2024
a) Establishment
The Director, in consultation with the Council, law
enforcement, and other professionals who work in the fields of investigating,
treating or preventing abuse or neglect of at-risk adults shall appoint members
to a minimum
of one Team in each of the Department's planning
and service areas. [
320 ILCS
20/15(b) ]
b) Composition
1) A Team
shall be composed of
representatives of entities and individuals including, but not limited
to:A)
the Department on
Aging;
B)
coroners
or medical examiners (or both);
C)
State's
Attorneys;
D)
local police departments;
E)
forensic units;
F)
local health
departments;
G)
a
social service or health care agency that provides services to persons with
mental illness, in a program whose accreditation to provide such services is
recognized by the Division of Mental Health within the Department of Human
Services;
H)
a
social service or health care agency that provides services to persons with
developmental disabilities, in a program whose accreditation to provide such
services is recognized by the Division of Developmental Disabilities within the
Department of Human Services;
I)
a local hospital, trauma center,
or provider of emergency medicine;
J)
providers of services for eligible
adults in domestic living situations; and
K)
a physician, psychiatrist, or
other health care provider knowledgeable about abuse and neglect of at-risk
adults. [
320 ILCS
20/15 (b-5)]
2)
Each member of a Team shall be
appointed for a 2-year term and shall be eligible for reappointment upon the
expiration of the term. [
320 ILCS
20/15(b) ]
3) Appointments to fill unexpired vacancies
will be made in the same manner as original appointments. A Team may declare a
vacancy for a member when it determines that a member has resigned, no longer
resides within the State of Illinois, failed to maintain the professional
position outlined in subsection (b)(1), or has become incapacitated and
rendered incapable of serving or performing duties as a member. A vacancy will
be filled as soon as practicable.
4) Members of the Team will be automatically
reappointed unless the Director and the member are notified at least 30 days
before the term ends that the Council will recommend another person or a
resignation is received from the member. All successive appointments will be
for a term of 2 years. No member will be reappointed if his or her
reappointment would cause any conflict of interest.
5) The Director may terminate the appointment
of any member prior to the end of a term based on the recommendation of the
Chairperson for good cause, which includes, but is not limited to, unjustified
absences, failure to meet Team responsibilities, or failure to maintain the
professional position outlined in subsection (b)(1).
6) The Team will select from its members a
Chairperson and a Vice-chairperson.
A) Each
position will be for a 2-year term.
B) The Chairperson and Vice-chairperson may
be selected to serve additional, subsequent terms.
C) The Chairperson of the Team will perform
the duties ordinarily ascribed to this position, preside at all meetings of the
Team, and make reports on behalf of the Team as may be required.
D) In the event of the Chairperson's
inability to act, the Vice-chairperson will act in his or her stead.
7) A member will serve at his or
her own expense and is to abide by all applicable ethics laws. All licensed
professionals are to be in good standing within their profession.
c) Meetings
1)
A Team shall meet not less than 4
times a year to discuss cases for its possible review. [
320 ILCS
20/15(c) ]
2) An agenda of scheduled business for
deliberation will be developed in coordination with the Department and the
Chairperson.
3) The meetings will
take place at locations, dates and times determined by the Chairperson of the
Team after consultation with members of the Team.
4) It will be the responsibility of the
Chairperson to give notices of the locations, dates and time of meetings to
each member of the Team and to the Director at least 30 days prior to each
meeting.
5) A majority of the
currently appointed and serving Team members will constitute a quorum. A
vacancy in the membership of the Team will not impair the right of a quorum to
perform all of the duties of the Team. All deliberations of the Team and its
subcommittees will be governed by Robert's Rules of Order.
6) A majority of the Team may allow a member
to attend any meeting by video or audio conference in accordance with the Open
Meetings Act, provided adequate equipment can reasonably be made available and
that participation is audible to all other members.
7)
Meetings of the Teams may be
closed to the public under the Open Meetings Act. [
320 ILCS
20/15 (d-5)]
d) Review of Cases
1)
Each Team, with the advice and
consent of the Department, shall establish criteria to be used in discussing
cases of alleged, suspected or substantiated abuse or neglect for review and
shall conduct its activities in accordance with any applicable policies and
procedures established by the Department for the allocation of time
and resources of the Team for investigating cases; recordkeeping relating to
the outcome of investigations and referral recommendations; maintaining
confidential communications and records; sharing information about cases with
other offices for adult protective services, criminal investigation and
prosecution, or court-ordered discovery; and data aggregation, collection and
analysis. [
320 ILCS
20/15(c) ]
2)
A Team's purpose in conducting
review of at-risk adult deaths is:
A) to assist local agencies in
identifying and reviewing suspicious deaths of adult victims of alleged,
suspected or substantiated abuse or neglect in domestic living
situations;
B)
to
facilitate communications between officials responsible for autopsies and
inquests and persons involved in reporting or investigating alleged or
suspected cases of abuse, neglect or financial exploitation of at-risk adults
and persons involved in providing services to at-risk
adults;
C)
to
evaluate means by which the death might have been prevented;
and
D)
to report
its findings to the appropriate agencies and the Council and make
recommendations that may help to reduce the number of at-risk adult deaths
caused by abuse and neglect and that may help to improve the investigations of
deaths of at-risk adults and increase prosecutions, if appropriate. [
320 ILCS
20/15(b) ]
3)
A Team shall review cases of
deaths of at-risk adults occurring in its planning and service area:
A)
involving blunt force trauma or an
undetermined manner or suspicious cause of death;
B)
if requested by the deceased's
attending physician or an emergency room physician;
C)
upon referral by a health care
provider;
D)
upon
referral by a coroner or medical examiner;
E)
constituting an open or closed
case from an adult protective services agency, law enforcement agency, or
State's Attorney's office, or the Department of Human Services' Office of
Inspector General that involves alleged or suspected abuse, neglect or
financial exploitation; or
F)
upon referral by a law enforcement
agency or State's Attorney's office.
4)
If such a death occurs in a
planning and service area where a Team has not yet been established, the
Director shall request that the Council or another Team review that
death.
5)
A team
may also review deaths of at-risk adults if the alleged abuse or neglect
occurred while the person was residing in a domestic living situation.
[
320 ILCS
20/15(c) ]
6)
In any instance in which
a Team does not operate in accordance with established protocol, the
Director, in consultation and cooperation with the Council, must take any
necessary actions to bring the Team into compliance with the protocol.
[
320 ILCS
20/15 (c-5)]
e) Confidentiality
1)
Members of a Team are not subject
to examination, in any civil or criminal proceeding, concerning information
presented to members of the Team or opinions formed by members of the Team
based on that information. A person may, however, be examined concerning
information provided to a Team.
2)
Records and information provided
to the Team, and records maintained by the
Team, are exempt from release under the Freedom of Information
Act. [
320 ILCS
20/15 (d-5)]
3)
Any document or oral or written
communication shared within or produced by the Team relating to a case
discussed or reviewed by the Team is confidential and is not admissible as
evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding, except for use by a State's
Attorney's office in prosecuting a criminal case against a caregiver. Those
records and information are, however, subject to discovery or subpoena, and are
admissible as evidence, to the extent they are otherwise available to the
public.
4)
Any
document or oral or written communication provided to a Team by an individual
or entity, and created by that individual or entity solely for the use of the
Team, is confidential, is not subject to disclosure to or discoverable by
another party, and is not admissible as evidence in any civil or criminal
proceeding, except for use by a State's Attorney's office in prosecuting a
criminal case against a caregiver. Those records and information are, however,
subject to discovery or subpoena, and are admissible as evidence, to the extent
they are otherwise available to the public.
5)
Each entity represented or
individual represented on the Team may share with other
members of the team information in the entity's or individual's possession
concerning the decedent who is the subject of the review or concerning any
person who was in contact with the decedent, as well as any other information
deemed by the entity or individual to be pertinent to the review. Any such
information shared by an entity or individual with other members of the Team is
confidential. The intent of this subsection (e)(5) is to
permit the disclosure to members of the Team of any information deemed
confidential or privileged or prohibited from disclosure by any other provision
of law.
6)
Release
of confidential communication between domestic violence advocates and a
domestic violence victim shall follow Section 227(d) of the
Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986 [ 750 ILCS 60 ], which
allows for the waiver of privilege afforded to guardians, executors or
administrators of the estate of the domestic violence victim. This provision
relating to the release of confidential communication between domestic violence
advocates and a domestic violence victim shall exclude adult protective service
providers.
7)
A
coroner's or medical examiner's office may share with the Team medical records
that have been made available to the coroner's or medical examiner's office in
connection with that office's investigation of a death. [
320 ILCS
20/15(d) ]
f) Recommendations and Referrals
A Team's recommendation in relation to a case
discussed or reviewed by the Team, including, but not limited to, a
recommendation concerning an investigation or prosecution in relation to such a
case, may be disclosed by the Team upon the completion of its review and at the
discretion of a majority of its members who reviewed the case. [
320 ILCS
20/15(e) ]
g) Indemnification
1) Members of the Team will have no
individual liability in an action based upon a disciplinary proceeding or other
activity performed in good faith as a member of the Team.
2)
The State shall indemnify and hold
harmless members of a
Team for all their acts, omissions,
decision or other conduct arising out of the scope of their service, except
those involving willful or wanton misconduct.
3)
The method of providing
indemnification shall be as provided in the State Employee Indemnification
Act [ 5 ILCS 350 ]. [
320 ILCS
20/15 (e-5)]
h) Data Collection and Analysis
1) Data on actual cases collected by the
Teams will be forwarded to the Department for aggregation and analysis,
including, but not limited to, victim demographics; perpetrator demographics;
descriptions of the victim's relationship with the perpetrators; cause of
death; aggravating and other contributing risk factors for abuse, neglect or
financial exploitation; the outcome of investigations; referral
recommendations; and the final dispositions in criminal prosecutions.
2)
The Department, in consultation
with coroners, medical examiners, and law enforcement agencies, shall use
aggregate data gathered by and recommendations from the Teams to create an
annual report.
3)
The Department, in consultation with coroners, medical examiners, and
law enforcement agencies, may use aggregate data gathered by and
recommendations from the Teams to develop education, prevention, prosecution,
or other strategies designed to improve the coordination of services for
at-risk adults and their families.
4)
The Department or other State or
county agency, in consultation with coroners, medical examiners, and law
enforcement agencies, may use aggregated data gathered by the Teams to create a
database of at-risk individuals. [
320 ILCS
20/15(f) ]