Illinois § 45-35

§ 45-35.

Child abuse and neglect reports. (a) All secure residential youth care facility license applicants and all current and prospective employees of a secure residential youth care facility who have any possible contact with youth in the course of their duties, as a condition of licensure or employment, shall authorize in writing on a form prescribed by the Department an investigation of the Central Register, as defined in the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, to ascertain if the applicant or employee has been determined to be a perpetrator in an indicated report of child abuse or neglect. (b) All secure residential youth care facilities as a condition of licensure under this Act shall maintain records showing that all current employees and other applicants for employment who have any possible contact with youth in the course of their duties have authorized an investigation of the Central Register as required in subsection (a) of this Section. Only those current or prospective employees who will have no possible contact with youth as part of their present or prospective employment may be excluded from provisions that require authorization of an investigation. (c) Information concerning a license applicant, employee, or prospective employee obtained by the Department shall be confidential and exempt from public inspection and copying as provided under Section 7 of the Freedom of Information Act, and that information shall not be transmitted outside the Department, except as provided in the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, and shall not be transmitted to anyone within the Department except as provided in the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act or needed for the purposes of evaluation of an application for licensure or for consideration by a secure residential youth care facility of an employee. Any employee of the Department who gives or causes to be given any confidential information concerning child abuse or neglect reports about a facility applicant or facility employee shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor unless release of the information is authorized by Section 11.1 of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. (d) Any licensee who is informed by the Department of Children and Family Services, under Section 7.4 of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, that a formal investigation has commenced relating to an employee of the facility or any other person in frequent contact with youth at the facility, shall take reasonable action necessary to ensure that the employee or other person is restricted during the pendency of the investigation from contact with youth whose care has been entrusted to the facility. (Source: P.A. 88-680, eff. 1-1-95.)