Illinois § 7.5

§ 7.5.

Search and reunion services for youth in care and former youth in care. (a) For purposes of this Section, "search and reunion services" means: (1) services provided by the Department to facilitate contact between adoptees and their siblings when one or more is still in the Department's care or adopted elsewhere, with the notarized consent of the adoptive parents of a minor child, when such contact has been established to be necessary to the adoptee's best interests and when all involved parties, including the adoptive parent of a former youth in care under 18 years of age, have provided written consent for such contact; (2) services provided by the Department to facilitate contact between current or former youth in care, over the age of 18, including, but not limited to, youth who were adopted, to facilitate contact with siblings, birth relatives, former foster parents, or former foster siblings. (b) The Department shall provide to all adoptive parents of children receiving monthly adoption assistance under subsection (j) of Section 5 of this Act a notice that includes a description of the Department's post-adoption reunion services and an explanation of how to access those services. The notice to adoptive parents shall be provided at least once per year until such time as the adoption assistance payments cease. (b-5) The Department shall provide a notice that includes a description of the Department's search and reunion services and an explanation of how to access those services to each person who is a youth in care within 30 days after the youth's 18th birthday and within 30 days prior to closure of the youth's case pending under Article II of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 if the case is closing after the youth's 18th birthday. The Department shall work with organizations, such as the Foster Care Alumni of America Illinois Chapter, that have contact with foster care alumni, to distribute information about the Department's search and reunion services. (c) The Department shall adopt a rule regarding the provision of search and reunion services to youth in care and former youth in care. (Source: P.A. 102-825, eff. 7-1-23; 103-22, eff. 8-8-23.)