Rep. Yolonda Morris

Amends the Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Instructs the Department of Public Health to require a health care practitioner who is treating a patient diagnosed with epilepsy and at elevated risk for sudden unexpected death in epilepsy and who has primary responsibility for the treatment and care of the patient for epilepsy, other than a health care practitioner treating that patient in an emergency situation, to provide that patient with certain written information regarding sudden unexpected death in epilepsy. Requires the Department to provide that written information to health care practitioners and post the information on the Department's website. Requires the Department to ensure that the information is culturally and linguistically appropriate for all recipients. Allows a local or national organization that provides education or services related to epilepsy conditions to request that the Department include on its website the organization's informational material and contact information. Requires the Department to provide guidance to health care practitioners in determining whether a patient is at elevated risk for sudden unexpected death in epilepsy. Requires the Department to adopt rules. Amends the Medical Practice Act of 1987, the Nurse Practice Act, and the Physician Assistance Practice Act to require licensees under the Acts to comply with the amendatory provisions in the Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law. Provides that certain licensees under the Acts who violate the amendatory provisions shall be issued a warning by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and shall suffer no further penalty or discipline for a first offense if the violation was not committed willfully or knowingly. Provides that certain licensees under the Acts who commit a subsequent violation of the amendatory provisions shall pay a civil penalty, as determined by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, of no more than $10,000 to the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation for each subsequent violation. Makes other changes.

Amends the Children with Disabilities Article of the School Code. Provides that "school psychologist" means a psychologist who, along with other qualifications, has graduated with a specialist degree, an equivalent degree with the completion of a minimum of 60 graduate semester hours, or a higher degree in school psychology (rather than a master's degree or higher degree in psychology or educational psychology) from an institution of higher learning and has had at least 1,200 clock hours of supervised experience (rather than one school year of full-time supervised experience) in the delivery of school psychological services. Makes changes to provide that school psychological services provided by qualified specialists who hold a Professional Educator License endorsed for school psychology may include, but are not limited to: (1) providing assessments; (2) creating and implementing prevention and intervention services that support student learning; (3) providing mental and behavioral health services; (4) acting as liaisons between public schools and community agencies; (5) evaluating program effectiveness; (6) providing crisis prevention, response, and intervention within the school setting; (7) providing consultation and collaboration; (8) supervising school psychologist interns enrolled in school psychology programs; (9) screening school enrollments to identify children who should be referred for individual study; and (10) developing any other necessary programs and services. Provides that a school psychologist may not provide school psychological services outside of his or her employment to any student in any school district that employs the school psychologist. Makes other changes.

Amends the Statute on Statutes and other various Acts. Changes all occurrences of "disabled person" to "person with a disability", changes all occurrences of "a person who is handicapped" to "a person who has a disability", changes all occurrences of "physically or mentally handicapped" to "having a physical or intellectual disability", and changes all occurrences of "visually handicapped" to "visually impaired". Replaces an outdated reference to the "Disabled Person Identification Card" with "the Illinois Person with a Disability Identification Card". Amends the Aid to the Aged, Blind or Disabled Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. Changes "Aid to the Aged, Blind or Disabled program" to "Aid to the Aged, Blind or Persons with Disabilities program". Makes corresponding references in various Acts. Effective immediately.

Amends the Employment of Teachers Article of the School Code. In a provision requiring a school board, before setting a hearing on charges stemming from causes that are considered remediable, to give a teacher reasonable warning, in writing, stating specifically the causes that, if not removed, may result in charges, allows a teacher to grieve the issuance of such warning pursuant to the applicable collective bargaining agreement to determine whether the board had just cause in issuing the warning. Requires the written warning to narrowly specify the nature of the alleged misconduct that needs to be remedied. Provides that under no circumstances may the written warning remain effective for longer than 4 years from the date of the issuance of the written warning. Requires the school district to use reasonable efforts to remove the written warning from the teacher's personnel file after the 4 years have elapsed or sooner if agreed to through the exclusive bargaining representative, with an exception. Effective immediately.

Amends the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Act. Changes the Statewide Committee quorum from 7 voting members to a simple majority of voting members. Requires that Statewide Committee's annual report is due no later than September 1 instead of March 1 of each year. Requires that the biennial report is due no later than June 1 instead of April 1 of each odd year.

Amends the Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities Act. Requires direct service workers employed by the Department of Human Services, or an agency contracted with the Department, to provide services under the Home Services Program to complete at least 2 hours of dementia training at the start of their employment and annually thereafter. Requires the training to cover subjects concerning Alzheimer's disease and dementia, safety risks, and communication and behavior. Requires the Department to provide contractors with dementia training curriculum on the required subjects. Provides that any other laws or rules that impose more rigorous dementia training for direct service workers under the Home Services Program shall apply. Exempts from the training requirements direct service workers who provide proof that they obtained equivalent dementia training in compliance with another law or rule. For personal assistants covered by a collective bargaining agreement, requires the Department to establish, in consultation with the joint training committee created under the collective bargaining agreement, different parameters and specific topics for curriculum covering dementia training.

Amends the Volunteer Emergency Worker Job Protection Act. Provides that employment protections for volunteer emergency workers apply to volunteer emergency workers participating in required training, including a prohibition on termination and penalizing (rather than only termination). Provides that the employer may not require the employee to take vacation time or other compensatory time in order to respond to an emergency or participate in training. Provides that the Act does not apply to any employer that is a municipality with a population of 15,000 or more (currently 7,500 or more). Makes conforming changes.

Amends the School Code. Beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, requires a school district maintaining any of grades 9 through 12 to provide all eligible students graduating from high school with the opportunity to register to vote. Effective immediately.

Amends the Department of Public Health Act. Provides that the Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention Program Advisory Council created by Public Act 103-8 is continued within the Department of Public Health, with modifications to its duties and composition. Amends the Department of Healthcare and Family Services Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois by repealing provisions regarding the Council.

Provides that the Act may be referred to as the Safeguards to Ensure Continuity and Uphold Rights and Equity (SECURE) Act. Sets forth several legislative findings, including that (i) Illinois retains a non-delegable duty to safeguard the safety, health, dignity, and well-being of all youth in the care or custody of the Department of Children and Family Services, and (ii) the Department must respect and meaningfully consider a youth's expressed preferences in placement options while conducting transparent, individualized risk assessments. Amends the Children and Family Services Act. Adds provisions concerning case plans for youth in care and the specific tasks and responsibilities a caregiver must complete to ensure each youth is provided with safe, proper, and supportive care based on the youth's needs and best interests, including, but not limited to, the youth's protected characteristics as defined under the Illinois Human Rights Act. Contains provisions concerning requirements for interstate placements of youth age 8 or older, including, but not limited to: protecting a youth's access to lawful health care and civil immunities for Department employees who protect a youth's access to lawful health care; individualized assessments on the suitability and risks of the proposed interstate placement; ongoing Illinois-based case worker contact and monitoring; and a prohibition on consent to conversion therapy. Contains provisions on youth requested in-state or out-of-state placement and other related matters; annual Department reports on out-of-state placements; performance audits; private right of action; and other matters. Amends the Child Care Act of 1969 by adding provisions on supportive care for youth in care; youth-directed placement rights; licensure and contractual compliance. Amends the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. Adds provisions on the appointment of an attorney for a youth in care with special needs; required Department attestations on caregiver conduct when a youth is placed in an out-of-state residential treatment center; assessments and monitoring for minors in out-of-state placements; and other matters. Effective July 1, 2027.