PocketLaw | Illinois Compiled Statutes

Family Caregiver Act.

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(320 ILCS 65/1)

Sec. 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Family Caregiver Act.

(Source: P.A. 93-864, eff. 8-5-04.)

(320 ILCS 65/5)

Sec. 5. Legislative findings. The General Assembly recognizes the following:

(1) Family caregivers, serving without compensation, have been the mainstay of the long-term care system in this country. Care provided by these informal caregivers is the most crucial factor in avoiding or postponing institutionalization of the State's residents.
(2) Among non-institutionalized persons needing assistance with personal care needs, two-thirds depend solely on family and friends for assistance. Another 25% supplement family care with services from paid providers. Only a little more than 5% rely exclusively on paid services.
(3) Family caregivers are frequently under substantial physical, psychological, and financial stress. Unrelieved by support services available to the caregiver, this stress may lead to premature or unnecessary institutionalization of the care recipient or deterioration in the health condition and family circumstances of the caregiver.
(4) Two out of 3 family caregivers, due to being employed outside the home, experience additional stress. Two-thirds of working caregivers report conflicts between work and caregiving, requiring them to rearrange their work schedules, work fewer than normal hours, or take an unpaid leave of absence. For this population, caregiver support services have the added benefit of allowing family caregivers to remain active members of our State's workforce.

(Source: P.A. 93-864, eff. 8-5-04.)

(320 ILCS 65/10)

Sec. 10. Legislative intent. It is the intent of the General Assembly to establish a multi-faceted family caregiver support program to assist unpaid family caregivers and grandparents or other older individuals who are relative caregivers, who are informal providers of in-home and community care to older individuals or children.

Services provided under this program shall do the following:

(1) Provide information, relief, and support to family and other unpaid caregivers of older individuals and children.
(2) Encourage family members to provide care for their family members who are older individuals and children.
(3) Provide temporary substitute support services or living arrangements to allow a period of relief or rest for caregivers.
(4) Be provided in the least restrictive setting available consistent with the individually assessed needs of older individuals and children.
(5) Include services appropriate to the needs of family members caring for older individuals and children, including older individuals with dementia.
(6) Provide family caregivers with services that enable them to make informed decisions about current and future care plans, solve day-to-day caregiving problems, learn essential care giving skills, and locate services that may strengthen their capacity to provide care.

(Source: P.A. 93-864, eff. 8-5-04.)

(320 ILCS 65/15)

Sec. 15. Definitions. In this Act:

"Caregiver" or "family caregiver" means an adult family member, or another individual, who is an informal provider of in-home and community care to an older individual, or a grandparent or older individual who is a relative caregiver.

"Child" or "children" means an individual or individuals 18 years of age or under.

"Department" means the Department on Aging.

"Eligible participant" means a family caregiver or a grandparent or older individual who is a relative caregiver.

"Family caregiver support services" includes, but is not limited to, the following:

(1) Information to caregivers about available services.
(2) Assistance to caregivers in gaining access to the services.
(3) Individual counseling, organization of support groups, and caregiver training for caregivers to assist the caregivers in making decisions and solving problems relating to their caregiving roles.
(4) Respite care to enable caregivers to be temporarily relieved from their caregiving responsibilities.
(5) Supplemental services, on a limited basis, to complement the care provided by the caregivers.
(6) Other services as identified by the Department and defined by rule.

"Frail individual" means an older individual who is determined to be functionally impaired because the individual (i) is unable to perform from at least 2 activities of daily living without substantial human assistance, including verbal reminding, physical cueing, or supervision or (ii) due to a cognitive or other mental impairment, requires substantial supervision because the individual behaves in a manner that poses a serious health or safety hazard to the individual or to another individual.

"Grandparent or older individual who is a relative caregiver" means a grandparent or step-grandparent of a child, or a relative of a child by blood or marriage, who:

(1) lives with the child;
(2) is the primary caregiver for the child because the child's biological or adoptive parents are unable or unwilling to serve as the primary caregiver for the child; and
(3) has a legal relationship to the child, such as legal custody or guardianship, or is raising the child informally.

"Informal provider" means an individual who is not compensated for the care he or she provides.

"Older individual" means an individual who is 60 years of age or older, except for a grandparent or older individual who is a relative caregiver.

"Respite care" means substitute supports or living arrangements provided on an intermittent, occasional basis. The term includes, but is not limited to, in-home respite care, adult day care, child care, and institutional care. The term also includes respite care as defined in Section 2 of the Respite Program Act to the extent that such services are allowable and participants are eligible under the National Family Caregiver Support Program.

(Source: P.A. 93-864, eff. 8-5-04.)

(320 ILCS 65/16)

Sec. 16. (Repealed).

(Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07. Repealed by P.A. 96-915, eff. 6-9-10.)

(320 ILCS 65/20)

Sec. 20. (Repealed).

(Source: P.A. 93-864, eff. 8-5-04. Repealed by P.A. 98-692, eff. 7-1-14.)

(320 ILCS 65/25)

Sec. 25. Provision of services. The Department shall contract with area agencies on aging and other appropriate agencies to conduct family caregiver support services to the extent of available State and federal funding. Services provided under this Act must be provided according to the requirements of federal law and rules, except for the provision of services to grandparents or older individuals who are relative caregivers when State funding is utilized to provide those services.

(Source: P.A. 93-864, eff. 8-5-04.)

(320 ILCS 65/27)

Sec. 27. Elder caregivers of adult children with developmental disabilities. Subject to appropriation or to inclusion of this population in the federal Older Americans Act, the Department may provide support to caregivers who are age 60 or older and who are caring for their adult children with developmental disabilities, in collaboration with the Department of Human Services.

(Source: P.A. 94-336, eff. 7-26-05.)

(320 ILCS 65/30)

Sec. 30. Eligibility for respite and supplemental services. When a family caregiver is providing in-home and community care to an older individual, the older individual must be a frail individual as defined in this Act in order for the family caregiver to be eligible to receive respite and supplemental services.

(Source: P.A. 93-864, eff. 8-5-04.)

(320 ILCS 65/35)

Sec. 35. Health care practitioners and facilities not impaired. Nothing in this Act shall impair the practice of any licensed health care practitioner or licensed health care facility.

(Source: P.A. 93-864, eff. 8-5-04.)

(320 ILCS 65/40)

Sec. 40. Entitlement not created; funding; waivers.

(a) Nothing in this Act creates or provides any individual with an entitlement to services or benefits. It is the General Assembly's intent that services under this Act shall be made available only to the extent of the availability and level of appropriations made by the General Assembly.

(b) The Director may seek and obtain State and federal funds that may be available to finance services under this Act, and may also seek and obtain other non-State resources for which the State may be eligible.

(c) The Department may seek appropriate waivers of federal requirements from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

(Source: P.A. 93-864, eff. 8-5-04.)

(320 ILCS 65/90)

Sec. 90. (Amendatory provisions; text omitted).

(Source: P.A. 93-864, eff. 8-5-04; text omitted.)

(320 ILCS 65/91)

Sec. 91. The Respite Program Act is amended by repealing Sections 7, 9, and 10.

(Source: P.A. 93-864, eff. 8-5-04.)

(320 ILCS 65/92)

Sec. 92. Kinship Navigator Act. The Kinship Navigator established under the Kinship Navigator Act shall coordinate the services administered by the Department under this Act with the programs and services established and administered by the Department of Human Services under the Kinship Navigator Act.

(Source: P.A. 96-276, eff. 8-11-09.)

(320 ILCS 65/99)

(This Act was approved by the Governor on August 5, 2004, so the actual effective date of this Act is August 5, 2004)

Sec. 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect on July 1, 2004.

(Source: P.A. 93-864, eff. 8-5-04.)

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