IL HB2968

Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and Social Work Examining and Disciplinary Board cannot request, inquire into, or consider juvenile adjudications, records of individuals who were 17 years old at time of offense before January 1, 2014, arrests not resulting in conviction, overturned convictions, or expunged arrests when evaluating licensure applications.

Five years after conviction of a felony or misdemeanor directly related to social work practice, or 3 years since release from confinement (whichever is later), with no subsequent conviction constitutes prima facie evidence of rehabilitation for licensing purposes.

Department must consider mitigating factors and evidence of rehabilitation when evaluating applicants with prior convictions, including time elapsed since offense, lack of direct relation to job duties, age at time of offense, compliance with probation/parole, and evidence of rehabilitation efforts.

Department must provide written denial notices that include the specific convictions cited, mitigating evidence presented, reasons for denial, and information about appeal process or reapplication eligibility.

Department must issue annual report on licensure applications including numbers granted and denied overall, numbers with criminal convictions granted and denied, probationary licenses issued, and demographic information by race, gender, age, and education.