IL HB0439

Requires the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to develop a written strategic plan to improve timely access to in-state residential treatment, evidence-based alternatives to residential treatment, and specialized foster care for youth with significant emotional, behavioral, and medical needs

Addresses a crisis where more than 500 in-state residential treatment beds for youth in DCFS care were eliminated between 2013 and 2018, with insufficient development of alternatives like therapeutic foster care

Notes that community-based providers experience 42%-50% annual staff turnover for caseworkers, supervisors, therapists, and residential staff, and that Black children are 3 times more likely to experience extended stays in care due to high turnover

Documents that in State Fiscal Year 2022, youth remained in psychiatric hospitals an average of 75 days longer than medically necessary due to lack of available placement resources

Requires the strategic plan to be finalized and made public within one year of the Act's effective date, revised within 6 months after completion of a required rate study, and include benchmarks, timelines, resource strategies, and ongoing stakeholder engagement