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 "Today, as we celebrate our seniors, we need to make sure they're
taken care (of), protected from harm and have increased access to
the services we provide," said Blagojevich. "These bills I'm signing
into law will increase protections against abuse and neglect and
will help make sure our seniors are not placed in the care of
individuals with a criminal background. These new laws will also
expand the home-delivered meals program and will help us assess the
needs of seniors living in rural areas."
"AARP commends the governor and the General Assembly for their
leadership in ensuring that the needs of rural seniors are addressed
in Illinois," said Bob Gallo, state director for AARP Illinois.
"These laws will help to ensure that access to services is dictated
by what you need, not where you live."
House Bill 734, sponsored by state Rep. John E. Bradley,
D-Marion, and state Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton, amends the Elder
Abuse and Neglect Act by requiring provider agencies for the
Illinois Department on Aging to respond without any delay to reports
of alleged or suspected abuse or neglect of a senior citizen if they
are at risk of serious injury or death. The provider agency must
ensure it is capable of responding 24 hours a day, seven days a week
and may use an on-call system to respond to such reports on nights
and weekends.
"It is just not acceptable for any person to live in an
environment where they are subject to abuse and neglect," said
Forby, Senate sponsor of the bill. "Seniors living in nursing homes
and assisted facilities must be looked after and given proper
protective care."
The legislation goes into effect June 1, 2008.
Senate Bill 866, sponsored by state Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford,
D-Westchester, and Rep. Kevin Joyce, D-Worth, requires
fingerprint-based background checks for all health care workers
hired after Oct. 1 who have direct contact with a patient or their
medical or financial records. All fingerprints will be submitted
electronically to allow automatic processing through the Illinois
State Police and Illinois Department of Public Health.
The bill also requires health care employers to check other state
and federal registries to ensure the applicant has not been found to
be a sex offender or a former prison inmate, or committed Medicare
or Medicaid fraud. These registries are to be checked: Illinois Sex
Offenders Registry; National Sex Offender Public Registry; Illinois
Department of Corrections Sex Registrant, Inmate Search and Wanted
Fugitives search engines and registries; and the online site of the
U.S. Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General.
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The bill will help expedite the background check process and will
help eliminate errors based on name misspellings, aliases, name
changes or confusion due to multiple individuals having the same
name. The new system will allow the Illinois State Police to retain
files on individuals currently employed as health care workers in
Illinois. Any convictions that would disqualify a health care worker
currently working in Illinois will be reported to the Illinois State
Police in real time, allowing the agency to inform the employer and
the Department of Public Health of the conviction.
"I am pleased that
the governor has signed this bill to help eliminate any potential
abuse or neglect by the very people who are supposed to provide care
for our seniors," said Joyce, House sponsor.
Senate Bill 866 goes into effect immediately.
House Bill 570, sponsored by state Rep. Jim Watson,
R-Jacksonville, and state Sen. William Delgado, D-Chicago, expands
group or home-delivered meals to seniors living in communities with
populations under 5,000 other than in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake and
Will counties. The bill allows Area Agencies on Aging to expand
service to seniors by entering into grants or contracts with local
food providers, restaurants and churches. The bill also requires the
Illinois Department on Aging to create guidelines and standards for
the service expansion, which are to include an expenditure plan by
the recipients of any funds. Currently, over 127,000 seniors receive
meals through such programs, and 60 percent of nutrition sites are
located in communities with populations under 5,000.
"I am happy that the governor signed this legislation that will
provide even more seniors, living in some of Illinois' most rural
communities, with better access to daily meals," said Watson, House
sponsor.
House Bill 570 will go into effect Jan. 1, 2008.
House Bill 979, sponsored by state Rep. Gary Hannig, D-Gillespie,
and state Sen. Deanna Demuzio, D-Carlinville, establishes a task
force to assess the needs of seniors in rural communities to
determine if they need additional resources. The task force will
submit a report of their findings and recommendations to the
Illinois General Assembly by Jan. 1, 2009.
"As legislators, one of our most important jobs is to make sure
that all Illinoisans, especially our seniors who live in rural
communities, have access to the services that will keep them well,"
said Demuzio, Senate sponsor.
House Bill 979 goes into effect immediately.
[Text from file received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information] |
