SB 104 — ADOPT-CONFIDENTIAL INTERMED

SB0104 EngrossedEnrolled LRB104 03788 JRC 13812 b AN ACT concerning civil law.

(b) Any birth parent, birth sibling, adopted or SB0104 EngrossedEnrolled - 2 - LRB104 03788 JRC 13812 b surrendered person, adoptive parent, or legal guardian indicating their desire to receive identifying or medical information shall be informed of the existence of the Registry and assistance shall be given to such person to legally record his or her name with the Registry.

(d) On and after January 1, 2000, any licensed child welfare agency which provides post-adoption search assistance to adoptive parents, adopted persons, surrendered persons, SB0104 EngrossedEnrolled - 3 - LRB104 03788 JRC 13812 b birth parents, or other birth relatives shall require that any person requesting post-adoption search assistance complete an Illinois Adoption Registry Application prior to the commencement of the search.

A confidential intermediary shall be permitted to access records of closed child welfare agencies that are housed in the State Central Storage, in addition to the information allowed to be requested in paragraph (g) from adoption agencies, if the petitioner is an adult adopted or surrendered person, or the adoptive parent of an adult adopted person under the age of 21, or the adoptive parent of a deceased adopted or surrendered person, and the confidential intermediary may request any non-identifying information, including any available medical information about the adopted or surrendered person from birth through adoption, any non-identifying information described in Section 18.4, and the SB0104 EngrossedEnrolled - 4 - LRB104 03788 JRC 13812 b 18.3 statement.

or SB0104 EngrossedEnrolled - 5 - LRB104 03788 JRC 13812 b (9) any birth grandparent may petition the court in any county in the State of Illinois for appointment of a confidential intermediary as provided in this Section for the purpose of exchanging medical information with one or more mutually consenting biological relatives, obtaining identifying information about one or more mutually consenting biological relatives, or arranging contact with one or more mutually consenting biological relatives.

(a-5) In addition, any former youth in care as defined in Section 4d of the Children and Family Services Act who was adopted or surrendered may petition the court in any county in the State for appointment of a confidential intermediary as provided in this Section for the purposes of obtaining identifying information or arranging contact with (i) siblings or birth relatives if the former youth in care is between the ages of 18 and 21 or (ii) former foster parents or foster SB0104 EngrossedEnrolled - 6 - LRB104 03788 JRC 13812 b siblings if the former youth in care is over the age of 18.

Certification shall be dependent upon the confidential intermediary completing a course of training including, but not limited to, applicable SB0104 EngrossedEnrolled - 7 - LRB104 03788 JRC 13812 b federal and State privacy laws.

The SB0104 EngrossedEnrolled - 8 - LRB104 03788 JRC 13812 b confidential intermediary shall not be authorized to access medical records, financial records, credit records, banking records, home studies, attorney file records, or other personal records.

Disclosure of information by the confidential intermediary shall be consistent with the public policy and intent of laws granting original birth certificate access as expressed in SB0104 EngrossedEnrolled - 9 - LRB104 03788 JRC 13812 b Section 18.04 of this Act.

(ii) the adopted person was born after January 1, 1946, and the petitioner has requested a SB0104 EngrossedEnrolled - 10 - LRB104 03788 JRC 13812 b non-certified copy of the adopted person's original birth certificate under Section 18.1 of this Act and the Illinois Department of Public Health has issued a certification that the original birth certificate was not found.

(C) the name of the state in which the surrender SB0104 EngrossedEnrolled - 11 - LRB104 03788 JRC 13812 b occurred or in which the adoption was finalized;

SB0104 EngrossedEnrolled - 12 - LRB104 03788 JRC 13812 b (B) the name of the child welfare agency which had legal custody of the surrendered person or responsibility for placing the surrendered person and any available contact information for such agency;

If a birth parent was previously SB0104 EngrossedEnrolled - 13 - LRB104 03788 JRC 13812 b the subject of a search through the State confidential intermediary program, the confidential intermediary shall inform the petitioner of the need to discontinue the search until 10 years or more have elapsed since the initial search was closed.

(1) The sought-after relative may totally reject one or all of the requests for medical information, SB0104 EngrossedEnrolled - 14 - LRB104 03788 JRC 13812 b identifying information or contact.

The confidential intermediary shall obtain written consents from both parties that they SB0104 EngrossedEnrolled - 15 - LRB104 03788 JRC 13812 b wish to disclose their identities to each other and to have contact with each other.

(2) Any person who learns a sought-after relative's identity, directly or indirectly, through the use of procedures provided in this Section and who improperly discloses information identifying the sought-after relative shall be liable to the sought-after relative for SB0104 EngrossedEnrolled - 16 - LRB104 03788 JRC 13812 b actual damages plus minimum punitive damages of $10,000.

SB0104 EngrossedEnrolled - 17 - LRB104 03788 JRC 13812 b (o) Except as provided in subsection (k) of this Section, no liability shall accrue to the State, any State agency, any judge, any officer or employee of the court, any certified confidential intermediary, or any agency designated to oversee confidential intermediary services for acts, omissions, or efforts made in good faith within the scope of this Section.

SB0104 EngrossedEnrolled - 18 - LRB104 03788 JRC 13812 b (q) (Blank).