HB 5688

Abstract

Amends the Children and Family Services Act and the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Administrative Act. Provides that beginning on the effective date of this amendatory Act, the State of Illinois shall ensure that children with disabilities have full access to coordinated, multi-disciplinary transition support and service planning until educational services are exhausted or until such a child attains 22 years of age. Provides that transition services include educational services and all services identified as necessary to support integration and continued growth and success in the individual's post-educational, community environments. Further provides that children with disabilities who receive residential and educational services from the Department of Children and Family Services or the Department of Human Services shall be eligible to receive transition services provided by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) from the age of 14.5 to 22 years, notwithstanding the child's residential service arrangement. Defines "children with disabilities" to mean persons who are 22 years old or younger and are afflicted with a disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 that is attributable to a developmental disability, a mental illness, or a physical disability, or a combination of those. Effective immediately.