2015 Articles

The ACLU’s Illinois Judicial Bypass Coordination Project By Mary F. Petruchius April 2015 The ACLU’s Judicial Bypass Coordination Project provides minors with information about the state’s parental notice law for those seeking abortions and assistance in obtaining what is called a “judicial bypass.”

CASA—Volunteers and training September 2015 As CASA in Illinois continues to grow to meet the needs of abused and neglected children, more volunteers as well as more professionals willing to share their talents to train volunteers are needed. To learn more about CASA in Illinois, please visit www.illinoiscasa.org.

Case law updates April 2015 Recent cases of interest to child law practitioners.

Chair’s column By Catherine M. Ryan January 2015 A message from Section Chair Catherine Ryan.

How old is too old? By Jason Patel April 2015 A recent internal split between sister Divisions of the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court has spawned debate on the issues of when and why adults can be tried in juvenile court for crimes committed as minors.

An introduction to K.C. By Kelvin Kakazu January 2015 A short primer on the steps a practitioner can take to move the court to have an agency removed.

Juvenile sex offender registration: A trend towards rehabilitation By Lindsey Lachanski January 2015 While the right to a termination hearing reflects a rehabilitative approach, the court has remained reluctant to label juvenile offenders as posing no risk to society and has rejected termination of registration in cases that have provided ample evidence that a juvenile has been rehabilitated.

Legislative update September 2015 Senate Bill 13 was signed into law by the Governor. Senate Bill 13 does the following:

Legislative update – Juvenile justice reforms take effect Jan 1, 2016 December 2015 New laws taking effect on January 1st that are of interest to child law practitioners.

Movement to raise the age of juvenile court to 21 By Elizabeth E. Clarke December 2015 A new report, introduced by U.S. Assistant Attorney General Karol Mason, the report, Community-Based Responses to Justice Involved Young Adults, recommends raising the age of juvenile court to 21.

The need for pro bono and how you can help By Michael G. Bergmann & Karen Munoz December 2015 In 2003, low-income Illinoisans attempted to resolve approximately 875,000 legal problems on their own. Given the challenging economic times and the significant cuts in federal and state funding to legal aid since 2003, there is little doubt that these problems have been exacerbated rather than reduced.

Public Act 98-084—Makes technical corrections to the definitions in the Adoption Act and the Child Care Act and to expand venue options By Linda S. Coon January 2015 Details of this new legislation and how it affects existing statutes.

Public Law 98-1082—Guardianship Improvements. Effective January 1, 2015 By Linda S. Coon January 2015 The new law will provide courts with clear guidelines, keep parents informed and ensure that guardians act in the best interest of the children in their care.

Save the date—April 1, 2016 December 2015 The ISBA Child Law Section Law Council is partnering with Illinois CASA in presenting the 2016 Illinois CASA State Conference

SAVE THE DATE—Creatively resolving disputes for special education hearings January 2015 Mark your calendar now for this exciting program!

Thoughts from the Chair By David M. House December 2015 A message from Section Chair David House.

Thoughts from the Chair By David M. House September 2015 A message from Child Law Section Chair David House.

We need a statewide dialogue on the use of attorneys appointed to represent children By Treva O’Neill & Marilyn Longwell September 2015 Judicial attitudes vary across the state as to whether and how to use GALs and child representatives—so what can we do to get judges to form a statewide consensus?

When can parents leave their children alone? By Diane L. Redleaf & Angela Peters December 2015 The current law and policy on the question of what constitutes “inadequate supervision” is, quite frankly, a mess. In Illinois, there are at least four different legal standards at play in Illinois’ intersecting criminal, juvenile court and governing child welfare reporting and investigations law.

When does corporal punishment become excessive? By Andrew Zerante April 2015 What do Illinois' statutes say as to when reasonable discipline becomes child abuse?