KEEPING CHILDREN SAFE ACT

Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HB3619

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104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB3619

Introduced 2/18/2025, by Rep. Anne Stava-Murray

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act

Creates the Keeping Children Safe from Family Violence Act. Prohibits
a court from ordering family reunification treatments, programs, or
services that, as a condition of enrollment or participation, require or
result in any of the following: (i) a no contact order, (ii) an overnight,
out-of-state, or multiday stay, (iii) a transfer of physical or legal
custody of the child, (iv) the use of private youth transporters or private
transportation agents engaged in the use of force, threat of force,
physical obstruction, acutely distressing circumstances, or circumstances
that place the safety of the child at risk, or (v) the use of threats of
physical force, undue coercion, verbal abuse, isolation from the child's
family, community, or other sources of support, or other acutely
distressing circumstances. Applies the Act to any proceeding involving the
support, custody, visitation, allocation of parental responsibilities,
education, parentage, property interest, or general welfare of a child.
Provides that the Act does not affect the authority granted to the courts
and the Department of Children and Family Services under the Juvenile
Court Act of 1987.
LRB104 08292 JRC 18343 b

A BILL FOR

HB3619
LRB104 08292 JRC 18343 b
1

AN ACT concerning civil law.

2

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3
represented in the General Assembly:

4

Section 1.
Short title.
This Act may be cited as the
5
Keeping Children Safe Act.

6

Section 5.
Legislative findings.
7

(a) The General Assembly finds and declares the following:
8

(1) Approximately one in 15 children in the United
9

States is exposed to domestic violence each year.
10

(2) Most child abuse in America is perpetrated in the
11

family and by a parent, and intimate partner violence and
12

child abuse overlap in the same families at rates between
13

30% and 60%. A child's risk of abuse increases after a
14

perpetrator of intimate partner violence separates from a
15

domestic partner, even when the perpetrator has not
16

previously directly abused the child. Children in the
17

United States who have witnessed intimate partner violence
18

are approximately 4 times more likely to experience direct
19

child maltreatment than children who have not witnessed
20

intimate partner violence.
21

(3) More than 75% of child sexual abuse in America is
22

perpetrated by a family member or a person known to the
23

child. Data from the United States Department of Justice

HB3619
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LRB104 08292 JRC 18343 b
1

shows that family members are 49%, or almost one-half, of
2

the perpetrators of crimes against child sex assault
3

victims younger than 6 years of age.
4

(4) Research suggests that a child's exposure to an
5

abuser is among the strongest indicators of risk of incest
6

victimization. One national study found that female
7

children with fathers who are abusers of their mothers
8

were 6 and one-half times more likely to experience
9

father-daughter incest than female children who do not
10

have abusive fathers.
11

(5) Child abuse is a major public health issue in the
12

United States. Total lifetime financial costs associated
13

with just one year of confirmed cases of child
14

maltreatment, including child physical abuse, sexual
15

abuse, psychological abuse, and neglect, result in
16

$124,000,000,000 in annual costs to the economy of the
17

United States, or approximately 1% of the gross domestic
18

product of the United States.
19

(6) On April 13, 2023, the United Nations Special
20

Rapporteur on violence against women and girls called for
21

a ban on highly traumatizing reunification treatments
22

promoted through unlicensed, unregulated, for-profit
23

industries, which result in children being isolated
24

through extended no-contact orders from the other parent,
25

family, friends, schools, and communities.
26

(b) It is the intent of the General Assembly to do the

HB3619
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LRB104 08292 JRC 18343 b
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following:
2

(1) Increase the priority given to child safety in any
3

State court proceeding that affects or may affect the
4

custody and care of children.
5

(2) To prohibit Illinois courts from ordering
6

reunification treatments, programs, or services,
7

including, but not limited to, camps, therapeutic
8

vacations, workshops, and parenting programs, that cut off
9

the relationship with a parent or sequester the child from
10

extended family, friends, and community under acutely
11

distressing circumstances, such as using professional
12

transport agents that force a child into a threat-based,
13

coercive environment to address, repair, or remediate the
14

relationship with the other parent whom the child is
15

rejecting or resisting.
16

(3) Ensure that persons involved in cases containing
17

domestic violence or child abuse allegations receive
18

trauma-informed and culturally appropriate training on the
19

dynamics, signs, and impact of domestic violence and child
20

abuse, including child sexual abuse.
21

(4) Ensure training is designed to improve the ability
22

of judges and attorneys, court employees involved in
23

family law proceedings covered under this Act, and those
24

persons appointed by a court to assist the court in
25

resolving these family law proceedings to recognize and
26

respond to child abuse, domestic violence, and trauma in

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LRB104 08292 JRC 18343 b
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family victims.
2

(5) Ensure training that is designed to improve the
3

ability of these persons who perform duties in domestic
4

violence or child custody matters to prioritize children
5

and make appropriate custody decisions in the best
6

interest of child safety and well-being and that are
7

culturally responsive and appropriate for diverse
8

communities.
9

(6) Move Illinois toward becoming eligible for
10

additional grant funding through the United States
11

Department of Justice's STOP Violence Against Women
12

Formula Grant Program, as appropriated for states that
13

meet the requirements of the federal Violence Against
14

Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022 (Division W of
15

Public Law 117-103).
16

(c) The General Assembly does not intend, by passage of
17
this bill, to discriminate against parents or children based
18
on either a parent's or the child's actual or perceived sex,
19
gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression,
20
race, color, ancestry, national origin, ethnic group
21
identification, age, religion, marital or parental status,
22
physical or mental disability or genetic information, or
23
association with a person or group with one or more of these
24
actual or perceived characteristics.

25

Section 10.
Certain reunification efforts prohibited.

HB3619
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LRB104 08292 JRC 18343 b
1

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a court may not order
2
family reunification treatments, programs, or services,
3
including, but not limited to, camps, workshops, therapeutic
4
vacations, or educational programs, that, as a condition of
5
enrollment or participation, require or result in any of the
6
following:
7

(1) A no contact order.
8

(2) An overnight, out-of-state, or multiday stay.
9

(3) A transfer of physical or legal custody of the
10

child.
11

(4) The use of private youth transporters or private
12

transportation agents engaged in the use of force, threat
13

of force, physical obstruction, acutely distressing
14

circumstances, or circumstances that place the safety of
15

the child at risk.
16

(5) The use of threats of physical force, undue
17

coercion, verbal abuse, isolation from the child's family,
18

community, or other sources of support, or other acutely
19

distressing circumstances.
20

(b) This Section applies to any proceeding involving the
21
support, custody, visitation, allocation of parental
22
responsibilities, education, parentage, property interest, or
23
general welfare of a child.
24

(c) This Section does not affect the authority granted to
25
the courts and the Department of Children and Family Services
26
under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.

HB3619
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LRB104 08292 JRC 18343 b
1

Section 15.
Training of court personnel.
2

(a) The Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts is
3
encouraged and authorized to establish judicial training
4
programs for individuals who perform duties in domestic
5
violence or child custody matters, including, but not limited
6
to, judges, attorneys, court personnel who are assigned to or
7
working in cases involving domestic violence or child custody
8
matters, and any person employed by the court or attorneys who
9
perform duties in domestic violence or child custody matters
10
to include, but not be limited to, guardians ad litem, custody
11
evaluators, mediators, expert witnesses in these matters,
12
child custody recommending counselors, and others who are
13
deemed appropriate by the Administrative Office of the
14
Illinois Courts.
15

(b)(1) The training program described in this Section
16
shall be an ongoing training and education program designed to
17
improve the ability of courts to recognize and respond to
18
child physical abuse, child sexual abuse, domestic violence,
19
and trauma in family victims, particularly children, and to
20
make appropriate custody decisions that prioritize child
21
safety and well-being and are culturally sensitive and
22
appropriate for diverse communities.
23

(2) The training program described in this Section shall
24
include a domestic violence session in any orientation session
25
conducted for newly appointed or elected judges, an annual

HB3619
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LRB104 08292 JRC 18343 b
1
training session on domestic violence, and periodic updates in
2
all aspects of domestic violence, including, but not limited
3
to:
4

(A) Child sexual abuse.
5

(B) Physical abuse.
6

(C) Emotional abuse.
7

(D) Coercive control.
8

(E) Implicit and explicit bias related to parties
9

involved in domestic violence cases.
10

(F) Trauma.
11

(G) Long-term and short-term impacts of domestic
12

violence and child abuse on children.
13

(H) The detriment to children of residing with a
14

person who perpetrates domestic violence.
15

(I) That domestic violence can occur without a
16

party seeking or obtaining a restraining order,
17

without a substantiated finding by a child protective
18

service of abuse, or without other documented evidence
19

of abuse.
20

(J) Victim and perpetrator behavioral patterns and
21

relationship dynamics within the cycle of violence.

22

Section 20.
Judicial reporting of training.
23

(a) The Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts must
24
report to the General Assembly and the relevant policy
25
committees, on or before January 1, 2027, and each January

HB3619
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LRB104 08292 JRC 18343 b
1
thereafter, on the trainings for judges and other personnel as
2
required under this Section. The report must include both of
3
the following:
4

(1) The titles of the training courses being offered.
5

(2) The number of judges and other court personnel
6

that participated in each training.
7

(3) The nature and extent of the training.
8

(4) The length of the training.
9

(5) Any other documentation regarding the training,
10

implementation, and feedback of the training.

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