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104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB4694

Introduced , by Rep. Michelle Mussman

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

55 ILCS 80/2.5
55 ILCS 80/4

from Ch. 23, par. 1804

Amends the Child Advocacy Center Act. Provides that Multidisciplinary
Team Members shall work together, share information, and maintain
confidentiality throughout the investigative process. Provides that
Multidisciplinary Team members shall coordinate, communicate, and keep
nonoffending parents, caregivers, and their families aware of the status
of child abuse investigations. Provides that Children's Advocacy Centers
shall be (rather than may be) established to coordinate the activities of
the various agencies involved in the investigation, prosecution, and
treatment of child maltreatment. Provides that every Child Advocacy Center
shall include a multidisciplinary systems approach that includes all
Multidisciplinary Team members as equal partners in the investigation of
child maltreatment. Provides that an investigation into child maltreatment
shall include a comprehensive interagency notification procedure for all
Multidisciplinary Team partners. Provides that the investigation shall
also include a policy that mandates every Multidisciplinary Team member
has access to records related to every child abuse investigation and that
ensures all information is shared in a confidential manner. Provides that
the Children's Advocacy Center of Illinois shall convene an annual meeting
of statewide leadership from each MDT discipline to review data, discuss
and analyze findings, and work collaboratively to identify service gaps
and opportunities for process improvement. Provides the Children's
Advocacy Center of Illinois shall create a report that summarizes the
discussion at the annual meeting. Requires the Children's Advocacy Center
of Illinois to share the report with the leadership of MDT partners and
other agencies. Makes other changes.
LRB104 17780 RTM 31212 b

A BILL FOR

HB4694
LRB104 17780 RTM 31212 b
1

AN ACT concerning local government.

2

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

4

Section 5.
The Children's Advocacy Center Act is amended
5
by changing Sections 2.5 and 4 as follows:

6

(55 ILCS 80/2.5)
7

Sec. 2.5.
Definitions.
As used in this Section:
8

"Accreditation" means the process in which certification
9
of competency, authority, or credibility is presented by
10
standards set by the National Children's Alliance to ensure
11
effective, efficient and consistent delivery of services by a
12
CAC.
13

"Child maltreatment" includes any act or occurrence, as
14
defined in Section 5 of the Criminal Code of 2012, under the
15
Children and Family Services Act or the Juvenile Court Act of
16
1987 involving either a child victim or child witness.
17

"Children's Advocacy Center" or "CAC" is a child-focused,
18
trauma-informed, facility-based program in which
19
representatives from law enforcement, child protection,
20
prosecution, mental health, forensic interviewing, medical,
21
and victim advocacy disciplines collaborate to interview
22
children, meet with a child's parent or parents, caregivers,
23
and family members, and make team decisions about the

HB4694
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LRB104 17780 RTM 31212 b
1
investigation, prosecution, safety, treatment, and support
2
services for child maltreatment cases.
3

"Children's Advocacy Centers of Illinois" or "CACI" is a
4
state chapter of the National Children's Alliance ("NCA") and
5
organizing entity for Children's Advocacy Centers in the State
6
of Illinois. It defines membership and engages member CACs in
7
the NCA accreditation process and collecting and sharing of
8
data, and provides training, leadership, and technical
9
assistance to existing and emerging CACs in the State.
10

"Electronic recording" includes a motion picture,
11
audiotape, videotape, or digital recording.
12

"Forensic interview" means an interview between a trained
13
forensic interviewer, as defined by NCA standards, and a child
14
in which the interviewer obtains information from children in
15
an unbiased and fact finding manner that is developmentally
16
appropriate and culturally sensitive to support accurate and
17
fair decision making by the multidisciplinary team in the
18
criminal justice and child protection systems. Whenever
19
practical, all parties involved in investigating reports of
20
child maltreatment shall observe the interview, which shall be
21
electronically recorded.
22

"Forensic interview transcription" means a verbatim
23
transcript of a forensic interview for the purpose of
24
translating the interview into another language.
25

"Multidisciplinary team" or "MDT" means a group of
26
professionals working collaboratively under a written

HB4694
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LRB104 17780 RTM 31212 b
1
protocol, who represent various disciplines from the point of
2
a report of child maltreatment to assure the most effective
3
coordinated response possible for every child.
MDT members
4
shall work together, share information, and maintain
5
confidentiality throughout the investigative process.

6
Employees from each participating entity shall be included on
7
the MDT.
A CAC's MDT must include professionals involved in
8
the coordination, investigation, and prosecution
and treatment

9
of child abuse
investigations

cases
, including the CAC's
10
staff, participating law enforcement agencies, the county
11
state's attorney,
and
the Illinois Department of Children and
12
Family Services, and
specialized medical and mental health
13
providers

must include professionals involved in the delivery
14
of services to victims of child maltreatment and non-offending
15
parent or parents, caregiver, and their families
.
MDT members
16
shall coordinate, communicate, and keep nonoffending parents
17
and caregivers and their families aware of the status of the
18
investigation.

19

"National Children's Alliance" or "NCA" means the
20
professional membership organization dedicated to helping
21
local communities respond to allegations of child abuse in an
22
effective and efficient manner. NCA provides training,
23
support, technical assistance and leadership on a national
24
level to state and local CACs and communities responding to
25
reports of child maltreatment. NCA is the national
26
organization that provides the standards for CAC

HB4694
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LRB104 17780 RTM 31212 b
1
accreditation.
2

"Protocol" means a written methodology defining the
3
responsibilities of each of the MDT members in the
4
investigation and prosecution of child maltreatment within a
5
defined jurisdiction. Written protocols are signed documents
6
and are reviewed and/or updated annually, at a minimum, by a
7
CAC's Advisory Board.
8
(Source: P.A. 101-81, eff. 7-12-19; 101-236, eff. 1-1-20
.)

9

(55 ILCS 80/4)

(from Ch. 23, par. 1804)
10

Sec. 4.
Children's Advocacy Center.
11

(a)
Children's Advocacy Centers shall

A CAC may
be
12
established to coordinate the activities of the various
13
agencies involved in the investigation, prosecution and
14
treatment of child maltreatment. The individual county or
15
regional Advisory Board shall set the written protocol of the
16
CAC within the appropriate jurisdiction. The operation of the
17
CAC may be funded through public or private grants, contracts,
18
donations, fees, and other available sources under this Act.
19
Each CAC shall operate to the best of its ability in accordance
20
with available funding. In counties in which a referendum has
21
been adopted under Section 5 of this Act, the Advisory Board,
22
by the majority vote of its members, shall submit a proposed
23
annual budget for the operation of the CAC to the county board,
24
which shall appropriate funds and levy a tax sufficient to
25
operate the CAC. The county board in each county in which a

HB4694
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LRB104 17780 RTM 31212 b
1
referendum has been adopted shall establish a Children's
2
Advocacy Center Fund and shall deposit the net proceeds of the
3
tax authorized by Section 6 of this Act in that Fund, which
4
shall be kept separate from all other county funds and shall
5
only be used for the purposes of this Act.
6

(b) The Advisory Board shall pay from the Children's
7
Advocacy Center Fund or from other available funds the
8
salaries of all employees of the Center and the expenses of
9
acquiring a physical plant for the Center by construction or
10
lease and maintaining the Center, including the expenses of
11
administering the coordination of the investigation,
12
prosecution and treatment referral of child maltreatment under
13
the provisions of the protocol adopted pursuant to this Act.
14

(b-1) Recognizing the pivotal role of CACs in providing
15
comprehensive support to trafficked children and youth, each
16
CAC shall:
17

(1) ensure that each county's multi-disciplinary team
18

protocol includes a response to allegations of human
19

trafficking;
20

(2) increase the capacity of each multi-disciplinary
21

team to identify, assess, and serve trafficked children
22

and youth;
23

(3) facilitate collaboration between the CAC, law
24

enforcement, child welfare agencies, health care
25

providers, and other pertinent stakeholders to ensure a
26

synchronized and trauma-informed response to trafficked

HB4694
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LRB104 17780 RTM 31212 b
1

children and youth;
2

(4) ensure all CAC employees and contractors treating,
3

interviewing, or coming in contact with victims receive
4

training on victim-centered, trauma-informed response to
5

child and youth victims of human trafficking, including
6

identifying and addressing the unique needs of trafficked
7

children and youth, thereby enabling access to appropriate
8

support services and legal remedies; and
9

(5) work with the Department of Human Services to
10

establish standards for victim-centered, trauma-informed
11

training for CACs and members of multi-disciplinary teams.
12

(c) Every CAC shall include at least the following
13
components:
14

(1) A multidisciplinary, coordinated systems approach
15

that includes all MDT members as equal partners in

to
the
16

investigation of child maltreatment
,
which shall include,
17

at a minimum:
18

(i)
a comprehensive

an
interagency notification
19

procedure
for all MDT partners
;
20

(ii) a policy on multidisciplinary team
21

collaboration and communication that
mandates every

22

requires
MDT
member has access to records related to
23

every child abuse investigation and shares all

members
24

share
information
in a confidential manner for

25

pertinent to investigations and
the safety of
26

children;

HB4694
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LRB104 17780 RTM 31212 b
1

(iii) (blank);
2

(iv) a description of the role each agency has in
3

responding to a referral for services in an individual
4

case;
5

(v) a dispute resolution process between the
6

involved agencies when a conflict arises on how to
7

proceed on the referral of a particular case;
8

(vi) a process for the CAC to assist in the
9

forensic interview of children that witness alleged
10

crimes;
11

(vii) a child-friendly, trauma informed space for
12

children and their non-offending family members;
13

(viii) an MDT approach including law enforcement,
14

prosecution, medical, mental health, victim advocacy,
15

the Department of Children and Family Services, school
16

personnel, if appropriate,
and other community
17

resources;
18

(ix) medical evaluation on-site or off-site
19

through referral;
20

(x) mental health services on-site or off-site
21

through referral;
22

(xi) on-site forensic interviews;
23

(xii) culturally competent services;
24

(xiii) case tracking and review;
25

(xiv) case staffing on each investigation;
26

(xv) effective organizational capacity; and

HB4694
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LRB104 17780 RTM 31212 b
1

(xvi) a policy or procedure to familiarize a child
2

and his or her non-offending family members or
3

guardians with the court process as well as
4

preparations for testifying in court, if necessary;
5

(2) A safe, separate space with assigned personnel
6

designated for the investigation and coordination of child
7

maltreatment cases;
8

(3) A multidisciplinary case review process for
9

purposes of decision-making, problem solving, systems
10

coordination, and information sharing;
11

(4) A comprehensive client tracking system to receive
12

and coordinate information concerning child maltreatment
13

cases from each participating agency;
14

(5) Multidisciplinary specialized training for all
15

professionals involved with the victims and non-offending
16

family members in child maltreatment cases; and
17

(6) A process for evaluating the effectiveness of the
18

CAC and its operations.
19

(d) In the event that a CAC has been established as
20
provided in this Section, the Advisory Board of that CAC may,
21
by a majority vote of the members, authorize the CAC to
22
coordinate the activities of the various agencies involved in
23
the investigation, prosecution, and treatment referral in
24
cases of serious or fatal injury to a child. For CACs receiving
25
funds under Section 5 or 6 of this Act, the Advisory Board
26
shall provide for the financial support of these activities in

HB4694
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LRB104 17780 RTM 31212 b
1
a manner similar to that set out in subsections (a) and (b) of
2
this Section and shall be allowed to submit a budget that
3
includes support for physical abuse and neglect activities to
4
the County Board, which shall appropriate funds that may be
5
available under Section 5 of this Act. In cooperation with the
6
Department of Children and Family Services Child Death Review
7
Teams, the Department of Children and Family Services Office
8
of the Inspector General, and other stakeholders, this
9
protocol must be initially implemented in selected counties to
10
the extent that State appropriations or funds from other
11
sources for this purpose allow.
12

(e) CACI may also provide technical assistance and
13
guidance to the Advisory Boards.
14

(e-5) CACI shall convene an annual meeting of statewide
15
leadership from each MDT discipline to review data, discuss
16
and analyze findings, and work collaboratively to identify
17
service gaps and opportunities for process improvement. CACI
18
shall create a report that summarizes discussion at the annual
19
meeting and shall share the report with the leadership of MDT
20
partners and other agencies.

21

(f) In this Section:
22

"Child" or "children" refers to persons under 18 years of
23
age.
24

"Youth" means persons between the ages of 18 and 24 years.
25
(Source: P.A. 104-159, eff. 1-1-26
.)

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