Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official PDF posted by the Illinois General Assembly, fetched 2026-09-25. Page and line markers are part of the official record; nothing is edited or removed. This is the current version. The official bill page.
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1 AN ACT concerning government.
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 Family
5 Justice Centers Act.
6 Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds and
7 declares that:
8 (1) Underreporting of domestic violence, sexual
9 violence, stalking, and human trafficking to service
10 providers, law enforcement, and protective agencies is
11 detrimental to the health, safety, and welfare of the
12 State of Illinois. Survivors have stressed the need for
13 collaborative implementation of resources and interagency
14 communication and assessment of policies and procedures to
15 allow for intentional process improvement in the delivery
16 of and response to survivors.
17 (2) To support survivors and their children and
18 encourage the development of partnerships to close gaps
19 and implement best practices, entities must work
20 collaboratively and actively to build a trauma-informed,
21 survivor-centered community response to prevent domestic
22 violence, child abuse, sexual violence, stalking, and
23 human trafficking.
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1 (3) The enactment of the Family Justice Centers Act
2 promotes the health and safety of survivors of domestic
3 violence, sexual violence, stalking, and human trafficking
4 and provides alternative ways for survivors to seek
5 services in a trauma-informed, survivor-centered,
6 coordinated manner.
7 (4) In recent years, Illinois has experienced an
8 upward trend in domestic violence incidents, including
9 increased contacts to the Illinois Domestic Violence
10 Hotline and higher rates of domestic-related homicides.
11 Contacts to the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline rose
12 26% from 2023 to 2024 to a total of 59,704 contacts, which
13 is 140% higher than in 2019, according to Measuring
14 Safety: Gender Based Violence in Illinois 2024, Illinois
15 Domestic Violence Hotline Report, published in June 2025
16 by The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence. This
17 rising rate of reports, coupled with the reality that many
18 incidents go unreported, demonstrates the need for a State
19 response.
20 (5) Given the intimate and personal nature of sexual
21 violence, advocacy services are necessary to support
22 survivors of sexual assault by providing comprehensive
23 assistance that addresses immediate and long-term needs.
24 The State of Illinois should continue to support these
25 programs, which have faced declining funds in recent
26 years.
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1 (6) In 2025, the Illinois General Assembly passed the
2 Illinois Statewide Trauma-Informed Response to Human
3 Trafficking Act, recognizing the need for a comprehensive
4 response to human trafficking in the State. This Act
5 requires agencies to investigate and respond in a
6 survivor-centered, trauma-informed manner to increase the
7 detection of survivors and provide a survivor-centered,
8 trauma-informed response when survivors present for
9 services.
10 (7) The Family Justice Center framework offers a
11 comprehensive and collaborative approach to addressing
12 domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking, and human
13 trafficking. Family Justice Centers bring together
14 professionals and services under one roof, providing a
15 safe and supportive environment for survivors and ensuring
16 a coordinated and effective response.
17 (8) Children's Advocacy Centers were established in
18 Illinois by Public Act 86-276 and are governed by the
19 Children's Advocacy Center Act. In response to the need
20 for a formal, comprehensive, integrated, and
21 multidisciplinary approach to child maltreatment,
22 Children's Advocacy Centers provide subject-matter
23 expertise that complements Family Justice Centers. This
24 Act is intended to enhance collaboration and sharing of
25 expertise and is not meant to supersede the expertise of
26 Children's Advocacy Centers. Domestic violence, sexual
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1 violence, and child abuse are forms of community violence
2 that require coordinated responses. Family Justice Centers
3 and Children's Advocacy Centers should work
4 collaboratively.
5 (9) Family Justice Centers minimize the need for
6 survivors to navigate multiple agencies, to travel to
7 multiple locations, and to repeat their stories. They
8 offer services shown to improve access to services,
9 increase hope and well-being, reduce recantation, reduce
10 homicides, and increase successful prosecution of
11 offenders.
12 (10) Creating Family Justice Centers is essential to
13 provide multiagency, multidisciplinary support and
14 services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual
15 violence, stalking, and human trafficking; to ensure
16 survivors can access all needed services; to enhance
17 survivor safety; to increase offender accountability; and
18 to reduce the number of times survivors are questioned and
19 examined and the number of places survivors must go to
20 receive assistance.
21 Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
22 "Domestic violence" means any act of abuse as defined in
23 the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986.
24 "Human trafficking" means an act as set forth in Section
25 10-9 of the Criminal Code of 2012, including recruiting,
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1 harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining a person for
2 labor or services through force, fraud, or coercion.
3 "Sexual violence" means physical sexual acts attempted or
4 perpetrated against a person's will or when a person is
5 incapable of giving consent, including, without limitation,
6 rape, sexual assault, sexual battery, sexual abuse, and sexual
7 coercion.
8 "Stalking" has the meaning given to that term in the
9 Stalking No Contact Order Act. "Stalking" includes, without
10 limitation, the following conduct:
11 (1) following a person;
12 (2) conducting surveillance of the person;
13 (3) appearing at the person's home, work, or school
14 without a reasonable purpose under the circumstances;
15 (4) making unwanted phone calls;
16 (5) sending unwanted mail;
17 (6) sending unwanted messages via social media;
18 (7) sending unwanted text messages;
19 (8) leaving objects for the person;
20 (9) vandalizing the person's property;
21 (10) injuring a pet; or
22 (11) using any electronic tracking system or acquiring
23 tracking information to determine the person's location,
24 movements, or travel patterns.
25 Section 15. Family Justice Centers.
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1 (a) A city, county, State, community-based nonprofit
2 organization, or a combination of these entities may establish
3 a multiagency, multidisciplinary Family Justice Center to
4 assist survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence,
5 stalking, and human trafficking, to ensure that survivors are
6 able to access needed services in one location, to enhance
7 survivor safety, to increase offender accountability, and to
8 improve access to services.
9 (b) A Family Justice Center is a multiagency,
10 multidisciplinary service center where public and private
11 agencies assign staff members on a full-time or part-time
12 basis to provide services to survivors of domestic violence,
13 sexual violence, stalking, and human trafficking from one
14 location, to reduce the number of times survivors must repeat
15 their accounts, to reduce the number of places survivors must
16 go for help, and to increase access to services and support for
17 survivors and their children. A Family Justice Center shall,
18 as appropriate, partner with other agencies to provide
19 services.
20 (c) Staff members at a Family Justice Center may include,
21 but are not limited to:
22 (1) domestic violence providers recognized by the
23 Department of Human Services;
24 (2) rape crisis organizations as defined in Section
25 8-802.1 of the Code of Civil Procedure;
26 (3) civil legal service providers, in accordance with
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1 memoranda of understanding developed by the Family Justice
2 Center;
3 (4) legal advocacy providers, in accordance with
4 memoranda of understanding developed by the Family Justice
5 Center;
6 (5) mental health care providers, in accordance with
7 memoranda of understanding developed by the Family Justice
8 Center;
9 (6) housing providers, in accordance with memoranda of
10 understanding developed by the Family Justice Center;
11 (7) substance-use counselors, in accordance with
12 memoranda of understanding developed by the Family Justice
13 Center;
14 (8) Family Justice Center administrative personnel;
15 (9) medical personnel;
16 (10) local Children's Advocacy Centers;
17 (11) law enforcement;
18 (12) the State's Attorney's office and victim-witness
19 personnel;
20 (13) supervised volunteers of partner agencies; and
21 (14) other professional agencies serving survivors of
22 domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking, or human
23 trafficking, in accordance with memoranda of understanding
24 developed by the Family Justice Center.
25 (d) If Department of Children and Family Services
26 personnel are present on site at a Family Justice Center, they
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1 shall only interact with a survivor receiving services from
2 the Family Justice Center upon the survivor's request.
3 (e) This Section does not abrogate existing laws regarding
4 privacy or information sharing. Family Justice Center staff
5 members shall comply with the laws governing their respective
6 professions.
7 (f) Survivors shall not be required to participate with
8 law enforcement, the Department of Children and Family
9 Services, or the criminal justice system to receive services
10 at a Family Justice Center. A Family Justice Center shall
11 establish memoranda of understanding with law enforcement, the
12 Department of Children and Family Services, and State's
13 Attorneys' offices to facilitate collaboration, improved
14 processes, and systems change for the benefit of survivors and
15 the health, safety, and well-being of the community.
16 (g) Each Family Justice Center shall consult with
17 statewide and local community-based domestic violence, sexual
18 assault, stalking, and human trafficking agencies, in
19 partnership with survivors and their advocates, in the
20 operation of the Family Justice Center. Each Family Justice
21 Center shall establish procedures for ongoing input, feedback,
22 and evaluation by survivors and community-based survivor
23 service providers and advocates.
24 (h) Each Family Justice Center shall develop operating
25 agreements, policies, and procedures, in collaboration with
26 local community-based survivor service providers and local
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1 survivors, to ensure coordinated services and to enhance the
2 safety of survivors and professionals at the Family Justice
3 Center, including participants in affiliated survivor-centered
4 support or advocacy groups. Each Family Justice Center shall
5 maintain a formal survivor feedback, complaint, and input
6 process to address concerns about services or the conduct of
7 any Family Justice Center professionals, agency partners, or
8 volunteers.
9 (i) Each Family Justice Center shall provide survivors
10 with educational materials relating to rights available under
11 Illinois law.
12 (j) Each Family Justice Center shall maintain a survivor's
13 informed, specific, and time-limited consent. The consent
14 policy, and the sharing of any details gathered from the
15 survivor, the survivor's family, or other sources shall follow
16 all State and federal laws, including, but not limited to, the
17 Violence Against Women Act of 1994, so as to protect the
18 confidentiality of information gathered and any documents in a
19 survivor's file, including, but not limited to, medical
20 records, legal records, survivor counselor records, and any
21 other information gathered during intake or throughout the
22 period of engagement with the survivor. Each Family Justice
23 Center shall develop privacy policies and procedures
24 consistent with State and federal privacy and confidentiality
25 laws and the Fair Information Practice Principles adopted by
26 the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in Privacy Policy
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1 Guidance Memorandum 2008-01.
2 (k) A Family Justice Center shall obtain informed,
3 written, time-limited consent from a survivor before sharing
4 information obtained from the survivor with any staff member
5 or agency partner, except that a Family Justice Center shall
6 inform the survivor that information shared with staff members
7 or partner agencies may be shared with the Department of
8 Children and Family Services or a peace officer without the
9 survivor's consent if there is a mandatory duty to report or if
10 the survivor is a danger to self or others. A Family Justice
11 Center shall obtain written acknowledgment that the survivor
12 has been informed of this policy.
13 (l) Consent by a survivor to share information within a
14 Family Justice Center under this Section shall not be
15 construed as a universal waiver of any evidentiary privilege
16 that makes confidential communications or documents between
17 the survivor and a service provider, including, without
18 limitation, any lawyer, advocate, rape crisis counselor, or
19 domestic violence counselor, and including protections under
20 applicable State and federal law, such as the Address
21 Confidentiality for Victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual
22 Assault, Human Trafficking, or Stalking Act; and Sections
23 8-802, 8-802.1, and 8-802.2 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
24 Any oral or written communication or document authorized by
25 the survivor to be shared for the purposes of enhancing safety
26 and providing more effective and efficient services shall not
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1 be disclosed to any third party, unless authorized by the
2 survivor or required by State or federal law or court order.
3 (m) An individual staff member, volunteer, or agency that
4 has survivor information governed by this Section shall not be
5 required to disclose that information unless the survivor has
6 consented to the disclosure or the disclosure is consistent
7 with applicable State law regarding crime victims' rights.
8 (n) A disclosure of information consented to by the
9 survivor in a Family Justice Center, made for the purposes of
10 clinical assessment, risk assessment, safety planning, or
11 service delivery, shall not be deemed a waiver of any
12 privilege or confidentiality provision contained in any other
13 law of this State.
14 (o) In addition to any other required training, each
15 Family Justice Center shall maintain a training program with
16 mandatory training of not less than 16 hours per year for all
17 persons providing services at the Family Justice Center,
18 including, but not limited to, training on evidentiary
19 privileges, confidentiality provisions, information sharing,
20 risk assessment, safety planning, survivor advocacy, and
21 high-risk case response.Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record.