Policy Development

Family Recovery Plans Implementation Task Force Act

State/Jurisdiction: Illinois
Setting:
Population: Medical & Public Health Professionals Infant Women & Maternal
Topic Area: Family & Youth Engagement Mental Health & Substance Use Community Wellness
NPMs:

This legislation creates a statewide, multidisciplinary task force to design a Family Recovery Plan (FRP) Model for substance-exposed infants and their families, as required by Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act-Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CAPTA-CARA) federal law. The task force will develop recommendations using a public health approach for the implementation, tracking and enforcement of the FRPs, and ensure that the model focuses on the long-term needs and health outcomes of infants born with prenatal substance exposure and their caregivers. The goal is to create a model and lead implementation of family recovery plans that include medical care, recovery support, and connections to community services for both the child and the caregiver, while incorporating input from state agencies, including the experience of people with substance use disorders, and other experts caring for these populations. The task force will review models of family recovery plans implemented in other states and develop recommendations for implementation in Illinois. This legislation lifts existing punitive policies that negatively affect families with substance use disorders, by amending the Illinois Juvenile Court Act and the Illinois Adoption Act with labeling a positive toxicology as child neglect, or as a reason to terminate parental rights.

Overall, the bill marks a shift from a punitive, criminalizing approach towards a public health oriented, integrative approach to addressing substance use in pregnant women and parents, and their substance-exposed infants.

The Perinatal Substance Use Disorder Implementation & Policy Hub project is supported by the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE) and Perigee Fund. The content presented is the responsibility of the featured practices and policies and does not necessarily reflect the views of FORE, Perigee Fund, or AMCHP.

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CONTACT INFORMATION
PCC Wellness Center
Dr. Ruchi Fitzgerald, MD, FAAFP
rfitzgerald@pcc.wellness.org



For more information about this practice, please email evidence@amchp.org