{"data":{"id":"us-il/750-ilcs-63-5","jurisdiction":"us-il","citation":"750 ILCS 63/5","heading":"Findings.","body":"(This Section may contain text from a Public Act with a delayed effective date)\nThe General Assembly finds and declares that:\n(1) Underreporting of domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking, and human trafficking to service providers, law enforcement, and protective agencies is detrimental to the health, safety, and welfare of the State of Illinois. Survivors have stressed the need for collaborative implementation of resources and interagency communication and assessment of policies and procedures to allow for intentional process improvement in the delivery of and response to survivors.\n(2) To support survivors and their children and encourage the development of partnerships to close gaps and implement best practices, entities must work collaboratively and actively to build a trauma-informed, survivor-centered community response to prevent domestic violence, child abuse, sexual violence, stalking, and human trafficking.\n(3) The enactment of the Family Justice Centers Act promotes the health and safety of survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking, and human trafficking and provides alternative ways for survivors to seek services in a trauma-informed, survivor-centered, coordinated manner.\n(4) In recent years, Illinois has experienced an upward trend in domestic violence incidents, including increased contacts to the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline and higher rates of domestic-related homicides. Contacts to the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline rose 26% from 2023 to 2024 to a total of 59,704 contacts, which is 140% higher than in 2019, according to Measuring Safety: Gender Based Violence in Illinois 2024, Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline Report, published in June 2025 by The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence. This rising rate of reports, coupled with the reality that many incidents go unreported, demonstrates the need for a State response.\n(5) Given the intimate and personal nature of sexual violence, advocacy services are necessary to support survivors of sexual assault by providing comprehensive assistance that addresses immediate and long-term needs. The State of Illinois should continue to support these programs, which have faced declining funds in recent years.\n(6) In 2025, the Illinois General Assembly passed the Illinois Statewide Trauma-Informed Response to Human Trafficking Act, recognizing the need for a comprehensive response to human trafficking in the State. This Act requires agencies to investigate and respond in a survivor-centered, trauma-informed manner to increase the detection of survivors and provide a survivor-centered, trauma-informed response when survivors present for services.\n(7) The Family Justice Center framework offers a comprehensive and collaborative approach to addressing domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking, and human trafficking. Family Justice Centers bring together professionals and services under one roof, providing a safe and supportive environment for survivors and ensuring a coordinated and effective response.\n(8) Children's Advocacy Centers were established in Illinois by Public Act 86-276 and are governed by the Children's Advocacy Center Act. In response to the need for a formal, comprehensive, integrated, and multidisciplinary approach to child maltreatment, Children's Advocacy Centers provide subject-matter expertise that complements Family Justice Centers. This Act is intended to enhance collaboration and sharing of expertise and is not meant to supersede the expertise of Children's Advocacy Centers. Domestic violence, sexual violence, and child abuse are forms of community violence that require coordinated responses. Family Justice Centers and Children's Advocacy Centers should work collaboratively.\n(9) Family Justice Centers minimize the need for survivors to navigate multiple agencies, to travel to multiple locations, and to repeat their stories. They offer services shown to improve access to services, increase hope and well-being, reduce recantation, reduce homicides, and increase successful prosecution of offenders.\n(10) Creating Family Justice Centers is essential to provide multiagency, multidisciplinary support and services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking, and human trafficking; to ensure survivors can access all needed services; to enhance survivor safety; to increase offender accountability; and to reduce the number of times survivors are questioned and examined and the number of places survivors must go to receive assistance.","path":["CHAPTER 750 FAMILIES","Family Justice Centers Act."],"source_url":"https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ILCS/details?ActID=4703\u0026ChapterID=59\u0026ChapAct=FullText\u0026Print=True","current_through":"at least Public Act 104-790","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-15T04:46:44Z","sha256":"7606691f3cf2507461c928f76a995ee1f0fee91d2392096bb50230fcd14c68e4","source_id":"us-il","stale":false,"prev":"us-il/750-ilcs-63-1","next":"us-il/750-ilcs-63-10"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}