ILLINOIS (25News Now) – One of the many new Illinois laws taking effect on New Year’s Day is a bipartisan effort sponsored by two state senators representing Greater Peoria.

The new law is aimed at making it easy to understand who can see mental health and developmental services records for special education students.

State Sen. Dave Koehler (D-Peoria) worked on the legislation with the Illinois Association of School Social Workers. The group told him about situations where it was difficult to care for students because of uncertainties about who can look at which records.

“It puts the responsibility and the authority back where it belongs and that’s with the parents. But, understanding that parents want the best for their child and they want to be able to have the help of professionals,” Koehler said.

Parents or guardians of minors in special education will soon be able to request records for mental health treatments or developmental services that parents wanted for their child, regardless of the child’s age. Previously, access to records could be limited as the child got older.

Parents will then be able to choose school staffers they trust to share that information.

State Sen. Li Arellano, Jr. (R-Dixon), who also represents part of Peoria, believes the law will empower parents to be more active in their children’s care.

“Every step we can take to make this a little less frustrating, a little less bureaucratic, a little bit more about the educational needs and about the parental involvement, then that promotes a better system,” he said.

The law unanimously passed both houses of the General Assembly earlier this year, and it was signed by Gov. JB Pritzker in August. It is set to go into effect on Jan. 1.

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