The 2016 Rewrite to Illinois custody laws provided a radical change in Illinois law that we often overlook. Yes, we all know of the terms “parenting time” and parental decision-making. But how the Rewrite changed the law is based upon the expansive definition of caretaking functions.
One way to look at the expansive vision of caretaking functions is to change from the paradigm being co-parenting to being parallel parenting plans. We expect co-parents to work together involving issues addressing their minor children. With a parallel parenting plan, the parents don’t try to micromanage what occurs during the other parent’s parenting time. The focus is upon being a great parent on your own parenting time and communication in a limited but respectful manner.
First, consider how broadly Illinois defines “Caretaking functions.” These include tasks that involve “interaction with a child or that direct, arrange, and supervise the interaction with and care of a child provided by others, or for obtaining the resources allowing for the provision of these functions.”
Then the law continues with the expansive definition stating that the term includes, but isn’t limited to, the following:
- Satisfying a child’s nutritional needs; managing a child’s bedtime and wake-up routines; caring for a child when the child is sick or injured; being attentive to a child’s personal hygiene needs, including washing, grooming, and dressing; playing with a child and ensuring the child attends scheduled extracurricular activities; protecting a child’s physical safety; and providing transportation for a child;
- Directing a child’s various developmental needs, including the acquisition of motor and language skills, toilet training, self-confidence, and maturation;
- Providing discipline, giving instruction in manners, assigning and supervising chores, and performing other tasks that attend to a child’s needs for behavioral control and self-restraint;
- Ensuring the child attends school, including remedial and special services appropriate to the child’s needs and interests, communicating with teachers and counselors, and supervising homework;
- Helping a child develop and maintain appropriate interpersonal relationships with peers, siblings, and other family members;
- Ensuring the child attends medical appointments and is available for medical follow-up and meeting the medical needs of the child in the home
- Providing moral and ethical guidance for a child; and
- Arranging alternative care for a child by a family member, babysitter, or other child care provider or facility, including investigating such alternatives, communicating with providers, and supervising such care.
You can see that this is broad, indeed. That’s especially the case given how Illinois law defines parenting time– a concept at the core of our Rewrite. It means “the time during which a parent is responsible for exercising caretaking functions and non-significant decision-making responsibilities with respect to the child.”
So what does all of that mean?
It means that when a parent has parenting time that unless parenting time is restricted, a parent has broad-based authority to exercise parental guidance and supervision.
