Bill Text: IL HB3881 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Board of Higher Education Act. Provides that the Board of Higher Education shall require all public institutions which have a Benefits Navigator to operate a Benefits Navigation Center. Provides that the Benefits Navigator may train and supervise students in case management, and may develop a peer-to-peer student navigator network to staff the Benefits Navigation Center. Sets forth requirements for the Benefits Navigation Centers, services to be provided by the Benefits Navigation Centers, costs, and data collection. Provides that the requirement to operate a Benefits Navigation Center are repealed August 1, 2028. Establishes the Student Navigator Advisory Board. Provides that the Advisory Board shall research, review, and recommend best practices to the individual benefits navigation centers. Provides for the membership and support of the Advisory Board. Provides that the Advisory Board shall host a statewide consortium of the Benefits Navigators. Provides that the Advisory Board shall issue a report after the Benefits Navigation Center requirements are repealed. Provides that the provisions establishing the Advisory Board are repealed on September 1, 2028. Effective August 1, 2023.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2023-03-10 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB3881 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB3881-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB3881 Introduced , by Rep. Maurice A. West, II SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
110 ILCS 205/9.43 new
110 ILCS 205/9.44 new
Amends the Board of Higher Education Act. Provides that the Board of Higher Education shall require all public institutions which have a Benefits Navigator to operate a Benefits Navigation Center. Provides that the Benefits Navigator may train and supervise students in case management, and may develop a peer-to-peer student navigator network to staff the Benefits Navigation Center. Sets forth requirements for the Benefits Navigation Centers, services to be provided by the Benefits Navigation Centers, costs, and data collection. Provides that the requirement to operate a Benefits Navigation Center are repealed August 1, 2028. Establishes the Student Navigator Advisory Board. Provides that the Advisory Board shall research, review, and recommend best practices to the individual benefits navigation centers. Provides for the membership and support of the Advisory Board. Provides the that the Advisory Board shall host a statewide consortium of the Benefits Navigators. Provides that the Advisory Board shall issue a report after the Benefits Navigation Center requirements are repealed. Provides that the provisions establishing the Advisory Board are repealed on September 1, 2028. Effective August 1, 2023.
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A BILL FOR
HB3881 LRB103 29870 RJT 56279 b
AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Board of Higher Education Act is amended by
adding Sections 9.43 and 9.44 as follows:
(110 ILCS 205/9.43 new)
Sec. 9.43. Benefits Navigator Center.
(a) The Board of Higher Education shall require all public
institutions which have a Benefits Navigator to operate a
Benefits Navigation Center. The Benefits Navigator may train
and supervise students in case management, and may develop a
peer-to-peer student navigator network to staff the benefits
navigation center. Student navigators may be paid by
institutional funds from student affairs or institutional
foundation grants, or from funds from the federal work study's
community service jobs program.
(b) The Benefits Navigation Center shall be in a visible
and easily accessible location on campus. Benefits navigation
services may be rendered through the use of virtual
appointments. The Benefits Navigation Center must have
flexible hours that cater to its student population, and have
its hours and services posted in prominent locations on the
university's Internet website, and on the Internet webpages

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for other departments, including, but not limited to,
advising, counseling, health and wellness, and student
affairs. The Benefits Navigation Center shall develop an
intake form for receiving case management services. The
benefits navigation center shall also:
(1) identify the student populations unique to the
institution most at risk of basic needs insecurity;
(2) have thorough knowledge of basic needs insecurity
among college students;
(3) possess knowledge of State and federal policies
for student eligibility for government benefits or
assistance programs;
(4) aid and train students and young adults in
completing applications for school and government benefits
and appeal decisions;
(5) possess knowledge of their university's existing
basic needs programming, including, but not limited to,
basic needs resource centers, food pantries, emergency
housing, clothing closets, substance abuse recovery
programs, food recovery programs, child care programs,
transportation assistance, counseling services, and
institutional and departmental emergency funds;
(6) develop relationships with key university
stakeholders and related programs or organizations,
including, but not limited to, student affairs, financial
aid, counseling and psychological services, health and

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wellness services, advising, Greek life, residential life,
dining services, career services, academic departments or
faculty members, transportation services, and student
conduct officers;
(7) possess specialized culturally appropriate
training in case management, helping skills,
trauma-informed and strength-based practices, public
benefits research, cultural competence, and
non-traditional students;
(8) possess specialized skills in targeted marketing,
communication, and outreach to the entire campus
community;
(9) provide individualized personal one-on-one ongoing
assistance and emotional support to students; and
(10) identify and develop relationships with
culturally appropriate community organizations, mutual aid
organizations, and social service agencies that students
may be referred to. A Benefits Navigator shall identify
community partners who specialize in the following areas:
(A) affordable or free child care;
(B) transportation;
(C) clothing;
(D) personal care and hygiene items;
(E) homelessness or housing insecurity;
(F) food insecurity;
(G) affordable inclusive health care;

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(H) sexual violence;
(I) substance abuse and addiction;
(J) trauma-informed affordable or free mental
health services; and
(K) reproductive health care, including affordable
or free HIV/AIDS testing, access to PrEP and PEP,
affordable or free sexually transmitted infection
testing, affordable or free access to pregnancy tests,
and resources pertaining to all options regarding
pregnancy.
(c) Accommodations shall be made for students who do not
have English proficiency or who have disabilities.
(d) Benefits navigation services must remain free to all
students seeking to utilize these services, and may not be
funded by any student fees created on or before the effective
date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly.
(e) Benefits navigators may be a licensed social worker.
(f) Benefits navigation centers shall collect data on:
(1) student demographics;
(2) presenting concerns or type of student needs, per
student;
(3) prior service and benefits utilization, per
student;
(4) types of referrals made, per student;
(5) types of services received, per student;
(6) new benefit amounts, where applicable, per

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student;
(7) number of navigator-student meetings and
interactions per student; and
(8) student satisfaction with the student navigator
network, the Benefits Navigator, and the benefits
navigation center, at each institution, per student.
This data shall be reported to the Student Navigator
Advisory Board and the Board of Higher Education. All
interactions between students and Benefits Navigators must be
kept confidential unless a student poses a direct harm to
themselves or others
(g) This Section is repealed on August 1, 2028.
(110 ILCS 205/9.44 new)
Sec. 9.44. Student Navigator Advisory Board.
(a) A Student Navigator Advisory Board shall be
established with the explicit goal of researching, reviewing,
and recommending best practices to the individual benefits
navigation centers established under Section 9.42. The Board
of Higher Education shall provide staff and support to the
Advisory Board. The Advisory Board shall meet a minimum of 4
times per year. The Advisory Board shall have emergency
rulemaking authority.
(b) The Advisory Board shall be reflective of the cultural
diversity of students who come from marginalized communities

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and who are particularly vulnerable to basic needs insecurity,
including race and ethnicity, immigrants, first generation
student, gender and gender expression, sexual orientation,
experience in the foster care system, first language, and
low-income background.
The Advisory Board shall be composed of:
(1) a member appointed by the Governor;
(2) a member appointed by the Lieutenant Governor;
(3) a member appointed by the Speaker of the House of
Representatives;
(4) a member appointed by the Minority Leader of the
House of Representatives;
(5) a member appointed by the President of the Senate;
(6) a member appointed by the Minority Leader of the
Senate;
(7) a member appointed by the Director of the Board of
Higher Education;
(8) a member appointed by the Director of the Illinois
Student Assistance Commission;
(9) a member appointed by the Director of the Illinois
Community College Board;
(10) a student member who is seeking a degree from a
4-year public institution in the State, and has had
experience with basic needs insecurity, appointed by the
Director of the Board of Higher Education;
(11) a student member who is seeking a degree from a

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2-year public institution in the State, and has had
experience with basic needs insecurity, appointed by the
Director of the Board of Higher Education;
(12) a member of a national student and youth led
nonprofit organization with regional presence whose
mission statement is to make higher education free and
help all young people participate in democracy, appointed
by the Director of the Board of Higher Education; and
(13) a member of a national nonprofit advocate
organization with regional presence whose mission
statement is to amplify the voices of young adults in the
political process and expand economic opportunity
appointed, by the Director of the Board of Higher
Education.
(c) The Advisory Board shall, at its first meeting,
appoint an individual to serve as the Chair of the Advisory
Board. The Chair may call the Advisory Board to meet.
(d) The meetings of the Advisory Board may meet virtually.
(e) The Advisory Board shall be responsible for hosting a
statewide consortium of Benefits Navigators. The consortium
shall include those responsible for the Benefits Navigation
Center of each individual public university and community
college. The goal of the consortium is to share resources and
best practices found to be effective. The consortium must meet
at least once every academic semester.
(f) The Advisory Board shall select an experienced

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evaluator to assess program effectiveness. Impact surveys
shall be conducted twice during the first year, and annually
thereafter, and a final evaluation shall be conducted at the
end of the fifth and final year.
(g) The Advisory Board shall:
(1) oversee the creation, administration, and analysis
of program evaluation surveys twice in the first year, and
annually thereafter;
(2) write reports after each evaluation which describe
program activities and challenges and analyze the survey
data, and make recommendations every 6 months, resulting
in semiannual reports; and
(3) provide a final written program evaluation report,
including recommendations, no later than 4 weeks after the
program has concluded.
(h) This Section is repealed on September 1, 2028.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect August
1, 2023.