Faith's Law
Understanding Faith’s Law: Protecting Students and Strengthening Trust
As parents, we want to know that our children are safe every day they walk into school. Illinois’ Faith’s Law was created to strengthen that protection, especially in regard to preventing sexual misconduct in schools and ensuring that new hires have been thoroughly vetted.
What Is Faith’s Law?
Faith’s Law, named after a survivor whose advocacy inspired change, introduced important updates to how Illinois schools prevent and respond to misconduct. The law was passed in two parts:
- Faith’s Law (2021): Expanded the definition of sexual misconduct in schools and created stronger protections for students.
- Faith’s Law – Part II (2023): Requires school districts to provide parents and guardians with a “Sexual Misconduct Disclosure Form” when a staff member seeks employment in another district. This ensures that credible allegations or findings of misconduct cannot be hidden.
Why It Matters for Parents
- Greater Transparency - Parents gain peace of mind knowing that schools must disclose if a staff member has been disciplined or investigated for misconduct.
- Accountability Across Districts - Staff cannot quietly resign from one district and be hired elsewhere without a clear record following them.
- Safer Learning Environments - By holding adults to the highest standards, the law reinforces our collective responsibility to protect children.
What This Means for Our Schools
- Hiring Practices: When considering new teachers or staff, districts must request and review disclosure forms from previous employers.
- Communication with Families: Schools are required to inform parents about the protections of Faith’s Law and provide resources on how to report concerns.
- Staff Training: Educators receive training on recognizing and preventing sexual misconduct, helping to build a culture of safety and trust.
A Shared Commitment
Faith’s Law is more than a legal requirement - it is a reminder of our shared commitment to student well-being. By working together, parents, educators, and administrators ensure that schools are places of safety, trust, and growth for every child.
Starting July 1, 2022, districts are required to provide Faith’s Law training to staff to combat grooming. Starting July 1, 2023, applicants seeking employment in a position that requires direct involvement with children or students must authorize an employment history review with current/former employers to request the pertinent information.
In Lake Forest School Districts 67 & 115, employees are informed of the Faith’s Law disclosure requirement and Employee History Review (EHR) authorization during the application process. The ISBE Sexual Misconduct Disclosure Form is a required form in the onboarding packet for new hires. For the EHR, new employees are required to provide the names and contact information of all of their former employers.
The Districts use Verifient to facilitate this process and provide new hires with these directions through the onboarding forms. Verifent collects the current/former employer information from new employees, sends those employers ISBE’s Authorization for Release of Sexual Misconduct-Related Information form, and provides the responses to the Lake Forest Schools. (If necessary, we can initiate the verification process on behalf of the employee from the Verifier portal.)
