Bill Text: VA HB1494 | 2018 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Suspected adult abuse, neglect, or exploitation; mandated reporting, vulnerable adults.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-02-13 - Left in Health, Welfare and Institutions [HB1494 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2018-HB1494-Comm_Sub.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §63.2-1606 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§63.2-1606. Protection of vulnerable adults; mandated and voluntary reporting.
A. Matters giving reason to suspect the abuse, neglect, or exploitation of vulnerable adults shall be reported immediately upon the reporting person's determination that there is such reason to suspect. Medical facilities inspectors of the Department of Health are exempt from reporting suspected abuse immediately while conducting federal inspection surveys in accordance with §1864 of Title XVIII and Title XIX of the Social Security Act, as amended, of certified nursing facilities as defined in § 32.1-123. Reports shall be made to the local department or the adult protective services hotline in accordance with requirements of this section by the following persons acting in their professional capacity:
1. Any person licensed, certified, or registered by health regulatory boards listed in §54.1-2503, with the exception of persons licensed by the Board of Veterinary Medicine;
2. Any mental health services provider as defined in § 54.1-2400.1;
3. Any emergency medical services provider certified by the Board of Health pursuant to §32.1-111.5, unless such provider immediately reports the suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation directly to the attending physician at the hospital to which the vulnerable adult is transported, who shall make such report forthwith;
4. Any guardian or conservator of an a vulnerable
adult;
5. Any person employed by or contracted with a public or private agency or facility and working with vulnerable adults in an administrative, supportive, or direct care capacity;
6. Any person providing full, intermittent, or
occasional care to an a vulnerable adult for compensation,
including, but not limited to, companion, chore, homemaker, and personal care
workers; and
7. Any law-enforcement officer.
B. The report shall be made in accordance with subsection A to
the local department of the county or city wherein the vulnerable adult
resides or wherein the adult abuse, neglect, or exploitation is believed
to have occurred or to the adult protective services hotline. Nothing in this
section shall be construed to eliminate or supersede any other obligation to
report as required by law. If a person required to report under this section
receives information regarding abuse, neglect, or exploitation while
providing professional services in a hospital, nursing facility, or
similar institution, then he may, in lieu of reporting, notify the person in
charge of the institution or his designee, who shall report such information,
in accordance with the institution's policies and procedures for reporting such
matters, immediately upon his determination that there is reason to suspect
abuse, neglect, or exploitation. Any person required to make the report
or notification required by this subsection shall do so either orally or in
writing and shall disclose all information that is the basis for the suspicion
of adult abuse, neglect, or exploitation. Upon request, any person
required to make the report shall make available to the adult protective
services worker and the local department investigating the reported case of
adult abuse, neglect, or exploitation any information, records,
or reports which that document the basis for the report. All
persons required to report suspected adult abuse, neglect, or
exploitation shall cooperate with the investigating adult protective services
worker of a local department and shall make information, records, and
reports which that are relevant to the investigation available to
such worker to the extent permitted by state and federal law. Criminal
investigative reports received from law-enforcement agencies shall not be
further disseminated by the investigating agency nor shall they be subject to
public disclosure; such reports may, however, be disclosed to the Adult
Fatality Review Team as provided in §32.1-283.5 or to a local or regional
adult fatality review team as provided in §32.1-283.6 and, if reviewed by the
Team or a local or regional adult fatality review team, shall be subject to
applicable confidentiality requirements of the Team or a local or regional
adult fatality review team.
C. Any financial institution staff who suspects that an
a vulnerable adult has been exploited financially may report such suspected
exploitation to the local department of the county or city wherein the
vulnerable adult resides or wherein the exploitation is believed to have
occurred or to the adult protective services hotline. For purposes of this
section, "financial institution staff" means any employee, agent,
qualified individual, or representative of a bank, trust company, savings
institution, loan association, consumer finance company, credit union,
investment company, investment advisor, securities firm, accounting firm, or insurance
company.
D. Any person other than those specified in subsection A who
suspects that an a vulnerable adult is an abused, neglected,
or exploited adult may report the matter to the local department of the county
or city wherein the vulnerable adult resides or wherein the abuse,
neglect, or exploitation is believed to have occurred or to the adult
protective services hotline.
E. Any person who makes a report or provides records or information pursuant to subsection A, C, or D, or who testifies in any judicial proceeding arising from such report, records, or information, or who takes or causes to be taken with the vulnerable adult's or the vulnerable adult's legal representative's informed consent photographs, video recordings, or appropriate medical imaging of the vulnerable adult who is the subject of a report shall be immune from any civil or criminal liability on account of such report, records, information, photographs, video recordings, appropriate medical imaging, or testimony, unless such person acted in bad faith or with a malicious purpose.
F. An employer of a mandated reporter shall not prohibit a mandated reporter from reporting directly to the local department or to the adult protective services hotline. Employers whose employees are mandated reporters shall notify employees upon hiring of the requirement to report.
G. Any person 14 years of age or older who makes or causes to
be made a report of adult abuse, neglect, or exploitation that he knows to be
false shall be is guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor. Any subsequent
conviction of this provision shall be is a Class 2 misdemeanor.
H. Any person who fails to make a required report or
notification pursuant to subsection A shall be subject to a civil penalty of
not more than $500 for the first failure and not less than $100 nor more than
$1,000 for any subsequent failures. Civil penalties under subdivision A 7 shall
be determined by a court of competent jurisdiction, in its discretion. All
other civil penalties under this section shall be determined by the
Commissioner for Aging and Rehabilitative Services or his designee. The
Commissioner for Aging and Rehabilitative Services shall establish by
regulation a process for imposing and collecting civil penalties, and a
process for appeal of the imposition of such penalty pursuant to §2.2-4026 of
the Administrative Process Act.
I. Any mandated reporter who has reasonable cause to suspect
that an a vulnerable adult died as a result of abuse or neglect
shall immediately report such suspicion to the appropriate medical examiner and
to the appropriate law-enforcement agency, notwithstanding the existence of a
death certificate signed by a licensed physician. The medical examiner and the
law-enforcement agency shall receive the report and determine if an
investigation is warranted. The medical examiner may order an autopsy. If an
autopsy is conducted, the medical examiner shall report the findings to law
enforcement, as appropriate, and to the local department or to the adult
protective services hotline.
J. No person or entity shall be obligated to report any matter if the person or entity has actual knowledge that the same matter has already been reported to the local department or to the adult protective services hotline.
K. All law-enforcement departments and other state and local departments, agencies, authorities, and institutions shall cooperate with each adult protective services worker of a local department in the detection, investigation, and prevention of adult abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
2. That the provisions of the first enactment of this act shall become effective on July 1, 2020.
3. That the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services shall work with stakeholders to develop a definition of "vulnerable adult" for the purposes of mandated reporting of suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation of vulnerable adults and shall report its recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services by December 1, 2018. In determining such definition of "vulnerable adult," the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services shall evaluate whether specific age criteria or other criteria should be included, as well as how creating a definition of vulnerable adult and how the definition of vulnerable adult may affect other sections of the Code of Virginia governing the provision of adult protective services in the Commonwealth.
