| 11 | 11 | | |
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| 12 | 12 | | AN ACT CONCERNING A CRIMINAL HISTORY AND PATIENT ABUSE BACKGROUND SEARCH PROGRAM. |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened: |
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| 15 | 15 | | |
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| 16 | 16 | | Section 1. Section 19a-524 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2011): |
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| 17 | 17 | | |
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| 18 | 18 | | If, upon review, investigation or inspection pursuant to section 19a-498, the Commissioner of Public Health determines that a nursing home facility has violated any provision of section 17b-406, 19a-521 to 19a-529, inclusive, as amended by this act, 19a-531 to 19a-551, inclusive, or 19a-553 to 19a-555, inclusive, section 19a-491a, 19a-491b, 19a-493a or 19a-528a, section 3 of this act or any regulation in the Public Health Code or regulation relating to licensure or the Fire Safety Code relating to the operation or maintenance of a nursing home facility, which violation has been classified in accordance with section 19a-527, [he] the commissioner shall immediately issue or cause to be issued a citation to the licensee of such nursing home facility. Governmental immunity shall not be a defense to any citation issued or civil penalty imposed pursuant to sections 19a-524 to 19a-528, inclusive, as amended by this act. Each such citation shall be in writing, shall provide notice of the nature and scope of the alleged violation or violations and shall be sent by certified mail to the licensee at the address of the nursing home facility in issue. A copy of such citation shall also be sent to the licensed administrator at the address of the facility. |
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| 19 | 19 | | |
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| 20 | 20 | | Sec. 2. Section 19a-527 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2011): |
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| 21 | 21 | | |
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| 22 | 22 | | Citations issued pursuant to section 19a-524, as amended by this act, shall be classified according to the nature of the violation and shall state such classification and the amount of the civil penalty to be imposed on the face thereof. The Commissioner of Public Health shall, by regulation in accordance with chapter 54, classify violations as follows: |
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| 23 | 23 | | |
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| 24 | 24 | | (a) Class A violations are conditions [which] that the Commissioner of Public Health determines present an immediate danger of death or serious harm to any patient in the nursing home facility. For each class A violation, a civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars may be imposed; |
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| 25 | 25 | | |
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| 26 | 26 | | (b) Class B violations are conditions [which] that the Commissioner of Public Health determines present a probability of death or serious harm in the reasonably foreseeable future to any patient in the nursing home facility, but [which he does not find] do not constitute a class A violation. For each [such] class B violation, a civil penalty of not more than three thousand dollars may be imposed; |
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| 27 | 27 | | |
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| 28 | 28 | | (c) Class C violations are conditions that the Commissioner of Public Health determines constitute failure to comply with the provisions of section 3 of this act, but do not constitute a class A or class B violation. For each class C violation, a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars may be imposed. |
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| 29 | 29 | | |
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| 30 | 30 | | Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2011) (a) As used in this section: |
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| 31 | 31 | | |
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| 32 | 32 | | (1) "Criminal history and patient abuse background search" or "background search" means (A) a review of the registry of nurse's aides maintained by the Department of Public Health pursuant to section 20-102bb of the general statutes, (B) checks of state and national criminal history records conducted in accordance with section 29-17a of the general statutes, and (C) a review of any other registry specified by the Department of Public Health which the department deems necessary for the administration of a background search program. |
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| 33 | 33 | | |
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| 34 | 34 | | (2) "Direct access" means physical access to a patient or resident that affords an individual with the opportunity to commit abuse or neglect or to misappropriate the property of a patient or resident. |
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| 35 | 35 | | |
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| 36 | 36 | | (3) "Direct services" means services provided to a patient or resident by an individual that provides such individual with the opportunity to commit abuse or neglect or to misappropriate the property of a patient or resident. |
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| 37 | 37 | | |
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| 38 | 38 | | (4) "Disqualifying offense" means a conviction of any crime described in 42 USC 1320a-7(a)(1), (2) or (3) or a substantiated finding of neglect, abuse or misappropriation of property by a state or federal agency pursuant to an investigation conducted in accordance with 42 USC 1395i-3(g)(1)(C) or 42 USC 1396r(g)(1)(C). |
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| 39 | 39 | | |
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| 40 | 40 | | (5) "Long-term care facility" means a nursing home, as defined in section 19a-521 of the general statutes, a home health agency, as defined in section 19a-490 of the general statutes, a homemaker-companion agency, as defined in section 20-670 of the general statutes, an assisted living services agency, as defined in section 19a-490 of the general statutes, an intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded, as defined in 42 USC 1396d(d), a chronic disease hospital, as defined in section 19a-550 of the general statutes, or an agency providing hospice care which is licensed to provide such care by the Department of Public Health or certified to provide such care pursuant to 42 USC 1395x. |
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| 41 | 41 | | |
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| 42 | 42 | | (b) The Department of Public Health shall create and maintain a criminal history and patient abuse background search program in order to facilitate the performance, processing and analysis of the criminal history and patient abuse background search of individuals who have direct access or provide direct services to patients or residents through a long-term care facility. |
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| 43 | 43 | | |
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| 44 | 44 | | (c) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, each long-term care facility, prior to extending an offer of employment to or entering into a contract for the provision of long-term care services with any individual who will have direct access or provide direct services to a patient or resident of the long-term care facility, shall require that such individual submit to a background search. The Department of Public Health shall prescribe the manner by which (A) long-term care facilities perform the review of (i) the registry of nurse's aides maintained by the department pursuant to section 20-102bb of the general statutes, and (ii) any other registry specified by the department, including requiring long-term care facilities to report the results of such review to the department, and (B) individuals submit to state and national criminal history records checks, including requiring the Department of Public Safety to report the results of such checks to the Department of Public Health. |
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| 45 | 45 | | |
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| 46 | 46 | | (2) No long-term care facility shall be required to comply with the provisions of this section if the individual (A) provides evidence to the long-term care facility that such individual submitted to a background search conducted pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection not more than three years immediately preceding the date such individual applies for employment or seeks to enter into a contract with the long-term care facility and that the prior background search confirmed that the individual did not have a disqualifying offense, or (B) will be a volunteer with the long-term care facility, provided such individual will not have direct access or provide direct services to a patient or resident of the long-term care facility. |
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| 47 | 47 | | |
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| 48 | 48 | | (d) (1) The Department of Public Health shall review all reports provided to the department pursuant to subsection (c) of this section. If any such report contains evidence indicating that an individual has a disqualifying offense, the department shall mail written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the individual informing the individual of the disqualifying offense and the opportunity to file a request for a waiver pursuant to subdivisions (2) and (3) of this subsection. |
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| 49 | 49 | | |
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| 50 | 50 | | (2) An individual may file a written request for a waiver with the department not later than thirty days after the date the department mails notice to the individual pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection. The department shall mail a written determination indicating whether the department shall grant a waiver pursuant to subdivision (3) of this subsection not later than fifteen business days after the department receives the written request from the individual. The fifteen-business-day timeframe for the department to act on a request for a waiver shall not apply to any instance in which an individual challenges the accuracy of the information obtained from the background search. |
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| 51 | 51 | | |
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| 52 | 52 | | (3) The department may grant a waiver from the provisions of subsection (e) of this section to an individual who identifies mitigating circumstances surrounding the disqualifying offense, including (A) inaccuracy in the information obtained from the background search, (B) lack of a relationship between the disqualifying offense and the position for which the individual has applied, (C) evidence that the individual has pursued or achieved rehabilitation with regard to the disqualifying offense, or (D) that substantial time has elapsed since committing the disqualifying offense. The department and its employees shall be immune from liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred or imposed, for good faith conduct in granting waivers pursuant to this subdivision. |
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| 53 | 53 | | |
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| 54 | 54 | | (4) After completing a review pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection, the department shall notify in writing the long-term care facility to which the individual has applied for employment or with which the individual has applied to contract (A) of any disqualifying offense and any information the individual provided to the department regarding mitigating circumstances surrounding such offense, and (B) whether the department granted a waiver pursuant to subdivision (3) of this subsection. |
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| 55 | 55 | | |
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| 56 | 56 | | (e) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 46a-80 of the general statutes, no long-term care facility shall employ an individual required to submit to a background search or contract with any such individual to provide long-term care services if the long-term care facility receives notice from the department that the individual has a disqualifying offense in the individual's background search and the department has not granted a waiver pursuant to subdivision (3) of subsection (d) of this section. A long-term care facility may, but is not obligated to, employ or enter into a contract with an individual who was granted a waiver pursuant to said subdivision (3). |
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| 57 | 57 | | |
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| 58 | 58 | | (f) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, a long-term care facility shall not employ or enter into a contract with any individual required to submit to a background search until the long-term care facility receives notice from the Department of Public Health pursuant to subdivision (4) of subsection (d) of this section. |
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| 59 | 59 | | |
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| 60 | 60 | | (2) A long-term care facility may employ or enter into a contract with an individual required to submit to a background search before the long-term care facility receives notice from the department that such individual does not have a disqualifying offense on a conditional basis, provided: (A) Employment on a conditional basis shall last not more than sixty days, (B) the long-term care facility has begun the review required under subsection (c) of this section and the individual has applied for checks pursuant to said subsection (c), (C) the individual is subject to direct, on-site supervision during the course of such conditional employment, and (D) the individual affirms in a signed statement that (i) the individual has not committed a disqualifying offense, and (ii) a disqualifying offense reported in the background search required by said subsection (c) shall constitute good cause for termination and a long-term care facility may terminate the individual if a disqualifying offense is reported in said background search. |
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| 61 | 61 | | |
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| 62 | 62 | | (g) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, the department may phase in implementation of the criminal history and patient abuse background search program by category of long-term care facility. For each category of long-term care facility implementation of the criminal history and patient abuse background search shall be on the date notice is published by the Commissioner of Public Health in the Connecticut Law Journal indicating that the commissioner is implementing the criminal history and patient abuse background search program for such category. |
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| 63 | 63 | | |
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| 64 | 64 | | (h) The department shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, to implement the provisions of this section. |
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| 65 | 65 | | |
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| 66 | 66 | | Sec. 4. Section 20-678 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2011): |
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| 67 | 67 | | |
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| 68 | 68 | | (a) Each homemaker-companion agency shall require that any employee of such agency hired on or after October 1, 2006, submit to a comprehensive background check. In addition, each homemaker-companion agency shall require that any employee of such agency hired on or after October 1, 2006, complete and sign a form which contains questions as to whether the current or prospective employee was convicted of a crime involving violence or dishonesty in a state court or federal court in any state; or was subject to any decision imposing disciplinary action by a licensing agency in any state, the District of Columbia, a United States possession or territory or a foreign jurisdiction. Any employee of a homemaker-companion agency hired on or after October 1, 2006, who makes a false written statement regarding such prior criminal convictions or disciplinary action shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor. |
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| 69 | 69 | | |
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| 70 | 70 | | (b) The provisions of this section shall cease to be effective on the date the Commissioner of Public Health publishes notice in the Connecticut Law Journal of the department's implementation of the criminal history and patient abuse background search program for homemaker-companion agencies in accordance with the provisions of section 3 of this act. |
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| 71 | 71 | | |
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| 72 | 72 | | |
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| 73 | 73 | | |
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| 74 | 74 | | |
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| 75 | 75 | | This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: |
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| 76 | 76 | | Section 1 July 1, 2011 19a-524 |
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| 77 | 77 | | Sec. 2 July 1, 2011 19a-527 |
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| 78 | 78 | | Sec. 3 July 1, 2011 New section |
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| 79 | 79 | | Sec. 4 July 1, 2011 20-678 |
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| 80 | 80 | | |
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| 81 | 81 | | This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: |
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| 82 | 82 | | |
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| 83 | 83 | | Section 1 |
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| 84 | 84 | | |
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| 85 | 85 | | July 1, 2011 |
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| 86 | 86 | | |
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| 87 | 87 | | 19a-524 |
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| 88 | 88 | | |
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| 89 | 89 | | Sec. 2 |
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| 90 | 90 | | |
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| 91 | 91 | | July 1, 2011 |
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| 92 | 92 | | |
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| 93 | 93 | | 19a-527 |
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| 94 | 94 | | |
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| 95 | 95 | | Sec. 3 |
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| 96 | 96 | | |
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| 97 | 97 | | July 1, 2011 |
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| 98 | 98 | | |
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| 99 | 99 | | New section |
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| 100 | 100 | | |
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| 101 | 101 | | Sec. 4 |
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| 102 | 102 | | |
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| 103 | 103 | | July 1, 2011 |
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| 104 | 104 | | |
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| 105 | 105 | | 20-678 |
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| 106 | 106 | | |
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