Substitute Senate Bill No. 416
Public Act No. 21-135
AN ACT CONCERNING VARIOUS REVISIONS TO THE
DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES STATUTES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (c) of section 17a-247b of the general statutes is
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from
passage):
(c) The department shall make information in the registry available
only to: (1) Authorized agencies, for the purpose of protective service
determinations; (2) employers who employ employees to provide
services to an individual who receives services or funding from the
department; (3) the Departments of Children and Families, Mental
Health and Addiction Services, [and] Social Services and
Administrative Services, for the purpose of determining whether an
applicant for employment with the Departments of Children and
Families, Developmental Services, Mental Health and Addiction
Services and Social Services appears on the registry; or (4) charitable
organizations that recruit volunteers to support programs for persons
with intellectual disability or autism spectrum disorder, upon
application to and approval by the commissioner, for purposes of
conducting background checks on such volunteers. Substitute Senate Bill No. 416
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Sec. 2. Subsection (f) of section 17a-238 of the general statutes is
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from
passage):
(f) The Commissioner of Developmental Services shall require the
attending physician of any person placed or treated in a residential
facility under the direction of the commissioner to obtain informed
written consent from the following persons prior to authorizing any
[surgical procedure or any] medical treatment or surgical procedure,
excluding routine medical treatment which is necessary to maintain the
general health of the person or to prevent the spread of any
communicable disease: (1) The person if such person is eighteen years
of age or over or is legally emancipated and competent to give such
consent; (2) the parent of a person under eighteen years of age who is
not legally emancipated; or (3) the legal representative of a person of
any age who is adjudicated unable to make informed decisions about
matters relating to such person's medical care. The person whose
consent is required shall be informed of the nature and consequences of
the particular medical treatment or surgical procedure, the reasonable
risks, benefits and purpose of such medical treatment or surgical
procedure and any alternative medical treatment or surgical
[procedures] procedure which [are] is available. The consent of any
person or of any parent or legal representative of any person may be
withdrawn at any time prior to the commencement of the medical
treatment or surgical procedure. The regional or training school director
having custody and control of a person living in a residential facility
may authorize necessary [surgery] medical treatment or surgical
procedure for such person where, in the opinion of the person's
attending physician, the [surgery] medical treatment or surgical
procedure is of an emergency nature and there is insufficient time to
obtain the required written consent provided for in this section. The
attending physician shall prepare a report describing the nature of the
emergency which necessitated such [surgery] medical treatment or Substitute Senate Bill No. 416
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surgical procedure and shall file a copy of such report in the patient's
record.
Sec. 3. Section 46a-11c of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(a) The commissioner, upon receiving a report that a person with
intellectual disability allegedly is being or has been abused or neglected,
shall make an initial determination whether such person has intellectual
disability, shall determine if the report warrants investigation and shall
cause, in cases that so warrant, a prompt, thorough evaluation to be
made to determine whether the person has intellectual disability and
has been abused or neglected. For the purposes of sections 46a-11a to
46a-11g, inclusive, the determination of intellectual disability may be
made by means of a review of records and shall not require the
commissioner to conduct a full psychological examination of the person.
Any delay in making such determination of intellectual disability shall
not delay the investigation of abuse or neglect or recommendation of
provision of protective services. The evaluation shall include a visit to
the named person with intellectual disability and consultation with
those individuals having knowledge of the facts of the particular case.
All state, local and private agencies shall have a duty to cooperate with
any investigation conducted by the Department of Developmental
Services under this section, including the release of complete records of
the named person for review, inspection and copying, except where the
person with intellectual disability refuses to permit such records to be
released. The commissioner shall have subpoena powers to compel any
information related to such investigation. All records of the named
person shall be kept confidential by said department. Upon completion
of the evaluation of each case, written findings shall be prepared which
shall include a determination of whether abuse or neglect has occurred
and recommendations as to whether protective services are needed. The
commissioner, except in cases where the legal representative is the Substitute Senate Bill No. 416
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alleged or substantiated perpetrator of abuse or neglect or is residing
with the alleged or substantiated perpetrator, shall notify the legal
representative, if any, of the person with intellectual disability if a report
of abuse or neglect is made which the commissioner determines
warrants investigation. The commissioner, except in cases where the
legal representative is the alleged or substantiated perpetrator of abuse
or neglect or is residing with the alleged or substantiated perpetrator,
shall provide the legal representative who the commissioner determines
is entitled to such information with further information upon request.
The person filing the report of abuse or neglect shall be notified of the
findings upon such person's request.
(b) The commissioner, upon receiving a report that a person who
receives services from the Department of Social Services' Division of
Autism Spectrum Disorder Services, allegedly is being or has been
abused or neglected, shall make an initial determination whether such
person receives funding or services from said division, shall determine
if the report warrants investigation and shall cause, in cases that so
warrant, a prompt, thorough evaluation, as described in subsection (b)
of section 17a-247f, to be made by the Department of Developmental
Services to determine whether the person has been abused or neglected.
(c) In cases where there is a death of a person with intellectual
disability for whom the Department of Developmental Services has
direct or oversight responsibility for medical care, and there is
reasonable cause to suspect or believe that such death may be due to
abuse or neglect, the commissioner shall conduct an investigation to
determine whether abuse or neglect occurred, except as may be
otherwise required by court order. The commissioner shall establish
protocols for conducting such investigations.
(d) The commissioner shall maintain an electronic copy of the reports
received of alleged abuse or neglect and all evaluation reports. Substitute Senate Bill No. 416
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(e) Neither the original report of alleged abuse or neglect nor the
evaluation report of the investigator which includes findings and
recommendations shall be deemed a public record for purposes of
section 1-210. The original report of alleged abuse or neglect or the
evaluation report of the investigator shall not be provided to a legal
representative who is the alleged or substantiated perpetrator of abuse
or neglect or is residing with the alleged or substantiated perpetrator.
The name of the person making the original report shall not be disclosed
to any person unless the person making the original report consents to
such disclosure or unless a judicial proceeding results therefrom.
Sec. 4. Section 17a-217a of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(a) There shall be a Camp Harkness Advisory Committee to advise
the Commissioner of Developmental Services with respect to issues
concerning the health and safety of persons who attend and utilize the
facilities at Camp Harkness. The advisory committee shall be composed
of twelve members as follows: (1) Six members appointed by the
Governor, one of whom shall be the director of Camp Harkness, who
shall serve ex officio, one of whom shall represent [the Southeastern
Connecticut Association for Developmental Disabilities] a mental health
organization that uses the camp, one of whom shall represent the
Southbury Training School, one of whom shall represent [the] The Arc
of [New London County] Eastern Connecticut, one of whom shall be a
person who uses the camp on a residential basis and one of whom shall
be a relative or guardian of a person who uses the camp; and (2) six
members appointed by the General Assembly, one of whom shall be a
relative or guardian of a person who uses the camp, who shall be
appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate; one of whom
shall be a [member of the Family Support Council established pursuant
to section 17a-219c and represent persons who use the camp on a day
basis] special education director, who shall be appointed by the speaker Substitute Senate Bill No. 416
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of the House of Representatives; one of whom shall represent the board
of selectmen of the town of Waterford, who shall be appointed by the
majority leader of the House of Representatives; one of whom shall
represent a private nonprofit corporation that is: (A) Tax exempt under
Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any
subsequent internal revenue code of the United States, as amended from
time to time, and (B) established to promote and support Camp
Harkness and its camping programs, who shall be appointed by the
majority leader of the Senate; one of whom shall represent the
Connecticut Institute for the Blind and the Oak Hill School, who shall
be appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives;
and one of whom shall rep resent [the United Cerebral Palsy
Association] Sunrise Northeast, Inc., who shall be appointed by the
minority leader of the Senate.
(b) The advisory committee shall promote communication regarding
camp services and develop recommendations for the commissioner
regarding the use of Camp Harkness.
Sec. 5. Section 45a-681 of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(a) The court shall review each guardianship at least every three years
and shall either continue, modify or terminate the order for
guardianship. Pursuant to such review:
(1) The court shall receive and review written evidence as to the
condition of the protected person. Except as provided in subdivision (2)
of this subsection, the guardian and a Department of Developmental
Services professional or, if requested by the protected person or by the
court, an assessment team appointed by the Commissioner of
Developmental Services or the commissioner's designee shall each
submit a written report to the court not later than forty-five days after
the court's request for such report. Substitute Senate Bill No. 416
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(2) In the case of a protected person who is functioning adaptively
and intellectually within the severe or profound range of intellectual
disability, as determined by the Department of Developmental Services,
the court shall receive and review written reports as to the condition of
the protected person only from the guardian, except that the court may
require a Department of Developmental Services professional or
assessment team to submit a written report as to the condition of the
protected person.
(3) The Department of Developmental Services professional or
assessment team shall personally observe or examine the protected
person within the forty-five-day period preceding the date it submits
any report under subdivision (4) of this subsection.
(4) Each written report shall be submitted to the court not later than
forty-five days after the court's request for such report. On receipt of a
written report from the guardian or a Department of Developmental
Services professional or assessment team, the court shall provide a copy
of the report to the attorney for the protected person.
(5) The written report or testimony by the Department of
Developmental Services professional or assessment team shall not be
required for the court's review of guardianship pursuant to this section
if the protected person has been determined ineligible for services of the
Department of Developmental Services by the commissioner or his or
her designee, provided such denial of eligibility is based on the
determination that the individual does not have intellectual disability as
defined in section 1-1g. A copy of the eligibility determination letter
indicating that the basis of ineligibility is the absence of intellectual
disability, as defined in section 1-1g, shall be provided to the court in
lieu of a report by the assessment team and no further assessment by the
team shall be required.
[(5)] (6) Not later than thirty days after the attorney for the protected Substitute Senate Bill No. 416
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person receives a copy of a report pursuant to subdivision (4) of this
subsection, the protected person's attorney shall (A) meet with the
protected person concerning the report, and (B) provide written notice
to the court (i) that the protected person's attorney has met with the
protected person, and (ii) indicating whether a hearing is requested.
Nothing in this section shall prevent the protected person or the
protected person's attorney from requesting a hearing at any other time
as permitted by law.
[(6)] (7) If the protected person is unable to request or obtain an
attorney, the court shall appoint an attorney for the protected person. If
the protected person is unable to pay for the services of the attorney, the
reasonable compensation of such attorney shall be established by, and
paid from funds appropriated to, the Judicial Department; however, if
funds have not been included in the budget of the Judicial Department
for such purposes, such compensation shall be established by the
Probate Court Administrator and paid from the Probate Court
Administration Fund.
(b) If the court determines, after receipt of the reports from the
Department of Developmental Services professional or assessment team
and the guardian, and notice from the attorney for the protected person,
that there has been no change in the condition of the protected person
since the last preceding review by the court, a hearing on the condition
of the protected person shall not be required, but the court, in its
discretion, may hold such hearing. If the protected person's attorney, the
Department of Developmental Services professional or assessment team
or the guardian requests a hearing, the court shall hold a hearing within
thirty days of such request. No order expanding or reducing the powers
and responsibilities of a guardian shall be issued unless such hearing is
held.