LCO No. 2586 1 of 3
General Assembly Raised Bill No. 763
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 2586
Referred to Committee on HUMAN SERVICES
Introduced by:
(HS)
AN ACT REQUIRING DRIVERS OF PARATRANSIT VEHICLES TO
REPORT SUSPECTED ABU SE, NEGLECT, EXPLOITATION OR
ABANDONMENT OF ELDER LY PERSONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 17b-451 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2
2021): 3
(a) A mandatory reporter [, as defined in this section,] who has 4
reasonable cause to suspect or believe that any elderly person has been 5
abused, neglected, exploited or abandoned, or is in a condition that is 6
the result of such abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment, or is in 7
need of protective services, shall, not later than seventy-two hours after 8
such suspicion or belief arose, report such information or cause a report 9
to be made in any reasonable manner to the Commissioner of Social 10
Services or to the person or persons designated by the commissioner to 11
receive such reports. [The term "mandatory reporter" means (1) any 12
physician or surgeon licensed under the provisions of chapter 370, (2) 13
any resident physician or intern in any hospital in this state, whether or 14 Raised Bill No. 763
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not so licensed, (3) any registered nurse, (4) any nursing home 15
administrator, nurse's aide or orderly in a nursing home facility or 16
residential care home, (5) any person paid for caring for a resident in a 17
nursing home facility or residential care home, (6) any staff person 18
employed by a nursing home facility or residential care home, (7) any 19
residents' advocate, other than a representative of the Office of the Long-20
Term Care Ombudsman, as established under section 17a -405, 21
including the State Ombudsman, (8) any licensed practical nurse, 22
medical examiner, dentist, optometrist, chiropractor, podiatrist, social 23
worker, clergyman, police officer, pharmacist, psychologist or physical 24
therapist, (9) any person paid for caring for an elderly person by any 25
institution, organization, agency or facility, including without 26
limitation, any employee of a community-based services provider, 27
senior center, home care agency, homemaker and companion agency, 28
adult day care center, village-model community and congregate 29
housing facility, and (10) any person licensed or certified as an 30
emergency medical services provider pursuant to chapter 368d or 31
chapter 384d, including any such emergency medical services provider 32
who is a member of a municipal fire department.] Any mandatory 33
reporter who fails to make such report within the prescribed time 34
[period] shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, except that, 35
if such person intentionally fails to make such report within the 36
prescribed time period, such person shall be guilty of a class C 37
misdemeanor for the first offense and a class A misdemeanor for any 38
subsequent offense. Any institution, organization, agency or facility 39
employing individuals to care for persons sixty years of age or older 40
shall provide mandatory training on detecting potential abuse, neglect, 41
exploitation and abandonment of such persons and inform such 42
employees of their obligations under this section. For purposes of this 43
subsection, ["person paid for caring for an elderly person by any 44
institution, organization, agency or facility" includes an employee of a 45
community-based services provider, senior center, home health care 46
agency, homemaker and companion agency, adult day care center, 47
village-model community and congregate housing facility] "mandatory 48
reporter" means any (1) physician or surgeon licensed under the 49 Raised Bill No. 763
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provisions of chapter 370, (2) resident physician or intern in any hospital 50
in this state, whether or not so licensed, (3) registered nurse, (4) nursing 51
home administrator, nurse's aide or orderly in a nursing home facility 52
or residential care home, (5) person paid for caring for a resident in a 53
nursing home facility or residential care home, (6) staff person 54
employed by a nursing home facility or residential care home, (7) 55
residents' advocate, other than a representative of the Office of the Long-56
Term Care Ombudsman, as established under section 17a-405, 57
including the State Ombudsman, (8) licensed practical nurse, medical 58
examiner, dentist, optometrist, chiropractor, podiatrist, social worker, 59
clergyman, police officer, pharmacist, psychologist or physical 60
therapist, (9) person paid for caring for an elderly person by any 61
institution, organization, agency or facility, including but not limited to, 62
any employee of a community-based services provider, senior center, 63
home care agency, homemaker and companion agency, adult day care 64
center, village-model community and congregate housing facility, (10) 65
person licensed or certified as an emergency medical services provider 66
pursuant to chapter 368d or 384d, including any such emergency 67
medical services provider who is a member of a municipal fire 68
department, and (11) driver of a paratransit vehicle, as defined in section 69
13b-38k. 70
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2021 17b-451(a)
Statement of Purpose:
To make paratransit vehicle drivers mandatory reporters of suspected
abuse of elderly persons.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]