LCO No. 2423 1 of 3
General Assembly Raised Bill No. 286
February Session, 2022
LCO No. 2423
Referred to Committee on HUMAN SERVICES
Introduced by:
(HS)
AN ACT CONCERNING DEADLINES FOR MANDATORY REPORTING
OF SUSPECTED ELDER ABUSE AND PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO
REPORT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 17b-451 of the 2022 supplement to 1
the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 2
thereof (Effective July 1, 2022): 3
(a) A mandatory reporter who has reasonable cause to suspect or 4
believe that any elderly person has been abused, neglected, exploited or 5
abandoned, or is in a condition that is the result of such abuse, neglect, 6
exploitation or abandonment, or is in need of protective services, shall, 7
not later than [seventy-two] twelve hours after such suspicion or belief 8
arose, report such information or cause a report to be made in any 9
reasonable manner to the Commissioner of Social Services or to the 10
person or persons designated by the commissioner to receive such 11
reports. Any mandatory reporter who fails for the first time to make 12
such report within the prescribed time shall [be fined not more than five 13
hundred dollars, except that, if] retake the elder abuse training and 14 Raised Bill No. 286
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provide the commissioner with proof of successful completion of such 15
training. Any mandatory reporter who subsequently fails to make such 16
report within the prescribed time period shall be fined not more than 17
five hundred dollars and shall retake the mandatory training on 18
detecting potential abuse, neglect, exploitation and abandonment of 19
elderly persons and provide the commissioner with proof of successful 20
completion of such training. If such person intentionally fails to make 21
such report within the prescribed time period, such person shall be 22
guilty of a class C misdemeanor for the first offense and a class A 23
misdemeanor for any subsequent offense. Any institution, organization, 24
agency or facility employing individuals to care for persons sixty years 25
of age or older shall provide mandatory training on detecting potential 26
abuse, neglect, exploitation and abandonment of such persons and 27
inform such employees of their obligations under this section. For 28
purposes of this subsection, "mandatory reporter" means any (1) 29
physician or surgeon licensed under the provisions of chapter 370, (2) 30
resident physician or intern in any hospital in this state, whether or not 31
so licensed, (3) registered nurse, (4) nursing home administrator, nurse's 32
aide or orderly in a nursing home facility or residential care home, (5) 33
person paid for caring for a resident in a nursing home facility or 34
residential care home, (6) staff person employed by a nursing home 35
facility or residential care home, (7) residents' advocate, other than a 36
representative of the Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman, as 37
established under section 17a-405, including the State Ombudsman, (8) 38
licensed practical nurse, medical examiner, dentist, optometrist, 39
chiropractor, podiatrist, social worker, clergyman, police officer, 40
pharmacist, psychologist or physical therapist, (9) person paid for 41
caring for an elderly person by any institution, organization, agency or 42
facility, including but not limited to, any employee of a community-43
based services provider, senior center, home care agency, homemaker 44
and companion agency, adult day care center, village-model 45
community and congregate housing facility, (10) person licensed or 46
certified as an emergency medical services provider pursuant to chapter 47
368d or 384d, including any such emergency medical services provider 48
who is a member of a municipal fire department, and (11) driver of a 49 Raised Bill No. 286
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paratransit vehicle, as defined in section 13b-38k. 50
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2022 17b-451(a)
Statement of Purpose:
To reduce the time period in which a mandatory reporter of suspected
abuse of an elderly person must report the abuse and modify the penalty
for failure to report.
[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.]