§ 17b-451 — (Formerly Sec. 17a-431). Report of suspected abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment or need for protective services. Penalty for failure to report. Immunity and protection from retaliation. Training program.

Connecticut § 17b-451

• Jurisdiction: Connecticut
• Title 17b: Social Services
• Ch. 319dd: Protective Services for the Elderly

Text

(a) A mandatory reporter who has reasonable cause to suspect or believe that any elderly person has been abused, neglected, exploited or abandoned, or is in a condition that is the result of such abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment, or is in need of protective services, shall, not later than twenty-four hours after such suspicion or belief arose, report such information or cause a report to be made in any reasonable manner to the Commissioner of Social Services or to the person or persons designated by the commissioner to receive such reports. Any mandatory reporter who fails for the first time to make such report within the prescribed time shall retake the mandatory training on detecting potential abuse, neglect, exploitation and abandonment of elderly persons and provide the commissioner with proof of successful completion of such training. Any mandatory reporter who subsequently fails to make such report within the prescribed time period shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars and shall retake the mandatory training on detecting potential abuse, neglect, exploitation and abandonment of elderly persons and provide the commissioner with proof of successful completion of such training. If such person intentionally fails to make such report within the prescribed time period, such person shall be guilty of a class C misdemeanor for the first offense and a class A misdemeanor for any subsequent offense. Any institution, organization, agency or facility employing individuals to care for persons sixty years of age or older shall provide mandatory training on detecting potential abuse, neglect, exploitation and abandonment of such persons and inform such employees of their obligations under this section. For purposes of this subsection, “mandatory reporter” means any (1) physician or surgeon licensed under the provisions of chapter 370, (2) resident physician or intern in any hospital in this state, whether or not so licensed, (3) registered nurse, (4) nursing home administrator, nurse's aide or orderly in a nursing home facility or residential care home, (5) person paid for caring for a resident in a nursing home facility or residential care home, (6) staff person employed by a nursing home facility or residential care home, (7) residents' advocate, other than a representative of the Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman, as established under section 17a-870, including the State Ombudsman, (8) licensed practical nurse, medical examiner, dentist, optometrist, chiropractor, podiatrist, social worker, member of the clergy, police officer, pharmacist, psychologist or physical therapist, (9) person paid for caring for an elderly person by any institution, organization, agency or facility, including, but not limited to, any employee of a community-based services provider, senior center, home care agency, homemaker and companion agency, adult day care center, village-model community and congregate housing facility, (10) person licensed or certified as an emergency medical services provider pursuant to chapter 368d or 384d, including any such emergency medical services provider who is a member of a municipal fire department, (11) driver of a paratransit vehicle, as defined in section 13b-38k, (12) licensed professional counselor, (13) adult probation officer, (14) adult parole officer, (15) physician assistant, (16) dental hygienist, and (17) resident services coordinator, clinical care coordinator and manager employed by a housing authority or municipal developer operating an elderly housing project. (b) Such report shall contain the name and address of the involved elderly person, information regarding the nature and extent of the abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment, and any other information which the reporter believes might be helpful in an investigation of the case and the protection of such elderly person. (c) Any other person having reasonable cause to suspect or believe that an elderly person is being, or has been, abused, neglected, exploited or abandoned, or who is in need of protective services, may report such information in any reasonable manner to the commissioner or the commissioner's designee. (d) (1) Subject to subdivision (2) of this subsection, any person who makes any report pursuant to sections 17b-450 to 17b-461 , inclusive, or who testifies in any administrative or judicial proceeding arising from such report shall be immune from any civil or criminal liability on account of such report or testimony, except for liability for perjury. (2) Any person who makes any report pursuant to sections 17b-450 to 17b-461 , inclusive, is guilty of making a fraudulent or malicious report or providing false testimony when such person (A) wilfully makes a fraudulent or malicious report to the commissioner pursuant to the provisions of this section, (B) conspires with another person to make or cause to be made such report, or (C) wilfully testifies falsely in any administrative or judicial proceeding arising from such report as to the abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment of, or need of protective services for, an elderly person. Making a fraudulent or malicious report or providing false testimony is a class A misdemeanor. (e) Any person who is discharged or in any manner discriminated or retaliated against for making, in good faith, a report pursuant to this section shall be entitled to all remedies available under law including, but not limited to, remedies available under sections 19a-532 and 31-51m , as applicable. (f) For the purposes of sections 17b-450 to 17b-461 , inclusive, the treatment of any elderly person by a Christian Science practitioner, in lieu of treatment by a licensed practitioner of the healing arts, or the refusal of treatment by an elderly person for religious reasons shall not of itself constitute grounds for the implementation of protective services. (g) The Commissioner of Social Services shall develop an educational training program to promote and encourage the accurate and prompt identification and reporting of abuse, neglect, exploitation and abandonment of elderly persons. Such training program shall be made available on the Internet web site of the Department of Social Services to mandatory reporters and other interested persons. The commissioner shall also make such training available in person or otherwise at various times and locations throughout the state as determined by the commissioner. Except for a mandatory reporter who has received training from an institution, organization, agency or facility required to provide such training pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, a mandatory reporter shall complete the educational training program developed by the commissioner, or an alternate program approved by the commissioner, not later than June 30, 2023, or not later than ninety days after becoming a mandatory reporter. See Sec. 17a-412 re required reporting of suspected abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment of residents in long-term care facilities.

Legislative History

(P.A. 77-613, S. 2, 15; P.A. 78-30; P.A. 80-190, S. 11; P.A. 84-546, S. 160, 173; P.A. 93-262, S. 1, 87; P.A. 99-101; 99-102, S. 15; P.A. 01-209, S. 1, 7; P.A. 03-267, S. 3; P.A. 04-257, S. 102; P.A. 11-224, S. 1; P.A. 13-208, S. 26; 13-250, S. 4; P.A. 15-236, S. 2; 15-242, S. 9; P.A. 16-149, S. 2; P.A. 17-34, S. 1; P.A. 18-55, S. 2; P.A. 21-121, S. 31, 32; 21-122, S. 1; P.A. 22-57, S. 12; 22-58, S. 71; 22-145, S. 1; P.A. 23-168, S. 1; P.A. 24-35, S. 5.) History: P.A. 78-30 added Subsec. (e) re treatment of elderly person by Christian Science practitioner; P.A. 80-190 removed coroners from list of those required to make report in Subsec. (a); P.A. 84-546 made technical changes, substituting “licensed” for “registered” where appearing; Sec. 46a-15 transferred to Sec. 17a-431 in 1991; P.A. 93-262 authorized substitution of commissioner and department of social services for commissioner and department on aging, effective July 1, 1993; Sec. 17a-431 transferred to Sec. 17b-451 in 1995; P.A. 99-101 amended Subsec. (a) to add psychologists to list of professionals required to report suspected abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment of an elderly person; P.A. 99-102 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting obsolete reference to chapter 371 and osteopaths and making a technical change; P.A. 01-209 amended Subsec. (c) to authorize report by any other person having reasonable cause to “suspect” abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment and to make a technical change for the purpose of gender neutrality, effective July 1, 2001; P.A. 03-267 amended Subsec. (a) to require the report be made “not later than seventy-two hours after such suspicion or belief arose” rather than “within five calendar days”, make penalty applicable to failing to make the report “within the prescribed time period” and add provision that if the person intentionally fails to make the report within the prescribed time period, the person shall be guilty of a class C misdemeanor for the first offense and a class A misdemeanor for any subsequent offense, added new Subsec. (e) re remedies available to person who is discharged or in any manner discriminated or retaliated against for making a good faith report, redesignated existing Subsec. (e) as Subsec. (f) and amended said Subsec. to include “the refusal of treatment by an elderly person for religious reasons”; P.A. 04-257 made a technical change in Subsec. (a), effective June 14, 2004; P.A. 11-224 amended Subsec. (d) by designating existing provisions as Subdiv. (1) and amending same by adding provision making Subdiv. subject to Subdiv. (2) and deleting provision re person acting in bad faith or with malicious purpose, and by adding Subdiv. (2) re persons making fraudulent or malicious report or providing false testimony; P.A. 13-208 amended Subsec. (a) by adding references to residential care home and making a technical change, effective July 1, 2013; P.A. 13-250 amended Subsec. (a) to add provisions re reporting by any person paid for caring for an elderly person by any institution, organization, agency or facility, and to add provision re mandatory training, effective July 1, 2013; P.A. 15-236 amended Subsec. (a) by repositioning existing provisions re requirements of a mandatory reporter, designating existing provisions re list of mandatory reporters as Subdivs. (1) to (9), adding Subdiv. (10) re person licensed or certified as an emergency medical services provider, adding provision re training on detecting exploitation and abandonment and making technical changes; P.A. 15-242 made same changes as P.A. 15-236 and additionally defined “person paid for caring for an elderly person by any institution, organization, agency or facility”; P.A. 16-149 added Subsec. (g) re training program, effective July 1, 2016; P.A. 17-34 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing “patient” with “resident” in Subdiv. (5) and replacing “patients' advocate” with “residents' advocate, other than a representative of the Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman, as defined in section 17a-405, including the State Ombudsman” in Subdiv. (7), effective June 8, 2017; P.A. 18-55 amended Subsec. (a)(7) by replacing “defined in” with “established under”; P.A. 21-121 attempted to amend Subsec. (a)(8) by adding “behavior analyst” to the definition of “mandatory reporter” which was deleted by P.A. 21-122, made technical changes, and amended Subsec. (g) by replacing “mandated” with “mandatory”; P.A. 21-122 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting definition of “mandatory reporter”, adding new definition of “mandatory reporter” to end of Subsec., adding paratransit drivers to list of mandatory reporters and made technical changes, effective July 1, 2021; P.A. 22-57 amended Subsec. (g) by adding provision re mandatory reporters not yet trained by an institution, organization, agency or facility complete educational training by December 31, 2022, or within 90 days of becoming a mandatory reporter, effective May 23, 2022; P.A. 22-58 amended Subsec. (g) by replacing “December 31, 2022” with “June 30, 2023”, effective May 23, 2022; P.A. 22-145 amended Subsec. (a) by changing abuse reporting deadline from 72 to 24 hours, changing penalties for failure to report from up to a $500 fine to retaking mandatory training for a first offense and up to a $500 fine and retaking the mandatory training for subsequent offenses, effective July 1, 2022; P.A. 23-168 amended Subsec. (a) by adding Subdivs. (12) to (17) re additional mandatory reporters, effective July 1, 2023; P.A. 24-35 made a technical change in Subsec. (a), effective May 21, 2024. Public policy of protecting vulnerable patients embodied in this section and Sec. 19a-550 do not evince a legislative determination that skilled nursing home employee who failed to timely report suspected abuse of patient is necessarily unfit for continued employment, after application of the 4 factors a reviewing court should consider when evaluating claim that arbitration award reinstating terminated employee violates public policy. 316 C. 618.