§ 491 — Duty to report incidents

§ 491. Duty to report incidents. 1. (a) Mandated reporters shall\nreport allegations of reportable incidents to the vulnerable persons'\ncentral register as established by section four hundred ninety-two of\nthis article and in accordance with the requirements set forth therein.\n (b) Allegations of reportable incidents shall be reported immediately\nto the vulnerable persons' central register upon discovery. For purposes\nof this article, "discovery" occurs when the mandated reporter witnesses\na suspected reportable incident or when another person, including the\nvulnerable person, comes before the mandated reporter in the mandated\nreporter's professional or official capacity and provides the mandated\nreporter with reasonable cause to suspect that the vulnerable person has\nbeen subjected to a reportable incident. A report to the register shall\ninclude the name, title and contact information of every person known to\nthe mandated reporter to have the same information as the mandated\nreporter concerning the reportable incident. Nothing in this subdivision\nshall be construed to prohibit a mandated reporter from contacting or\nreporting to law enforcement or emergency services before or after\nreporting to the vulnerable persons' central register.\n (c) The substance or content of any psychological, psychiatric,\ntherapeutic, clinical or medical reports, evaluations or like materials\nor information pertaining to the treatment of a patient or client of a\nmandatory reporter who reports a reportable incident of such patient or\nclient pursuant to this article, must be provided by such mandatory\nreporter upon request of the justice center for the protection of people\nwith special needs if such records are essential for a full\ninvestigation of such allegation, notwithstanding any applicable\nprivilege which would otherwise bar the disclosure of such materials and\nrecords pursuant to article forty-five of the civil practice law and\nrules or other provision of law except applicable federal law governing\nthe disclosure of patient and related medical records.\n (d) Every mandated reporter is required to make a report to the\nregister as outlined in paragraph (b) of this subdivision unless (i) the\nreporter has actual knowledge that the reportable incident has been\nreported to the register; and (ii) that the reporter has been named as a\nperson with knowledge of the incident in such prior report.\n 2. Any person or official required to report allegations of reportable\nincidents pursuant to this section may take or cause to be taken color\nphotographs of visible trauma and the face of the vulnerable person\nnamed in the report and upon the consent of a person authorized to\nconsent to medical care for the vulnerable person, shall, if medically\nindicated, cause to be performed a radiological examination of the\nvulnerable person. Any photographs or radiological examinations taken\nshall be provided to the justice center for use only for the purposes of\nan investigation of a reportable incident.\n 3. (a) Any human services professional required by this article to\nreport a case of suspected abuse or neglect to the vulnerable persons'\ncentral register who knowingly and willfully fails to do so shall be\nguilty of a class A misdemeanor.\n (b) A mandated reporter who knowingly and willfully fails to report a\ncase of suspected abuse or neglect to the vulnerable persons' central\nregister may be subject to termination, subject to any applicable\ncollective bargaining agreement. Any person or official required by this\narticle to report a case of suspected abuse or neglect to the vulnerable\npersons' central register who knowingly and willfully fails to do so\nshall be civilly liable for the damages proximately caused by such\nfailure.\n 4. A medical or other public or private institution, state agency,\nschool, facility or provider agency or its vendors or contractors shall\nnot take any retaliatory personnel action, as such term is defined in\nparagraph (e) of subdivision one of section seven hundred forty of the\nlabor law, against an employee or agent or vendor or contractor because\nsuch employee or agent or vendor or contractor believes that he or she\nhas reasonable cause to suspect that a vulnerable person has been\nsubjected to a reportable incident and that employee or agent or vendor\nor contractor therefore makes a report in accordance with this section\nand/or cooperated with the investigation of a reportable incident. A\ncourt of competent jurisdiction may grant injunctive relief to any\nperson determined to have been subjected to such retaliation.\n 5. State oversight agencies shall ensure that all facilities or\nprovider agencies operated, licensed, or certified by such state\noversight agencies have policies and procedures in place to identify and\nreport possible crimes against a service recipient by a custodian. State\noversight agencies shall provide guidance to facilities or provider\nagencies operated, licensed, or certified by such state oversight\nagencies that do not already have policies and procedures for the\nidentification and reporting of possible crimes.\n