§ 492 — Vulnerable persons' central register

§ 492. Vulnerable persons' central register. 1. There shall be\nestablished in the justice center a statewide vulnerable persons'\ncentral register. The register shall: (a) receive reports of allegations\nof reportable incidents involving persons receiving services in\nfacilities or provider agencies subject to the requirements of this\narticle; (b) as warranted, refer reports alleging crimes to appropriate\nlaw enforcement authorities; (c) notify appropriate persons and\nofficials of received and accepted reports; and (d) maintain an\nelectronic database of each report and the finding associated with each\nreport. In accordance with this section, the executive director shall\nestablish standards and procedures for the operation of the vulnerable\npersons' central register.\n 2. (a) The vulnerable persons' central register shall be staffed by\npersons with at least a baccalaureate or equivalent college degree in a\nrelevant field of study or at least two years of experience in the\ndirect provision of services, adult or child protective services, and\nany other qualifications identified by the executive director. Direct\nservice provision shall include the care, investigation, assessment,\ntreatment, or case planning for persons in facilities or programs\ncovered by this article or equivalent facilities or programs. Vulnerable\npersons' central register staff also shall have access to appropriate\nlaw enforcement officers or others with law enforcement experience who\nshall assist in screening reports that appear to allege criminal\noffenses and help refer reports, as warranted, to appropriate law\nenforcement authorities.\n (b) The vulnerable persons' central register shall receive reports of\nallegations of reportable incidents twenty-four hours per day, seven\ndays a week. Mandated reporters shall make such reports in accordance\nwith section four hundred ninety-one of this article; provided, however,\nany person who has reasonable cause to suspect that a person receiving\nservices has been subjected to a reportable incident may make such a\nreport. In no event shall a report by a mandated reporter to the\nvulnerable persons' central register eliminate the obligation of a\nmandated reporter to report incidents in accordance with the applicable\nlaws, regulations and policy of the applicable state oversight agency.\n (c) Reports of allegations of reportable incidents shall be submitted,\nby a statewide, toll-free telephone number (a "hotline") or by\nelectronic transmission, in a manner and on forms prescribed by the\nexecutive director. The information required on the reporting form shall\ninclude but is not limited to: the name and contact information of the\nperson or persons making the report, if available, and, if the report is\nmade by a custodian, any other staff who have the same information; the\nname and address of the facility or provider agency; the date, time,\nspecific location and description of the incident; the name and contact\ninformation of the subject of the reportable incident, if known; the\nname of the vulnerable person alleged to have been subjected to a\nreportable incident; the names of personal representatives for the\nvulnerable person who is alleged to have been subjected to a reportable\nincident, if known; and any other information or documentation that the\nexecutive director believes may be helpful. The inability of a person\nmaking a report to identify a subject shall, in no circumstance,\nconstitute cause to reject such allegation for investigation or to fail\nto refer such allegation for corrective action. The hotline shall accept\nanonymous calls.\n 3. (a) When any allegation that could reasonably constitute a\nreportable incident is received by the register, the register shall\naccept and immediately transmit notice of the report orally or\nelectronically to the appropriate state oversight agency and, as\nappropriate, to the director or operator of that facility or provider\nagency.\n (b) Whenever a telephone call or electronic transmission to the\nvulnerable persons' central register alleges an act or circumstances\nthat may constitute a criminal offense or an immediate threat to a\nvulnerable person's health, safety or welfare, the register shall\nconvey, by the most expedient means available, the information contained\nin such call or transmission to the appropriate law enforcement agency\nor district attorney and, to the extent necessary, the appropriate\nemergency responder, and the state oversight agency.\n (c) The justice center is responsible for commencing an investigation\nof all allegations of reportable incidents that are accepted by the\nvulnerable persons' central register. With respect to such an\ninvestigation, the justice center shall:\n (i) upon acceptance of a report of a reportable incident by the\nvulnerable persons' central register, promptly commence an appropriate\ninvestigation;\n (ii) take all appropriate measures to protect the life and health of\nthe person who is the alleged victim of a reportable incident, which may\ninclude working with the state oversight agency to take immediate steps\nto remove the vulnerable person from his or her current facility or\nprogram or to remove or suspend a subject from a facility or program,\nsubject to any applicable collective bargaining agreement, if the\njustice center has reasonable cause to believe that the circumstances or\ncondition of the vulnerable person are such that continuing the\nvulnerable person in his or her place of residence or program, or that\ncontinuing such subject in his or her current facility or program,\npresents an imminent danger to the vulnerable person's life or health;\n (iii) determine whether the subject of the report is currently the\nsubject of an open or substantiated report in the vulnerable persons'\ncentral register;\n (iv) contact the statewide central register of child abuse and\nmaltreatment to determine whether the subject of the report has been or\nis currently the subject of an indicated child abuse and maltreatment\nreport on file with the statewide central register of child abuse and\nmaltreatment;\n (v) if it is discovered that the subject of a report has one or more\nsubstantiated reports of abuse or neglect or indicated reports of child\nabuse or maltreatment in the statewide central register of child abuse\nand maltreatment and an investigation was or investigations were\nconducted by a different state agency, or a local child protective\nservice, contact all known agencies or services who investigated such\nprevious report or reports to obtain information on such reports in\naccordance with section four hundred ninety-six of this article;\n (vi) notify the personal representative of the person alleged to have\nbeen abused or neglected and, except in the case of a criminal\ninvestigation, or if the executive director or his or her designee\ndetermines that doing so would interfere with any ongoing investigation,\nnotify the subject or subjects of the report and any other persons named\nin the report in writing of the existence of the report; provided,\nhowever, that such notification may be limited in accordance with\nsubdivision (c) of section 33.16 of the mental hygiene law;\n (vii) if a report of a reportable incident to the vulnerable persons'\ncentral register involves the death of a person, the justice center\nshall give telephone notice and immediately send a copy of the report to\nthe appropriate district attorney and to the medical examiner or\ncoroner. The medical examiner or coroner shall conduct a prompt\ninvestigation and shall forward a preliminary written report of his or\nher findings within sixty days of the date of death, absent\nextraordinary circumstances, and his or her final written report\npromptly, absent extraordinary circumstances, to the appropriate\ndistrict attorney, the appropriate law enforcement official, the state\nagency responsible for overseeing the investigation, the justice center\nmedical review board and, if the death occurred in a hospital, the\nhospital;\n (viii) submit reportable incident findings to the vulnerable persons'\ncentral register in accordance with section four hundred ninety-three of\nthis article;\n (ix) notify the applicable state oversight agency and the director or\noperator, where appropriate, to develop a plan of prevention or\nremediation that the facility or program must implement in response to\nthe report's findings which must be approved and its implementation\nmonitored by the justice center or the state oversight agency, as\nappropriate; and\n (x) refer suspected cases of falsely reporting abuse or neglect in\nviolation of subdivision four of section 240.50 of the penal law to the\nappropriate law enforcement agency or district attorney for\ninvestigation and prosecution.\n (d) Whenever a telephone call or electronic transmission to the\nvulnerable persons' central register cannot be accepted as a report, but\nthe information provided alleges other potential wrongdoing at a\nfacility or provider agency, the register shall forward the report to\nthe applicable state oversight agency for investigation and protective\nactions, as needed, pursuant to section four hundred ninety-one of this\narticle.\n 4. The justice center shall maintain and keep up-to-date records of\nall incidents reported, together with any additional information\nobtained during an investigation of such a report and a record of the\nfinal disposition of the report.\n 5. The vulnerable persons' central register shall maintain an\nelectronic database of all accepted reports of reportable incidents.\nState oversight agencies shall have access to information in the\ndatabase, limited to cases involving facilities or provider agencies\nunder their jurisdiction.\n (a) A unique identifier shall be assigned to each report by the\nvulnerable persons' central register.\n (b) The register shall include the following information for each\nreport: a record of the final disposition of the report; the names and\nidentifying data; dates and circumstances of any person requesting or\nreceiving information from the register; whether the person making the\nreport authorized the disclosure of his or her name and personally\nidentifiable information; and any other information that the executive\ndirector, in consultation with the commissioners of the state oversight\nagencies covered by this article, identifies as furthering the purposes\nof this article and complying with state and federal regulations\nregarding the security and confidentiality of individually identifying\nhealth information.\n 6. The justice center shall review such electronic database to\nidentify incident patterns and trends, and implement preventive and\ncorrective actions, and to identify patterns and trends in the reporting\nand response to allegations of reportable incidents and develop plans of\nimprovement based on such reviews.\n 7. (a) General information about the existence and purposes of the\nvulnerable persons' central register and how to make a report to the\nregister shall be made available on the website of the justice center,\nwith links to such information provided on the websites of each of the\nstate oversight agencies covered by this article.\n (b) The justice center, in collaboration with the state oversight\nagencies covered by this article, shall develop and widely distribute\nwritten information explaining the reporting requirements and processes\nconsistent with this article. In addition, upon a vulnerable person's\ncommencement of the receipt of services by a facility or a provider\nagency, personal representatives shall be provided with such\ninformation, and such information shall be made available upon request\nto any person.\n (c) The justice center, in collaboration with the state agencies\noperating, licensing or certifying facilities or the provider agencies\ncovered by this article, shall provide mandated reporters with written\ninformation explaining the reporting requirements in accordance with\nthis article.\n (d) The justice center shall develop and implement programs to\npublicly recognize and value the contributions of reporters of\nallegations of reportable incidents whose actions prompt corrections and\nimprovements in the service system; provided, however, that the name and\nother personally identifiable information of such reporter shall not be\nshared unless such person authorizes disclosure.\n 8. In a case where a subject of a report of alleged abuse or neglect\nresigns from his or her position or is terminated while under\ninvestigation, the state operating agency or the applicable facility or\nprovider agency shall promptly report such resignation or termination to\nthe justice center. The investigation of the report shall continue\ndespite the resignation or termination of such subject.\n