SECTIONS 15640 - California Statutes

WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE

SECTION 15640

15640. (a) (1) An adult protective services agency shall
immediately, or as soon as practically possible, report by telephone
to the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the case any
known or suspected instance of criminal activity, and to any public
agency given responsibility for investigation in that jurisdiction of
cases of elder and dependent adult abuse, every known or suspected
instance of abuse pursuant to Section 15630 or 15630.1 of an elder or
dependent adult. A county adult protective services agency shall
also send a written report thereof within two working days of
receiving the information concerning the incident to each agency to
which it is required to make a telephone report under this
subdivision. Prior to making any cross-report of allegations of
financial abuse to law enforcement agencies, an adult protective
services agency shall first determine whether there is reasonable
suspicion of any criminal activity.
(2) If an adult protective services agency receives a report of
abuse alleged to have occurred in a long-term care facility, that
adult protective services agency shall immediately inform the person
making the report that he or she is required to make the report to
the long-term care ombudsman program or to a local law enforcement
agency. The adult protective services agency shall not accept the
report by telephone but shall forward any written report received to
the long-term care ombudsman.
(b) If an adult protective services agency or local law
enforcement agency or ombudsman program receiving a report of known
or suspected elder or dependent adult abuse determines, pursuant to
its investigation, that the abuse is being committed by a health
practitioner licensed under Division 2 (commencing with Section 500)
of the Business and Professions Code, or any related initiative act,
or by a person purporting to be a licensee, the adult protective
services agency or local law enforcement agency or ombudsman program
shall immediately, or as soon as practically possible, report this
information to the appropriate licensing agency. The licensing agency
shall investigate the report in light of the potential for physical
harm. The transmittal of information to the appropriate licensing
agency shall not relieve the adult protective services agency or
local law enforcement agency or ombudsman program of the
responsibility to continue its own investigation as required under
applicable provisions of law. The information reported pursuant to
this paragraph shall remain confidential and shall not be disclosed.
(c) A local law enforcement agency shall immediately, or as soon
as practically possible, report by telephone to the long-term care
ombudsman program when the abuse is alleged to have occurred in a
long-term care facility or to the county adult protective services
agency when it is alleged to have occurred anywhere else, and to the
agency given responsibility for the investigation of cases of elder
and dependent adult abuse every known or suspected instance of abuse
of an elder or dependent adult. A local law enforcement agency shall
also send a written report thereof within two working days of
receiving the information concerning the incident to any agency to
which it is required to make a telephone report under this
subdivision.
(d) A long-term care ombudsman coordinator may report the instance
of abuse to the county adult protective services agency or to the
local law enforcement agency for assistance in the investigation of
the abuse if the victim gives his or her consent. A long-term care
ombudsman program and the Licensing and Certification Division of the
State Department of Health Services shall immediately report by
telephone and in writing within two working days to the bureau any
instance of neglect occurring in a health care facility, that has
seriously harmed any patient or reasonably appears to present a
serious threat to the health or physical well-being of a patient in
that facility. If a victim or potential victim of the neglect
withholds consent to being identified in that report, the report
shall contain circumstantial information about the neglect but shall
not identify that victim or potential victim and the bureau and the
reporting agency shall maintain the confidentiality of the report
until the report becomes a matter of public record.
(e) When a county adult protective services agency, a long-term
care ombudsman program, or a local law enforcement agency receives a
report of abuse, neglect, or abandonment of an elder or dependent
adult alleged to have occurred in a long-term care facility, that
county adult protective services agency, long-term care ombudsman
coordinator, or local law enforcement agency shall report the
incident to the licensing agency by telephone as soon as possible.
(f) County adult protective services agencies, long-term care
ombudsman programs, and local law enforcement agencies shall report
the results of their investigations of referrals or reports of abuse
to the respective referring or reporting agencies.
(g) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2013, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2013, deletes or extends
that date.