PRINTER'S NO. 810
No. 749 Session of 1979
INTRODUCED BY WHITE, LETTERMAN, MRKONIC, HOEFFEL, SWEET,
GIAMMARCO, PERZEL, RICHARDSON, PRATT, F. J. LYNCH, BORSKI,
COHEN, MICHLOVIC, E. Z. TAYLOR, SALVATORE, DiCARLO, SHADDING,
WILLIAMS, RHODES, CESSAR, KUKOVICH AND SEVENTY,
MARCH 19, 1979
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND WELFARE, MARCH 19, 1979
AN ACT
1 Establishing protective services for the elderly and providing
2 procedures for reporting and investigating the needs of such
3 persons; placing duties on the Department of Aging and area
4 agencies on aging and providing penalties.
5 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
6 hereby enacts as follows:
7 Section 1. Short title.
8 This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Elderly
9 Protective Service Law."
10 Section 2. Findings and purpose.
11 It is the intent of this act to provide for a more complete
12 reporting of suspected abuse, neglect, exploitation and
13 incapacitation of the elderly and to establish in such area
14 agency on aging a protective service capable of investigating
15 such reports efficiently and competently, providing services for
16 the elderly to prevent possible future suffering.
17 Section 3. Definitions.
1 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
2 have, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the
3 meanings given to them in this section:
4 "Abused." Includes, but is not limited to, the willful
5 infliction of physical pain or mental anguish or the willful
6 deprivation by a caretaker of services which are necessary to
7 maintain physical and mental health.
8 "Area agency on aging." An area agency designated by the
9 department pursuant to section 2206-A, act of April 9, 1929
10 (P.L.177, No.175), known as "The Administrative Code of 1929."
11 "Department." The Department of Aging.
12 "Director." The Director of Protective Services, as
13 appointed by the department pursuant to section 10.
14 "Elderly person." A resident of Pennsylvania 60 years of age
15 or older.
16 "Emergency." An emergency exists when a person's behavior or
17 living conditions present a substantial risk of death or
18 immediate and irreparable physical injury to himself or to
19 others.
20 "Exploitation." The taking advantage of or the improper use
21 of an elderly person, labor, income or property by another.
22 "In need of protective services." An elderly person shall be
23 deemed in need of protective services if such person is unable
24 to perform or obtain services which are necessary to maintain
25 physical and mental health.
26 "Incapacitation." Includes, but is not limited to, the
27 inability to perform those daily tasks necessary to adequately
28 meet basic physical, health and management requirements of
29 everyday living.
30 "Neglect." The failure to provide needed care, services or
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1 supervision by persons possessing legal, social or contractual
2 responsibilities to meet such needs.
3 "Protective services." A system of service activities to
4 assist seriously impaired individuals who, because of mental or
5 physical dysfunction, are unable to carry out the activities of
6 daily living, manage their own resources or protect themselves
7 from neglect or hazardous situations without assistance from
8 others and have no one available who is willing and able to
9 assist them responsibly.
10 "Protective service unit." The unit set up within each area
11 agency on aging responsible for providing protective services to
12 all those needing such services, pursuant to section 8.
13 Section 4. Persons required to report.
14 (a) Required reporting.--Any person who, in the course of
15 their employment, occupation or practice of their profession
16 come into contact with the elderly shall be required to report
17 or cause a report to be made in accordance with section 8 when
18 they have reason to believe, on the basis of their medical,
19 professional or other training and experience, that the elderly
20 coming before them in their professional or official capacity is
21 an abused, neglected, exploited or incapacitated person.
22 (b) Optional reporting.--Any person having reasonable cause
23 to believe that an elderly person is in need of protective
24 services may also submit a report.
25 Section 5. Mandatory reporting and postmortem investigation of
26 deaths.
27 Any person or official required to report cases of suspected
28 elderly abuse, neglect, exploitation or incapacitation, who has
29 reasonable cause to suspect that such a person died as a result
30 of these cases shall report that fact to the coroner. The
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1 coroner shall accept the report for investigation and shall
2 report his finding to the police, the district attorney, the
3 appropriate protective service unit, and, if the report is made
4 by a hospital, to the hospital.
5 Section 6. Penalties for failure to report.
6 Any person or official required by this act to report a case
7 of suspected elderly abuse, neglect, exploitation or
8 incapacitation who willfully fails to do so shall, upon
9 conviction thereof, be guilty of a summary offense.
10 Section 7. Immunity.
11 Any person who makes any report pursuant to this act, or who
12 testifies in any administrative or judicial proceeding arising
13 from such report shall be immune from any civil or criminal
14 liability as a result of such report or testimony, except for
15 liability for perjury, or where such person acted in bad faith
16 or with malicious purpose.
17 Section 8. Reporting procedure.
18 (a) Form and time of report.--Reports of suspected elderly
19 abuse, neglect, exploitation or incapacitation from persons
20 required to report under section 4 shall be made either orally
21 or written immediately to the protective service unit.
22 (b) Contents.--Such report shall contain the name and
23 address of the involved elderly person, information regarding
24 the nature and extent of the abuse, neglect, exploitation or
25 incapacitation and any other information which the reporter
26 believes might be helpful in an investigation of the case and
27 the protection of such elderly person.
28 Section 9. Establishment of protective service units.
29 The department shall, within the guidelines of section 10,
30 establish a protective service unit to be located in each area
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1 agency on aging.
2 Section 10. Protective service unit.
3 (a) Reporting procedures.--The protective service unit shall
4 establish procedures for the reporting of suspected abuse,
5 neglect, exploitation or incapacitation.
6 (b) Visitation and assessment.--The protective service unit
7 shall upon receipt of this report visit the elderly person
8 within two to five days and submit an assessment to the director
9 pursuant to section 12 within ten days.
10 (c) Contents of assessment.--Such assessment shall include
11 at least the following:
12 (1) the name and address of the place where the person
13 is residing and of the person or agency, if any, who is
14 providing services at the present;
15 (2) a description of the treatment and services, if any,
16 presently being provided to the person;
17 (3) an assessment of the person's present physical,
18 mental and social condition; and
19 (4) an assessment of the person's future needs.
20 (d) Determination.--Upon assessment, the protective service
21 unit shall them determine whether or not the elderly person is
22 in need of protective services.
23 (e) Protective services.--If it is determined that the
24 elderly person is in need of such services, the protective
25 service unit shall then, with the assistance of the existing
26 appropriate social services, provide the elderly person with the
27 assessed treatment to alleviate present and prevent future
28 abuse, neglect, exploitation and incapacitation.
29 (f) Consent requirement.--The elderly person or legal
30 guardian must consent to the provision of these services.
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1 (g) Review upon termination.--The protective service unit
2 shall be responsible for following each case until its
3 termination and after 90 days a review and evaluation of the
4 case shall be made to the director.
5 (h) Emergency intervention.--When from the determination of
6 a protective service worker, physician or of a peace officer it
7 appears probable that an emergency exists, the peace officer and
8 protective services worker or physician accompanied by a peace
9 officer may remove and transport the person to a protective
10 facility if it is their determination that no protective service
11 other than removal is sufficient to alleviate the emergency.
12 (i) Emergency assessment.--Within 48 hours after removal,
13 the responsible protective service unit shall make a physical,
14 mental and social assessment of the person and, based thereon,
15 make a determination as to the need for further treatment or
16 provision of services. This assessment shall be submitted to the
17 director.
18 Section 11. Cooperation of social services.
19 (a) Responsibility.--The social services referred by the
20 protective service unit are responsible for cooperating with
21 that unit as far as they are capable in alleviation of the
22 elderly person's situation.
23 (b) Annual report.--The Secretary of Aging shall make an
24 annual public report to the General Assembly, indicating any
25 lack of cooperation in any public social service and the reasons
26 therefore, which shall include, if provided, a statement by the
27 social service agency.
28 Section 12. Director of Protective Services.
29 (a) Appointment and duties.--The department shall appoint a
30 Director of Protective Services, whose duties shall include, but
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1 not be limited to, the coordination of all protective service
2 units and receipt of all assessments and 90 day evaluations made
3 by the protective service units.
4 (b) Records and information.--All personal information and
5 records gathered for purposes of this act shall be kept
6 confidential and may not be released under any circumstances
7 without the written consent of the persons whom the information
8 concerns where they are competent and otherwise not without the
9 consent of their attorneys or an order of the court of common
10 pleas for good cause shown. Nothing herein contained shall
11 prohibit the disclosure of information required under applicable
12 laws and regulations.
13 (c) Report of director.--The director shall be responsible
14 for submitting an annual public report to the Secretary of Aging
15 evaluating the performance of the protective service units and
16 the cooperation of the social services used.
17 Section 13. Effective date.
18 This act shall take effect in 90 days.
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