Sec. 17a-412. (Formerly Sec. 17b-407). Report of suspected abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment. Penalty for failure to report. Confidentiality. Immunity and protection from retaliation. Notification requirements. Registry.

(a) Any physician or surgeon licensed under the provisions of chapter 370, any resident physician or intern in any hospital in this state, whether or not so licensed, and any registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, medical examiner, dentist, optometrist, chiropractor, podiatrist, social worker, clergyman, police officer, pharmacist, physical therapist, long-term care facility administrator, nurse's aide or orderly in a long-term care facility, any person paid for caring for a patient in a long-term care facility, any staff person employed by a long-term care facility and any person who is a sexual assault counselor or a domestic violence counselor as defined in section 52-146k who has reasonable cause to suspect or believe that a resident in a long-term care facility has been abused, neglected, exploited or abandoned, or is in a condition that is the result of such abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment, shall, not later than seventy-two 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 pursuant to chapter 319dd. Any person required to report under the provision of this section who fails to make such report within the prescribed time period shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, except that, 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.

(b) Such report shall contain the name and address of the long-term care facility, the name of the involved resident, 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 for the protection of the resident.

(c) Any other person having reasonable cause to believe that a resident in a long-term care facility is being, or has been, abused, neglected, exploited or abandoned, or any person who wishes to file any other complaint regarding a long-term care facility, shall report such information in accordance with subsection (b) of this section in any reasonable manner to the Commissioner of Social Services who shall inform the resident of the services of the Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman.

(d) Such report or complaint shall not be deemed a public record, and shall not be subject to the provisions of section 1-210. Information derived from such reports or complaints for which reasonable grounds are determined to exist after investigation as provided for in section 17a-413, including the identity of the long-term care facility, the number of complaints received, the number of complaints substantiated and the types of complaints, may be disclosed by the Commissioner of Social Services, except that in no case shall the name of the resident or the complainant be revealed, unless such person specifically requests such disclosure or unless a judicial proceeding results from such report or complaint. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section or section 17b-452, not later than twenty-four hours, or as soon as possible, after receiving a report pursuant to subsection (a) of this section concerning a resident of a long-term care facility, the commissioner shall notify such resident's guardian or conservator, if any, or legally liable relative or other responsible party. Such notification shall not be required when such guardian, conservator, legally liable relative or other responsible party is suspected of perpetrating the abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment that is the subject of the report. The commissioner shall obtain the contact information for such guardian, conservator, legally liable relative or other responsible party from the long-term care facility.

(e) Any person who makes a report or complaint pursuant to this section or who testifies in any administrative or judicial proceeding arising from the report shall be immune from any civil or criminal liability on account of such report or complaint or testimony, except for liability for perjury, unless such person acted in bad faith or with malicious purpose.

(f) Any person who is discharged or in any manner discriminated or retaliated against for making, in good faith, a report or complaint 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.

(g) The person filing a report or complaint pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be notified, in general terms, of the findings of any investigation conducted by the Commissioner of Social Services not later than forty-five days after completion of the investigation, provided: (1) The person who made such report was legally mandated to make such report, (2) the information is not otherwise privileged or confidential under state or federal law, (3) the names of the witnesses or other persons interviewed are kept confidential, and (4) the names of the person or persons suspected to be responsible for the abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment are not disclosed unless such person or persons have been arrested as a result of the investigation.

(h) The Commissioner of Social Services shall maintain a registry of the reports received, the investigations made, the findings and the actions recommended and taken.

(P.A. 77-575, S. 7, 23; P.A. 80-190, S. 5; 80-433; P.A. 84-546, S. 156, 173; P.A. 93-340, S. 5, 19; P.A. 99-102, S. 14; 99-176, S. 8, 24; P.A. 03-267, S. 1; P.A. 13-214, S. 9; P.A. 15-150, S. 1; P.A. 16-149, S. 4.)

History: P.A. 80-190 deleted reference to coroners in Subsec. (a); P.A. 80-433 expanded disclosure provisions in Subsec. (d); P.A. 84-546 made technical changes in Subsec. (a), substituting “licensed” for “registered” where appearing; Sec. 17-135h transferred to Sec. 17a-412 in 1991; P.A. 93-340 amended Subsec. (a) to add sexual assault counselors and battered women's counselors to list of persons required to report suspected patient abuse, effective July 1, 1993; Sec. 17a-412 transferred to Sec. 17b-407 in 1995; P.A. 99-102 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting obsolete reference to chapter 371 and osteopaths and made technical changes; P.A. 99-176 substituted “long-term care facility” for “nursing home facility”, amended Subsec. (a) to delete reporting requirement for regional ombudsmen and patients' advocates, and required reports to be made to the commissioner pursuant to chapter 319dd rather than the Nursing Home Ombudsmen Office, amended Subsec. (c) to require reports to be made to the commissioner rather than the Nursing Home Ombudsmen Office, and to require the commissioner to inform the resident of the services of the Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman, amended Subsec. (d) to substitute the commissioner for the State Ombudsman re disclosure, amended Subsec. (f) to substitute the commissioner for Nursing Home Ombudsmen Office re investigations, and amended Subsec. (g) to substitute the commissioner for the State Ombudsman re maintenance of a registry of reports, effective July 1, 1999; 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” and to make the penalty for intentionally failing to report within the prescribed time period a class C misdemeanor for the first offense and a class A misdemeanor for any subsequent offense, added new Subsec. (f) re remedies available to person who is discharged or in any manner discriminated or retaliated against for making a good faith report or complaint, redesignated existing Subsecs. (f) and (g) as Subsecs. (g) and (h), and made technical changes; P.A. 13-214 amended Subsec. (a) to substitute “domestic violence counselor” for “battered women's counselor”; Sec. 17b-407 transferred to Sec. 17a-412 in 2015; P.A. 15-150 amended Subsec. (d) by adding provision re notification of certain parties after receiving report pursuant to Subsec. (a); P.A. 16-149 amended Subsec. (g) to add provisions re notification to person filing report or complaint, in general terms, of findings of investigation not later than 45 days after completion of investigation in certain circumstances, effective July 1, 2016.

Notation

Annotation to former section 17b-407:

Cited. 242 C. 1.