Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 14 of chapter 19A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1986 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the definition of "Geriatric evaluation process".

SECTION 2. Subsection (a) of section 15 of said chapter 19A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- Any physician, a medical intern, dentist, nurse, family counselor, probation officer, social worker, policeman, firefighter, emergency medical technician, licensed psychologist, coroner, registered physical therapist, registered occupational therapist, osteopath, podiatrist, executive director of a licensed home health agency or executive director of a homemaker service agency who has reasonable cause to believe that an elderly person is suffering from or has died as a result of abuse, shall immediately make a verbal report of such information or cause a report to be made to the department or its designated agency and shall within forty-eight hours make a written report to the department or its designated agency.

SECTION 3. Said section 15 of said chapter 19A, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out subsection (d) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-

(d) No person required to report pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) shall be liable in any civil or criminal action by reason of such report; provided, however, that such person did not perpetrate, inflict or cause said abuse. No other person making such a report pursuant to the provisions of subsection (b) or (c) shall be liable in any civil or criminal action by reason of such report if it was made in good faith; provided, however, that such person did not perpetrate, inflict or cause said abuse. Any person making a report under subsection (a), (b) or (c) who, in the determination of the department or the district attorney may have perpetrated, inflicted or caused said abuse may be liable in a civil or criminal action by reason of such report. No employer or supervisor may discharge, demote, transfer, reduce pay, benefits or work privileges, prepare a negative work performance evaluation, or take any other action detrimental to an employee or supervisee who files a report in accordance with the provisions of this section by reason of such report.

SECTION 4. Said section 15 of said chapter 19A, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the following subsection:-

(f) Any privilege established by section one hundred and thirty-five of chapter one hundred and twelve or section twenty B of chapter two hundred and thirty-three relating to the exclusion of confidential communications shall not prohibit the filing of a report pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a), (b) or (c).

SECTION 5. Subsection (b) of section 16 of said chapter 19A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the second sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- If the department or its designated agency has reasonable cause to believe that an elderly person has died as a result of abuse, the death shall be reported immediately to the district attorney of the county in which the abuse occurred.

SECTION 6. Subsection (a) of section 18 of said chapter 19A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the fifth paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

If an assessment results in a determination that the elderly person has suffered serious abuse, the department or designated agency shall report such determination to the district attorney of the county where the abuse occurred within forty-eight hours. The district attorney may investigate and decide whether to initiate criminal proceedings.

SECTION 7. Said section 18 of said chapter 19A, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out subsection (b) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-

(b) The department or the designated agency shall provide or arrange for protective services in accordance with the service plan developed pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a). Protective services shall include, but not be limited to, the following: the capacity to respond to an emergency; protective services case work; the capacity to provide or arrange for a homemaker, home-health aide, transportation, legal assistance, counseling, nutrition services, guardianship and conservatorship, protective order through the court, emergency shelter, foster care, and adult day care services.

The department or the designated agency is authorized to arrange for additional services necessary to assist and protect elderly persons who have been abused, including, but not limited to, the following: medical care, mental health care and emergency financial assistance.

SECTION 8. Subsection (a) of section 20 of said chapter 19A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the seventh and eighth sentences and inserting in place thereof the following two sentences:- If the court determines that the elderly person lacks the capacity to retain counsel or waive the right to counsel, the court shall appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the interests of such elderly person. If, after hearing, the court determines, based on the preponderance of the evidence, that such elderly person has been abused, is in need of protective services and lacks the capacity to consent and no other person who is authorized to consent is available or willing to consent, the court may appoint a conservator, guardian or other person authorized to consent to the provision of protective services; provided, however, that the court shall establish the least restrictive form of fiduciary representation that will satisfy the needs of such elderly person.

SECTION 9. Said subsection (a) of said section 20 of said chapter 19A, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the following three sentences:- An order for protective services for an elderly person pursuant to this subsection shall remain in effect for a period of six months, unless otherwise stipulated in such order. The court may, for good cause shown, extend an order for protective services. Such extension shall remain in effect for a period of six months, unless otherwise stipulated in such order.

SECTION 10. Subsection (b) of said section 20 of said chapter 19A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh sentences and inserting in place thereof the following six sentences:- If the elderly person who is the subject of the petition is indigent, the court shall appoint counsel to represent such elderly person. If after the hearing, the court determines, based on the preponderance of the evidence, that the elderly person has been or is being abused, that an emergency exists, and that the elderly person lacks the capacity to consent to the provision of services, the court may order the provision of protective services on an emergency basis. The court shall order only those services necessary to remove the conditions creating the emergency and shall specially designate the authorized services in its order. If the court determines that the elderly person lacks the capacity to retain counsel or waive the right to counsel, the court shall appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the interest of such elderly person following the entry of such emergency order. The order for emergency protective services shall remain in effect for a period not to exceed fourteen days. Said order may be extended for an additional period not to exceed fourteen days if the court finds that the extension is necessary to remove the emergency.

SECTION 11. Section 23 of said chapter 19A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following subsection:-

(e) No provision of chapter sixty-six A, section one hundred and thirty-five of chapter one hundred and twelve or this section relating to confidential data or confidential communications shall prohibit the department or designated agency from making reports to the district attorney under subsection (b) of section sixteen or subsection (a) of section eighteen, or from providing in such reports to the district attorney any information obtained by the department or a designated agency under section fifteen or section eighteen. No person providing notification or information to a district attorney or testimony in court pursuant to the provisions of this subsection shall be liable in any civil or criminal act by reason of such action.

Nothing herein shall be construed to limit the prosecutorial power of a district attorney.

No provision of chapter sixty-six A, section one hundred and thirty-five of chapter one hundred and twelve, or any other provision of law relating to confidential data or confidential communications shall prohibit the department, by its appropriate employees, or any designated protective services agency, by its appropriate employees from testifying in any judicial proceeding pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of section twenty, chapter two hundred and one, or chapter two hundred and nine A where the employee has acquired the information which is the subject of his testimony while conducting an assessment in accordance with section eighteen. Such testimony shall not include the identity of the reporter of abuse under section fifteen.

SECTION 12. Clause (f) of the first paragraph of section 135 of chapter 112 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 32, the word "nineteen." and inserting in place thereof the following:- nineteen;

(g) where the social worker has acquired the information while acting as an elder protective services worker for a designated protective services agency as defined in section fourteen of chapter nineteen A and has acquired the information while conducting an assessment in accordance with section eighteen of said chapter nineteen A.