Office of Sen.

Mike Johnston
Colorado General Assembly | 200 E. Colfax Avenue | Denver, CO 80203 | 303.866.4864

FACT SHEET MEMORANDUM

SB 12-078 Protections for At-Risk Adults Sen. Hudak & Rep. Schafer Staff Name: Quinn Girrens What the Bill Does: SB 12-078 provides new statutory definitions of at-risk adult, caretaker, county department, exploitation, and financial institution, and modifies the requirements concerning mistreatment, selfneglect, and exploitation of at-risk adults. The bill removes the requirement that a mandatory abuse reporter must file a written report within 48 hours of filing their oral report.1 The bill also requires that each county in Colorado complete a fingerprint criminal background check for each prospective employee who will have direct contact with any actual or potential at-risk adult, at the expense of the employee.2 Each Colorado Bureau Investigation fingerprint check costs $17.50.3 In addition to the statutory modifications, an At-Risk Adults Protective Services (APS) Task Force (12 members) will be created to serve and meet without compensation during the 2012 legislative interim.4 The manager of the Office of Adult Protection and Financial Assistance within the Department of Human Services will be the head of the task force and will appoint the other members, who will include longterm care providers and health care professionals as well as individuals from the legal community, law enforcement, banking and social services industries, and agencies of the state that service at-risk adults.5 The purpose of the task force is to study and report on issues relating to the treatment of atrisk adults and strategies for improving protections.6 Colorado Context: An at-risk adult is defined as an individual 18 years or older who is susceptible to mistreatment, selfneglect, or exploitation because he or she is unable to take care of their personal health, safety, welfare or lacks understanding or capacity to make or communicate responsible decisions regarding their wellbeing.7 Those with a duty to report abuse, neglect, or endangerment of an at-risk adult must make an oral report within 24 hours to a county department or local law enforcement.8 Those with a duty to report include medical personnel, dentists, social workers, law enforcement, court-appointed guardians, mental health professionals, etc.9 The reports are forwarded to the local law enforcement and district

Kerry White, Fiscal Note: SB12-078 (Jan. 27, 2012), available at http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2012a/csl.nsf/fsbillcont3/C7E6A06BCAC9246D87257981007E0771?Open&file=SB078_00.pdf 2 Id. 3 Id. 4 Id. 5 Id. 6 Id. 7 C.R.S. 26-3.1-101 8 C.R.S. 26-3.1-102 9 Id.

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attorneys office within 24 hours; if the report is falsely made, criminal prosecution ensues.10 These reports are protected from public knowledge, except when permitted by court authority, when a criminal prosecution ensues based on the report, or when the death of an at-risk adult is suspected to been caused by neglect, abuse, or exploitation.11 Each county in Colorado must have an At-Risk Adult Protection Team. The Department of Human Services outlines the rules governing each protection team and requirements for reporting.12 National Context: Each state in the nation, including the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, has a statutory law protecting and preventing at-risk adults from mistreatment, endangerment, and abuse.13 Generally, these APS laws establish a system for the reporting and investigation of elder abuse and for the provision of social services to help the victim and ameliorate the abuse. In most states, these laws pertain to abused adults who have a disability, vulnerability, or impairment as defined by state law, not just to older persons.14 States that require criminal background checks for individuals working with at-risk adults are: Pennsylvania, Vermont, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, and California.15 Pennsylvania requires that the background check costs no more than $10 and Missouri allows for the applicants to be reimbursed by their employer.16 Bill Provisions: Requires that each county department prospective employee who will have direct contact with at-risk adults complete a fingerprint-based criminal history records check utilizing records of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation Removes the requirement that a mandatory abuse reporter must file a written report within 48 hours of filing their oral report Creation of at-risk adult protection service task force, which will study: o Reporting of mistreatment, self-neglect, and exploitation of an at-risk adult to law enforcement and county departments o Provisions of protective services to at-risk adults by county departments Task force appointments must be made on or before June 15, 2012 and must submit written report of findings to joint health and human services committees on or before December 1, 2012 o All meetings of the task force are public
10 11 12

Id. Id. Colorado Department of Human Services: Rule Manual Vol.7 Program for the Protection of At-Risk Adults Unable to Protect Their Own Interests http://www.sos.state.co.us/CCR/Rule.do?deptID=9&deptName=500,2500%20Department%20of%20Human%20Services&agencyID=107&agen cyName=2509%20Social%20Services%20Rules%20(Volume%207;%20Atrisk%20Adults,%20Child%20Welfare,%20Child%20Care%20Facilities)&ccrDocID=2821&ccrDocName=12%20CCR%2025092%20RULE%20MANUAL%20VOLUME%207%20%20PROGRAM%20FOR%20THE%20PROTECTION%20OF%20ATRISK%20ADULTS%20UNABLE%20TO%20PROTECT%20THIER%20OWN%20INTERESTS%20(PROGRAM%20AREA%202)&subDocID=35786&subDoc Name=7.100%20%20%20%20PROGRAM%20AREA%202:%20PROTECTION%20OF%20ATRISK%20ADULTS%20UNABLE%20TO%20PROTECT%20THEIR%20OWN%20INTERESTS&version=5 13 National Center on Elder Abuse: Adult Protective Services, Institutional Abuse and Long Term Care Ombudsman Programs Laws by State http://www.ncea.aoa.gov/NCEAroot/Main_Site/Library/Laws/APS_IA_LTCOP_Citations_Chart_08-08.aspx 14 National Center on Elder Abuse: Information about Laws Related to Elder Abuse http://www.ncea.aoa.gov/Main_Site/Library/Laws/InfoAboutLaws_08_08.aspx 15 American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging for the National Center on Elder Abuse: Criminal Background Checks: Provisions and Citations in Adult Protective Services Laws, by State http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/aging/about/pdfs/criminal_background_checks_explanation_chart.authcheckdam.p df 16 Id.

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For a complete list of fact sheets, visit www.mikejohnston.org/in-the-legislature.

Public can solicit reports and testimony regarding presented issues

Fiscal Impact: There is no fiscal impact associated with this legislation at this time. The bill may minimally increase state revenue collected by Colorado Bureau of Investigations (CBI) for the required fingerprints.17 Any increase in workload because of processing additional CBI background checks or additional work for the task force is minimal and will not require additional state appropriations.18

17 18

See Kerry White Fiscal Note Id.

DRAFT 3/12/2012 8:15 AM

For a complete list of fact sheets, visit www.mikejohnston.org/in-the-legislature.