SB 807

Overview

This bill amends the Older Adults Protective Services Act to establish the Older Adult Abuse Registry, a system designed to document incidents of abuse, neglect, exploitation, or abandonment of older adults by employees in care facilities. The legislation creates a new chapter dedicated to the registry, which will be operated by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency in consultation with the Department of Aging and the Department of Health. The registry will maintain profiles and case files for individuals who are subjects of substantiated reports, pending investigations, terminations due to alleged abuse, or convictions for crimes against recipients.

The act also modifies existing reporting, confidentiality, and penalty provisions within the Older Adults Protective Services Act. It mandates that facilities and temporary health care services agencies access the registry prior to hiring and immediately upon employment to ensure they do not engage individuals with registry profiles. The bill includes specific definitions for crimes against recipients, establishes administrative and criminal penalties for non-compliance or retaliation, and outlines procedures for notifying individuals of their placement on the registry, including rights to administrative review and appeal.

Key Provisions

• Establishes the Older Adult Abuse Registry to be maintained by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, containing profiles for individuals identified as alleged or substantiated perpetrators of abuse, those under investigation, those terminated for abuse-related reasons, or those convicted of crimes against recipients.
• Requires facilities and temporary health care services agencies to access the registry before employing an individual and to check the registry status of current employees, prohibiting the employment of anyone with a registry profile.
• Mandates that facilities and agencies terminate employees immediately if criminal charges are filed against them and terminate employees upon discovering a registry profile.
• Creates a permanent case file accessible only by the Commission for individuals involved in protective services reports, substantiated reports, unsubstantiated reports, law enforcement reports, court records, or disciplinary actions.
• Specifies that profile content includes personal information (name, aliases, SSN digits, age, race, sex, address, job title, photograph) and notations regarding investigation status or false report findings.
• Requires mandatory reporting of new reports, disciplinary actions, arrests, or convictions to the Commission within 48 hours.
• Provides individuals with notice of registry placement within five days, the right to request administrative review within five days of notice, and the right to appeal placement within 90 days.
• Imposes civil penalties of up to $10,000 for facilities or administrators who fail to comply with the chapter or retaliate against employees, and criminal penalties for willful non-compliance.
• Establishes specific penalties for individuals on the registry who fail to update address information or provide false information, including fines and potential misdemeanor charges.
• Exempts the provisions of Chapter 9 from the Right-to-Know Law.
• Requires sentencing courts to inform individuals convicted of crimes against recipients of their appearance on the registry and obligations under the new chapter.