BILL NUMBER: S6773A

SPONSOR: CARLUCCI
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the social services law, in relation
to the duty of mandated reporters to report an incident when there are
multiple reporters with direct knowledge of such incident

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The purpose of this bill is to reduce duplicate alleged incident reports
made to the Justice Center by mandated reporters.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

This bill would discharge a mandated reporter from the statutory report-
ing obligation in circumstances where he or she knows that someone else
has already reported the same incident to the Vulnerable Persons'
Central Register and they have been named as a witness in the reported
incident. The bill would also prevent a mandated reporter from facing
any penalties or other consequences for failure to report an alleged
incident, as long as the provisions described above can be applied.
              

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Mandated reporters who are employed by a state agency which is monitored
by the Justice Center are statutorily required to report an allegation
of a reportable incident to the Justice Center Vulnerable Person's
Central Register (VPCR) upon the discovery of the incident.  The law
defines discovery as when the mandated reporter either directly observes
a reportable incident, or when he or she receives notice from another
person that gives the mandated reporter reasonable cause to suspect that
a reportable incident has occurred.  Additionally, the law provides for
penalties against a mandated reporter if they fail to report an alleged
reportable incident.  However, there is no provision in current law that
would relieve the mandated reporter from his or her duty to report an
incident if they have direct knowledge that someone else has already
reported the incident to the VPCR.

Although the multiple reporting statutes may assist in collecting
evidence related to an alleged reportable incident, it has been noted
that the process can place a tremendous burden on service providers and
their employees, and could hinder the ability of a service provider to
offer appropriate services and supports to individuals under their care.
In response to this concern, the Office of Mental Health (0MH) and the
Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) have adopted
regulatory changes to their incident reporting requirements which are
similar to this bill.

This bill would help to alleviate pressure related to the cumbersome
alleged incident reporting process and enhance the ability of provider
agencies to deliver services, by allowing a mandated reporter to refrain
from filing an alleged incident report if they know that an incident
report has been filed, and they have been identified as a person with
knowledge of the Incident in the incident report.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Undetermined

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately