Sec. 17b-451. (Formerly Sec. 17a-431). Report of suspected abuse, neglect, exploitation, or abandonment or need for protective services. Penalty for failure to report. Immunity and protection from ret
Sec. 17b-451. (Formerly Sec. 17a-431). Report of suspected abuse, neglect, exploitation, or abandonment or need for protective services. Penalty for failure to
report. Immunity and protection from retaliation. (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, any registered nurse, any nursing home
administrator, nurse's aide or orderly in a nursing home facility, any person paid for
caring for a patient in a nursing home facility, any staff person employed by a nursing
home facility, any patients' advocate and any licensed practical nurse, medical examiner,
dentist, optometrist, chiropractor, podiatrist, social worker, clergyman, police officer,
pharmacist, psychologist or physical therapist, who has reasonable cause to suspect or
believe that any elderly person has been abused, neglected, exploited or abandoned, or
is in a condition which is the result of such abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment,
or is in need of protective services, 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 or to the person or persons
designated by the commissioner to receive such reports. Any person required to report
under the provisions 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 involved elderly person,
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 the protection of such elderly person.
(c) Any other person having reasonable cause to suspect or believe that an elderly
person is being, or has been, abused, neglected, exploited or abandoned, or who is in
need of protective services may report such information in any reasonable manner to
the commissioner or the commissioner's designee.
(d) Any person who makes any report pursuant to sections 17b-450 to 17b-461,
inclusive, or who testifies in any administrative or judicial proceeding arising from such
report shall be immune from any civil or criminal liability on account of such report or
testimony, except for liability for perjury, unless such person acted in bad faith or with
malicious purpose.
(e) Any person who is discharged or in any manner discriminated or retaliated
against for making, in good faith, a report 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.
(f) For the purposes of sections 17b-450 to 17b-461, inclusive, the treatment of any
elderly person by a Christian Science practitioner, in lieu of treatment by a licensed
practitioner of the healing arts, or the refusal of treatment by an elderly person for
religious reasons shall not of itself constitute grounds for the implementation of protective services.
(P.A. 77-613, S. 2, 15; P.A. 78-30; P.A. 80-190, S. 11; P.A. 84-546, S. 160, 173; P.A. 93-262, S. 1, 87; P.A. 99-101;
99-102, S. 15; P.A. 01-209, S. 1, 7; P.A. 03-267, S. 3; P.A. 04-257, S. 102.)
History: P.A. 78-30 added Subsec. (e) re treatment of elderly person by Christian Science practitioner; P.A. 80-190
removed coroners from list of those required to make report in Subsec. (a); P.A. 84-546 made technical changes, substituting
"licensed" for "registered" where appearing; Sec. 46a-15 transferred to Sec. 17a-431 in 1991; P.A. 93-262 authorized
substitution of commissioner and department of social services for commissioner and department on aging, effective July
1, 1993; Sec. 17a-431 transferred to Sec. 17b-451 in 1995; P.A. 99-101 amended Subsec. (a) to add psychologists to list
of professionals required to report suspected abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment of an elderly person; P.A. 99-102 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting obsolete reference to chapter 371 and osteopaths and making a technical change;
P.A. 01-209 amended Subsec. (c) to authorize report by any other person having reasonable cause to "suspect" abuse,
neglect, exploitation or abandonment and to make a technical change for the purpose of gender neutrality, effective July
1, 2001; 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", make penalty applicable to failing to make the report
"within the prescribed time period" and add provision that if the person intentionally fails to make the report within the
prescribed time period, the person shall be guilty of a class C misdemeanor for the first offense and a class A misdemeanor
for any subsequent offense, added new Subsec. (e) re remedies available to person who is discharged or in any manner
discriminated or retaliated against for making a good faith report, redesignated existing Subsec. (e) as Subsec. (f) and
amended said Subsec. to include "the refusal of treatment by an elderly person for religious reasons"; P.A. 04-257 made
a technical change in Subsec. (a), effective June 14, 2004.
See Sec. 17b-407 re required reporting of suspected abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment of residents in long-term care facilities.