235B.16 - INFORMATION, EDUCATION, AND TRAINING REQUIREMENTS.

        235B.16  INFORMATION, EDUCATION, AND TRAINING
      REQUIREMENTS.
         1.  The department on aging, in cooperation with the department,
      shall conduct a public information and education program.  The
      elements and goals of the program include but are not limited to:
         a.  Informing the public regarding the laws governing
      dependent adult abuse and the reporting requirements for dependent
      adult abuse.
         b.  Providing caretakers with information regarding services
      to alleviate the emotional, psychological, physical, or financial
      stress associated with the caretaker and dependent adult
      relationship.
         c.  Affecting public attitudes regarding the role of a
      dependent adult in society.
         2.  The department, in cooperation with the department on aging
      and the department of inspections and appeals, shall institute a
      program of education and training for persons, including members of
      provider groups and family members, who may come in contact with
      dependent adult abuse.  The program shall include but is not limited
      to instruction regarding recognition of dependent adult abuse and the
      procedure for the reporting of suspected abuse.
         3.  The content of the continuing education required pursuant to
      chapter 272C for a licensed professional providing care or service to
      a dependent adult shall include, but is not limited to, the
      responsibilities, obligations, powers, and duties of a person
      regarding the reporting of suspected dependent adult abuse, and
      training to aid the professional in identifying instances of
      dependent adult abuse.
         4.  The department of inspections and appeals shall provide
      training to investigators regarding the collection and preservation
      of evidence in the case of suspected dependent adult abuse.
         5. a.  For the purposes of this subsection, "licensing
      board" means a board designated in section 147.13, the board of
      educational examiners created in section 272.2, or a licensing board
      as defined in section 272C.1.
         b.  A person required to report cases of dependent adult abuse
      pursuant to sections 235B.3 and 235E.2, other than a physician whose
      professional practice does not regularly involve providing primary
      health care to adults, shall complete two hours of training relating
      to the identification and reporting of dependent adult abuse within
      six months of initial employment or self-employment which involves
      the examination, attending, counseling, or treatment of adults on a
      regular basis.  Within one month of initial employment or
      self-employment, the person shall obtain a statement of the abuse
      reporting requirements from the person's employer or, if
      self-employed, from the department.  The person shall complete at
      least two hours of additional dependent adult abuse identification
      and reporting training every five years.
         c.  If the person is an employee of a hospital or similar
      public or private facility, the employer shall be responsible for
      providing the training.  To the extent that the employer provides
      approved training on the employer's premises, the hours of training
      completed by employees shall be included in the calculation of
      nursing or service hours required to be provided to a patient or
      resident per day.  If the person is self-employed, employed in a
      licensed or certified profession, or employed by a facility or
      program that is subject to licensure, regulation, or approval by a
      state agency, the person shall obtain the training as provided in
      paragraph "d".
         d.  The person may complete the initial or additional training
      requirements as a part of any of the following that are applicable to
      the person:
         (1)  A continuing education program required under chapter 272C
      and approved by the appropriate licensing board.
         (2)  A training program using a curriculum approved by the abuse
      education review panel established by the director of public health
      pursuant to section 135.11.
         (3)  A training program using such an approved curriculum offered
      by the department of human services, the department on aging, the
      department of inspections and appeals, the Iowa law enforcement
      academy, or a similar public agency.
         e.  A person required to complete both child abuse and
      dependent adult abuse mandatory reporter training may complete the
      training through a program which combines child abuse and dependent
      adult abuse curricula and thereby meet the training requirements of
      both this subsection and section 232.69 simultaneously.  A person who
      is a mandatory reporter for both child abuse and dependent adult
      abuse may satisfy the combined training requirements of this
      subsection and section 232.69 through completion of a two-hour
      training program, if the training program curriculum is approved by
      the appropriate licensing board or the abuse education review panel
      established by the director of public health pursuant to section
      135.11.
         f.  A licensing board with authority over the license of a
      person required to report cases of dependent adult abuse pursuant to
      sections 235B.3 and 235E.2 shall require as a condition of licensure
      that the person is in compliance with the requirements for abuse
      training under this subsection.  The licensing board shall require
      the person upon licensure renewal to accurately document for the
      licensing board the person's completion of the training requirements.
      However, the licensing board may adopt rules providing for waiver or
      suspension of the compliance requirements, if the waiver or
      suspension is in the public interest, applicable to a person who is
      engaged in active duty in the military service of this state or of
      the United States, to a person for whom compliance with the training
      requirements would impose a significant hardship, or to a person who
      is practicing a licensed profession outside this state or is
      otherwise subject to circumstances that would preclude the person
      from encountering dependent adult abuse in this state.
         g.  For persons required to report cases of dependent adult
      abuse pursuant to sections 235B.3 and 235E.2, who are not engaged in
      a licensed profession that is subject to the authority of a licensing
      board but are employed by a facility or program subject to licensure,
      registration, or approval by a state agency, the agency shall require
      as a condition of the renewal of the facility's or program's
      licensure, registration, or approval, that such persons employed by
      the facility or program are in compliance with the training
      requirements of this subsection.
         h.  For peace officers, the elected or appointed official
      designated as the head of the agency employing the peace officer
      shall ensure compliance with the training requirements of this
      subsection.
         i.  For persons required to report cases of dependent adult
      abuse pursuant to sections 235B.3 and 235E.2 who are employees of
      state departments and political subdivisions of the state, the
      department director or the chief administrator of the political
      subdivision shall ensure the persons' compliance with the training
      requirements of this subsection.
         6.  The department shall require an educational program for
      employees of the registry on the proper use and control of dependent
      adult abuse information.  
         Section History: Recent Form
         91 Acts, ch 231, § 14; 92 Acts, ch 1143, § 10; 92 Acts, ch 1163, §
      51; 2001 Acts, ch 122, §11; 2002 Acts, ch 1119, §35; 2007 Acts, ch
      10, §168--170; 2008 Acts, ch 1093, §10; 2009 Acts, ch 23, § 53, 54
         Referred to in § 235E.4