235B.16A - DEPENDENT ADULTS -- DEPENDENCY ASSESSMENTS -- INTERAGENCY TRAINING.
235B.16A DEPENDENT ADULTS -- DEPENDENCY ASSESSMENTS
-- INTERAGENCY TRAINING.
1. The dependent adult protective advisory council established
pursuant to section 235B.1 shall recommend a uniform assessment
instrument and process for adoption and use by the department of
human services and other agencies involved with assessing a dependent
adult's degree of dependency and determining whether dependent adult
abuse has occurred. However, this section shall not apply to
dependent adult abuse assessments and determinations made under
chapter 235E.
2. The instrument and process design under subsection 1 shall
address but is not limited to all of the following:
a. Evaluation of conformity with applicable federal law and
regulations on the part of the persons employing, housing, or
providing services to the dependent adult.
b. Provision for the final step in the dependency assessment
of a dependent adult to be a formal assessment of the existence of
risk to the health or safety of the individual or of the degree of
the individual's impairment in ability under the definition of
dependent adult in section 235B.2.
c. If the assessment under paragraph "b" determines that
a risk to the health or safety of the individual exists or the
individual has a significant impairment in ability, and the
individual being assessed agrees, provision for a case manager to be
assigned to assist in preparing and implementing a safety plan which
includes protective services for the individual.
d. If the assessment under paragraph "b" determines that
a risk to the health or safety of the individual exists or the
individual has a significant impairment in ability, the individual
being assessed does not agree to the safety plan provisions under
paragraph "c" or accept other services, and the options available
under sections 235B.17, 235B.18, and 235B.19 are not utilized,
provision for the department of human services to maintain periodic
contact with the individual in accordance with rules adopted for this
purpose. The purpose of the contact is to assess any increased risk
or impairment and to monitor the individual's goals, feelings, and
concerns so that the department can intervene when necessary or offer
services and other support to maintain or sustain the individual's
safety and independence when the individual is ready to agree to a
safety plan or accept services.
3. The department of human services and other agencies involved
with assessing a dependent adult's degree of dependency and whether
dependent adult abuse has occurred shall adopt rules and take other
steps necessary to implement the uniform assessment instrument and
process addressed by this section on or before July 1, 2010.
4. The department of human services shall cooperate with the
departments of elder affairs, inspections and appeals, public health,
public safety, and workforce development, the civil rights
commission, and other state and local agencies performing inspections
or otherwise visiting residential settings where dependent adults
live, to regularly provide training to the appropriate staff in the
agencies concerning each agency's procedures involving dependent
adults, and to build awareness concerning dependent adults and
reporting of dependent adult abuse. Section History: Recent Form
2009 Acts, ch 136, §9
Referred to in § 235E.4