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An Act To Strengthen Protections for Incapacitated and Dependent Adults from Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §3473, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2017, c. 402, Pt. C, §54 and affected by PL 2019, c. 417, Pt. B, §14, is further amended to read:
 
2. Reports.   The department shall:
 
A. Receive, promptly investigate and determine the validity of reports of alleged abuse, neglect or exploitation or the substantial risk of abuse, neglect or exploitation;
 
B. Take appropriate action, including providing or arranging for the provision of appropriate services and making referrals to law enforcement; and
 
C. Petition for guardianship or a protective order under Title 18-C, Article 5, when all less restrictive alternatives have been tried and have failed to protect the incapacitated adult.; and
 
D.  Establish and maintain an adult protective services registry of persons for whom there have been substantiated reports of abuse, neglect or exploitation of dependent adults or incapacitated adults pursuant to Title 34-B, section 5604-A. The department shall adopt routine technical rules to implement this paragraph pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
Sec. 2. 34-B MRSA §5604-A, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2011, c. 542, Pt. A, §128, is further amended to read:
 
2. Maintain reporting system.   The department shall maintain a reportable event and adult protective services system that provides for receiving reports of alleged incidents, prioritizing such reports, assigning reports for investigation by qualified investigators, reviewing the adequacy of the investigations, making recommendations for preventive and corrective actions as appropriate and substantiating allegations against individualscaretakers as defined in Title 22, section 3472, subsection 3; direct care workers as defined in Title 22, section 1812-G, subsection 1-B, paragraph D; certified nursing assistants as defined in Title 22, section 1812-G, subsection 1-B, paragraph B; and unlicensed assistive persons as defined in Title 22, section 1812-J, subsection 1, paragraph D who have been found under the Adult Protective Services Act to have abused, neglected or exploited persons with intellectual disabilities or autismdependent adults as defined in Title 22, section 3472, subsection 6 or incapacitated adults as defined in Title 22, section 3472, subsection 10. The department shall fully establish the reportable event and adult protective services system through rulemaking.
 
SUMMARY
This bill specifies the categories of care providers for whom the Department of Health and Human Services must maintain a reportable event and adult protective services system. This bill requires the department to establish and maintain an adult protective services registry of persons for whom there have been substantiated reports of abuse, neglect or exploitation of dependent adults or incapacitated adults. This bill changes current law, which limits registry entries to cases in which the person abused, neglected or exploited is an adult with an intellectual disability or autism, to instead limit registry entries to cases involving incapacitated adults and dependent adults.