WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE Section 15630.
(a) Any person who has assumed full or intermittent responsibility for care or custody of an elder or dependent adult,
whether or not that person receives compensation, including administrators, supervisors, and any licensed staff of a public or
private facility that provides care or services for elder or dependent adults, or any elder or dependent adult care custodian,
health practitioner, or employee of a county adult protective services agency or a local law enforcement agency is a mandated
reporter.
(b) (1) Any mandated reporter, who, in his or her professional capacity, or within the scope of his or her employment, has observed
or has knowledge of an incident that reasonably appears to be physical abuse, abandonment, isolation, financial abuse, or neglect,
or is told by an elder or dependent adult that he or she has experienced behavior constituting physical abuse, abandonment,
isolation, financial abuse, or neglect, or reasonably suspects that abuse shall report the known or suspected instance of abuse by
telephone immediately or as soon as practically possible, and by written report sent within two working days, as follows:
(A) If the abuse has occurred in a long-term care facility, except a state mental health hospital or a state developmental center, the
report shall be made to the local ombudsman or the local law enforcement agency.
Except in an emergency, the local ombudsman and the local law enforcement agency shall report any case of known or suspected abuse
to the State Department of Health Services and any case of known or suspected criminal activity to the Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud, as soon
as is practical.
(B) If the suspected or alleged abuse occurred in a state mental health hospital or a state developmental center, the report shall be
made to designated investigators of the State Department of Mental Health or the State Department of Developmental Services or to the
local law enforcement agency. Except in an emergency, the local law enforcement agency shall report any case of known or suspected criminal activity to the Bureau
of Medi-Cal Fraud, as soon as is practical.
(C) If the abuse has occurred any place other than one described in subparagraph (A), the report shall be made to the adult protective
services agency or the local law enforcement agency.
(2) (A) A mandated reporter who is a physician and surgeon, a registered nurse, or a psychotherapist, as defined in Section 1010 of
the Evidence Code, shall not be required to report, pursuant to paragraph (1), an incident where all of the following conditions
exist:
(i) The mandated reporter has been told by an elder or dependent adult that he or she has experienced behavior constituting physical
abuse, abandonment, isolation, financial abuse, or neglect.
(ii) The mandated reporter is not aware of any independent evidence that corroborates the statement that the abuse has occurred.
(iii) The elder or dependent adult has been diagnosed with a mental illness or dementia, or is the subject of a court-ordered
conservatorship because of a mental illness or dementia.
(iv) In the exercise of clinical judgment, the physician and surgeon, the registered nurse, or the psychotherapist, as defined in
Section 1010 of the Evidence Code, reasonably believes that the abuse did not occur.
(B) This paragraph shall not be construed to impose upon mandated reporters a duty to investigate a known or suspected incident of
abuse and shall not be construed to lessen or restrict any existing duty of mandated reporters.
(3) (A) In a long-term care facility, a mandated reporter shall not be required to report as a suspected incident of abuse, as
defined in Section 15610.07, an incident where all of the following conditions exist:
(i) The mandated reporter is aware that there is a proper plan of care.
(ii) The mandated reporter is aware that the plan of care was properly provided or executed.
(iii) A physical, mental, or medical injury occurred as a result of care provided pursuant to clause (i) or (ii).
(iv) The mandated reporter reasonably believes that the injury was not the result of abuse.
(B) This paragraph shall not be construed to require a mandated reporter to seek, nor to preclude a mandated reporter from seeking,
information regarding a known or suspected incident of abuse prior to reporting. This paragraph shall apply only to those categories of
mandated reporters that the State Department of Health Services determines, upon approval by the Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and the
state long-term care ombudsman, have access to plans of care and have the training and experience necessary to determine whether the
conditions specified in this section have been met.
(c) (1) Any mandated reporter who has knowledge of, or reasonably suspects that, types of elder or dependent adult abuse for which
reports are not mandated have been inflicted upon an elder or dependent adult or that his or her emotional well-being is endangered
in any other way, may report the known or suspected instance of abuse.
(2) If the suspected or alleged abuse occurred in a long-term care facility other than a state mental health hospital or a state
developmental center, the report may be made to the long-term care ombudsman program. Except in an emergency, the local ombudsman shall
report any case of known or suspected abuse to the State Department of Health Services and any case of known or suspected criminal
activity to the Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud, as soon as is practical.
(3) If the suspected or alleged abuse occurred in a state mental health hospital or a state developmental center, the report may be
made to the designated investigator of the State Department of Mental Health or the State Department of Developmental Services, or to a
local law enforcement agency or to the local ombudsman. Except in an emergency, the local ombudsman and the local law enforcement agency
shall report any case of known or suspected criminal activity to the Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud, as soon as is practical.
(4) If the suspected or alleged abuse occurred in a place other than a place described in paragraph (2) or (3), the report may be
made to the county adult protective services agency.
(5) If the conduct involves criminal activity not covered in subdivision (b), it may be immediately reported to the appropriate
law enforcement agency.
(d) When two or more mandated reporters are present and jointly have knowledge or reasonably suspect that types of abuse of an elder
or a dependent adult for which a report is or is not mandated have occurred, and when there is agreement among them, the telephone
report may be made by a member of the team selected by mutual agreement, and a single report may be made and signed by the selected
member of the reporting team. Any member who has knowledge that the member designated to report has failed to do so shall thereafter
make the report.
(e) A telephone report of a known or suspected instance of elder or dependent adult abuse shall include the name of the person making
the report, the name and age of the elder or dependent adult, the present location of the elder or dependent adult, the names and
addresses of family members or any other person responsible for the elder or dependent adult's care, if known, the nature and extent of
the elder or dependent adult's condition, the date of the incident, and any other information, including information that led that person
to suspect elder or dependent adult abuse, requested by the agency receiving the report.
(f) The reporting duties under this section are individual, and no supervisor or administrator shall impede or inhibit the reporting
duties, and no person making the report shall be subject to any sanction for making the report. However, internal procedures to
facilitate reporting, ensure confidentiality, and apprise supervisors and administrators of reports may be established, provided they are
not inconsistent with this chapter.
(g) (1) Whenever this section requires a county adult protective services agency to report to a law enforcement agency, the law
enforcement agency shall, immediately upon request, provide a copy of its investigative report concerning the reported matter to that
county adult protective services agency.
(2) Whenever this section requires a law enforcement agency to report to a county adult protective services agency, the county adult
protective services agency shall, immediately upon request, provide a copy of its investigative report concerning the reported matter to
that law enforcement agency.
(3) The requirement to disclose investigative reports pursuant to this subdivision shall not include the disclosure of social services
records or case files that are confidential, nor shall this subdivision be construed to allow disclosure of any reports or
records if the disclosure would be prohibited by any other provision of state or federal law.
(h) Failure to report physical abuse, abandonment, isolation, financial abuse, or neglect of an elder or dependent adult, in
violation of this section, is a misdemeanor, punishable by not more that six months in the county jail or by a fine of not more than one
thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment. Any mandated reporter who willfully fails to report physical abuse,
abandonment, isolation, financial abuse, or neglect of an elder or dependent adult, in violation of this section, where that abuse
results in death or great bodily injury, is punishable by not more than one year in a county jail or by a fine of not more than five
thousand dollars ($5,000) or by both that fine and imprisonment.