HB3986eng 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB3986 Engrossed LRB097 14016 KTG 58633 b

AN ACT concerning aging.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Elder Abuse and Neglect Act is amended by changing Section 4 as follows:

(320 ILCS 20/4) (from Ch. 23, par. 6604)

Sec. 4. Reports of abuse or neglect.

(a) Any person who suspects the abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, or self-neglect of an eligible adult may report this suspicion to an agency designated to receive such reports under this Act or to the Department.

(a-5) If any mandated reporter has reason to believe that an eligible adult, who because of dysfunction is unable to seek assistance for himself or herself, has, within the previous 12 months, been subjected to abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation, the mandated reporter shall, within 24 hours after developing such belief, report this suspicion to an agency designated to receive such reports under this Act or to the Department. The agency designated to receive such reports under this Act or the Department may establish a manner in which a mandated reporter can make the required report through an Internet reporting tool. Information sent and received through the Internet reporting tool is subject to the same rules in this Act as other types of confidential reporting established by the designated agency or the Department. Whenever a mandated reporter is required to report under this Act in his or her capacity as a member of the staff of a medical or other public or private institution, facility, board and care home, or agency, he or she shall make a report to an agency designated to receive such reports under this Act or to the Department in accordance with the provisions of this Act and may also notify the person in charge of the institution, facility, board and care home, or agency or his or her designated agent that the report has been made. Under no circumstances shall any person in charge of such institution, facility, board and care home, or agency, or his or her designated agent to whom the notification has been made, exercise any control, restraint, modification, or other change in the report or the forwarding of the report to an agency designated to receive such reports under this Act or to the Department. The privileged quality of communication between any professional person required to report and his or her patient or client shall not apply to situations involving abused, neglected, or financially exploited eligible adults and shall not constitute grounds for failure to report as required by this Act.

(a-7) A person making a report under this Act in the belief that it is in the alleged victim's best interest shall be immune from criminal or civil liability or professional disciplinary action on account of making the report, notwithstanding any requirements concerning the confidentiality of information with respect to such eligible adult which might otherwise be applicable.

(a-9) Law enforcement officers shall continue to report incidents of alleged abuse pursuant to the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986, notwithstanding any requirements under this Act.

(b) Any person, institution or agency participating in the making of a report, providing information or records related to a report, assessment, or services, or participating in the investigation of a report under this Act in good faith, or taking photographs or x-rays as a result of an authorized assessment, shall have immunity from any civil, criminal or other liability in any civil, criminal or other proceeding brought in consequence of making such report or assessment or on account of submitting or otherwise disclosing such photographs or x-rays to any agency designated to receive reports of alleged or suspected abuse or neglect. Any person, institution or agency authorized by the Department to provide assessment, intervention, or administrative services under this Act shall, in the good faith performance of those services, have immunity from any civil, criminal or other liability in any civil, criminal, or other proceeding brought as a consequence of the performance of those services. For the purposes of any civil, criminal, or other proceeding, the good faith of any person required to report, permitted to report, or participating in an investigation of a report of alleged or suspected abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, or self-neglect shall be presumed.

(c) The identity of a person making a report of alleged or suspected abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, or self-neglect under this Act may be disclosed by the Department or other agency provided for in this Act only with such person's written consent or by court order.

(d) The Department shall by rule establish a system for filing and compiling reports made under this Act.

(e) Any physician who willfully fails to report as required by this Act shall be referred to the Illinois State Medical Disciplinary Board for action in accordance with subdivision (A)(22) of Section 22 of the Medical Practice Act of 1987. Any dentist or dental hygienist who willfully fails to report as required by this Act shall be referred to the Department of Professional Regulation for action in accordance with paragraph 19 of Section 23 of the Illinois Dental Practice Act. Any optometrist who willfully fails to report as required by this Act shall be referred to the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation for action in accordance with paragraph (15) of subsection (a) of Section 24 of the Illinois Optometric Practice Act of 1987. Any other mandated reporter required by this Act to report suspected abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation who willfully fails to report the same is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

(Source: P.A. 96-378, eff. 1-1-10; 96-526, eff. 1-1-10; 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.