H. B. 4527
(By Delegates Douglas and Varner)
[Introduced February 14, 2000; referred to the
Committee on Government Organization then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section eleven, article six, chapter
nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, relating to requiring a personal
interview with an alleged adult victim of abuse within
fourteen days following the initial report.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section eleven, article six, chapter nine of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. SOCIAL SERVICES FOR ADULTS.
§9-6-11. Reporting procedures.
(a) A report of neglect or abuse of an incapacitated adult or of an emergency situation involving such an adult shall be
made immediately by telephone to the department's local adult
protective services agency and shall be followed by a written
report within forty-eight hours. The department shall receive
such telephonic reports on its twenty-four hour,
seven-day-a-week, toll-free number established to receive calls
reporting cases of suspected or known adult abuse or neglect.
(b) The department shall, upon receiving any such the
report, take such action respond as may be appropriate and shall
maintain a record of the thereof response. As part of this
response, within fourteen days, there shall be a face-to-face
interview with the incapacitated adult, and the development of a
protection plan, if necessary for the safety or health of the
incapacitated adult, which may involve law-enforcement officers
or the court. The department shall receive such telephonic
reports on its twenty-four hour, seven-day-a-week, toll-free
number established to receive calls reporting cases of suspected
or known adult abuse or neglect.
(c) A copy of any report of abuse, neglect or emergency
situation shall be made available immediately to the appropriate
law-enforcement agency and the prosecuting attorney, or in case of a death, to the appropriate medical examiner or coroner's
office: Provided, That the department shall omit from such the
report in the first instance, the name of the person making a
report, when requested by such the person. Reports of known or
suspected institutional abuse or neglect of an incapacitated
adult or the existence of an emergency situation in an
institution shall be made, received and investigated in the same
manner as other reports provided for in this article. In the
case of a report regarding an institution, the department shall
immediately cause an investigation of the institution to be
conducted.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require that a
face-to-face interview be conducted with an incapacitated adult
where abuse or neglect is alleged within the same time-frame as
that required for an alleged abused or neglected child. The
statutory time-frame for a child is fourteen days. This bill
came from the recommendations of the Performance Evaluation and
Research Division's 1999 audit.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.