CHAPTER 11. Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act [15600. - 15675.]

Heading of Chapter 11 amended by Stats. 1991, Ch. 774, Sec. 1.

§§ 15600–15675 · 72 sections

1. ARTICLE 1. Legislative Findings and Intent §§ 15600–15601 · 2 sections

   • § 15600 (a) The Legislature recognizes that elders and dependent adults may be subjected to abuse, neglect, or abandonment and that this state has a responsibility to…
   • § 15601 The purposes of this act are to: (a) Require health practitioners, care custodians, clergy members, and employees of county adult protective services agencies…
2. ARTICLE 2. Definitions §§ 15610–15610.70 · 31 sections

   • § 15610 The definitions contained in this article shall govern the construction of this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise.
   • § 15610.02 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (1) The adult protective services program (program), established by the Legislature as a statewide…
   • § 15610.05 “Abandonment” means the desertion or willful forsaking of an elder or a dependent adult by anyone having care or custody of that person under circumstances in…
   • § 15610.06 “Abduction” means the removal from this state and the restraint from returning to this state, or the restraint from returning to this state, of any elder or…
   • § 15610.07 (a) “Abuse of an elder or a dependent adult” means any of the following: (1) Physical abuse, neglect, abandonment, isolation, abduction, or other treatment…
   • § 15610.10 “Adult protective services” means those activities performed on behalf of elders and dependent adults who have come to the attention of the adult protective…
   • § 15610.13 “Adult protective services agency” means a county welfare department, except persons who do not work directly with elders or dependent adults as part of their…
   • § 15610.15 “Division” means the Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse within the office of the Attorney General.
   • § 15610.17 “Care custodian” means an administrator or an employee of any of the following public or private facilities or agencies, or persons providing care or services…
   • § 15610.19 “Clergy member” means a priest, minister, rabbi, religious practitioner, or similar functionary of a church, synagogue, temple, mosque, or recognized religious…
   • § 15610.20 “Clients’ rights advocate” means the individual or individuals assigned by a regional center or state hospital developmental center to be responsible for…
   • § 15610.23 (a) “Dependent adult” means a person, regardless of whether the person lives independently, between the ages of 18 and 64 years who resides in this state and…
   • § 15610.25 “Developmentally disabled person” means a person with a developmental disability specified by or as described in subdivision (a) of Section 4512.
   • § 15610.27 “Elder” means any person residing in this state, 65 years of age or older.
   • § 15610.30 (a) “Financial abuse” of an elder or dependent adult occurs when a person or entity does any of the following: (1) Takes, secretes, appropriates, obtains, or…
   • § 15610.35 “Goods and services necessary to avoid physical harm or mental suffering” include, but are not limited to, all of the following: (a) The provision of medical…
   • § 15610.37 “Health practitioner” means a physician and surgeon, psychiatrist, psychologist, dentist, resident, intern, podiatrist, chiropractor, registered nurse, dental…
   • § 15610.39 “Imminent danger” means a substantial probability that an elder or dependent adult is in imminent or immediate risk of death or serious physical harm, through…
   • § 15610.40 “Investigation” means that activity undertaken to determine the validity of a report of elder or dependent adult abuse.
   • § 15610.43 (a) “Isolation” means any of the following: (1) Acts intentionally committed for the purpose of preventing, and that do serve to prevent, an elder or dependent…
   • § 15610.45 “Local law enforcement agency” means a city police or county sheriff’s department, or a county probation department, except persons who do not work directly…
   • § 15610.47 “Long-term care facility” means any of the following: (a) Any long-term health care facility, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1418 of the Health and…
   • § 15610.50 “Long-term care ombudsman” means the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, local ombudsman coordinators, and other persons currently certified as ombudsmen by the…
   • § 15610.53 “Mental suffering” means fear, agitation, confusion, severe depression, or other forms of serious emotional distress that is brought about by forms of…
   • § 15610.55 (a) “Multidisciplinary personnel team” means any team of two or more persons who are trained in the prevention, identification, management, or treatment of…
   • § 15610.57 (a) “Neglect” means either of the following: (1) The negligent failure of any person having the care or custody of an elder or a dependent adult to exercise…
   • § 15610.60 “Patients’ rights advocate” means a person who has no direct or indirect clinical or administrative responsibility for the patient, and who is responsible for…
   • § 15610.63 “Physical abuse” means any of the following: (a) Assault, as defined in Section 240 of the Penal Code. (b) Battery, as defined in Section 242 of the Penal…
   • § 15610.65 “Reasonable suspicion” means an objectively reasonable suspicion that a person would entertain, based upon facts that could cause a reasonable person in a like…
   • § 15610.67 “Serious bodily injury” means an injury involving extreme physical pain, substantial risk of death, or protracted loss or impairment of function of a bodily…
   • § 15610.70 (a) “Undue influence” means excessive persuasion that causes another person to act or refrain from acting by overcoming that person’s free will and results in…
3. ARTICLE 3. Mandatory and Nonmandatory Reports of Abuse §§ 15630–15632 · 5 sections

   • § 15630 (a) A person who has assumed full or intermittent responsibility for the care or custody of an elder or dependent adult, whether or not they receive…
   • § 15630.1 (a) As used in this section, “mandated reporter of suspected financial abuse of an elder or dependent adult” means all officers and employees of financial…
   • § 15630.2 (a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following definitions: (1) “Financial abuse” has the same meaning as in Section 15610.30. (2)…
   • § 15631 (a) Any person who is not a mandated reporter under Section 15630, who knows, or reasonably suspects, that an elder or a dependent adult has been the victim of…
   • § 15632 (a) In any court proceeding or administrative hearing, neither the physician-patient privilege nor the psychotherapist-patient privilege applies to the…
4. ARTICLE 4. Confidentiality §§ 15633–15637 · 5 sections

   • § 15633 (a) The reports made pursuant to Sections 15630, 15630.1, 15630.2, and 15631 shall be confidential and may be disclosed only as provided in subdivision (b).…
   • § 15633.5 (a) (1) Information relevant to the incident of elder or dependent adult abuse shall be given to an investigator from an adult protective services agency, a…
   • § 15634 (a) No care custodian, clergy member, health practitioner, mandated reporter of suspected financial abuse of an elder or dependent adult, or employee of an…
   • § 15636 (a) Any victim of elder or dependent adult abuse may refuse or withdraw consent at any time to an investigation or the provision of protective services by an…
   • § 15637 In any court proceeding or administrative hearing, neither the physician-patient privilege nor the psychotherapist-patient privilege applies to the specific…
5. ARTICLE 5. Local Agency Cross-Reporting § 15640 · 1 section

   • § 15640 (a) (1) An adult protective services agency shall immediately, or as soon as practically possible, report by telephone to the law enforcement agency having…
6. ARTICLE 6. Investigation of Reports §§ 15650–15651 · 2 sections

   • § 15650 (a) Investigation of reports of known or suspected instances of abuse in long-term care facilities shall be the responsibility of the division, the local law…
   • § 15651 County adult protective service agencies and the Home Safe Program, as established in Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 15770), may refer individuals with…
7. ARTICLE 7. Interagency Coordination §§ 15653–15655.5 · 5 sections

   • § 15653 (a) Minimum guidelines for use by county adult protective services agencies in determining when an investigation of abuse is warranted shall be maintained by…
   • § 15653.5 Training for determining when to refer for possible criminal prosecution a report of a known or suspected instance of abuse that occurred in a long-term care…
   • § 15654 (a) As described in subdivision (h) of Section 12528 of the Government Code, the division shall offer training programs to local law enforcement and…
   • § 15655 (a) (1) Each long-term health care facility, as defined in Section 1418 of the Health and Safety Code, community care facility, as defined in Section 1502 of…
   • § 15655.5 A county adult protective services agency shall provide the organizations listed in subdivisions (v), (w), and (x) of Section 15610.17, and mandated reporters…
8. ARTICLE 8. Prosecution of Elder and Dependent Adult Abuse Cases § 15656 · 1 section

   • § 15656 (a) Any person who knows or reasonably should know that a person is an elder or dependent adult and who, under circumstances or conditions likely to produce…
9. ARTICLE 8.5. Civil Actions for Abuse of Elderly or Dependent Adults §§ 15657–15657.8 · 13 sections

   • § 15657 If it is proven by clear and convincing evidence, or by a preponderance of the evidence pursuant to Section 15657.02, that a defendant is liable for physical…
   • § 15657.01 Notwithstanding Section 483.010 of the Code of Civil Procedure, an attachment may be issued in any action for damages pursuant to Section 15657.5 for financial…
   • § 15657.02 (a) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, the court may determine the standard of evidence in any claim for remedies sought under Section 15657 to be a…
   • § 15657.03 (a) (1) An elder or dependent adult who has suffered abuse, as defined in Section 15610.07, may seek protective orders as provided in this section. (2) (A) A…
   • § 15657.04 (a) The court shall order that any party enjoined pursuant to Section 15657.03 be prohibited from taking any action to obtain the address or location of any…
   • § 15657.05 Where it is proven by clear and convincing evidence that an individual is liable for abduction, as defined in Section 15610.06, in addition to all other…
   • § 15657.1 The award of attorney’s fees pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 15657 shall be based on all factors relevant to the value of the services rendered,…
   • § 15657.2 Notwithstanding this article, any cause of action for injury or damage against a health care provider, as defined in Section 340.5 of the Code of Civil…
   • § 15657.3 (a) The department of the superior court having jurisdiction over probate conservatorships shall also have concurrent jurisdiction over civil actions and…
   • § 15657.5 (a) Where it is proven by a preponderance of the evidence that a defendant is liable for financial abuse, as defined in Section 15610.30, in addition to…
   • § 15657.6 A person or entity that takes, secretes, appropriates, obtains, or retains, or assists in taking, secreting, appropriating, obtaining, or retaining the real or…
   • § 15657.7 An action for damages pursuant to Sections 15657.5 and 15657.6 for financial abuse of an elder or dependent adult, as defined in Section 15610.30, shall be…
   • § 15657.8 (a) An agreement to settle a civil action for physical abuse, as defined in Section 15610.63, neglect, as defined in Section 15610.57, or financial abuse, as…
10. ARTICLE 9. Reporting Forms § 15658 · 1 section

    • § 15658 (a) A written abuse report, as required by this chapter, shall be submitted in one of the following ways: (1) On a form adopted by the State Department of…
11. ARTICLE 10. Employee Statement § 15659 · 1 section

    • § 15659 (a) Any person who enters into employment on or after January 1, 1995, as a care custodian, clergy member, health practitioner, or with an adult protective…
12. ARTICLE 11. Criminal Record Reporting § 15660 · 1 section

    • § 15660 (a) The Department of Justice shall secure any criminal record of a person to determine whether the person has ever been convicted of a violation or attempted…
13. ARTICLE 9. Paid Care Provider Requirements §§ 15670–15675 · 4 sections

    • § 15670 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) Instances of elder and dependent adult abuse are on the rise, with the majority of the abuse…
    • § 15671 (a) All initial certified nurse assistant and certified home health aide applicants, shall as a requirement for certification, undergo a criminal background…
    • § 15673 Home health aides certified prior to July 1, 1998, shall, as a condition of renewal of their certificates, undergo a criminal background check pursuant to…
    • § 15675 (a) Unless otherwise prohibited by law, the Department of Justice shall make available to the State Department of Health Services, at no cost, access to the…