2023 New York Laws › SOS - Social Services › Article 11 - Protection of People With Special Needs › 492 - Vulnerable Persons' Central Register.

§  492.  Vulnerable  persons'  central  register.  1.  There  shall be
established in  the  justice  center  a  statewide  vulnerable  persons'
central register. The register shall: (a) receive reports of allegations
of   reportable   incidents  involving  persons  receiving  services  in
facilities or provider agencies subject  to  the  requirements  of  this
article;  (b) as warranted, refer reports alleging crimes to appropriate
law  enforcement  authorities;  (c)  notify  appropriate   persons   and
officials  of  received  and  accepted  reports;  and  (d)  maintain  an
electronic database of each report and the finding associated with  each
report.  In  accordance  with this section, the executive director shall
establish standards and procedures for the operation of  the  vulnerable
persons' central register.
2.  (a)  The  vulnerable persons' central register shall be staffed by
persons with at least a baccalaureate or equivalent college degree in  a
relevant  field  of  study  or  at  least two years of experience in the
direct provision of services, adult or child  protective  services,  and
any  other  qualifications  identified by the executive director. Direct
service provision shall include  the  care,  investigation,  assessment,
treatment,  or  case  planning  for  persons  in  facilities or programs
covered by this article or equivalent facilities or programs. Vulnerable
persons' central register staff also shall have  access  to  appropriate
law  enforcement  officers or others with law enforcement experience who
shall assist  in  screening  reports  that  appear  to  allege  criminal
offenses  and  help  refer  reports,  as  warranted,  to appropriate law
enforcement authorities.
(b) The vulnerable persons' central register shall receive reports  of
allegations  of  reportable  incidents  twenty-four hours per day, seven
days a week. Mandated reporters shall make such  reports  in  accordance
with section four hundred ninety-one of this article; provided, however,
any  person  who has reasonable cause to suspect that a person receiving
services has been subjected to a reportable incident  may  make  such  a
report.  In  no  event  shall  a  report  by  a mandated reporter to the
vulnerable persons' central  register  eliminate  the  obligation  of  a
mandated  reporter to report incidents in accordance with the applicable
laws, regulations and policy of the applicable state oversight agency.
(c) Reports of allegations of reportable incidents shall be submitted,
by  a  statewide,  toll-free  telephone  number  (a  "hotline")  or   by
electronic  transmission,  in  a  manner  and on forms prescribed by the
executive director. The information required on the reporting form shall
include but is not limited to: the name and contact information  of  the
person or persons making the report, if available, and, if the report is
made  by a custodian, any other staff who have the same information; the
name and address of the facility or provider  agency;  the  date,  time,
specific  location and description of the incident; the name and contact
information of the subject of the reportable  incident,  if  known;  the
name  of  the  vulnerable  person  alleged  to  have been subjected to a
reportable incident; the  names  of  personal  representatives  for  the
vulnerable  person who is alleged to have been subjected to a reportable
incident, if known; and any other information or documentation that  the
executive  director  believes  may be helpful. The inability of a person
making a report  to  identify  a  subject  shall,  in  no  circumstance,
constitute  cause to reject such allegation for investigation or to fail
to refer such allegation for corrective action. The hotline shall accept
anonymous calls.
3.  (a)  When  any  allegation  that  could  reasonably  constitute  a
reportable  incident  is  received  by  the register, the register shall
accept  and  immediately  transmit  notice  of  the  report  orally   or
electronically  to  the  appropriate  state  oversight  agency  and,  as

appropriate, to the director or operator of that  facility  or  provider
agency.
(b)  Whenever  a  telephone  call  or  electronic  transmission to the
vulnerable persons' central register alleges  an  act  or  circumstances
that  may  constitute  a  criminal  offense  or an immediate threat to a
vulnerable person's  health,  safety  or  welfare,  the  register  shall
convey, by the most expedient means available, the information contained
in  such  call or transmission to the appropriate law enforcement agency
or district attorney and,  to  the  extent  necessary,  the  appropriate
emergency responder, and the state oversight agency.
(c)  The justice center is responsible for commencing an investigation
of all allegations of reportable incidents  that  are  accepted  by  the
vulnerable   persons'   central   register.  With  respect  to  such  an
investigation, the justice center shall:
(i) upon acceptance of a  report  of  a  reportable  incident  by  the
vulnerable  persons'  central register, promptly commence an appropriate
investigation;
(ii) take all appropriate measures to protect the life and  health  of
the person who is the alleged victim of a reportable incident, which may
include  working with the state oversight agency to take immediate steps
to remove the vulnerable person from his  or  her  current  facility  or
program  or  to  remove or suspend a subject from a facility or program,
subject to  any  applicable  collective  bargaining  agreement,  if  the
justice center has reasonable cause to believe that the circumstances or
condition  of  the  vulnerable  person  are  such  that  continuing  the
vulnerable person in his or her place of residence or program,  or  that
continuing  such  subject  in  his  or  her current facility or program,
presents an imminent danger to the vulnerable person's life or health;
(iii) determine whether the subject of the  report  is  currently  the
subject  of  an  open or substantiated report in the vulnerable persons'
central register;
(iv) contact  the  statewide  central  register  of  child  abuse  and
maltreatment  to determine whether the subject of the report has been or
is currently the subject of an indicated child  abuse  and  maltreatment
report  on  file  with the statewide central register of child abuse and
maltreatment;
(v) if it is discovered that the subject of a report has one  or  more
substantiated  reports of abuse or neglect or indicated reports of child
abuse or maltreatment in the statewide central register of  child  abuse
and  maltreatment  and  an  investigation  was  or  investigations  were
conducted by a different state  agency,  or  a  local  child  protective
service,  contact  all  known agencies or services who investigated such
previous report or reports to obtain  information  on  such  reports  in
accordance with section four hundred ninety-six of this article;
(vi)  notify the personal representative of the person alleged to have
been abused  or  neglected  and,  except  in  the  case  of  a  criminal
investigation,  or  if  the  executive  director  or his or her designee
determines that doing so would interfere with any ongoing investigation,
notify the subject or subjects of the report and any other persons named
in the report in writing of  the  existence  of  the  report;  provided,
however,  that  such  notification  may  be  limited  in accordance with
subdivision (c) of section 33.16 of the mental hygiene law;
(vii) if a report of a reportable incident to the vulnerable  persons'
central  register  involves  the  death  of a person, the justice center
shall give telephone notice and immediately send a copy of the report to
the appropriate  district  attorney  and  to  the  medical  examiner  or
coroner.  The  medical  examiner  or  coroner  shall  conduct  a  prompt
investigation and shall forward a preliminary written report of  his  or

her   findings   within   sixty  days  of  the  date  of  death,  absent
extraordinary  circumstances,  and  his  or  her  final  written  report
promptly,   absent   extraordinary  circumstances,  to  the  appropriate
district  attorney,  the appropriate law enforcement official, the state
agency responsible for overseeing the investigation, the justice  center
medical  review  board  and,  if  the  death occurred in a hospital, the
hospital;
(viii) submit reportable incident findings to the vulnerable  persons'
central register in accordance with section four hundred ninety-three of
this article;
(ix)  notify the applicable state oversight agency and the director or
operator,  where  appropriate,  to  develop  a  plan  of  prevention  or
remediation  that  the facility or program must implement in response to
the report's findings which must  be  approved  and  its  implementation
monitored  by  the  justice  center  or  the  state oversight agency, as
appropriate; and
(x) refer suspected cases of falsely reporting  abuse  or  neglect  in
violation  of subdivision four of section 240.50 of the penal law to the
appropriate  law   enforcement   agency   or   district   attorney   for
investigation and prosecution.
(d)  Whenever  a  telephone  call  or  electronic  transmission to the
vulnerable persons' central register cannot be accepted as a report, but
the  information  provided  alleges  other  potential  wrongdoing  at  a
facility  or  provider  agency, the register shall forward the report to
the applicable state oversight agency for investigation  and  protective
actions,  as needed, pursuant to section four hundred ninety-one of this
article.
4. The justice center shall maintain and keep  up-to-date  records  of
all   incidents  reported,  together  with  any  additional  information
obtained during an investigation of such a report and a  record  of  the
final disposition of the report.
5.   The  vulnerable  persons'  central  register  shall  maintain  an
electronic database of all accepted  reports  of  reportable  incidents.
State  oversight  agencies  shall  have  access  to  information  in the
database, limited to cases involving  facilities  or  provider  agencies
under their jurisdiction.
(a)  A  unique  identifier  shall  be  assigned  to each report by the
vulnerable persons' central register.
(b) The register shall include  the  following  information  for  each
report:  a  record of the final disposition of the report; the names and
identifying data; dates and circumstances of any  person  requesting  or
receiving  information  from the register; whether the person making the
report authorized the disclosure of  his  or  her  name  and  personally
identifiable  information;  and any other information that the executive
director, in consultation with the commissioners of the state  oversight
agencies  covered by this article, identifies as furthering the purposes
of this  article  and  complying  with  state  and  federal  regulations
regarding  the  security and confidentiality of individually identifying
health information.
6. The  justice  center  shall  review  such  electronic  database  to
identify  incident  patterns  and  trends,  and implement preventive and
corrective actions, and to identify patterns and trends in the reporting
and response to allegations of reportable incidents and develop plans of
improvement based on such reviews.
7. (a) General information about the existence  and  purposes  of  the
vulnerable  persons'  central  register  and how to make a report to the
register shall be made available on the website of the  justice  center,

with  links  to such information provided on the websites of each of the
state oversight agencies covered by this article.
(b)  The  justice  center,  in  collaboration with the state oversight
agencies covered by this article, shall develop  and  widely  distribute
written  information explaining the reporting requirements and processes
consistent with this article. In addition, upon  a  vulnerable  person's
commencement  of  the  receipt  of  services by a facility or a provider
agency,  personal  representatives   shall   be   provided   with   such
information,  and  such information shall be made available upon request
to any person.
(c) The justice center,  in  collaboration  with  the  state  agencies
operating,  licensing  or certifying facilities or the provider agencies
covered by this article, shall provide mandated reporters  with  written
information  explaining  the  reporting  requirements in accordance with
this article.
(d) The  justice  center  shall  develop  and  implement  programs  to
publicly   recognize   and  value  the  contributions  of  reporters  of
allegations of reportable incidents whose actions prompt corrections and
improvements in the service system; provided, however, that the name and
other personally identifiable information of such reporter shall not  be
shared unless such person authorizes disclosure.
8.  In  a case where a subject of a report of alleged abuse or neglect
resigns  from  his  or  her  position  or  is  terminated  while   under
investigation,  the state operating agency or the applicable facility or
provider agency shall promptly report such resignation or termination to
the justice center. The  investigation  of  the  report  shall  continue
despite the resignation or termination of such subject.