2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE EIGHT - Public Welfare and Charitable Institutions (§§ 1 — 1422) › Chapter 32 - Act for the Improvement of Family Assistance and for the Support of the Elderly (§§ 711 — 748) › § 722 - Request for services

For the purpose of rendering the services authorized by this chapter, the following shall be deemed as a request for services:
(1) Any request made by an obligee, per se, through his/her legal representative, or an agent of the police, agency, or public or private agency or instrumentality, custodian, public official, or any private person interested in the support of said person.
(2) The request of an obligor who is interested that other obligors be ordered to provide support to an obligee when the petitioner is providing for the support to said ascendant relative and wishes to level or distribute compliance of that obligation equitably between one or several obligors.
(3) The Program, when providing the services authorized by this section, shall:
(a) Establish safeguards against the unauthorized use or the disclosure of information related to the procedures of this chapter, including the following:
(i) No information on the whereabouts of a party shall be disclosed to another party against whom a protection order has been issued with regard to the first party.
(ii) No information on the whereabouts of a party shall be disclosed to another party if the Program has grounds to believe that revealing the same would result in physical or emotional harm to the first party.
(iii) No information related to the records of a financial institution of any of the parties involved in a case shall be disclosed unless it is for the sole purpose and in the measure needed to establish, modify, or put into effect the support obligation of elderly persons of said person.
The unauthorized disclosure shall be subject to civil penalties pursuant to applicable federal legislation.
(iv) No information regarding income taxes shall be disclosed or used for any purpose in violation of Section 6103 of the Federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, subject to applicable penalties.
(v) No employee of the Program, or the Administration, or both, shall have access or exchange information kept by the Administration beyond what is necessary for the performance of the functions of the Program, the Administration, or both.
(vi) No information shall be disclosed if it violates any other federal or Commonwealth law applicable.
(b) To fix and impose administrative sanctions, including, without being construed as a limitation, the dismissal of the employee for unauthorized access or disclosure of confidential information as provided in this section.
(4) When the services of a legal counsel are necessary, the Administrator shall appoint the Deputy Advocate for the [Support for the Elderly Program] as legal representative in the best interests of the elderly person. For the purposes of this section, a request shall be considered as made when officials of the Program receive the same by telephone or by visiting the local office nearest to their residence. The Administrator, with the consent of the Secretary, shall adopt regulations which regulate the mechanisms for the corroboration of requests for services made by telephone.
History —Aug. 12, 2000, No. 168, § 14, renumbered as § 12 and amended on Aug. 17, 2002, No. 193, § 14; renumbered as § 13 on May 18, 2011, No. 75, § 2.