SB 416 — AN ACT CONCERNING VARIOUS REVISIONS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES STATUTES.

5 from passage 45a-681 PH Joint Favorable Subst.

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34 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

None Municipal Impact:

None Explanation The bill makes various changes, including making the Department of Developmental Services' abuse and neglect registry accessible to the Department of Administrative Services, which have no fiscal impact.

The Out Years State Impact:

None Municipal Impact:

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34 OLR Bill Analysis sSB 416 AN ACT CONCERNING VARIOUS REVISIONS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES STATUTES.

SUMMARY This bill makes various changes to Department of Developmental Services (DDS)-related statutes, including:

1.

making information in DDS’s abuse and neglect registry available to the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) to determine whether an applicant for employment with DDS or certain other state agencies appears on the registry;

2.

allowing DDS regional or training school directors to consent to emergency medical treatment for an individual under their custody or control, under the same conditions and procedures that already apply to emergency surgery;

3.

expanding the circumstances under which perpetrators of abuse or neglect, or individuals who live with them, are denied access to certain information about DDS’s investigation;

4.

updating appointments to the Camp Harkness Advisory Committee to reflect name changes for certain entities and making related changes;

and 5.

requiring DDS to submit an individual’s eligibility denial letter, rather than a reassessment, to the probate court during guardianship reviews for adults determined ineligible for DDS services.

The bill also makes technical and conforming changes.

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34 EFFECTIVE DATE:

Upon passage § 1 — DAS ACCESS TO DDS ABUSE AND NEGLECT REGISTRY By law, DDS maintains a registry of certain people fired from their jobs because of a substantiated abuse or neglect complaint against them.

These are individuals who were employed by DDS, or an agency, organization, or person who DDS licenses or funds.

The information is available only to certain agencies and employers for specified purposes.

The bill makes information in the registry available to DAS for determining whether an applicant for employment with certain state agencies appears on the registry.

Specifically, this applies to applicants at DDS or the departments of children and families, mental health and addiction services, and social services.

These other agencies already have access to the registry to determine whether applicants appear on it.

In practice, pursuant to the governor’s Executive Order 2, DAS generally oversees human resources functions for executive branch agencies.

§ 2 — EMERGENCY MEDICAL TREATMENT Under certain circumstances, existing law allows a DDS regional or training school director to consent to emergency surgery for an individual under their custody or control living in a residential facility.

The bill extends this authority to include other kinds of emergency medical treatment, under the same conditions and procedures that already apply to surgery.

Thus, this authority applies when (1) the individual’s attending physician determines that the treatment is of an emergency nature and (2) there is insufficient time to obtain the written consent otherwise required (i.e., from the individual, a parent of a minor, or the legal representative if the individual is adjudicated unable to make informed decisions about medical care).

Additionally, the attending physician must prepare a report sSB416 / File No.

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34 describing the nature of the emergency that made the treatment necessary and file a copy in the patient’s record.

§ 3 — ABUSE AND NEGLECT INVESTIGATIONS When DDS determines that reported abuse or neglect warrants an investigation,existing lawrequires thedepartment to notify thevictim’s legal representative, unless the representative is the alleged perpetrator or resides with the alleged perpetrator.

The bill extends this exception to cases where the representative is, or resides with, the substantiated perpetrator.

Current law requires DDS to provide the legal representative with further information upon request, if the commissioner determines that the representative is entitled to it.

The bill creates an exception for cases where the representative is, or resides with, the alleged or substantiated perpetrator.

The bill also prohibits DDS from providing the original abuse report or the investigator’s evaluation report to a legal representative who is, or resides with, the alleged or substantiated perpetrator.

§ 4 — CAMP HARKNESS ADVISORY COMMITTEE By law, a 12-member committee advises the DDS commissioner on issues concerning the health and safety of users of Camp Harkness facilities.

As shown in Table 1, the bill updates the qualifications for four appointments to reflect a change in name or closure of certain entities.

Table 1:

Updates to Camp Harkness Advisory Committee Appointments* Appointing Current Law The Bill Authority Governor Representative of the Representative of a mental health Southeastern Connecticut organization that uses the camp Association for Developmental Disabilities Governor Representative of The Arc of Representative of The Arc of New London County Eastern Connecticut House Member of DDS’s Family Special education director speaker Support Council who sSB416 / File No.

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34 represents day camp users Senate Representative of the United Representative of Sunrise minority Cerebral Palsy Association Northeast Inc.

leader *Underexistinglaw,thereareeightadditionalcommitteememberswhosequalifications are unchanged by the bill.

Camp Harkness, located in Waterford, is dedicated to exclusive use by individuals with disabilities and their accompanying family and friends.

§ 5 — GUARDIANSHIP REVIEWS By law, the probate court must review an adult’s guardianship at least every three years to determine whether to continue, modify, or terminate it.

The bill eliminates the requirement that the DDS assessment team submit a written report or testimony to the court, if DDS determined that the individual does not have an intellectual disability and thus is ineligible for DDS services.

It instead (1) requires DDS to provide the court with a copy of the eligibility determination letter and (2) specifies that the team is not required to further evaluate the individual.

This change corresponds to existing law for the initial appointment of a guardian in cases where DDS determines the individual does not have intellectual disability (CGS § 45a-674(b)).

COMMITTEE ACTION Public Health Committee Joint Favorable Substitute Yea 33 Nay 0 (02/22/2021) sSB416 / File No.

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