(a) Each county shall establish an emergency response adult protective services program that shall provide in-person response, 24 hours per day, seven days per week, to reports of abuse of an elder or a dependent adult, for the purpose of providing immediate intake or intervention, or both, to new reports involving immediate life threats and to crises in existing cases. The program shall include policies and procedures to accomplish all of the following:
(1) Provision of case management services that include investigation of the protection issues, assessment of the person’s concerns, needs, strengths, problems, and limitations, stabilization and linking with community services, and development of a service plan to alleviate identified problems utilizing counseling, monitoring, followup, and reassessment.
(2) Provisions for emergency shelter or in-home protection to guarantee a safe place for the elder or dependent adult to stay until the dangers at home can be resolved.
(3) Establishment of multidisciplinary teams to develop interagency treatment strategies, to ensure maximum coordination with existing community resources, to ensure maximum access on behalf of elders and dependent adults, and to avoid duplication of efforts. The multidisciplinary team may include community-based agencies, health plans, and other state- and county-based service providers.
(4) Provisions for homeless prevention through the Home Safe Program established in Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 15770), to the extent that funding is provided for this purpose in the annual Budget Act and the county receives those funds.
(b) (1) A county shall respond immediately to any report of imminent danger to an elder or dependent adult in other than a long-term care facility, as defined in Section 9701, or a residential facility, as defined in Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code. For reports involving persons in a long-term care facility or a residential care facility, the county shall report to the local long-term care ombudsman program. Adult protective services staff shall consult, coordinate, and support efforts of the ombudsman program to protect vulnerable residents. Except as specified in paragraph (2), the county shall respond to all other reports of danger to an elder or dependent adult in other than a long-term care facility or residential care facility within 10 calendar days or as soon as practicably possible.
(2) An immediate or 10-day in-person response is not required when the county, based upon an evaluation of risk, determines and documents that the elder or dependent adult is not in imminent danger and that an immediate or 10-day in-person response is not necessary to protect the health or safety of the elder or dependent adult.
(3) The State Department of Social Services, in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association of California, shall develop requirements for implementation of paragraph (2), including, but not limited to, guidelines for determining appropriate application of this section and any applicable documentation requirements.
(4) Notwithstanding Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the department shall implement the requirements developed pursuant to paragraph (3) by means of all-county letters or similar instructions before adopting regulations for that purpose. Thereafter, the department shall adopt regulations in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(c) A county shall not be required to report or respond to a report pursuant to subdivision (b) that involves danger to an elder or dependent adult residing in any facility for the incarceration of prisoners that is operated by or under contract to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, a county sheriff’s department, a county probation department, a city police department, or any other law enforcement agency when the abuse reportedly has occurred in that facility.
(d) A county shall provide case management services to elders and dependent adults who are determined to be in need of adult protective services for the purpose of bringing about changes in the lives of victims and to provide a safety net to enable victims to protect themselves in the future. Case management services shall include all of the following, to the extent services are appropriate for the individual:
(1) Investigation of the protection issues, including, but not limited to, social, medical, environmental, physical, emotional, and developmental.
(2) Assessment of the person’s concerns and needs on whom the report has been made and the concerns and needs of other members of the family and household.
(3) Analysis of problems and strengths.
(4) Establishment of a service plan for each person on whom the report has been made to alleviate the identified problems.
(5) Client input and acceptance of proposed service plans.
(6) Counseling for clients and significant others to alleviate the identified problems and to implement the service plan.
(7) Stabilizing and linking with community services, including, but not limited to, those provided by health plans, other county-based service providers, and community agencies.
(8) Monitoring and followup.
(9) Reassessments, as appropriate.
(e) (1) To the extent resources are available, each county shall provide emergency shelter in the form of a safe haven or in-home protection for victims. Shelter and care appropriate to the needs of the victim shall be provided for frail and disabled victims who are in need of assistance with activities of daily living.
(2) To the extent a county receives grant funds under the Home Safe Program (Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 15770)), counties may provide housing assistance and support to elders and dependent adults who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
(f) Each county shall designate an adult protective services agency to establish and maintain multidisciplinary teams including, but not limited to, adult protective services, law enforcement, probation departments, home health care agencies, hospitals, adult protective services staff, the public guardian, private community service agencies, public health agencies, and mental health agencies for the purpose of providing interagency treatment strategies.
(g) Each county shall provide tangible support services, to the extent resources are available, which may include, but not be limited to, emergency food, clothing, repair or replacement of essential appliances, plumbing and electrical repair, blankets, linens, and other household goods, advocacy with utility companies, and emergency response units.
(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 85, Sec. 70. (AB 135) Effective July 16, 2021.)