Brief⁽¹⁾

S.B. 375 amends K.S.A. 39-1401 et seq., dealing with adult care homes, medical care facilities, and abuse reporting regarding residents to make the law primarily a Department of Health and Environment responsibility and amends K.S.A. 39-1430 et seq., dealing with persons over 18 years of age who are unable to protect their own interests to make this adult abuse reporting law primarily a Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services' (SRS) responsibility.

The bill also:

• makes the definitions of abuse, neglect, and exploitation consistent and more explicit and provides clarification and consistency between both laws;



• adds a definition of sexual abuse to both statutes;



• establishes consistent time lines for conducting investigations in both adult care homes and the community;



• expands the list of mandated reporters to include a bank trust officer, teachers, case managers, guardians, conservators, and various other persons listed; and



• amends the probate code to include a provision for the appointment of an emergency conservator to protect the assets of vulnerable adults.

The Senate Committee clarified the definition of abuse and other definitions and made the clarifying amendments.

Background

The bill was proposed by the Adult Protective Services Task Force which includes representatives of the Departments on Aging, Health and Environment, and SRS and various provider and advocacy groups. Amendments to the bill were suggested by various groups.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext-bill.html.