2023 Elder Justice Legislative Update
Nursing homes, restorative justice, and conservatorship care plans were among the topics of elder justice bills signed by the Governor at the end of the 2023 session. The list includes:
AB-48 (Aguiar-Curry) establishes the Nursing Facility Resident Informed Consent Protection Act of 2023. The bill requires that, before psychotherapeutic drugs can be administered to a skilled nursing facility resident, the prescriber must personally examine the resident and obtain the informed written consent of either the resident or the resident’s representative.
AB-60 (Bryan) adds to the list of victims’ rights in California law, requiring that a victim be informed about community-based restorative justice programs and the restorative justice processes available to them.
AB-386 (Nguyen) amends the California Right to Financial Privacy Act exemption for financial crime investigators, expanding the range of financial records banks and financial institutions must provide during investigations of suspected financial elder abuse. The bill authorizes law enforcement investigators to request account records up to 90 days before and 60 days after the reported fraud occurred.
AB-751 (Schiavo) clarifies that a law enforcement agency that adopts or revises, or has adopted or revised, an elder and dependent adult abuse policy after April 13, 2021, must also make corresponding changes to distinct but similar policies, protocols and trainings regarding elder abuse.
AB 1309 (Reyes) requires nursing homes, within 48 hours of giving a required written notice of an involuntary transfer or discharge, to provide the resident with a copy of certain discharge related documents, including a description of specific needs that cannot be met and the facility's attempts to meet those needs when the reason for the transfer or discharge is that the resident's needs cannot be met in the facility.
AB 1417 (Wood) streamlines and updates procedures for mandated reporters of elder abuse that occurs in long-term care facilities.
SB-280 (Laird) requires, beginning January 1, 2025, that a conservator must file a care plan for the care, custody, and control of the conservatee within 120 days of appointment and 10 days before a hearing to determine the continuation or termination of an existing conservatorship.
For additional information, please click on the individual bill numbers.
AB-48 (Aguiar-Curry) establishes the Nursing Facility Resident Informed Consent Protection Act of 2023. The bill requires that, before psychotherapeutic drugs can be administered to a skilled nursing facility resident, the prescriber must personally examine the resident and obtain the informed written consent of either the resident or the resident’s representative.
AB-60 (Bryan) adds to the list of victims’ rights in California law, requiring that a victim be informed about community-based restorative justice programs and the restorative justice processes available to them.
AB-386 (Nguyen) amends the California Right to Financial Privacy Act exemption for financial crime investigators, expanding the range of financial records banks and financial institutions must provide during investigations of suspected financial elder abuse. The bill authorizes law enforcement investigators to request account records up to 90 days before and 60 days after the reported fraud occurred.
AB-751 (Schiavo) clarifies that a law enforcement agency that adopts or revises, or has adopted or revised, an elder and dependent adult abuse policy after April 13, 2021, must also make corresponding changes to distinct but similar policies, protocols and trainings regarding elder abuse.
AB 1309 (Reyes) requires nursing homes, within 48 hours of giving a required written notice of an involuntary transfer or discharge, to provide the resident with a copy of certain discharge related documents, including a description of specific needs that cannot be met and the facility's attempts to meet those needs when the reason for the transfer or discharge is that the resident's needs cannot be met in the facility.
AB 1417 (Wood) streamlines and updates procedures for mandated reporters of elder abuse that occurs in long-term care facilities.
SB-280 (Laird) requires, beginning January 1, 2025, that a conservator must file a care plan for the care, custody, and control of the conservatee within 120 days of appointment and 10 days before a hearing to determine the continuation or termination of an existing conservatorship.
For additional information, please click on the individual bill numbers.
2022 Elder Justice Legislative Update
Elder Justice-focused bills enacted in 2022 include:
- SB 1054 (Ochoa-Bogh), signed into law in September, gives county Adult Protective Service and Child Welfare Service agencies the ability to share information across multidisciplinary teams. The new law will help address information gaps and enable coordination when dealing with cases of elder and child abuse within the same family. The bill was sponsored by Riverside County and the County Welfare Director’s Association.
- AB 1663 (Maienschein) was signed in October and implements significant changes to the Probate Conservatorship system. The law requires documented consideration of less restrictive alternatives to conservatorship and creates a supported decision-making system to be delivered through self-help centers in every county court. The law emphasizes the proposed conservatee’s preferences in the outcome of a conservatorship proceeding and makes it easier to terminate a conservatorship. The legislation also creates a new definition of “adult with a disability,” adding older individuals with cognitive impairments, Alzheimer’s and dementias to the definition of disabled adults who can object to their proposed conservatorship or request its termination, among other things.
- AB 2520 (Gabriel), which sought to create an Office of Access to Justice (OAJ) in the State Attorney General’s Office, was vetoed by Governor Newsom due to fiscal concerns. The OAJ was intended to ensure all Californians have meaningful access to justice through policy recommendations and advice to the Attorney General, and through establishment of a Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable focused on emerging legal issues in underserved and tribal communities.
- AB 960 (Ting) was signed into law, amending California’s Compassionate Release laws for incarcerated persons, with specified exceptions, who have a terminal diagnosis. The law authorizes the Department of Corrections’ (CDC) Chief Medical Officer, rather than the CDC Secretary, to recommend a prisoner with a serious, advanced illness and a terminal prognosis to the court for compassionate release. If the court finds the prisoner meets the eligibility criteria for compassionate release, the law creates a presumption that the prisoner will be re-sentenced and released within 48 hours of the court’s determination.
- SB 1338 (Umberg and Eggman), signed in September, creates the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) Act, better known as CARE Court. The law creates a court-ordered long-term intervention process for adults with psychotic disorders like schizophrenia who are deemed to be failing voluntary treatment. Eligible individuals will be referred to the court by family, emergency responders, social services, or mental health providers and must first be found mentally incompetent. The law authorizes the court to order an individualized “CARE plan,” providing the individual with services including housing, behavioral health, stabilizing medications, and other supports for up to 12 months.
- SCR 112 (Dodd) was approved by the Legislature and established June 2015 as California Elder and Dependent Adult Abuse Awareness Month. Co-sponsored by CEJC and the California Commission on Aging, this annual legislative resolution is designed to raise public awareness each June around elder and dependent adult abuse and increase opportunities for advocates to hold events and promote their work to fight abuse in the month surrounding World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.