STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2756
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 25, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BARRETT, GUNTHER, SANTABARBARA -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Mental Health
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to the duty of
mandated reporters to report an incident when there are multiple
reporters with direct knowledge of such incident
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 491 of the social services law is
2 amended by adding a new paragraph (b-1) to read as follows:
3 (b-1) Where multiple reporters have direct knowledge of the same
4 reportable incident or have reasonable cause to suspect such incident
5 has occurred, each mandated reporter is required to report such inci-
6 dent, unless he or she reasonably believes that the report has already
7 been made by another mandated reporter.
8 § 2. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 3 of section 491 of the social
9 services law, as added by section 1 of part B of chapter 501 of the laws
10 of 2012, is amended to read as follows:
11 (b) [A] Except as provided in paragraph (b-1) of subdivision one of
12 this section, a mandated reporter who knowingly and willfully fails to
13 report a case of suspected abuse or neglect to the vulnerable persons'
14 central register may be subject to termination, subject to any applica-
15 ble collective bargaining agreement. Any person or official required by
16 this article to report a case of suspected abuse or neglect to the
17 vulnerable persons' central register who knowingly and willfully fails
18 to do so shall be civilly liable for the damages proximately caused by
19 such failure.
20 § 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
21 have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00473-01-9
