Reporting Process

(1) Content. (a) Reports of Abuse shall be entered into the online system of record as they are received by the Elder Abuse Hotline, Protective Services Agencies, or the Department and shall contain all of the information required by the system. (b) If the intake worker is unable to obtain all of the information required by the online system of record at the time of the report, the intake worker will obtain at least the name and address of the Elder, the nature of the reported condition of Abuse and will make all reasonable efforts to obtain the name and telephone number of the reporter. (c) A report shall be taken for each Elder for whom Abuse is alleged. (2) Process. (a) Each Protective Services Agency shall have the capability to receive and respond to Emergency and Rapid Response reports of Abuse on a 24 hour per day, seven day per week basis. (b) The Department shall establish the Elder Abuse Hotline to receive reports outside of regular business hours: 1. When it is determined by a member of the Elder Abuse Hotline staff that an Emergency situation exists, he or she shall enter the report into the online system of record and contact the designated on-call worker at the designated Protective Services Agency. 2. When it is determined by the Elder Abuse Hotline that a Rapid Response situation exists, it shall enter the report into the online system of record and contact the designated Protective Service Agency at the beginning of the next calendar day. 3. For other non-Emergency reports, the Elder Abuse Hotline shall enter received reports into the online system of record as received for review by the Protective Services Agency upon commencement of the next regular business hours. (c) At the time the report is received, the Elder Abuse Hotline, a Protective Services Agency or the Department shall advise the person reporting as follows: 1. That if they are a Mandated Reporter as defined in 651 CMR 5.02 and 5.07, they must forward a written statement of their report of Abuse to the appropriate Protective Services Agency within 48 hours after making the verbal report. 2. That their report is confidential and is subject to state laws and regulations regarding privacy and confidentiality. The identity of the reporter shall not be divulged except to the District Attorney, other relevant government agency, or by court order. 3. Mandated Reporters shall be informed that they will be notified in writing of the action taken in response to the report within 45 calendar days of the report. Other reporters shall be notified only upon their request. This notice shall include the following information: a. Whether or not the information in the report constituted a Reportable Condition; b. Whether or not an Investigation was completed; c. The name, address and telephone number of a Protective Services Agency conducting the Investigation.