Referral to Other Agencies

Reports regarding Elders, Children, or Patients/Residents of Certain Long-term Care Facilities. (a) Upon receipt of a report alleging abuse of an elderly person (defined as an individual who is 60 years of age or older), the Commission shall immediately refer such report to the Executive Office of Elder Affairs for appropriate action pursuant to M.G.L. c. 19A. Upon receipt of a report alleging abuse of a child (defined as an individual who is younger than 18 years old), the Commission shall immediately refer such report to the Department of Children and Families for appropriate action pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119. Upon receipt of a report alleging abuse of a patient or resident of a long-term care facility as defined in M.G.L. c. 111, § 71, and 118 CMR 2.02: Meaning of Terms, the Commission shall immediately refer such report to the Department of Public Health for appropriate action pursuant to M.G.L. c. 111. (2) Reports regarding Individuals Whose Caretaker is a State Agency. (a) Upon receipt of a report alleging abuse of a person with a disability whose caretaker is a state agency, the Commission, after making the jurisdictional and urgency determinations required by 118 CMR 4.03 and 4.04, shall refer the report for investigation to either an investigator of the Commission, or to the investigation division of the agency within the Executive Office of Health and Human Services that has jurisdiction over the entity providing services or treatment to the person with a disability or that provides or has contracted for or licensed the provision of services or treatment to the person with a disability. For purposes of investigation, when a person with a disability has multiple caretaker agencies, the agency which is designated as the referral agency shall be that agency which is deemed by the Commission to be the agency with sufficient contacts with the person with a disability and the circumstances of the alleged abuse so as to allow for the most efficient and expedient investigation of the alleged abuse and the provision of protective services. Unless the Commission intervenes in the case pursuant to 118 CMR 4.09(2)(b) or (c), each referral agency shall collaborate, as needed, with other agencies in the investigation of cases involving such individuals, but shall retain the responsibility for completing the investigation and preparing an evaluation and investigation report. If the referral agency objects to the Commission's designation of that agency as the appropriate referral agency, the referral agency shall immediately contact the Executive Director of the Commission, or his or her designee, and request an immediate ruling on the designation. The ruling of the Executive Director or designee shall be final. (3) Reports regarding Individuals Whose Caretaker Is Not a State Agency. (a) Upon receipt of a report alleging abuse of a person with a disability whose caretaker is not a state agency, and the person with a disability has a single type of disability, the Commission, after making the determinations required by 118 CMR 4.03 and 4.04, shall refer the report for investigation to either an investigator of the Commission or to the appropriate agency as specified in 118 CMR 4.05(3)(b) and (c) which agency shall appoint an investigator who shall conduct an investigation pursuant to the time requirements of M.G.L. c. 19C, § 5, and 118 CMR 5.01(2): Substantiated Investigations of Abuse of Persons with an Intellectual or Developmental Disability. Unless the Commission intervenes in the case pursuant to 118 CMR 4.09(2)(b), each referral agency shall collaborate, as needed, with other agencies in the investigation of cases involving such individuals, but shall retain the responsibility for completing the investigation and preparing an evaluation and investigation report. (b) The case shall be referred by the Commission as follows: 1. When, as can best be determined from the intake, the alleged victim is a person with a developmental disability or a person with an intellectual disability, as defined by M.G.L. c. 123B, the case shall be referred to and investigated by the Department of Developmental Services or an investigator of the Commission. 2. When, as can best be determined from the intake, the alleged victim has a mental disability which is not the result of a head injury nor is the alleged victim a person with a developmental disability or person with an intellectual disability, the case shall be referred to and investigated by the Department of Mental Health or an investigator of the Commission. 3. When, as can best be determined from the intake, the person who is the subject of the abuse report has a head injury or one or more other physical disabilities and does not have a mental disability, the case shall be referred to and investigated by the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission or an investigator of the Commission. 4. When a person with a disability who is the subject of an abuse report has more than one type of disability, the agency which is designated as the referral agency shall be that agency deemed by the Commission to be the agency with sufficient contacts with the person with a disability and the circumstances of the alleged abuse so as to allow for the most efficient and expedient investigation of the alleged abuse and the provision of protective services. (c) If the referral agency objects to the designation of that agency as the appropriate referral agency, the referral agency shall immediately contact the Executive Director of the Commission, or his or her designee, and request an immediate ruling on the designation. The ruling of the Executive Director or designee shall be final.