BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Senator Noreen Evans, Chair
2011-2012 Regular Session
SB 33 (Simitian)
As Introduced
Hearing Date: April 12, 2011
Fiscal: No
Urgency: No
TW:rm
SUBJECT
Elder and Dependent Adult Abuse
DESCRIPTION
Existing law, the Financial Elder Abuse Reporting Act of 2005
(the Act), provides that financial institutions, as specified,
are required to report instances of suspected elder and
dependent adult financial abuse. This bill would remove the
January 1, 2013 sunset provisions of the Act making the
provisions of the Act permanent.
BACKGROUND
In 2006, the Legislature enacted the Financial Elder Abuse
Reporting Act of 2005 (the Act). (SB 1018 (Simitian, Ch. 140,
Stats. 2005).) The Act, which sunsets January 1, 2013, was
enacted so that individuals in a position of witnessing elder or
dependent adult financial abuse would make timely reports to law
enforcement or adult protective services in order to protect
elderly and dependent adults from financial predators. Under
the Act, all officials and employees of specified financial
institutions are considered mandated reporters of financial
elder abuse. The Act immunizes these mandated reporters from
civil or criminal liability for making these reports but
provides civil penalties for failing to report financial abuse
and the failure to report resulted in death or great bodily
injury.
The Act became operative on January 1, 2007. In April 2007,
Adult Protective Services of the California Department of Social
(more)
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Services began tracking reports of financial abuse of elder and
dependent adults. Between April 2007 and 2010, financial
institutions submitted 26,402 reports of elder financial abuse.
These reports can be found at
http://www.dss.cahwnet.gov/research/PG345.htm.
This bill would remove the January 1, 2013 sunset provisions of
the Financial Elder Abuse Reporting Act of 2005 in order to make
this Act permanent.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
Existing law requires mandated reporting of elder and dependent
adult financial abuse by certain financial institutions, as
specified, and provides civil and criminal penalties for failing
to report elder and dependent adult financial abuse, as
specified. (Welf. & Inst. Code Sec. 15630.1.)
Existing law provides immunity from civil and criminal
prosecution to mandated reporters of financial elder or
dependent adult abuse. (Welf. & Inst. Code Sec. 15634.)
Existing law requires county adult protective services to
report, as specified, instances of reported elder and dependent
adult financial abuse. (Welf. & Inst. Code Sec. 15640.)
Existing law requires the county adult protective services to
provide financial abuse instructional materials to mandated
reporters. (Welf. & Inst. Code Sec. 15655.5.)
Existing law requires financial institutions to release
information, as specified, requested by a county adult
protective services office or a long-term care ombudsman when
investigating the financial abuse of an elder or dependent
adult. (Gov. Code Sec. 7480(e)(1).)
Existing law provides that the above provisions sunset on
January 1, 2013.
This bill would delete the January 1, 2013 sunset date, thereby
extending the operation of these provisions indefinitely.
COMMENT
1. Stated need for the bill
The author writes:
SB 33 (Simitian)
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This bill deletes the January 1, 2013 sunset . . . and makes
technical, nonsubstantive changes. To be clear, the bill does
NOT substantively alter existing law, but merely deletes the
2013 sunset that was included in SB 1018.
It is important to delete the 2013 sunset because mandated
reporting for financial institutions has increased the number
of confirmed reports of elder financial abuse. According to
data collected by Adult Protective Services, the number of
confirmed cases of elder and dependent adult financial abuse
rose over 16% from 4,784 in 2006 to 5,568 in 2007 (the law was
implemented in 2007). The number of confirmed cases in 2010
was 5,602.
. . . �M]andated reporting has not produced a significant
increase in the number of frivolous or illegitimate reports of
abuse. Of all reports of abuse received by APS �Adult
Protective Services] (including types other than financial),
41.9% were confirmed in 2006 before mandated reporting, and
41.5% were confirmed in 2007 after mandated reporting; the
most recent confirmation percentage for 2010 was 38.3%.
2. Making permanent mandated reporting of elder and dependent
adult abuse by financial institutions
This bill would make permanent the mandatory reporting
requirements of financial institutions. Existing law requires
employees of financial institutions to report suspected
financial abuse of elders and dependent adults. Existing law
provides immunity for these mandated reporters from criminal and
civil actions for releasing financial information under the
mandated reporting statutes. However, mandated reporters are
subject to civil and criminal penalties for failing to report
financial abuse of elder and dependents adults, as specified.
Proponents of this bill state that the protections provided by
the Financial Elder Abuse Reporting Act of 2005 are critical to
the financial protection of seniors and dependent adults because
they are vulnerable and often unable to understand the
implications of actions taken against them by financial
predators. The California Association of Public Authorities
states that this Act "helped stem the tide of financial abuse
cases against elder and dependent adults by adding officers and
employees of financial institutions as mandated reporters of
suspected financial abuse. The financial service providers at
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banks and credit unions are in a key position to spot financial
exploitation and make timely reports to law enforcement or Adult
Protection Services. . . ." Proponents point out that timely
reporting is critical to preventing the swift depletion of an
elderly or dependent adult's life savings by a financial
predator. The California Commission on Aging argues that "�t]he
crime of elder and dependent adult financial abuse is insidious
and growing. The �Act] is a successful crime-fighting tool that
needs to be made permanent."
Further, California Bankers Association (CBA) supports this bill
and states that "financial institutions have dedicated
considerable resources to ensure their compliance with the law
and therefore we support your effort to remove the sunset
provision." Because of compliance with mandatory reporting by
the financial institutions, Adult Protective Services has
reported a rise in the number of confirmed financial abuse cases
since 2007. This bill would continue to provide protections
from financial abuse for elder and dependent adults by removing
the sunset provision.
Support : AARP; Advisory Council of the Council on Aging Silicon
Valley; Alzheimer's Association; Area 12 Agency on Aging;
Berkley-East Bay Gray Panthers; California Advocates for Nursing
Home Reform; California Alliance for Retired Americans;
California Association of Public Authorities; California Bankers
Association; California Commission on Aging; California Credit
Union League; California District Attorneys Association;
California Long Term Care Ombudsman Association; California
Professional Firefighters; California Psychiatric Association;
California School Employees Association; California Senior
Legislature; California State Association of Counties;
California State Sheriffs Association; City and County of San
Francisco; Congress of California Seniors; Contra Costa County
Advisory Council on Aging; County of San Diego; County Welfare
Directors Association of California; Gray Panthers Sacramento;
Humboldt County Board of Supervisors; Huntington Hospital;
In-Home Supportive Services Consortium of San Francisco;
Independence at Home; Long Term Care Ombudsman Program for
Stanislaus County (PSA 30); Los Angeles County Board of
Supervisors; Marin County Board of Supervisors; Mother Lode
Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program; Multipurpose Senior Services
Program Site Association; Older Women's League of California;
Orange County Council on Aging; Peace Officers Research
Association of California; Professional Fiduciary Association of
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California; PSA 2 Area Agency on Aging; San Francisco Department
of Aging and Adult Services; San Francisco Elder Abuse Forensic
Center; San Luis Obispo County First Responder Group for
Incidents Involving Elders and Dependent Adults; San Mateo
County Board of Supervisors; Santa Clara County Board of
Supervisors; Siskiyou County Human Services Agency; Social
Services Agency of the County of Santa Clara; Solano County
Health & Social Services Department; Sonoma County Area Agency
Advisory Council; Sonoma County Board of Supervisors; Stanislaus
Elder Abuse Prevention Alliance; State Public Affairs Committee
of the Junior Leagues of California; State Treasurer Bill
Lockyer; Tehama County Department of Social Services; Ventura
County Board of Supervisors; Yolo County Sheriff's Department
Opposition : None
HISTORY
Source : Author
Related Pending Legislation : AB 518 (Wagner, 2011) would remove
the January 1, 2013 sunset date from the mandated reporters
provisions regarding financial institutions under the Elder
Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act. AB 518 is
currently pending referral in the Assembly.
Prior Legislation : See Background.
Prior Vote :
Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee (Ayes 7,
Noes 0)
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