Failure to Report Resident-to-Resident Abuse to Law Enforcement
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to develop and implement adequate policies and procedures to ensure the timely reporting of a reasonable suspicion of a crime, as required by section 1150B of the Act. Specifically, the facility's policy on reporting abuse, neglect, exploitation, or misappropriation did not include examples of crimes that should be reported, such as assault and battery, nor did it indicate that the facility had consulted with local law enforcement to clarify reporting requirements. On one occasion, a resident struck another resident in the face, an incident witnessed by a medication technician. Despite the policy stating that law enforcement officials should be notified, the facility did not report the incident to local law enforcement. Both residents involved in the incident had severe cognitive impairment, as indicated by their low BIMS scores and diagnoses of dementia, and were unable to recall the event during subsequent interviews. The administrator stated that the incident was not considered malicious and, based on the residents' inability to recount the event, decided not to report the abuse to law enforcement. The facility did conduct internal assessments and interviews following the incident, but the required external notification was not made.