Who is a Mandated Reporter?
A Mandated Reporter is any person who has assumed full or intermittent responsibility for the care or custody of an elder/dependent adult, whether or not he/she receives compensation, including administrators, supervisors, and any licensed staff of a public or private facility that provides care or services for elder/dependent adults, or any elder/dependent adult care custodian, health practitioner, clergy member, or employee of a county adult protective services agency or a local law enforcement agency (WIC 15630[a]).
Additionally, all officers and employees of financial institutions are mandated reporters of suspected financial abuse of an elder/dependent adult (WIC 15630.1[a]).
What is the penalty for non-reporting of suspected abuse by a Mandated Reporter?
Failure to report, or impeding or inhibiting a mandated report of physical abuse, abandonment, abduction, isolation, or neglect of an elder/dependent adult, is a misdemeanor that is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for up to six months, or a fine of up to $1,000, or both. If the mandated reporter willfully fails to report, or impedes or inhibits a report of abuse and the abuse results in the victim’s death or great bodily injury, the reporter may be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for up to one year or a fine of up to $5,000, or both (WIC 15630[h]).
Failure to report financial abuse is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or if the failure to report is willful, a fine up to $5,000 (WIC 15630.1[f]).
Mandated reporters include:
