SB1748 Summary

• Creates an Office of Inspector General within the Department of Human Services with independent authority to investigate allegations of abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, mental abuse, and financial exploitation in mental health and developmental disabilities facilities and agencies

• Establishes mandatory reporting requirements for employees to report suspected abuse or neglect within 4 hours by phone to the Inspector General hotline, and deaths within 24 hours; violations are Class A misdemeanors

• Requires substantiated findings of physical abuse, sexual abuse, financial exploitation, or egregious neglect to be reported to the state's health care worker registry, with employees having right to administrative hearing to contest registry reporting

• Extends temporary permits for community-integrated living arrangements from 6 months to up to 2 years and prohibits agencies with revoked licenses from operating under different names

• Requires agencies to maintain emergency contact information, identification documents, and logs of off-site overnight visits for residents; grants Department full access to recipients and records when revoking an agency's license for health and safety concerns