ABUSE: HOW DO I REPORT ABUSE, NEGLECT, AND EXPLOITATION? GUIDELINES FOR DIRECT SUPPORT PROFESSIONALS WORKING IN THE INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES SYSTEM

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1 Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania 1414 N. Cameron Street Second Floor Harrisburg, PA (800) (Voice) (877) (TDD) ABUSE: HOW DO I REPORT ABUSE, NEGLECT, AND EXPLOITATION? GUIDELINES FOR DIRECT SUPPORT PROFESSIONALS WORKING IN THE INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES SYSTEM What Are Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation? Abuse is an allegation or incidence that causes or may cause harm or injury to a person, improperly limiting a person s movement or behavior; threatening, coercing or punishing a person; causing a person mental distress; or sexually abusing a person. Abuse can be verbal, physical, sexual or emotional (psychological). Neglect is the failure to provide or get needed services or supports for a person, whether the failure is on purpose or unintended. This includes failing to give shelter, food or clothing; not helping a person with personal care when needed; failing to get someone needed medical care; not protecting a person from dangers; and leaving a person who needs supervision alone.

2 Exploitation is reported in the Intellectual Disabilities System as Rights Violations or Misuse of Funds: A Rights Violation is anything that prevents a person from exercising his or her rights. This includes invading a person s privacy, stopping someone from making phone calls or deliberately eavesdropping on phone calls, keeping or reading a person s private mail, or sharing private information about a person without his or her permission. Misuse of Funds is an act to misuse or cause a person to lose money or property. This includes taking a person s money, making a person pay for someone else s meal, or making someone pay for a service in his or her individual support plan. Please refer to the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) Incident Management Bulletin # for complete definitions. What Should I Do About Abuse, Neglect or Exploitation? The first thing you should do is make sure the person is safe. As soon as this is done, you must report the incident as per the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) Incident Management Bulletin (# ). This involves reporting the incident to your immediate supervisor or the on-call supervisor, 2

3 recording the incident or allegation in a daily log or progress note, and filling out an incident report. If you work for an agency, the agency should have written procedures for reporting incidents. You should follow your agency s procedures for reporting incidents as long as the procedures are consistent with the Incident Management Bulletin. This Bulletin can be found at: htm?bn= How Are Incidents Reported? Incidents are required to be reported in the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP s) online Incident Management reporting system, which is known as HCSIS (the Home and Community Services Information System). Most agencies have special staff, called a point person, assigned to entering incidents in HCSIS. If you believe that an incident has not been reported in HCSIS, that your reports are being ignored, that there is no correction to the problem, or if abuse or neglect continues, you can make additional reports to the following: 3

4 Your local County Mental Health/Intellectual Disabilities Program. A list of County Programs can be found at: The ODP Customer Service Number at The ODP Customer Service Number is typically staffed from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. If you call outside of business hours or a customer service representative is unable to take your call, please leave a clear and concise voic including your name, telephone number with area code, the best time to return your call during business hours, and the reason for your call. All messages are confidential, and all calls will be returned within one business day. The Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania (DRN) at All calls made to DRN are confidential. If you wish to make an anonymous report, please tell the person you talk to at DRN. Federal law prohibits DRN from using your name if you tell us you want to remain anonymous. Additional Reporting Certain incidents need to be reported to additional entities: 4

5 Incidents meeting the following criteria for anyone under 18 years of age must be reported to the ChildLine and Abuse Registry at Any recent act or failure to act that purposely causes serious physical injury. Any act or failure to act that purposely causes serious mental injury, sexual abuse or sexual exploitation. Any recent act, series of acts or failures to act that create risk of serious physical injury, sexual abuse or sexual exploitation. Serious physical neglect that involves long or repeated incidents without supervision or failing to provide essentials of life. Incidents or suspicions of abuse or neglect of a person between ages 18 and 59 with intellectual disabilities must be reported to the Department of Public Welfare s Division of Adult Protective Services at If the incident or allegation involves sexual abuse, serious injury or suspicious death, it should also be reported to law enforcement. Incidents or suspicions of abuse or neglect of a person aged 60 years or older must be reported to the local Area Agency on Aging (AAA). A list of the AAA s can be found at: 5

6 e=2. If the incident or allegation involves sexual abuse, serious injury or suspicious death, it should also be reported to law enforcement. Protections for Reporters When you report abuse, neglect, or exploitation, you are considered a protected reporter under the Whistleblower Law. This Law protects you from retaliation for reporting the abuse, neglect or exploitation, and prohibits you from being punished or reprimanded in any way for the report. You also do not have to provide a response to questions you do not feel comfortable answering. If anyone tries to get back at you for reporting abuse, neglect, or exploitation, you should call the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) Customer Service number ( ). Be prepared to give your name, contact information, and details on the situation. Be specific about any cautions, such as not wanting your employer to know that you called ODP. Remember to always keep a record of what you know about the abuse, neglect or exploitation, including the dates, times and names of anyone 6

7 involved in the incident. Also include who you reported the abuse, neglect or exploitation to and when. Keep your notes in a safe place, and include copies of incident reports you wrote if you are able. For more information on the Whistleblower Law in Pennsylvania, go to: pdf. Contact Information If you need more information or need help, please contact the intake unit of the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania (DRN) at (voice) or (TDD). The address is: intake@drnpa.org. The mission of the Disability Rights Network is to advance, protect, and advocate for the human, civil, and legal rights of Pennsylvanians with disabilities. Due to our limited resources, the Disability Rights Network cannot provide individual services to every person with advocacy and legal issues. The Disability Rights Network prioritizes cases that have the potential to result in widespread, systemic changes to benefit persons with disabilities. While we cannot provide assistance to everyone, we do seek to provide every individual with information and referral options. 7

8 IMPORTANT: This publication is for general informational purposes only. This publication is not intended, nor should be construed, to create an attorney-client relationship between the Disability Rights Network and any person. Nothing in this publication should be considered to be legal advice. PLEASE NOTE: For information in alternative formats or a language other than English, contact the Disability Rights Network at Ext. 400, TDD: , or drnpa-hbg@drnpa.org. This project is funded by a grant to the Disability Rights Network under the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act ($1.5 million, 100%). SEPTEMBER DISABILITY RIGHTS NETWORK OF PENNSYLVANIA. 8