Elder and dependent adult abuse.

Existing law provides for the confidentiality of financial records but does not prohibit various state and local officers and agencies from requesting information from an office or branch of a financial institution and the office or branch from responding to the request, as to whether a person has an account or accounts at that office or branch and, if so, any identifying numbers of the account or accounts. Existing law provides that a county adult protective services office and a long-term care ombudsman when investigating the financial abuse of an elder or dependent adult is similarly not prohibited from requesting financial information and the office or branch is not prohibited from responding to the request. The Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act establishes procedures for the reporting, investigation, and prosecution of elder and dependent adult abuse. The act requires persons, defined as mandated reporters, to report known or suspected instances of elder or dependent adult abuse. Under the act, care custodians of elder or dependent adults and local law enforcement agencies are mandated reporters. A violation of the reporting requirements by a mandated reporter is a misdemeanor. Existing law, until January 1, 2013, includes within these reporting requirements mandated reporters of suspected financial abuse, as defined, and, with certain exceptions, makes failure to comply with these requirements subject to a civil penalty. This bill would delete the January 1, 2013, repeal date. This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 15630.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, proposed by SB 718, to be operative only if SB 718 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2012, and this bill is chaptered last.