Bill Text: MI HB4329 | 2011-2012 | 96th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Human services; other; definition of abuse of vulnerable adult; expand to include financial exploitation. Amends sec. 11 of 1939 PA 280 (MCL 400.11).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 23-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-01 - Printed Bill Filed 02/25/2011 [HB4329 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2011-HB4329-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL No. 4329
February 24, 2011, Introduced by Reps. McCann, Smiley, Santana, Darany, Bauer, Slavens, Geiss, Townsend, Liss, Barnett, Tlaib, Hovey-Wright, Brown, Cavanagh, Dillon, Switalski, Segal, Durhal, Brunner, Rutledge, Meadows and Lipton and referred to the Committee on Families, Children, and Seniors.
A bill to amend 1939 PA 280, entitled
"The social welfare act,"
by amending section 11 (MCL 400.11), as amended by 1990 PA 122.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 11. As used in this section and sections 11a to 11f:
(a) "Abuse" means harm or threatened harm to an adult's health
or welfare caused by another person. Abuse includes, but is not
limited to, nonaccidental physical or mental injury, sexual abuse,
financial exploitation, or maltreatment.
(b) "Adult in need of protective services" or "adult" means a
vulnerable person not less than 18 years of age who is suspected of
being or believed to be abused, neglected, or exploited.
(c) "Deception" means that a person knowingly does 1 or more
of the following to an incapacitated or vulnerable adult:
(i) Create or confirm a false impression in an incapacitated or
vulnerable adult's mind.
(ii) Fail to correct a false impression that the person is
responsible for creating or confirming in an incapacitated or
vulnerable adult's mind.
(iii) Make a promise to an incapacitated or vulnerable adult
that the person does not intend to perform or that the person knows
will not or cannot be performed. A person's failure to perform a
promise is not by itself sufficient proof that the person did not
intend to perform the promise.
(iv) Misrepresent or conceal a material fact that relates to
the terms of a contract or an agreement that the person enters into
with the incapacitated or vulnerable adult or that relates to the
existing or preexisting condition of any of the property involved
in a contract or an agreement.
(v) Use any material misrepresentation, false pretense, or
false promise to induce, encourage, or solicit an incapacitated or
vulnerable adult to enter into a contract or agreement.
(d) (c)
"Exploitation" means an
action that involves the
misuse
of an adult's funds, property, or personal dignity, or
financial exploitation by another person.
(e) "Financial exploitation" means the action of a person in a
position of trust and confidence and who by intimidation or
deception knowingly takes control, title, use, or management of an
incapacitated or vulnerable adult's assets or property with the
intent to permanently deprive that incapacitated or vulnerable
adult of his or her asset or property.
(f) "Financial institution" means a state or nationally
chartered bank or a state or federally chartered savings and loan
association, savings bank, credit union, brokerage firm, life
insurance company, or any person who provides financial services
that maintains a principal office or branch in this state.
(g) "Intimidation" includes, but is not limited to,
threatening to deprive an incapacitated or vulnerable adult of
food, nutrition, shelter, necessary medication, or medical
treatment.
(h) (d)
"Neglect" means harm to
an adult's health or welfare
caused by the inability of the adult to respond to a harmful
situation or by the conduct of a person who assumes responsibility
for a significant aspect of the adult's health or welfare. Neglect
includes
the failure to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter,
or medical care. A person shall not be considered to be abused,
neglected, or in need of emergency or protective services for the
sole reason that the person is receiving or relying upon treatment
by spiritual means through prayer alone in accordance with the
tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious
denomination, and this act shall not require any medical care or
treatment in contravention of the stated or implied objection of
that person.
(i) "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation,
association, governmental entity, or other legal entity.
(j) "Position of trust" means that a person is any of the
following:
(i) A person who has assumed a duty to provide care to an
incapacitated or vulnerable adult.
(ii) A joint tenant or a tenant in common with an incapacitated
or vulnerable adult.
(iii) A person who is in a fiduciary relationship with an
incapacitated or vulnerable adult including a de facto guardian or
de facto conservator.
(k) (e)
"Protective services"
includes, but is not limited to,
remedial, social, legal, health, mental health, and referral
services provided in response to a report of alleged harm or
threatened
harm because of abuse, neglect, or exploitation, or
financial exploitation.
(l) "Suspected financial exploitation" means when a person who
is required to report financial exploitation under section 11a
observes or has knowledge of behavior or unusual circumstances or
transactions, or a pattern of behavior or unusual circumstances or
transactions, that would lead a person with similar training or
experience, based on the same facts, to form a reasonable belief
that an incapacitated or vulnerable adult is the victim of
financial exploitation.
(m) (f)
"Vulnerable" means a
condition in which an adult is
unable
to protect himself or herself from abuse, neglect, or
exploitation, or financial exploitation because of a mental or
physical impairment or because of advanced age.
