STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          7700
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                      May 10, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced by M. of A. BARRETT, GUNTHER -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Mental Health
        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  social services law, in relation to the duty of
          mandated reporters to report  an  incident  when  there  are  multiple
          reporters with direct knowledge of such incident
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 491 of the social services law  is
     2  amended by adding a new paragraph (b-1) to read as follows:
     3    (b-1)  Where  multiple  reporters  have  direct  knowledge of the same
     4  reportable incident or have reasonable cause to  suspect  such  incident
     5  has  occurred,  each  mandated reporter is required to report such inci-
     6  dent, unless he or she knows that the report has already  been  made  by
     7  another  mandated  reporter  and  that  he or she has been named in that
     8  report as a person with knowledge of such incident.
     9    § 2. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 3  of  section  491  of  the  social
    10  services law, as added by section 1 of part B of chapter 501 of the laws
    11  of 2012, is amended to read as follows:
    12    (b)  [A]  Notwithstanding  paragraph  (b-1) of subdivision one of this
    13  section , a mandated reporter  who  knowingly  and  willfully  fails  to
    14  report  a  case of suspected abuse or neglect to the vulnerable persons'
    15  central register may be subject to termination, subject to any  applica-
    16  ble  collective bargaining agreement. Any person or official required by
    17  this article to report a case of  suspected  abuse  or  neglect  to  the
    18  vulnerable  persons'  central register who knowingly and willfully fails
    19  to do so shall be civilly liable for the damages proximately  caused  by
    20  such failure.
    21    §  3.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
    22  have become a law.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD11569-01-7