12 Colo. Code Regs. § 2518-1-30.520

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 20, October 25, 2024

Section 12 CCR 2518-1-30.520 - TRADITIONAL RESPONSE TRACK INVESTIGATIONS

A. The county department shall conduct an investigation to determine findings related to allegations of mistreatment or, in counties not participating in the Alternative Response pilot, self-neglect, as required by Section 30.510 . The investigation shall include, but may not be limited to:

1. Determining the need for protective services. If the client is in clear and immediate danger, the county shall intervene immediately by notifying the proper emergency responders.

2. Determining if the investigation should be conducted jointly with another entity, except in self-neglect only cases, such as:

a. Law enforcement and/or the district attorney;

b. Community Centered Board;

c. Health Facilities Division;

d. Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Unit;

e. The long-term care ombudsman; and/or,

f. County department Child Welfare programs.

3. Making reasonable efforts to conduct interviews, as outlined below. The interviews and collection of evidence must address the specific allegations identified in the report and any new mistreatment or self-neglect that may be identified during the assessment or investigation. If an interview cannot be conducted for good cause, the attempts and the cause shall be documented.

a. An in-person initial interview with the client, unannounced and in private, whenever possible.

i. The county department shall document in CAPS that the visit was unannounced and in private and if not unannounced and/or in private for good cause, the cause shall be documented in CAPS.

ii. If the client is unable to be interviewed for good cause, the cause shall be documented in CAPS.

b. Ongoing interviews with the client to complete the investigation and assessment as outlined in Section 30.530 . If the client refuses to participate in the investigation or cannot be located, the county department shall make reasonable efforts to complete the investigation by gathering evidence and interviewing other collateral contacts that have knowledge of the client and/or the alleged mistreatment or self-neglect.

c. Interviews with all collateral contacts. In the event a collateral contact cannot be located or interviewed for good cause, the cause shall be documented in CAPS; and,

d. Interview(s) with the alleged perpetrator(s), with or without law enforcement. In the event the alleged perpetrator is unable to be located or interviewed for good cause, the cause shall be documented in CAPS. The following information shall be collected related to the alleged perpetrator(s), to the fullest extent possible, in addition to information about the allegations:

i. Full name of the alleged perpetrator(s) with accurate spelling;

ii. Current email address, when available;

iii. Current physical and mailing address;

iv. Date of birth; and,

v. Whether the alleged perpetrator is a licensed healthcare professional, as defined in Section 30.100,; and,

vi. Other identifying demographic and contact information.

4. Collecting evidence and documenting with photographs or other means, when appropriate, such as:

a. Police reports;

b. Any available investigation report from a currently or previously involved facility and the occurrence report from the Health Facilities Division;

c. Medical and mental health records;

d. Bank or other financial records;

e. Care plans for any person in a facility or receiving other services that require a care plan and any daily logs or charts; and/or,

f. Staffing records and employee work schedules when investigating in a facility.

5. Making a finding regarding each allegation and alleged perpetrator, including the severity level of the mistreatment when there is a substantiated finding. A severity level shall not be assigned to a substantiated self-neglect allegation.

6. If it is identified through interviews, collateral contacts, or other investigation that a substantiated perpetrator is a licensed healthcare professional, the county department shall document the license number in CAPS. The county department may ascertain the license number using the methods outlined below:

A. Request the license number from the substantiated perpetrator's employer. if the substantiated perpetrator's current or former employer is an agency required to request caps checks, as outlined in Section 30.960, A, and the mistreatment occurred while the substantiated perpetrator was engaged in professional duties, the employer is required to provide the DORA license number to the county department upon request, as outlined in Section 26-3.1-103 (1.3)(a)(V), C.R.S., and Section 30.510.J.5; or

B. Request the license number from the substantiated perpetrator. if the substantiated perpetrator is a licensed healthcare professional, and the mistreatment occurred while engaged in their professional duties, the substantiated perpetrator is required by section 26-3.1-103 (1.4), C.R.S., to provide their DORA license number upon request of the county department; or

C. Utilize the DORA online Colorado professional or business license verification system to ascertain the license number.

D. If the license number was provided by the substantiated perpetrator or their employer, the county department shall attempt to verify the license number by using the DORA online verification system or another means of verification.

E. If the county is unable to obtain the license number using one or more of the methods above, the county must document its attempts to obtain the license number in CAPS to show good cause for the inability to obtain the license number.

7. Determining whether there are additional mistreatment or self-neglect concerns not reported in the initial allegations. If there are additional concerns the county department shall enter the mistreatment and alleged perpetrator or self-neglect into the case.

a. Alternative Response pilot participating counties shall make a traditional or alternative response track assignment as outlined in section 30.440 and complete an investigation in accordance with the applicable traditional response or alternative response track investigation rules.

b. Non-pilot participating counties shall complete an investigation in accordance with the rules in this section 30.520.

8. Supervisory review of all findings and approval only when the county department has completed a thorough investigation and the evidence justifies the findings.

9. Notifying law enforcement when criminal activity is suspected.

B. Beginning July 1, 2018 all substantiated perpetrators shall be provided notice of the substantiation and their appeal rights, as outlined in section 30.910.

C. In the event that a finding is determined to be incorrect after supervisory approval, the county department shall take the following applicable steps:

1. If the finding was originally unsubstantiated and the finding is changing to inconclusive, correct the finding in CAPS.

2. If the finding was originally inconclusive and the finding is changing to unsubstantiated, correct the finding in CAPS.

3. If the finding was originally unsubstantiated or inconclusive and the finding is changing to substantiated, correct the finding in CAPS and notify the alleged perpetrator as outlined in Section 30.910.A-C.

4. If the finding was originally substantiated and the finding is changing to unsubstantiated or inconclusive, correct the finding in CAPS and notify the alleged perpetrator of the correction as outlined in Section 30.910.C . If there is an open appeal at the time of the correction, the county department shall notify the State Department of the change in finding no later than ten (10) calendar days of identifying the need to correct the finding.

D. Pursuant to Section 26-3.1-111(12), beginning on or before January 1, 2022, the State

Department shall provide information to DORA when a licensed healthcare professional is substantiated for mistreatment of an at-risk adult.

1. Notification to DORA shall be made by the State Department within ten (10) calendar days after a substantiated finding.

2. The information provided shall include, at a minimum:

a. The professional's name;

b. The professional's license number;

c. The name of the mistreated adult;

d. The location or residence of the mistreated adult;

e. The location where the mistreatment occurred;

f. The date of the finding;

g. The county that investigated the mistreatment;

h. The type and severity of mistreatment;

i. The professional's right to an appeal of the finding and the time frame to file an appeal and,

j. The unique CAPS identifier that ties the perpetrator to the substantiated finding.

3. Information provided to DORA regarding a substantiated finding of mistreatment caused by a licensed healthcare professional is confidential, not subject to Part 2 of Article 72 of Title 24, of the C.R.S., and must be used for purposes of a regulatory investigation conducted pursuant to Section 12-20-401, C.R.S.

12 CCR 2518-1-30.520

37 CR 15, August 10, 2014, effective 9/1/2014

40 CR 01, January 10, 2017, effective 2/1/2017

41 CR 05, March 10, 2018, effective 4/1/2018

41 CR 09, May 10, 2018, effective 6/1/2018

41 CR 13, July 10, 2018, effective 7/30/2018

42 CR 17, September 10, 2019, effective 10/1/2019

42 CR 23, December 10, 2019, effective 12/30/2019

43 CR 13, July 10, 2020, effective 8/1/2020

43 CR 21, November 10, 2020, effective 11/30/2020

44 CR 11, June 10, 2021, effective 6/30/2021

45 CR 03, February 10, 2022, effective 3/2/2022

45 CR 19, October 10, 2022, effective 11/1/2022