Section 10210.301 - Duties of department and agencies(a) General rule.--(1) The department shall administer the adult protective services program in a manner designed to utilize least restrictive alternatives and to ensure services are provided in the most integrated setting.(2) The department shall, in consultation with other appropriate State agencies, define the geographic areas to be served by agencies and shall select those agencies based upon a competitive bidding process. Successful bidders must: (i) Demonstrate knowledge of and experience working with adults.(ii) Be separate from agencies providing direct services to adults and from county mental health and mental retardation programs.(iii) Demonstrate knowledge of service delivery principles important to adults and their families such as individual choice and use of the least restrictive alternative.(iv) Demonstrate that the program will be advised by a body that includes at least 51% representation of adults and their family members.(v) Include letters of support that show collaboration with entities which advocate for adults.(3) The department shall establish, by regulation, procedures to ensure no conflict of interest in the provision of adult protective services.(4) The department shall conduct an ongoing campaign designed to inform and educate adults, families, caregivers, professionals and the general public about the need for and availability of protective services under this chapter. The campaign shall require facilities to post notice of the availability of protective services and to provide the notice to recipients and their families. The department shall consult with other departments of the Commonwealth on the design and implementation of the ongoing public awareness campaign. The department shall also consider the concerns of agencies and entities identified by them under subsection (b).(5) The department shall establish, by regulation, minimum standards of training and experience that agencies funded by the department shall follow in the selection and assignment of staff for the provision of protective services. The standards shall require agencies to collaborate with adults, their families and advocates, and the standards shall be included in developing and delivering training.(6) The department shall ensure that agencies have access to the incident reporting system.(7) The department shall work with the Department of Aging to provide coordination with the Older Adults Protective Services system and to ensure that adults who are the subject of a protective services report at the time of their 60th birthday have continuity in the delivery of protective services.(b) Agency duties.--Each agency shall submit a proposal that includes a protective services plan. The plan shall:(1) Describe the implementation of this chapter, including, but not limited to, the organization, staffing, mode of operations and financing of protective services, as well as the provisions made for purchase of services, interagency relations, interagency agreements, service referral mechanisms and locus of responsibility for cases with multiservice agency needs.(2) Describe the methods that the agency, its designees and service providers will use to assure the privacy of all adults receiving services and the confidentiality of all records.(3) List all other social service entities, whether public or private, that have been identified by the agency as having substantial contact with potential victims or perpetrators of abuse, neglect, exploitation and abandonment.(4) Ensure that the entities have information regarding the unique aspects of various disabilities. The agency shall submit the list to the department for purposes of the public information campaign under subsection (a).
(c) Discretionary authority of the department.--The department may, in its sole discretion, perform any duty granted to an agency in any geographic area by this act until an agency has been selected by the department and is operating to serve that geographic area pursuant to subsection (a)(2).2010, Oct. 7, P.L. 484, No. 70, §301, effective in 6 months [ 4/7/2011].