Aging & Disabilities Department website

Who is a Mandated Reporter?

A Mandated Reporter refers to any individual who has taken on the responsibility, whether compensated or not, for the care or custody of an elder or dependent adult. This includes administrators, supervisors, and licensed staff of facilities providing care or services for elder/dependent adults, as well as elder/dependent adult care custodians, health practitioners, clergy members, and employees of county adult protective services or local law enforcement agencies (WIC 15630[a])

Ministers
Priests
Rabbis
Religious practitioners, or
Similar functionaries of a church, synagogue temple, mosque, or any other recognized religious denomination or organization

(WIC 15610.19)

Administrators or employees of any of the following public or private entities, or anyone providing care or services for elders/dependent adults, including members of the support/maintenance staff:

Twenty-four hour healthcare facilities
Clinics
Home health agencies
Agencies providing publicly funded in-home supportive services, nutrition services, or other home and community based support services
Community based adult services (previously known as adult day health care centers)
Secondary schools that serve 18 to 22 year old dependent adults and postsecondary educational institutions that serve elders/dependent adults
Independent living centers
Camps
Alzheimer’s disease day care resource centers
Community care facilities and residential care facilities for the elderly
Respite care facilities
Foster homes
Vocational rehabilitation facilities and work activity centers
Designated area agencies on aging
Regional centers for persons with developmental disabilities
State Department of Social Services and State Department of Health Services licensing divisions
County welfare departments
Office of patients’ right advocates and clients’ rights advocates, including attorneys
The Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman
Offices of public conservators, public guardians, and court investigators
Any protection or advocacy agency or other entity that is designated by the Governor to fulfill the requirements and assurances of the following:
- The federal Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 for protection and advocacy of the rights of persons with developmental disabilities
- The Protection and Advocacy for the Mentally III Individuals Act of 1986 for the protection and advocacy of the rights of persons with mental illness
Humane societies and animal control agencies
Fire departments
Offices of environmental health and building code enforcement
Any other protective, public, sectarian, mental health, private assistance/advocacy agency, or person providing health/social services to elders/dependent adults

(WIC 15610.17)

Employees of a county welfare department, except employees who do not work directly with elders/dependent adults as part of their official duties

City police
County sheriffs
Probation department

This does not include employees who do not work directly with elders/dependent adults as part of their official duties.

Physicians and surgeons, licensed/unlicensed residents, and interns
Nursing home administrators, nurse’s aides, orderlies, and anyone else paid for providing care in a nursing home
Psychologist and psychological assistants
Licensed professional clinical counselors
Dentists and dental hygienists
Medical examiners
Psychiatrists
Coroners
Pharmacists
Social workers
Physical/occupational therapists
Registered and licensed vocational nurses
Marriage, family, and child counselors and interns
Osteopaths, optometrists, chiropractors, and podiatrists
Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics
Any state or county public health/social service employee who treats an elder/dependent adult for any condition

(WIC 15610.37)

Financial Institutions include:

A depository Institution
An institution-affiliated party
A federal credit union or state credit union

(WIC 15630.1[b] [1-3])

What penalty do Mandated Reporters face for not reporting suspected abuse

Failure to report, or obstruct a mandated report of physical abuse, abandonment, abduction, isolation, or neglect of an elder/dependent adult, is considered a misdemeanor. The penalty can include imprisonment in the county jail for up to six months, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. If failure to report or obstruction results in the victim’s death or great bodily injury, the penalty may include imprisonment in the county jail for up to one year, a fine of up to $5,000, or both (WIC 15630[h]).

Not reporting financial abuse can result in a fine of up to $1,000. If the failure to report is intentional, the fine can be as high as $5,000 (WIC 15630.1[f]).

Failure to report financial abuse is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or if the failure to report is willful, a fine up to $5,000 (WIC 15630.1[f]).

Non-Mandated Reporter

Voluntary reporters are urged to report when they have knowledge of, or reasonably suspect, that an elder/dependent adult is experiencing any form of abuse (WIC 15630[c][1]).