A 582: Requires the office for the aging to develop and provide elder abuse prevention training to train senior service centers and entities that contract with the office for the aging and the office of children and family services to provide services to elderly persons in the detection and reporting of elder abuse in consultation with the office of children and family services.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 582 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. STECK -- read once and referred to the Committee on Aging AN ACT to amend the elder law, in relation to providing elder abuse prevention training The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The elder law is amended by adding a new section 219-a to 2 read as follows: 3 219-a. Elder abuse awareness and prevention training. 1. The director 4 shall, in cooperation with the office of children and family services 5 and the division of state police: 6 (a) develop, maintain and disseminate educational material relating to 7 abuse of adults, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional 8 abuse, active neglect, passive neglect, self neglect, and financial 9 exploitation, as such terms are defined in section four hundred seven- 10 ty-three of the social services law, 11 (b) establish and implement written procedures and policies for senior 12 centers and contractors in the event employees of senior centers and 13 employees of entities that contract with the office and the office of 14 children and family services encounters such abuse, including the 15 provision of information and referral, and 16 (c) nothing in this section shall prevent the office from utilizing 17 materials in section two hundred nineteen of this title. 18 2. (a) The director shall develop a program to train senior service 19 providers in the detection and reporting of elder abuse. Such program 20 shall also include training on the counseling of elder abuse victims. 21 (b) The director shall require that employees of senior centers and 22 employees of entities that contract with the office and the office of 23 children and family services to provide services to senior citizens, be 24 trained in elder abuse detection, reporting and counseling, and receive EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD01078-01-5 
 A. 582 2 1 supplemental refresher training regarding the same at least once every 2 three years, if such employee has or is expected to have significant and 3 direct person to person contact with senior citizens. 4 (c) The director shall require senior centers to hold at least two 5 educational sessions per year during which guests and members of the 6 senior center will receive counseling regarding elder abuse prevention 7 and awareness and be instructed on how to detect and report instances of 8 elder abuse. 9 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after 10 it shall have become a law.