235B.16 - INFORMATION, EDUCATION, AND TRAINING REQUIREMENTS.
235B.16 INFORMATION, EDUCATION, AND TRAINING
REQUIREMENTS.
1. The department on aging, in cooperation with the department,
shall conduct a public information and education program. The
elements and goals of the program include but are not limited to:
a. Informing the public regarding the laws governing
dependent adult abuse and the reporting requirements for dependent
adult abuse.
b. Providing caretakers with information regarding services
to alleviate the emotional, psychological, physical, or financial
stress associated with the caretaker and dependent adult
relationship.
c. Affecting public attitudes regarding the role of a
dependent adult in society.
2. The department, in cooperation with the department on aging
and the department of inspections and appeals, shall institute a
program of education and training for persons, including members of
provider groups and family members, who may come in contact with
dependent adult abuse. The program shall include but is not limited
to instruction regarding recognition of dependent adult abuse and the
procedure for the reporting of suspected abuse.
3. The content of the continuing education required pursuant to
chapter 272C for a licensed professional providing care or service to
a dependent adult shall include, but is not limited to, the
responsibilities, obligations, powers, and duties of a person
regarding the reporting of suspected dependent adult abuse, and
training to aid the professional in identifying instances of
dependent adult abuse.
4. The department of inspections and appeals shall provide
training to investigators regarding the collection and preservation
of evidence in the case of suspected dependent adult abuse.
5. a. For the purposes of this subsection, "licensing
board" means a board designated in section 147.13, the board of
educational examiners created in section 272.2, or a licensing board
as defined in section 272C.1.
b. A person required to report cases of dependent adult abuse
pursuant to sections 235B.3 and 235E.2, other than a physician whose
professional practice does not regularly involve providing primary
health care to adults, shall complete two hours of training relating
to the identification and reporting of dependent adult abuse within
six months of initial employment or self-employment which involves
the examination, attending, counseling, or treatment of adults on a
regular basis. Within one month of initial employment or
self-employment, the person shall obtain a statement of the abuse
reporting requirements from the person's employer or, if
self-employed, from the department. The person shall complete at
least two hours of additional dependent adult abuse identification
and reporting training every five years.
c. If the person is an employee of a hospital or similar
public or private facility, the employer shall be responsible for
providing the training. To the extent that the employer provides
approved training on the employer's premises, the hours of training
completed by employees shall be included in the calculation of
nursing or service hours required to be provided to a patient or
resident per day. If the person is self-employed, employed in a
licensed or certified profession, or employed by a facility or
program that is subject to licensure, regulation, or approval by a
state agency, the person shall obtain the training as provided in
paragraph "d".
d. The person may complete the initial or additional training
requirements as a part of any of the following that are applicable to
the person:
(1) A continuing education program required under chapter 272C
and approved by the appropriate licensing board.
(2) A training program using a curriculum approved by the abuse
education review panel established by the director of public health
pursuant to section 135.11.
(3) A training program using such an approved curriculum offered
by the department of human services, the department on aging, the
department of inspections and appeals, the Iowa law enforcement
academy, or a similar public agency.
e. A person required to complete both child abuse and
dependent adult abuse mandatory reporter training may complete the
training through a program which combines child abuse and dependent
adult abuse curricula and thereby meet the training requirements of
both this subsection and section 232.69 simultaneously. A person who
is a mandatory reporter for both child abuse and dependent adult
abuse may satisfy the combined training requirements of this
subsection and section 232.69 through completion of a two-hour
training program, if the training program curriculum is approved by
the appropriate licensing board or the abuse education review panel
established by the director of public health pursuant to section
135.11.
f. A licensing board with authority over the license of a
person required to report cases of dependent adult abuse pursuant to
sections 235B.3 and 235E.2 shall require as a condition of licensure
that the person is in compliance with the requirements for abuse
training under this subsection. The licensing board shall require
the person upon licensure renewal to accurately document for the
licensing board the person's completion of the training requirements.
However, the licensing board may adopt rules providing for waiver or
suspension of the compliance requirements, if the waiver or
suspension is in the public interest, applicable to a person who is
engaged in active duty in the military service of this state or of
the United States, to a person for whom compliance with the training
requirements would impose a significant hardship, or to a person who
is practicing a licensed profession outside this state or is
otherwise subject to circumstances that would preclude the person
from encountering dependent adult abuse in this state.
g. For persons required to report cases of dependent adult
abuse pursuant to sections 235B.3 and 235E.2, who are not engaged in
a licensed profession that is subject to the authority of a licensing
board but are employed by a facility or program subject to licensure,
registration, or approval by a state agency, the agency shall require
as a condition of the renewal of the facility's or program's
licensure, registration, or approval, that such persons employed by
the facility or program are in compliance with the training
requirements of this subsection.
h. For peace officers, the elected or appointed official
designated as the head of the agency employing the peace officer
shall ensure compliance with the training requirements of this
subsection.
i. For persons required to report cases of dependent adult
abuse pursuant to sections 235B.3 and 235E.2 who are employees of
state departments and political subdivisions of the state, the
department director or the chief administrator of the political
subdivision shall ensure the persons' compliance with the training
requirements of this subsection.
6. The department shall require an educational program for
employees of the registry on the proper use and control of dependent
adult abuse information. Section History: Recent Form
91 Acts, ch 231, § 14; 92 Acts, ch 1143, § 10; 92 Acts, ch 1163, §
51; 2001 Acts, ch 122, §11; 2002 Acts, ch 1119, §35; 2007 Acts, ch
10, §168--170; 2008 Acts, ch 1093, §10; 2009 Acts, ch 23, § 53, 54
Referred to in § 235E.4