Amends TCA Section 71-6-102.

Present law provides the following: (1) Any person having reasonable cause to suspect that an adult has suffered abuse, neglect, or exploitation, to report or cause reports to be made. Death of the adult does not relieve one of the responsibility for reporting the circumstances surrounding the death. However, unless the report indicates that there are other adults in the same or similar situation and that an investigation and provision of protective services are necessary to prevent their possible abuse, neglect or exploitation, it is not necessary for the department of human services ("department") to make an investigation of the circumstances surrounding the death, if the appropriate law-enforcement agency is notified. However, if a hospital, clinic, school, or any other organization or agency responsible for the care of adults has a specific procedure, approved by the director of adult protective services for the department, or the director's designee, for the protection of adults who are victims of abuse, neglect, or exploitation, any member of its staff whose duty to arises from the performance of the staff member's services as a member of the staff of the organization may, at the staff member's option, fulfill that duty by reporting instead to the person in charge of the organization or the organization head's designee who must make the report; (2) An oral or written report to be made immediately to the department upon knowledge of the occurrence of suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an adult. Each report of known or suspected abuse of an adult involving a sexual offense that occurs in a facility licensed by the department of mental health and substance abuse services, or any hospital must also be made to the local law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction where such offense occurred. Upon receipt of the report, the department must take the following action as soon as practical: (A) Notify the appropriate law enforcement agency in all cases in which the report involves abuse, neglect, or exploitation of the adult by another person or persons; (B) Notify the appropriate licensing authority if the report concerns an adult who is a resident of, or at the time of any alleged harm is receiving services from, a facility that is required by law to be licensed or the person alleged to have caused or permitted the harm is licensed under existing law. The commissioner of health, upon becoming aware through personal knowledge, receipt of a report or otherwise, of confirmed exploitation, abuse, or neglect of a nursing home resident, must report such instances to the Tennessee bureau of investigation for a determination by the bureau as to whether the circumstances reported constitute abuse of the medicaid program or other criminal violation; (C) Initiate an investigation of the complaint; (D) Make a written report of the initial findings together with a recommendation for further action, if indicated; and (E) After completing the evaluation, the department must notify the person making the report of its determination; (3) Any representative of the department, with consent of the adult or caretaker, may enter any private premises where any adult alleged to be abused, neglected, or exploited is found in order to investigate the need for protective services for the purpose of carrying out the requirements of existing law. If the adult or caretaker does not consent to the investigation, a search warrant may issue upon a showing of probable cause that an adult is being abused, neglected, or exploited, to enable a representative of the department to proceed with the investigation; (4) Any department representative who is actively involved in the conduct of an abuse, neglect, or exploitation investigation to have access to the mental and physical health records of the adult that are in the possession of any individual, hospital, or other facility if necessary to complete the investigation. Additionally, to complete the investigation, any authorized representative of the department actively involved in the conduct of an investigation is allowed access to any law enforcement records or personnel records, not otherwise specifically protected by statute, of any person who is the alleged perpetrator of abuse, neglect or exploitation of the adult, who is the subject of the investigation. Finally, the department may be allowed access to financial records that are contained in any financial institution regarding any alleged perpetrator of abuse, neglect or exploitation of such person; (5) If, as a result of its investigation, the department determines that an adult who is a resident or patient of a facility owned or operated by an administrative department of the state is in need of protective services, and the facility is unable or unwilling to take action to protect the resident or patient, then the department must make a report of its investigation, along with any recommendations for needed services to the commissioner of the department having responsibility for the facility. It must then be the responsibility of the commissioner for that department and not the department to take such steps as may be necessary to protect the adult from abuse, neglect, or exploitation and, in such cases, the affected administrative department of the state must have standing to petition the court; (6) The department is not required to investigate and the department of mental health and substance abuse services or the department of intellectual and developmental disabilities, or their successor agencies, are not required to report to the department any allegations of abuse, neglect or exploitation involving any person that arise from conduct occurring in any institutions operated directly by either the department of mental health and substance abuse services or the department of intellectual and developmental disabilities. Allegations of abuse, neglect or exploitation of individuals occurring in the circumstances described in this provision must be investigated, respectively, by investigators of the department of mental health and substance abuse services and the department of intellectual and developmental disabilities, or their successor agencies, who have been assigned to investigate the allegations; and (7) If the department, or a law enforcement agency, in the course of its investigation, is unable to determine that sufficient information is available to determine whether an adult is in imminent danger or lacks the capacity to consent to protective services, then an order may be issued, upon a showing of probable cause that an adult lacks capacity to consent to protective services and is being abused, neglected, or exploited, to require the adult to be examined by a physician, a psychologist in consultation with a physician or a psychiatrist in order to make such determination. As used in the existing law described above, "abuse or neglect" means: (1) A situation in which a caretaker inflicts physical pain, injury, or mental anguish, deprives the adult of services that are necessary to maintain the health and welfare of the adult, or creates a situation in which the adult is unable to provide or obtain the services that are necessary to maintain the adult's personal health or welfare, including financial abuse; and (2) Transporting an adult and knowingly abandoning, leaving, or failing to provide additional planned transportation for the adult if the adult's caretaker knows, or should know, that the adult is unable to protect or care for himself or herself without assistance or supervision and the caretaker's conduct causes any of the results listed in (1) above or creates a substantial risk of such results. This bill expands on the definition of what constitutes abuse and neglect by including self-neglect, which means an adult's inability, due to physical or cognitive impairment, including diminished capacity, to provide or obtain services, including medical services, necessary to maintain the adult's own health or welfare.