Tag: adult abuse registry

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Frankfort Local News

House Passes Adult Abuse Registry Bill

The Kentucky House of Representatives has endorsed the creation of an adult abuse registry.

The bill that would create that registry has been a priority of lawmakers for years, but funding hasn’t been there. But this year, Governor Steve Beshear allocated funds for the registry in the budget.

Representative Ruth Ann Palumbo is the bill’s sponsor, and has supported the idea for the past several years. The measure would list anyone convicted of elder abuse on the new registry, which Palumbo says is key.

“This is simply an employment screening tool. Potential employers which are adult institutional and long term community based service providers would be required to check the registry before hiring an applicant,” she says.

Palumbo says that no one will be added to the registry before all appeals on a conviction have been used.

The bill now heads to the state Senate, which will consider both the bill and the appropriation made for it in the budget.

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Frankfort Local News

In Midst of Deep Cuts, Lawmakers Find Two Bright Spots in Budget

Kentucky’s latest budget proposal appears to be all doom and gloom, but that’s not entirely the case.

Governor Steve Beshear did propose deep cuts to many state agencies in this year’s budget. But he also left some funds available for bright spots. Two appropriations Beshear made were for free colon cancer screenings for the uninsured and to create an adult abuse registry.

State Rep. Jim Glenn is the sponsor of free colon cancer screenings legislation. For several years he’s pushed for $8 million to fund the program. So he’s happy with Beshear’s decision.

“I’m going to continue asking for the eight million, but I am really happy,” Glenn says. “And I really welcome the governor’s appropriation of two million dollars, which is one million state and then one million from a private organization.”

In the past, both proposals have failed because of their price tags. But Beshear says with those excuses now gone, both bills should become law.

With the governor, not a lawmaker, advocating for the proposals, they’re likely to remain in the final budget, says state Rep. Carl Rollins. Rollins is sponsoring legislation for the adult abuse registry. The bill has been carried by various Democratic lawmakers over the years.

“If the governor put it in there’s a better chance that it will stay in,” Rollins says. “But that doesn’t mean it will stay in. So we’ll be fighting to keep it in.”

 

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Local News Next Louisville Politics

Adult Abuse Registry Bill Clears Senate Panel

By Stu Johnson, Kentucky Public Radio

Kentucky lawmakers have advanced a bill that would establish an adult abuse registry. It would list substantiated cases of abuse or neglect of vulnerable adults and be searchable for background checks.

The measure cleared a Senate committee Wednesday.

”Particularly someone with Alzheimer’s disease is vulnerable to not being able to understand what’s going on around them…are vulnerable to abuse so this is a protection for families when they are looking for caregivers,” said bill supporter Ellen Kershaw with the state Alzheimer’s Association.

Officials say federal funds may be available to help establish the registry.

Some lawmakers are expressing concern that the bill lacks a strong due process provision for those accused of abuse or neglect.