{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-43a-43a-10-115","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 43A, § 43A-10-115","heading":"Multidisciplinary elderly and vulnerable adult abuse","body":"team to investigate and prosecute crimes.\n\nA. In coordination with the District Attorneys Council, each\n\ndistrict attorney may develop a multidisciplinary team for the\n\ninvestigation and prosecution of crimes committed against the\n\nelderly or vulnerable adults in each county of the district attorney\n\nor in a contiguous group of counties. The lead agency for the team\n\nshall be chosen by the members of the team. The team shall\n\nintervene in reports involving sexual abuse, abuse, neglect, or\n\nexploitation of an elderly person or vulnerable adult as defined in\n\nSection 10-103 of this title.\n\nB. The multidisciplinary elderly and vulnerable adult abuse\n\nteam members shall include, but not be limited to:\n\n1. Mental health professionals licensed pursuant to the laws of\n\nthis state or licensed professional counselors;\n\n2. Police officers or other law enforcement agents whose duties\n\ninclude, or who have experience or training in, elderly and\n\nvulnerable adult abuse and neglect investigation;\n\n3. Medical personnel with experience in elderly and vulnerable\n\nadult abuse and neglect identification;\n\n4. Adult Protective Services and long-term care workers within\n\nthe Department of Human Services;\n\n5. Office of Client Advocacy workers within the State\n\nDepartment of Health;\n\n6. Multidisciplinary elderly and vulnerable adult abuse team\n\ncoordinators; and\n\n7. The district attorney or assistant district attorney.\n\nC. 1. Subject to the availability of funds and resources, the\n\nfunctions of the team shall include, but not be limited to:\n\na. whenever feasible, joint investigations by law\n\nenforcement and Adult Protective Services, Office of\n\nClient Advocacy, or long-term care staff to\n\neffectively respond to reports of abuse against\n\nelderly or vulnerable adult victims,\n\nb. the development of a written protocol for\n\ninvestigation of sexual abuse, abuse, neglect, or\n\nexploitation cases of elderly or vulnerable adults and\n\nfor the interview of victims to ensure coordination\n\nand cooperation between all agencies involved. Such\n\nprotocol shall include confidentiality statements and\n\ninteragency agreements signed by member agencies that\n\nspecify the cooperative effort of the member agencies\n\nto the team,\n\nc. communication and collaboration among the\n\nprofessionals responsible for the reporting,\n\ninvestigation, prosecution, and treatment of elderly\n\nand vulnerable adult abuse and neglect cases,\n\nd. elimination of duplicative efforts in the\n\ninvestigation and the prosecution of abuse and neglect\n\ncases committed against elderly or vulnerable adult\n\nvictims,\n\ne. identification of gaps in service or untapped\n\nresources within the community to improve the delivery\n\nof services to the victim and family,\n\nf. development of expertise through training. Each team\n\nmember and those conducting investigations and\n\ninterviews of elderly or vulnerable adult abuse\n\nvictims shall be trained in the multidisciplinary team\n\napproach, conduction of legally sound developmentally\n\nand age-appropriate interviews, effective\n\ninvestigation techniques and joint investigations as\n\nprovided through the State Department of Health, the\n\nDistrict Attorneys Council, the Department of Human\n\nServices, or other resources. At least one team\n\nmember or those conducting investigations and\n\ninterviews of elder or vulnerable adult abuse victims\n\nshall complete dementia-specific training on\n\nAlzheimer's disease and related dementia that includes\n\none or more of the following:\n\n(1) communication skills,\n\n(2) problem-solving with challenging behaviors, or\nneys Council, the Department of Human\n\nServices, or other resources. At least one team\n\nmember or those conducting investigations and\n\ninterviews of elder or vulnerable adult abuse victims\n\nshall complete dementia-specific training on\n\nAlzheimer's disease and related dementia that includes\n\none or more of the following:\n\n(1) communication skills,\n\n(2) problem-solving with challenging behaviors, or\n\n(3) explanation of Alzheimer's disease and other\n\ndementia,\n\ng. formalization of a case review process and provision\n\nof data as requested, and\n\nh. standardization of investigative procedures for the\n\nhandling of elderly and vulnerable adult abuse and\n\nneglect cases.\n\n2. Any investigation or interview related to sexual abuse,\n\nabuse, or neglect of elderly or vulnerable adults shall be conducted\n\nby appropriate personnel using the protocols and procedures\n\nspecified in this section.\n\n3. If trained personnel are not available in a timely manner\n\nand if a law enforcement officer or the Department of Human Services\n\ndetermines that there is reasonable cause to believe a delay in\n\ninvestigation or interview of a victim could place the victim's\n\nhealth or welfare in danger of harm or threatened harm, the\n\ninvestigation may proceed without full participation of all\n\npersonnel, but only for as long as the danger to the victim exists.\n\nThe Department of Human Services shall make a reasonable effort to\n\nfind and provide a trained investigator or interviewer.\n\nD. A multidisciplinary elderly or vulnerable adult abuse team\n\nshall have full access to any service or treatment plan and any\n\npersonal data known to the Department of Human Services that is\n\ndirectly related to the implementation of the requirements of this\n\nsection.\n\nE. Each member of the team shall protect the confidentiality of\n\nthe elderly or vulnerable adult and any information made available\n\nto the team member. The multidisciplinary team and any information\n\nreceived by the team shall be exempt from the Oklahoma Open Meeting\n\nAct and the Oklahoma Open Records Act.","path":["OK Code","Title 43A"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os43A.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"627b1d011b2e38ee8da4b0e92ee10b915c2e38a41dccc7dcfe3ce5b0b7fcad5c","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-43a-43a-10-114","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-43a-43a-100"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}