Bill > S1196

Introduced Session

This bill renames and expands the purpose and duties of the Office of the Ombudsman for Individuals with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities and Their Families and its ombudsman. Specifically, the bill renames the office as the Office of the Ombudsman for Individuals with Disabilities and Their Families, and expands the purpose and duties of the office and the ombudsman to provide services to all persons with disabilities and their families (instead of providing services only to those persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities and their families, as is provided by existing law). Under the bill's provisions, the repurposed Office of the Ombudsman for Individuals with Disabilities and Their Families, and the ombudsman, is required to provide information and other assistance to all persons with disabilities and their families receiving services from the State with respect to the receipt of services from, and the resolution of disputes or disagreements occurring with, any relevant department in the State. The bill requires the ombudsman to select and appoint a deputy ombudsman to support the ombudsman in the execution of the office's duties. The deputy ombudsman will be authorized to act in the ombudsman's stead and perform all relevant duties of the ombudsman in any case enumerated in the bill. The bill further requires the ombudsman to hire sufficient professional and clerical staff, serving at the pleasure of the ombudsman, to effectuate the office's expanded purpose and duties. The bill authorizes the ombudsman, or the deputy ombudsman, as appropriate, to delegate authorities, duties, or powers to any employee of the office. The bill clarifies that the ombudsman, deputy ombudsman, and all other staff of the office are required to maintain confidentiality with respect to any communications or records received in the course of the office's duties. In effectuating the expanded duties of the office, the ombudsman will be authorized to: consult with other State ombudsman offices; receive complaints from individuals with disabilities and their family members; and solicit and obtain information from relevant departments and examine, obtain, and copy any records maintained by a relevant department, including records that are deemed confidential under law. The bill requires the office to produce and issue annual reports, within the mandatory timeframe provided in the bill, to the: (1) Governor, the Senate President, the Speaker of the General Assembly, and the Minority Leaders of the Senate and General Assembly; (2) heads of any relevant departments that provide services to individuals with disabilities or their families; and (3) public.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Kristin Corrado (R)*,  Angela Mcknight (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee (on 01/13/2026)

Official Document