Under Welf. & Inst. Code 15610.57, a person having the care and custody of an elder or dependent adult may be found liable for neglect if he fails to exercise the degree of care a person in a like position would exercise in providing personal hygiene, food, clothing or shelter, protecting against health and safety risks, preventing malnutrition or dehydration, or providing medical care for mental and physical health needs.  This decision holds that the statute may be violated by a care-giver in settings other than residential care facilities, but only in instances in which the elder or dependent adult depends on the defendant for provision of some or all of his fundamental needs.  Here, the defendant’s furnishing of intermittent outpatient medical treatment to the elder did not suffice to meet the statute’s “having care and custody” requirement.

California Supreme Court (Cuellar, J.); May 19, 2016; 2016 WL 2941968