Financial Abuse of Elders & Other At Risk Adults – Part Six

Adult Protective Services: First Responders for Reporting Elder Financial Abuse

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have an Adult Protective Service (“APS”) agency to investigate reports of elder abuse, neglect or exploitation, as required by Title XX of the Social Security Act.  The stated mission of an APS program is generally “to ensure the safety and well being of elders and adults with disabilities who are in danger of being mistreated or neglected, are unable to take care of themselves or protect themselves from harm, and have no one to assist them.”  The primary guiding value of an APS program is as follows: “every action taken by Adult Protective Services must balance the duty to protect the safety of the vulnerable adult with the adult’s right to self-determination.”

The general process for generating an APS investigation of alleged financial abuse of an elder includes the following steps.

• A report is made to APS by someone who suspects elder abuse, exploitation, or neglect.  The reporter may call an abuse “hotline” or a state APS office.  The National Center on Elder Abuse maintains a database of all state APS contacts, which can be accessed by calling the Elder Care Locator Service at 1-800-677-1116 during regular business hours, or by visiting https://ncea.acl.gov/Resources/State.aspx.  The reporting person is protected from both civil and criminal liability.If the case meets all eligibility criteria, (e.g. age of victim, type of abuse, victim’s vulnerability), APS assigns a priority response time to the report based on the level of victim risk; involves emergency responders, if necessary; and assigns the report to APS for investigation.

• APS staff contacts the elder victim within the state regulated timeframe (keyed to the urgency of the situation) to assess any immediate risk, and to investigate and substantiate the alleged abuse (with the assistance of law enforcement, if necessary).  Caseworkers then assess the current risk factors for the victim, including her ability to understand her risk and to give informed consent to further investigation and provision of protective services.If the victim consents, the APS caseworker develops a service plan, which may include both short-term emergency services (shelter, meals, transportation, home health services, medical or mental health services) and long-term services that are monitored by APS to assure that the risks to the victim are reduced or eliminated.  Substantiated criminal activity is referred to the prosecuting attorney.If the victim has the capacity to understand her circumstances and refuses an investigation or protective services, the APS caseworker may refer her to other resources before closing the case.  However, if APS has been able to substantiate if an elder has been abused, neglected or exploited by another person, it is required to report this to law enforcement even if the victim does not consent to the report.
• While the demand for APS services has increased dramatically, program funding has either remained level or decreased in recent years.  In Georgia, APS case referrals in 2012 were up 22% from 2011 and up 67% from 2008.  Nevertheless, funding has not increased to meet this demand.

Part 7 of this series will discuss the Long-Term Care Ombudsman programs mandated by the Older Americans Act for addressing the elder abuse complaints of persons residing in nursing homes or other long-term care settings.

Kristen M. Lewis, Esq., Member of the Special Needs Alliance and Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.