Adult Protective Services

What it means

Adult Protective Services investigates reports and can arrange protective services. It is a social services agency rather than a law enforcement agency, though serious cases are referred on.

Reports can usually be made anonymously, and some professionals are required by law to make them.

What the agency can do without the adult's consent is limited: an adult with capacity may decline help, including help the family thinks is essential.

Why it matters

It is the route families do not know exists when an older relative is being exploited and no legal authority is in place.

The limits are worth understanding before calling: the agency's power turns on capacity, and where capacity is intact the outcome may be a referral rather than an intervention.

When you are likely to meet it

• When money or property is disappearing from a parent's accounts.
• When a caregiver or relative is isolating an older person.
• When a vulnerable adult is being neglected.

How this varies by state

Which agency holds this responsibility, what it is called, who must report, and what it can do without consent are all set by state law.

Related terms

• Area Agency on AgingA local agency, part of a national network, that arranges and coordinates services for older adults in its own area.
• CapacityWhether somebody is able to understand a decision and its consequences well enough to make it. It is decided decision by decision, not once and for all.
• ConservatorshipA court appointing somebody to manage the money and property of an adult who cannot manage it themselves.
• Financial exploitationTaking or misusing an older or vulnerable person's money or property. It is usually done by somebody they know.
• GuardianshipA court appointing somebody to make decisions for an adult who cannot make them, usually about care, housing and medical treatment.
• Long-term care ombudsmanAn independent advocate for residents of nursing homes and other care facilities, who investigates complaints and works to resolve them.
• Undue influencePressure that overcomes somebody's own wishes, so that a will, gift or transfer reflects the influencer's intentions rather than theirs.

Sahvelo guidance that uses this

• Financial exploitation