Collaborative Partnerships to Protect Our Residents from Elder Abuse Bob Enloe Trudy Gregorie Randy Thomas
Challenges • • • •
Defining elder abuse Reporting Collaboration Risk management
Understanding the Criminal Justice System • Criminal Justice Agencies: Must violate criminal statutes. • Criminal investigations may be conducted by agencies without expertise. • Regulatory Agencies: Primarily administrative sanctions, does not have to violate criminal statutes.
Thomas (C) 2011
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Law Enforcement Demographics • Over 17,000 law enforcement agencies, majority at the local level • Over 750,000 sworn personnel – 49% of the agencies have less than 10 officers, of these 30% have less than 5 and 12% have only 1 – The largest agencies: NYPD, 36,000, Chicago, 13,000, LAPD, 9,700 and the LA Sheriff, 9,500
• The average amount of training time for recruits was 840 hours (21 weeks) with some as low as 9 weeks. • Average amount of training time spent on Elder Abuse was 3 hours
Statutory Definition • "Physical abuse" means intentionally inflicting or allowing to be inflicted physical injury on a vulnerable adult by an act or failure to act. Physical abuse includes, but is not limited to, slapping, hitting, kicking, biting, choking, pinching, burning, actual or attempted sexual battery as defined in Section 16-3-651, use of medication outside the standards of reasonable medical practice for the purpose of controlling behavior, and unreasonable confinement. Physical abuse also includes the use of a restrictive or physically intrusive procedure to control behavior for the purpose of punishment except that a therapeutic procedure prescribed by a licensed physician or other qualified professional or that is part of a written plan of care by a licensed physician or other qualified professional is not considered physical abuse. Physical abuse does not include altercations or acts of assault between vulnerable adults.
Randy Thomas (C) 2012
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• Goal of NAPSA is to provide adult protective services (APS) programs a forum for sharing information, solving problems, and improving the quality of services for victims of elder and vulnerable adult mistreatment. • The national voice of vulnerable adults and APS programs and professionals • 900+ members from every state
What to Know About APS • APS clients are remarkably similar in every location. Based on the home visits conducted, APS clients seem to be very much alike although in different parts of the country. • APS services are also fundamentally similar, although they may be provided through different administrative structures with varying levels of resources. • All rely on highly skilled social workers, are clientfocused, resourceful in problem-solving, persistent, and trying to provide the most effective services in the most efficient manner possible.
Innovative APS Practices • Structured Decision Making (SDM) • Tool for Risk, Interventions and Outcomes (TRIO) • Improved capacity assessments • Emergency funds and services • Expert consultants
Collaboration is Critical • Multidisciplinary cooperation is at the heart of APS work, whether it is accomplished formally through established multidisciplinary teams, or done informally • Working collaboratively: Specialized MDTs Co-location of various professionals Age-friendly and dementia-friendly efforts
• Be as inclusive as possible!
No Wrong Door Approach SystemBased Victim services Local Aging services
Community-
Based
Older
Victim Services
Victim Adult Protective Services
Criminal Justice System
Develop a Plan • • • • •
Policies and Procedures Consult Risk Management Develop Third Party Relationships Utilize Laws and Regulations in development Internal and External reporting guidelines
Train the Plan • Train the Policies and procedures • Train for observations and reporting • Train resident rights and regulations
Document and Communicate • Document observations factually • Track and Trend documentation for patterns • Collaborate with appropriate agencies with findings
Questions?
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