Adult Protective Services
Adult Protective Services (APS) is administered by the
Franklin County Office on Aging with funding provided by the Department of Job and Family Services.
Adult Protective Services are those services provided to older
people who are, or are in danger of being mistreated
or neglected, are unable to protect themselves, and have no one to assist them.
Interventions provided by Adult Protective Services include, but
are not limited to, receiving reports of adult abuse, exploitation or neglect, investigating
these reports, case planning, monitoring and evaluation.
Values
Guiding Value: 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.
Secondary Value: Older people and people with disabilities who
are victims of abuse, exploitation or neglect should be treated with honesty, caring
and respect.
Principles
- Adults have the right to be safe.
- Adults retain all their civil and constitutional rights unless some of these rights
have been restricted by court action.
- Adults have the right to make decisions that do not conform with societal norms
as long as these decisions do not harm others.
- Adults are presumed to have decision-making capacity unless a court adjudicates
otherwise.
- Adults have the right to accept or refuse services.
Practice Guidelines
- Recognize that the interests of the adult are the first concern of any intervention.
- Avoid imposing personal values on others.
- Seek informed consent from the adult before providing services.
- Respect the adult’s right to keep personal information confidential.
- Recognize individual differences such as cultural, historical and personal values.
- Honor the right of adults to receive information about their choices and options
in a form or manner that they can understand.
- To the best of your ability, involve the adult as much as possible in developing
the service plan.
- Focus on case planning that maximizes the vulnerable adult’s independence and choice
to the extent possible based on the adult’s capacity.
- Use the least restrictive services first—community based services rather than institutionally
based services whenever possible.
- Use family and informal support systems first as long as this is in the best interest
of the adult.
- Maintain clear and appropriate professional boundaries.
- In the absence of an adult’s expressed wishes, support casework actions that are
in the adult’s best interest.
- Use substituted judgment in case planning when historical knowledge of the adult’s
values is available.
- Do no harm. Inadequate or inappropriate intervention may be worse than no intervention.
Reprinted with permission from the National Adult Protective Services Association