Council statement on new Adult Protective Services reports

Follow-up action plan released by state APS leaders

by Sarah Ruf, Community Relations Specialist

PHOENIX—(March 10, 2020) A focus on preventing abuse and neglect of vulnerable adults continues for the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council in 2020, and a new report highlights gaps and challenges faced by the current adult protective system in Arizona.

Abused & Neglected: A Roadmap for Improving Arizona's Adult Protective Services analyzes the effectiveness of the Adult Protective Services program under the Arizona Department of Economic Security and its Division of Adult and Aging Services.

The Council continues to search for solutions to better protect people with developmental disabilities from abuse, neglect, and exploitation, as we reflect on the passing of one year since a woman with severe disabilities was raped and gave birth at a Phoenix intermediate care facility.

The Abused & Neglected  report explores:

- Why Adults with Disabilities are at Risk for Abuse and Neglect

- The Investigation Process 

- The Effectiveness of the Arizona APS Registry

- How Other States Operate Compare

- Solutions to Make the Protection System Stronger

"We can't lose the big ideas moving forward," said Erica McFadden, ADDPC executive director. "For example, creating a protection agency for both children and vulnerable adults would enable the sharing of resources, like intake hotlines, registries, training, and staff."

Leaders at DES and the Arizona Department of Health Services released its Adult Protective Services Action Plan on March 2, 2020, partly in response to feedback from a stakeholder meeting held in January and the Abused & Neglected report. You can read the APS Action Plan here.

"We believe this one-year action plan takes practical steps to better protect Arizona's vulnerable adults with an under-resourced APS program," McFadden said. "We need to continue to think big picture as we act incrementally with this action plan."