1. Indiana Adult Protective Services
Unit 8: Serving Boone, Hamilton, Hendricks
and Marion Counties
Investigator Elaine Carter

2. The Adult Protective Services (APS) Program was established to investigate reports and provide intervention and protection to vulnerable adults who are victims of abuse, neglect, or exploitation. APS field investigators operate out of the offices of county prosecutors throughout the state
IC §§
What is APS?
History of APS, established in 1985, aligned with Division of Aging services (Council on Aging)

3. What is APS? 18 Units across the State
50 Investigators, this includes some part-time as well as 17 Unit Directors
Locally, Unit 8 serves Boone, Hamilton, Hendricks and Marion Counties
8 full-time Investigators, including the Director who also has a case-load
Intake Coordinator
Deputy Prosecutor
IN is the only state in the Union where APS investigators are housed in the prosecutor’s offices. As such, being an investigator for the Prosecuting Attorney makes us sworn law enforcement.

4. APS State Map
When created, they were mostly aligned by State Police Posts as well as the Area Agencies on Aging (AAA)
There are some units that are only 1 county while unit 12 has 10 counties. These are also based on population, some what…

5. Funding 2 year contract with FSSA Grant funds only cover salaries
Marion County taxpayers fund remaining expenses
Health insurance/benefits
Vehicle expenses
Training, when budget allows
2 yr contract/FSSA
Keep in mind, we cover 4 counties. Marion County taxpayers are paying for our services that reach the 3 additional counties. Those counties refuse to contribute because they want to control how it’s spent…
CPS 640, Animal Control 3.5, APS 2.9
Elders living longer / Baby boomers, fastest growing population
Elder Justice Act / Obama Healthcare reform

6. What does APS do? Investigate crimes against endangered adults Abuse
Neglect (including self-neglect)
Financial Exploitation

7. How does APS receive reports?
Various reporting sources
Hospitals/doctors/nursing homes
Family
Neighbors
Police/EMS/Fire/Animal Control
Health Department
Financial Institutions
Hospitals/docs/NF will call when they believe home isn’t safe and need us to check, NF will report when a patient has left AMA
Family, especially around the holidays, “I didn’t know it had gotten so bad” “I haven’t been there in years”
HD usually calls when they have an eviction of an elderly or disabled person. We try to help when we can, with ID, trying to arrange other living situations – although this is not our job…
Financial institutions have a legal obligation to report based on age, not disability. Most of those are not endangered adults and not all of them we make cases of…

8. What is an endangered adult?IC
"Endangered adult" defined
At least 18 years of age,
incapable by reason of mental illness, mental retardation, dementia or other physical or mental incapacity of providing or directing the provision of self care,
and is harmed or threatened with harm of neglect, battery, or exploitation.
Let’s break this down –
Does age alone make you an endangered adult?
Can you be bed-bound and not be an endangered adult?
Bottom line is we are looking for capacity, decision-making capacity. And it is more than our opinion, we have to get a doc to agree.
While the mentally ill are considered endangered adults, be aware that there is nothing that we can do for them. We can give them referrals, we can ID them, but at the end of the day, it is again up to a doc to do something about it and there just aren’t the resources to adequately care for them.

9. Protective Services IC 12-10-3-5 Protective Services include:
Medical
Psychiatric
Residential
Social Services
Necessary to protect the health and safety of an endangered adult
Protective orders, probate is getting more and more difficult to work with and to be able to do our job effectively. PO is the only way we can legally remove an adult from their home (aside from an ID). Before the judge will hear it, we have to have lined up a place for the individual to go, worked out who’s paying, etc.
Commitment orders – We can assist with the application – there is a law enforcement section to the application. The psychiatrist has to be the one to sign off and they have to have a bed to receive the patient
ER Gu –
CARE – have to take our referrals, but have to be in a 24-hour staffed setting. Several hospitals have agreement, IU, Eskenazi and Community. St. V, St. Fran and VA do not participate – won’t buy-in

10. Abuse Physical abuse, battery Confinement
There are enhancements in the criminal code to further protect endangered adults
Confinement
Physical restraints, i.e. tied to their wheelchair
Physically locked in a room with no means of emergency egress
Denied access to toilet, food, water

11. Neglect Active Passive Care-giver knowingly denies care or attention
Leaves the victim alone knowing they are unable to phone 911 for assistance
Take care of own needs and ignore those of the victim
Unintentional neglect
Unaware of how to properly transfer the victim
A lot of care-givers take on more than they realize and are unable to keep up with the demands and needs

12. Self-Neglect Hoarding Denial of diminished capacity
Denial of inability to manage ADLs (activities of daily living)
Lack of resources

19. Money, or the lack thereof:
Hoarding
Raised during the Great Depression – need to save everything – or learned behavior from parents raised during that time
No money means they need to save the item because they don’t have the means to acquire more
Overzealous ambitions; books they want to read, projects to complete

20. Money, or the lack thereof:
Jamaican Sweepstake Scam
What do they have to lose? –or –
What do they have to gain?
They are so desperate for comfort, they believe what they are told
Given a badge number
Given a ‘local’ phone number

21. Money, or the lack thereof:
Can compound their psychological issues
Added stress of deciding if they are going to eat or keep the heat on
Buy their medicine or have a phone
Often they own their home, but struggle to make the semi-annual property tax payment

27. Financial Exploitation
Using victim’s property or money that in a manner that does not benefit the victim
Cell phones for the entire household
Lavish dining-out
Car payment, insurance and fuel for a vehicle not available to the victim

28. What can APS do? Investigate allegations of criminal acts
Referrals to outside agencies/organizations
Primary care physician for home health services, mobile doc,
Health Dept for deplorable living conditions, no water/hot water, no heat, no means of emergency egress
Home delivered meals
Place victim’s under Immediate Detention to be evaluated by a physician

29. What APS cannot do?
First Responders – we do not typically respond to the scene unless it is a dire emergency
Placement
We are not recovery agents for money, property or medication.
Other than ID, we cannot remove a person from their home
We can, however, usually provide resources/referrals to assist with the above

30. Questions? Contacts: Intake phone 317-327-1403 Intake fax 317-327-5404