Missouri teacher seeks guardianship for former student

Special education teacher Rita Richards is advocating for guardianship of her former student, Zack

by Matt Flener

CLAY COUNTY, Mo. —  Rita Richards showed up with a group of people to speak at a Clay County Commission business meeting last month.

The special education teacher had one mission: to ensure the county commission knew her concerns about her former student, Zack.

Zack became a ward of the state in 2014.

Richards invited him to her family get-togethers and holiday celebrations to stay in touch with him when he was put under public guardianship.

During that time, she started noticing concerns about his living conditions, hygiene, and safety.

His current guardian is Clay County Public Administrator Alexa Summit. Summit has held the office since 2021. Before then, two other public administrators oversaw Zack’s care.

A judge has reviewed Zack’s case multiple times and kept him under public guardianship through the Clay County Public Administrator’s office.

Richards told the county commission about her experience advocating for her former student.

"I was pushed out,” she said. “I was not allowed to visit anymore. They didn't want to hear my concerns.”

After Richards spoke to commissioners, KMBC 9 Investigates asked Summit to comment on Zack's case.

An attorney responded on Summit’s behalf.

"We do have to respect the confidentiality of the individuals that the public administrator's office is tasked to serve as guardian and conservator for,” said attorney Paemon Aramjoo. “We are therefore unable to provide comment on a specific case or the individuals involved."

PAPER PRISONS: Public guardianship in Missouri under investigation

Richards contacted KMBC 9 Investigates after seeing KMBC’s “Paper Prisons” investigation last year. The ongoing investigative series explores problems and solutions for Missouri’s public guardianship system, which serves as a societal backstop for people who struggle to find safe care with friends or family.

The work of Missouri’s public administrators, who act as public guardians, often goes unnoticed in probate courts, phone calls, and long trips to visit wards across the state. They are tasked with heavy caseloads in Missouri’s 114 counties and the City of St. Louis.

Often, those wards are placed into facilities hours from where they once called home.

In Clay County, a recent performance audit found the Public Administrator was responsible for 309 wards, as of 2023.

More than half of those live within the radius of Clay, Platte, Ray, Jackson, Cass, Lafayette, Pettis, Saline, Johnson, and Carroll counties, the audit found.

But at least 117 wards live in other counties across the state.

“It would be my preference to place all individuals in Clay County but due to the lack of resources, this cannot be accomplished,” the public administrator’s office told the Clay County Auditor. “We will continue to evaluate all wards to ensure they are in the most suitable and least restrictive environment. We will also continue to stay aware of resources in our community and advocate for quality care for each person.”

Public administrators are assigned caseloads from judges when hospitals, nursing homes, family, or friends recommend court-approved placement for individuals to keep them safe, fed, and housed.

But public guardianship has also come under fire in Missouri from the United States Department of Justice for unnecessarily institutionalizing people in nursing homes.

Judges give Missouri public administrators wide control of wards' lives when they believe family or friends can no longer care for them. They are required to file yearly reports with the court about care plans for their wards.

Clay County public guardianship oversight next steps

The county commission began appointing the public administrator after the 2020 general election changed it from an elected to appointed position. Circuit court judges now recommend a person for the role.

Richards told the commission she could serve as Zack's guardian, noting that she has not had response from Summit in years.

"I've sent 33 emails and I've had zero responses," she said.

Richards told the commission she found in court documents that Zack was stabbed by his roommate in 2025.

During the meeting, she also asked people concerned about public administrator guardianship om Clay County to stand in support. Dozens of people stood behind her.

"Zack's survival should not be the end of this story,” Richards also said from the podium. “It should be the beginning of accountability.”

After the meeting, she told KMBC she felt the commission listened to her concerns and hopes commission members will establish an independent review board to keep the public administrator's work in check.

If you know of someone going through struggles with Missouri’s public guardianship system, or if you have a case to highlight that exposes solutions for Missouri’s public guardianship system that could teach lessons to others, please email investigates@kmbc.com

Full Article & Source:
Missouri teacher seeks guardianship for former student 

See Also:
Missouri woman shares journey of restoration from public guardianship

3 charged for allegedly stealing thousands from 87-year-old Hamilton County woman

by Matthew Dietz

CINCINNATI —  Three people have been charged after investigators alleged that they financially exploited an 87-year-old Hamilton County woman.

Hamilton County prosecutor Connie Pillich’s office announced charges against Thomas Dukes, Fray Chaney, and Jennifer Smith on Wednesday.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the suspects befriended the 87-year-old victim at church and targeted her for exploitation.

Investigators said the suspects obtained power of attorney and withdrew $70,000 from the woman’s bank account for personal use.

Investigators said Dukes and Chaney bought a Tesla online through Carvana in the victim’s name, pretending to be the victim, while Smith allegedly stole her Cadillac.

The prosecutor’s office said the victim’s total losses are estimated to be more than $122,000.

“These charges reflect the calculated exploitation of an elderly victim,” Pillich said. “My office will seek accountability for the harm that was done. This is exactly why I strengthened the Elder Justice Unit. We will make sure seniors are protected.”

Dukes, Chaney and Smith were indicted on charges of theft from a person in a protected class, identity fraud against a person in a protected class and telecommunications fraud. 

Full Article & Source:
3 charged for allegedly stealing thousands from 87-year-old Hamilton County woman 

Missouri woman shares journey of restoration from public guardianship

Mackenzie Garton, a former ward of the state in Missouri, shares her story of independence after more than 13 years under public guardianship. 

by Matt Flener 

MARSHFIELD, Mo. —  Mackenzie Garton used a small applicator at her dining room table last month, picking up tiny pieces of diamond art to create a picture of a wolf. The do-it-yourself craft project — a mix between cross-stitch and paint by numbers — takes perseverance and determination.

Garton recently started the hobby to help her patience and mental health after years of guardianship in Missouri.

“I gotta get them on the end of this pencil,” she said, as she picked up a magnifying glass to see.

Asked if she could have done a similar project a few years ago while a ward of the state in group homes, she said, “No probably not. I didn’t take the time.”

Garton, who lives in a small apartment in Marshfield, Missouri, has gained several skills since living independently for the past couple of years.

"Sometimes it wasn't easy," Garton said. "Just because I have a mental illness, and just because I was on guardianship, doesn't mean I was evil, or I wasn't a human being."

Garton attends a day program. She has counseling, medicine and a support team. She still needs help with her finances.

Danielle Boggs, the county’s public administrator, remains her conservator to help with budgeting and spending.

But Boggs believed Garton could manage life on her own, away from group homes. She encouraged Garton to seek a medical opinion in 2023, leading to a judge’s decision to restore her right to live independently.

"I give praise to Danielle a lot. I really do. She has been there for me through all of it," Garton said. "I would say my years of guardianship was awesome, really."

Restoration and risks under public guardianship

Garton is one of tens of thousands of people who have interacted with Missouri's public guardianship system since the turn of the 20th century.

People like Garton in Missouri are often referred to public administrators, elected or appointed officials, to act as court-appointed guardians when a judge decides family or friends can no longer care for them.

Garton contacted KMBC 9 Investigates after Boggs told her about KMBC’s investigation called Paper Prisons. KMBC is exploring ways to systemically improve the care of those under guardianship by telling stories of people struggling to navigate a tangled system of legal paperwork, medical records, and court orders. KMBC is also seeking answers, perspective, and context from those in charge of keeping wards of the state in their care for their recommendations on how to improve the system.

"I see it is something much different than a Paper Prison,” Boggs said. “I see it as someone needs help and there's a resource connector put into place to help connect them to those resources."

Boggs let Garton speak for herself to respect her privacy but did speak to KMBC about her work as public administrator. She has around 100 people in her caseload and is the former president of the Missouri Association of Public Administrators.

"When people realize we're all interconnected and we all need to rely on different people at different times to help us with different things in our lives, that's what makes restoration so beautiful," Boggs said.

Public administrators ask for help to take care of wards better

Still, Boggs believes Missouri's public guardians and wards need more help from state lawmakers.

A 2024 U.S. Department of Justice report highlighted how Missouri "unnecessarily institutionalizes" people inside nursing homes. Boggs said those facilities are often the only places available to send people who need highly specialized help.

“It's something that public administrators have said for a long time,” she said. “We don't have anything else. The state does not provide any high-level structured setting for people to have oversight, counseling, medication management.”

Boggs believes the state needs to add capacity for highly structured behavioral health settings with Department of Mental Health involvement and counseling.

She also emphasized those facilities must not solely focus on medication management but life skills training, counseling and things that can help them reintegrate once they get to a lower level of care.

“But in the meantime, there's nowhere else for these individuals to be placed in our current system,” she said.

Boggs also spoke to KMBC last year as part of a leadership group with the Missouri Association of Public Administrators. She emphasized more education is needed about the role of guardians and said issues within Missouri’s public guardianship system should not be attributed solely to public administrators.

Private guardians, multiple state agencies and courts all have a role to play, they said.

Meanwhile, KMBC has fielded calls, letters and emails from multiple wards of the state across Missouri asking to share their stories about being trapped in that system. KMBC continues to investigate their claims, seeking accountability and insight from public officials, judges and attorneys in charge of their care.

Garton, meanwhile, is grateful for her time in guardianship, believing it was important for her to set her life on the right path.

“It wasn't all easy,” she said. “That's what I had to do is take responsibility and, and own up to my own actions, and take care of things for myself.”

If you know of someone going through struggles with Missouri’s public guardianship system, or if you have a case to highlight that exposes solutions for Missouri’s public guardianship system that could teach lessons to others, please email investigates@kmbc.com. 

Full Article & Source:
Missouri woman shares journey of restoration from public guardianship 

See Also:
Paper Prisons: Missouri woman seeking release from public guardianship 

Ronan woman admits to stealing from family trust

by JEFF SMITH

Ronan resident Lindsay Montgomery Polchies, 38, admitted to stealing funds from a family trust account.

She entered a plea of guilty in District Court in Polson Feb. 11 to felony theft as part of an agreement that calls for sentencing being deferred for six years. It also calls for Polchies to pay restitution of $12,904.18. The judge is not bound by the agreement.

According to court records, in March 2018, a woman with the initials M.M., hired a Polson attorney to prepare a will on her behalf. The charging documents show she wanted to set up a trust fund for her grandchildren and named Polchies as the trustee.

M.M. passed away before setting up the trust fund, so the attorney set up the trust fund on behalf of the grandchildren.

After one of the grandchildren died, the attorney began receiving calls from friends of the family. They had concerns that other family members were trying to gain control of the trust.

That’s when the attorney took over the trust and discovered Polchies had withdrawn $5,000 from it. Records show she also spent another $7,904.18 from the trust between March 11, 2024 and June 28, 2024.

Judge Molly Owen set sentencing for April 15.

Full Article & Source:
Ronan woman admits to stealing from family trust 

Paper Prisons: Missouri woman seeking release from public guardianship

Chiro Richey released a YouTube video last year pleading for help with guardianship

by Matt Flener

FARMINGTON, Mo. — Inside a wing of a nursing home in Farmington, Missouri, Chiro Richey has answered the facility’s phone multiple times over the past six months. She cannot leave without permission from her court-appointed guardian.

"This is nothing like prison," she said in one of her phone conversations with KMBC 9 Investigates. "This is way worse than prison."

Richey is not under a criminal sentence.

She lives in the Farmington care facility as part of her public guardian’s care plan for her life.

"We go outside to smoke break, and that's about it," she said.

Buchanan County Public Administrator Brad Haggard, Richey’s guardian, told KMBC he could not speak about Richey’s case due to privacy concerns. But Haggard invited KMBC to learn more about the work he and five other staff members inside his office do every day.

Haggard, court records indicate, has also agreed for Richey to seek an independent psychological evaluation that could determine if she could be released from public guardianship.

Missouri public administrators like Haggard are mostly elected, sometimes appointed, to serve as court-approved public guardians when people cannot care for themselves or lack family support.

The phone rings an average of 70 times a day in his office. More than half of the callers are wards under his care with questions. Others are medical providers, attorneys or people seeking his consent for something. To keep up, he just got approval from the county commission for two more staff members in his office.

As a former nursing home administrator and state-level leader for the Missouri Veterans Commission Homes program, Haggard said it catches his attention when he hears one of his clients feels like they are in prison.

"Because we certainly don't want that," he said. "We don't want anyone to feel like that."

Paper Prisons: Public guardianship in Missouri under investigation

Chiro Richey is one of more than an estimated 11,000 people in Missouri under public guardianship.

Richey spoke to KMBC 9 News for an ongoing investigation called "Paper Prisons," highlighting the difficulties of wards of the state and their families under Missouri’s system of public guardianship.

KMBC is investigating ways to systemically improve the care of those under guardianship by telling stories of people struggling to navigate a tangled system of legal paperwork, medical records and court orders. KMBC is also seeking answers, perspective and context from those in charge of keeping wards of the state in their care for their recommendations on how to improve the system.

"I’m locked up and trapped in a system that is not fair," Richey said on the phone with KMBC.

In 2016, Richey became a ward of the state of Missouri. She had a drug problem, she said.

"I asked the judge to take my rights away, so that I could get clean," she said in a YouTube video released last year. "Well, after I got clean, they would not let me go."

Every year since 2017, a judge has reviewed a year-end status report from her public guardian about her living conditions and her finances. Richey appeared before Buchanan County Judge David Bolander in September of last year. She thanked him for reviewing her case.

Bolander ordered an independent psychological evaluation for Richey to help him review her request for restoration. But the evaluation has faced multiple delays since then.

Bolander, in court paperwork, has indicated the evaluation will now take place in early March, and he will review Richey’s case again on March 25.

Richey said she has taken classes, seen doctors, written letters to the court, but remains under the state’s care.

"It puts you in a place of loneliness," she said.

Public administrators face challenges with clients across the state

Brad Haggard must travel five and a half hours across the state if he wants to visit Richey.

Haggard has become a road warrior since taking office in January of 2025.

He has 297 clients. About half of the people in that caseload are in 34 different nursing homes across the state. A Missouri map hangs in his office with push pins for every Missouri town with a client, reaching all the way down to Missouri’s southwest bootheel. Buchanan County is in the northwest corner of the state.

Proximity is a common challenge for Missouri guardians and their wards.

People like Richey are spread out in facilities, group homes or other living arrangements across the state’s 114 counties and the city of St. Louis due to few resources close to home.

"We'd be able to be more engaged with people if our clients were close to us," Haggard said.

Often, the safest and quickest option for food, medical care and shelter for public guardians is Missouri’s 486 skilled nursing facilities.

However, in 2024, the United States Department of Justice found that Missouri "unnecessarily institutionalizes" too many people with mental health disabilities in skilled nursing homes, improperly relying on guardianship. The report said Missouri used "guardianship as a pipeline" to nursing homes across the state.

A 2020 report from the Missouri Association of Public Administrators mentioned several opportunities for improvement, saying a "lack of state funding and coordination leaves Missouri with a fragmented public guardianship system."

The report highlighted how public administrators often do not have enough resources, "while navigating complex systems to provide care for their wards — while also facing increased pressure from the state and stakeholders to ensure all wards are placed in their least-restrictive alternatives."

Haggard said it is always his goal to get people to the least restrictive setting or placement. Proximity is important in that conversation, he said. Haggard would tell lawmakers that Missouri needs more available housing placement and community resources for wards.

"Particularly closer to you," he said. "So, you could be more involved in them," he said.

Still, Haggard said he and his staff work nonstop trying to communicate with his clients or caregivers every day.

Chiro Richey’s next steps

Meanwhile, Chiro Richey waits for her next steps.

She wants to move back to St. Joseph, find a job and reconnect with family.

Until then, she remains in the skilled nursing facility in Farmington.

Richey wanted her story to be public so it might help her and others get out of guardianship.

"Just get the word out," she said. "There's people like us that are stuck in these places that need to be released."

If you know of someone going through struggles with Missouri’s public guardianship system, or if you have a case to highlight that exposes solutions for Missouri’s public guardianship system that could teach lessons to others, please email investigates@kmbc.com.

Full Article & Source:
Paper Prisons: Missouri woman seeking release from public guardianship 

See Also:
Judge: Missouri public guardian’s felony financial crime case can move forward

Missouri public guardian pleads not guilty to eight felony counts

Missouri elected guardian charged with 8 felonies for stealing from ward

Paper Prisons: Missouri woman details struggle to leave public guardianship after husband's death

Paper Prisons: Missouri man continues fight to free his mother from public guardianship 

Sullivan County elected official accused of stealing thousands from disabled person 

Legal Leaders Take Historic Step To Protect Americans Under Guardianship, Conservatorship

By Nina A. Kohn
Source: Forbes 2/17/2026

In July 2021, in the midst of her prolonged public battle to end her father’s appointment as her conservator, popstar Britney Spears testified that she had just learned that she could ask for the conservatorship to be ended: “I’m sorry for my ignorance,” she told the judge in her case, “but I honestly didn’t know that.” Spears’ apology suggested that the attorney who had been hired to represent her had not actually informed her of a key option.

This month, the American Bar Association (ABA) took an historic step to prevent such problems. It revised its ethics rules for attorneys to make it clear that they must advocate for their clients’ wishes even when their clients are—as Ms. Spears was—under guardianship or conservatorship.

Full Article and Source:
Legal Leaders Take Historic Step To Protect Americans Under Guardianship, Conservatorship

See Also:
Britney Spears 

‘I was intimidated’: Woman wishes she challenged brother’s control over mother’s finances more

By Jason Stoogenke

CHARLOTTE — Justine Tobin is an investment banker. She has an eye for detail, especially when it comes to dollars and cents. But she says she was still caught off guard.

“This could happen to anyone so I should speak up about what happened to me,” she said. So she sat down with Action 9 attorney Jason Stoogenke to share her story, hoping others learn from her experience.

She told Stoogenke her mother decided years ago, if she ever needed someone to have power of attorney (POA) over her interests, it would be Tobin’s brother.

She says the time came. So, a few years ago, her brother took control of their mother’s finances. Then, Tobin suspected he was abusing that power.

“So I actually did raise a concern to my mother’s broker,” she said. “And this man told me that it was not my problem. I didn’t have power of attorney and no standing.”

Tobin says her brother took his own life in May last year and that she has been administrator of his estate. “And, in that process, I realize that my brother did use all of my mother‘s money,” she said.

Now, looking back, she wishes she had done more to challenge her brother’s role as POA. “What I should have done is contacted more people. I didn’t because I was intimidated. I was already reporting my brother for something that everyone else in my family felt could not be true,” she said. “Hope is hopeless in these situations. Don’t hope and take action.”

She says she should have gone above the broker’s head to any of the following:

• The broker’s company’s compliance officer

• AARP

• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

• Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)

• N.C. Attorney General‘s office

• Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

As fate would have it, last month, FINRA issued this request, asking people to suggest ways to better protect seniors from financial exploitation. Tobin couldn’t believe her eyes and jumped at the chance to weigh in.

Stoogenke and Tobin suggest the following when it comes to POA:

1. If you are the one selecting someone to have POA over your interests, choose someone based on their character and judgment, not age, gender, pressure.

2. If you are concerned someone is abusing their power:

• Act quickly. Don’t assume it will resolve itself.
• Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Contact multiple watchdogs.
• Don’t feel bad if you don’t have a ‘full’ case, all the proof yet. Trust your instincts.

Stoogenke says, if you’re afraid a relative is picking the wrong person to have power of attorney, talk to them, present your concerns logically. But remember: in the end, it’s their decision. 

Full Article & Source:
‘I was intimidated’: Woman wishes she challenged brother’s control over mother’s finances more

Ohio AG announces new partnerships to combat elder abuse, financial exploitation

by The Guardian

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost on Monday announced two new partnerships aimed at increasing awareness of elder abuse and stopping financial exploitation before it harms older residents.

The Ohio Bankers League and the Ohio Health Care Association are joining the Attorney General’s Office as part of a statewide campaign to educate Ohioans about warning signs of elder abuse and how to prevent it. The effort builds on a partnership announced last fall with the Ohio Pharmacists Association.

“Elder abuse doesn’t always leave bruises,” Yost said. “Sometimes it looks like unusual withdrawals or a sudden change in financial behavior. Our financial institutions are a first line of defense.”

Under the new partnerships, the organizations will participate in training to identify signs and symptoms of elder abuse and financial exploitation. The groups will also distribute educational materials and use their websites and member networks to expand outreach and encourage reporting.

“When you’re dealing with an epidemic, you need a big army,” Yost said at a press conference with representatives of the trade associations. “These partnerships are critical.”

As scams targeting older adults grow more sophisticated, financial institutions are often positioned to spot potential red flags, including suspicious withdrawals, unusual check-writing patterns and sudden wire transfers. Through coordination with law enforcement and improved reporting, banks can help prevent financial losses.

“On behalf of the Ohio Bankers League and Ohio’s community banks, I want to thank Attorney General Yost and his team for inviting us to be a partner in this critically important effort to combat elder financial fraud,” said Mike Adelman, president and CEO of the Ohio Bankers League, which represents more than 170 FDIC-insured financial institutions. “This partnership matters, and it sends a powerful message to Ohioans that government and local banks are standing together to protect our most vulnerable neighbors.”

Health-care providers, including assisted-living communities, home care and hospice providers, and skilled nursing facilities, also may be in a position to identify signs of physical, emotional or sexual abuse.

“For every Ohio Health Care Association member, the safety, well-being and compassionate care of residents, especially in their most vulnerable moments, are our highest priorities,” said Scott Wiley, CEO of the Ohio Health Care Association, which represents more than 1,300 providers statewide. “Every Ohioan entrusted to our care deserves to feel safe, respected, seen and valued.”

According to the Attorney General’s Office, reported elder abuse in Ohio has increased 400% over the past seven years. Estimates indicate that one in 10 Ohioans age 60 or older experience abuse, though only one in five cases is reported.

Sara Kilpatrick, executive director and CEO of the Ohio Pharmacists Association, said her organization is working with the Attorney General’s Office to distribute educational materials, including information printed on prescription bags and window-ledge cards for pharmacies.

“Too many older Ohioans suffer in silence,” she said. “Pharmacists are in a unique position to help protect and support these vulnerable neighbors.”

Since October, the Attorney General’s Office has expanded its awareness campaign urging Ohioans to learn the warning signs of elder abuse and financial exploitation and report suspected cases. A central component is a video titled What’s Done in the Dark, shared by the office’s Elder Justice Unit and partner agencies.

The state’s Elder Abuse Commission recently released its biennial report outlining prevention efforts, training initiatives and coordination among agencies focused on protecting older adults.

Officials encourage Ohioans who suspect elder abuse, neglect or financial exploitation to contact local law enforcement or their county Adult Protective Services office. 

Full Article & Source:
Ohio AG announces new partnerships to combat elder abuse, financial exploitation 

FOX 13 Investigates: Utah's Adult Protective Services is substantiating few cases of elder abuse

By: Taylor Stevens

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s Adult Protective Services agency is substantiating an average of just 5% of all allegations of abuse, neglect and exploitation it investigates each year — a far smaller percentage than the national average, data shows.

Advocates say that number is likely not an accurate representation of the true scope of elder abuse. Instead, they worry it reflects the impacts of understaffing and high caseloads on the quality of the agency’s investigations.

“I think we’re clearly missing something,” said Nate Crippes, an attorney with the Disability Law Center. “If we’re not investigating, we’re not looking at serious allegations, some really bad things can happen. And some people can really be put in some really difficult and horrific situations.”

Nationally, Adult Protective Services (APS) agencies uphold an average of about 29% of the cases they investigate, according to a 2021 report prepared for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that covered 36 states. That’s nearly six times the average percentage of cases substantiated here.

Utah's numbers “raise red flags to me, extremely,” said Sam Brooks, the director of public policy at the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, which advocates for better conditions in nursing homes across the country.

“That substantiation rate is not going to be reflective of actual abuse,” he argued in an interview. “It's going to be reflective of challenges, often that APS programs face due to lack of funding.”

In Utah, the vast majority of cases APS investigates — nearly 80% on average — were deemed “inconclusive” or “undetermined” from 2019 to 2025, according to disposition data the Utah Department of Health and Human Services provided to FOX 13 News through a public records request. About 15% of cases were deemed to have no merit each year during that same timeframe.

Crippes said the Disability Law Center is aware of APS investigations that he believes exemplify why so many of its cases are neither confirmed nor denied.

“They go into a place, they hear from, say, a resident of a facility that says, ‘This is what happened.’ And then they talk to the staff and say, ‘No, this is what happened,’” he said. “And then it’s like, ‘Well, we can’t substantiate.’”

“And I don’t think that is a thorough investigation,” he added.

The Disability Law Center, which has been designated by Utah’s governor as a watchdog for those with disabilities, often conducts investigations that coincide with APS inquiries.

But in a 2023 letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the nonprofit noted that it is “often” able to substantiate claims the state’s APS investigators “have found inconclusive or without merit.”

Referencing a particular incident at an intermediate care facility for people with disabilities, the center said it was able “to support numerous claims of abuse and/or neglect” that APS and the Office of Licensing were not able to substantiate.

Nels Holmgren, the director of the Utah Division of Aging and Adult Services, pushed back on criticisms of the agency's investigations. He noted that investigators work hard to get to the truth of an allegation, including partnering with law enforcement and the state Office of Licensing, when necessary.

“It certainly should never be a case of somebody saying, ‘This happened’ and another person saying, ‘It didn’t happen,’ and then we say, ‘Oh well,’” he said in an interview. “There’s more to it than that.”

Holmgren added that he isn’t concerned about low substantiation rates in Utah compared to nationally, pointing to differences in laws around elder abuse investigations that can make it difficult to draw comparisons between states.

In Utah, he acknowledged that the bar for investigating and substantiating cases “is high,” and that investigators are subject to a “fairly narrow set of statutes” — so “there are probably things that other states may consider a substantiated case that we don’t.”

“I think policymakers in the state are very cautious about getting too involved in the lives of adults,” he added. “They’re very conscious of that and want to make sure that people have protections and at the same time that we’re respecting people’s independence and autonomy.”

Cases where the Disability Law Center has been able to confirm a complaint APS deemed inconclusive could also be due to differences in investigative standards between the government agency and the nonprofit, he added.

Challenges substantiating

Utah’s Adult Protective Services agency investigates about 5,500 complaints each year of abuse, neglect and exploitation involving adults 65 and older or those 18 and older with a physical or mental impairment that puts them at risk.

Data shows allegations of financial exploitation were the most common in fiscal year 2025, making up about 26% of all complaints to the agency. Caretaker neglect, emotional abuse and self-neglect (“where people just may not be taking care of themselves,” Holmgren said) were also common complaints.

Then there are the allegations Holmgren describes as “rare but horrifying,” like physical and sexual abuse. About 13% of all complaints made in fiscal year 2025 alleged physical injury or harm, while 3% alleged sexual abuse.

Holmgren said these “awful cases that are relatively rare tend to get pretty good action,” noting that police are often involved.

“We have a good partnership with law enforcement across the state,” he added, “and they certainly similarly have a role and a desire to resolve these cases and make sure that our older people are safe.”

But he acknowledged that APS investigators do face some barriers when attempting to substantiate cases.

Some victims are hesitant to move forward because the other party is a family member. Others may lack cognitive capacity to work with investigators. And unlike in child abuse investigations, alleged perpetrators in Adult Protective Services cases aren’t legally required to participate.

“It can be really difficult if that person is not cooperative,” Holmgren said.

High turnover and heavy caseloads can also pose challenges for investigators.

Records from the Utah Department of Health and Human Services show that in the first half of last year, APS investigators in some positions handled more than 40 cases a month on average — almost triple the “ideal caseload” of 12 to 15 per month, according to a 2023 budget presentation.

“We’re certainly aware of that issue and are working with executive and legislative branch partners to make inroads on that,” Holmgren said.

To try to stem turnover and improve caseloads, the 2023 budget presentation said the office had developed a retention bonus program for employees who stay longer than a year and been evaluating candidates based on experience, even if they don’t have the required social work degree.

The Disability Law Center has also advocated for a capped caseload for Utah’s APS investigators, arguing that the state is “unlikely to fund additional staff to meet the need without a requirement to have a fixed ratio.”

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox recommended in 2024 that additional dollars be set aside to hire new caseworkers, in an effort to “help reduce caseloads.” But online budget information shows the Legislature didn’t approve the extra funds.

“There were many requests that were not funded,” Holmgren noted, adding that it’s “certainly something that we continue to work at and advocate for.”

In the meantime, he said the agency is “squeezing as much benefit out of the existing budget as we can.”

Crippes said he hopes lawmakers will take a closer look at APS staffing, training and investigative standards during this year’s ongoing legislative session. Without stronger processes in place, he argues, the state may never uncover serious abuse.

“Ultimately, if something horrific is happening, this may be the only way we’re ever going to find out,” he said.

Editor’s note: Utah law requires anyone who believes a vulnerable adult is being abused, neglected or exploited to immediately notify APS or law enforcement by filing a complaint on APS’s website or by calling 1-800-371-7897. 

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FOX 13 Investigates: Utah's Adult Protective Services is substantiating few cases of elder abuse