20 percent of elder-abuse allegations handled improperly, state report says

In about one-fifth of reviewed cases, local agencies failed to conduct in-person interviews with alleged victims within the mandated 72 hours.

Written by Nicole C. Brambila

 

Harrisburg, PA - The Pennsylvania Office of State Inspector General released a summary report Tuesday that's critical of the Department of Aging's oversight of the 52 agencies tasked with investigating elder-abuse allegations.

Initiated in May 2017, the report contained six findings that focused largely on whether local Area Agencies on Aging, or the AAA network, were complying with state statutes and timelines regarding how investigative reports on abuse and neglect are initiated and completed.

Among the findings:

In roughly 20 percent of the 18,275 cases reviewed, local agencies failed to conduct in-person interviews with the alleged victim of abuse and neglect within the mandated 72 hours.

In 43 percent of those cases, the local agency did not determine within the required 20 days whether the allegation of abuse was substantiated.

96 percent of the Department of Aging monitoring reviews in 2018 were completed after target dates.

The report also contained 12 recommendations, including enhanced training for intake staff; a centralized call center to handle reports; and a suggestion that the department revise its contracts with local AAAs to give the state more authority to ensure compliance.

Clarke Madden, spokesman for the Office of Inspector General, declined to comment.

The six-page report was released a week before Aging Secretary Teresa Osborne is set to step down for an appointment to the Civil Service Commission in a shake-up of Gov. Tom Wolf's Cabinet. She is to be replaced by Robert Torres, who has been acting secretary of state since 2017.

The summary included a five-page Department of Aging response.

Drew Wilburne, Aging spokesman, declined to comment, but provided a prepared statement, which said, in part, that "The department has begun to address the findings raised in the OSIG's report and is actively pursuing opportunities for improvement related to the findings that were identified."

In the department's response included with the summary, the agency said many of the recommendations have been or are in the process of being implemented and noted the increased number and complexity of cases. The increased caseload, the department said, has "added pressure" on local agencies to conducted legally required in-person interviews within 72 hours or complete cases within 20 days.

The department also noted that AAAs are already monitored annually. In fact, a year ago the Department of Aging started a colored grading system to identify counties that were and were not complying with regulations.

Both the graying of Pennsylvanians and the sharp rise in complaints, which in the past decade has surged roughly 40 percent, have made elder abuse a critical issue that is only expected to worsen.

State Rep. Jim Cox, who sponsored Act 53, which last year amended the criminal statute to include abuse of a care-dependent person, called Aging's oversight, as highlighted in the summary, "a huge failure."

"It's unacceptable for them to be so delinquent in the performance of their duties," the Spring Township Republican said.

State inspector general reports are considered investigative and not subject to public release under Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law. Summaries are released at the discretion of the governor's office.

A number of news organizations, including the Reading Eagle in a Nov. 5 Right-to-Know request, had sought the report. After being denied the report in December, Wolf's office said they intended to release a summary online.

J.J. Abbott, the governor's spokesman, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

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20 percent of elder-abuse allegations handled improperly, state report says