By: Melissa Hipolit
RICHMOND, Va. — A new online portal is making it easier to report allegations of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of elderly and incapacitated adults.
The number of reports to Adult Protective Services has increased over the past three years.
"We really want to ensure that older adults are living a life free of abuse and neglect and exploitation," Paige McCleary with Adult Protective Services Division at the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS), said.
To help with that mission, DARS launched an online portal last November that allows people to report abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation of loved ones or neighbors 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
"We hope that it filled that gap that potentially, if we missed anyone's calls for the other two ways to make a report, that this is providing a nice third way to make sure that that report gets to the appropriate people to look into," McCleary said.
McCleary said all reports made are routed to the appropriate local Department of Social Services, where someone will determine if law enforcement or medical personnel needs to be contacted and if an investigation should begin.
Last year alone, Adult Protective Services received more than 45,000 reports statewide from folks alleging mistreatment of elderly or incapacitated adults.
The majority of those complaints involved the elderly, and most of them involved self-neglect.
"Those are individuals that for whatever reason, whether it's a cognitive impairment or some sort of other issue, just aren't able to potentially care for themselves or manage their well being. They may not be able to afford certain things. Their house may be in disrepair. They could be hoarding animals or other sorts of objects in their house," McCleary said.
Another top category of substantiated reports to APS is financial exploitation, which have increased from nearly 1,700 in 2022 to over 2,300 in 2024.
"That would be a person who is being victimized either by someone that they know, who could be trying to access their money, stealing their social security check, requesting money from them, stealing valuables from the person. Or, commonly, online scams, phone scams," McCleary said.
The vast majority of the reports involve potential victims living in their own house or apartment, with the second highest number involving folks living in nursing homes.
McCleary says the portal will help APS reach more potential victims to provide help.
"Society should care about how adults are treated," McCleary said. "They should not needlessly suffer, because there are services that are available and interventions that can assist them."
For access to the Adult Protective Services portal and to learn more about how to file a complaint, visit the DARS website.
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Reports of elder abuse/financial exploitation rise: '[We] should care about how adults are treated'
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