What does Adult Protective Services actually do?
Before you report anyone to APS be sure that you know what they actually do. This fact sheet
https://ncea.acl.gov/NCEA/media/publications/APS-Fact-Sheet.pdf
gives all the information you need to know before you call with a concern over someone that may or may not be able to function on their own. This was brought up when I suggested that MYOB should be the action plan when early Dementia symptoms are thought to exist. Please read this and try to understand that dealing with any adult 21+ that is not a blood relative can be extremely difficult for anyone outside the family. Calling APS over suspected dementia could be viewed as stalking especially if APS finds nothing. I suggested that the individual not make a call but express the concerns to a minister because they are mandatory reporters and they are bound by reporting laws.
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I only know how APS operates in one state and have been watching that show for many years as an in-home caregiver. I would liken them to the SS back in World War II. The second they set a foot in a person's home, they are in charge and no one else (not even the person they're supposedly helping or their family) gets a say in anything. This is especially true for elderly people.
I've seen APS in action first hand. A few times they were helpful and realistic about needs, but most of the time not. I've known elders living in good, safe homes with family and hired help getting removed and placed in facility care because a family couldn't afford to completely renovate a house to make it what APS considers "safe". Family members getting charges neglect and abandonment filed because they left the elder alone watching tv and they ran out to their car for literally a minute. An APS social worker just happened to pull in the driveway on a surprise visit right then.
I was one time threatened with the call to APS for nothing. An over-zealous nurse fresh out of school was waiting in the client's driveway. My shift started at a certain hour and I was there. Evidently the client had been neglected and left 'alone' for the better part of a minute while the night-time caregiver left the house and I entered it. I explained to this little sh*t that caregivers aren't the secret service and the client isn't the president. Even the president doesn't have eyes on him every second. I handed her the phone and told her to call. Even offered to dial the number for her. Then I said what will happen next. I would go leaving her to watch the client lie in bed for the day because I'd be down at the court petitioning for a restraining order against her for harassment, stalking (as stated), and threatening myself and my livelihood. You have to be very careful with APS people.
I myself have called them a few times but only when I believed it was absolutely necessary. I wasn't legally responsible for the elders I called for. When someone is they have to be twice as careful when APS comes sniffing around.
When dementia is suspected and a "stubborn" senior refuses help, it's the luck of the draw with APS. They might be reasonable, they might not. It depends on who gets the case and what kind of insurance and assets an elder has.
"APS can differ from state to state and even from county to county in terms of definitions, client eligibility requirements and standards of practice."
Therefore, your post must be understood within that context on this global forum. Your experience with APS may differ a great deal from what others have experienced.
worker. As has been said many times, people get a great deal of leeway in messing up their lives. APS can help in some cases and I know of some of those. If you think someone needs to be reported, do it yourself so the story as you know it is told correctly and doesn't go through a game of "telephone " or maybe not reported at all.