Categorizing adult protective services programs by investigation and quality assurance practices

Area of Science:

• Social Gerontology
• Public Health Policy
• Human Services Administration

Background:

• State adult protective services (APS) programs exhibit significant variation in policies and practices due to diverse influences like funding, state culture, and community needs.
• The absence of a dedicated federal funding stream and standardized evidence-based practices has historically contributed to this heterogeneity.
• Recent federal regulations aim to increase standardization across APS programs nationwide.

Purpose of the Study:

• To categorize state APS programs based on their implementation levels of investigation and quality assurance (QA) policies and practices.
• To identify factors contributing to program quality and consistency by comparing identified clusters with state characteristics, administrative structures, and outcomes.
• To inform strategies for improving APS program quality and standardization in light of new federal requirements and funding.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from a national evaluation of APS programs.
• Employed principal component analysis to identify underlying dimensions of APS policies and practices.
• Applied cluster analysis to group APS programs based on implementation levels of investigation and QA.

Main Results:

• Identified distinct clusters of APS programs based on their adoption of investigation and quality assurance (QA) practices.
• Found significant differences among clusters concerning state characteristics, administrative structures, and system-level outcomes.
• Indicated that programs with higher implementation of investigatory and QA practices tend to be associated with better system-level outcomes.

Conclusions:

• APS programs can be meaningfully categorized by their level of investigation and QA practice implementation.
• State characteristics and administrative structures influence the variation in APS program practices.
• Findings suggest that adopting additional investigatory and QA practices presents opportunities for APS programs to enhance quality and consistency, aligning with federal mandates.