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Adult Protective Services

Adult Protective Services

Break the silence. Report abuse.

Ford County Public Health Department (FCPHD) is the Adult Protective Services (APS) Provider Agency for Ford and Iroquois counties.

APS case workers from FCPHD conduct investigations and work with adults age 60 or older and adults age 18-59 with disabilities in resolving abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation situations. If abuse is substantiated, case workers can provide an in-home assessment, counseling, advocacy, assistance in obtaining benefits and services, coordination with other agencies, and monitoring. All APS caseworkers are trained and certified by the Illinois Department on Aging.

What Is Abuse, Neglect, or Financial Exploitation?

Abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation takes many forms, and in many cases, victims are subjected to more than one type of mistreatment.

  • Physical abuse – causing the infliction of physical pain or injury to a person.
  • Sexual abuse – touching, fondling, or any other sexual activity with a person when the person is unable to understand, unwilling to consent, threatened, or physically forced.
  • Emotional abuse – verbal assaults, threats of abuse, harassment, or intimidation so as to compel the person to engage in conduct from which she or he has a right to abstain or to refrain from conduct in which the person has a right to engage.
  • Confinement – restraining or isolating a person for other than medical reasons.
  • Passive neglect – the failure by a caregiver to provide a person with the necessities of life including, but not limited to, food, clothing, shelter, or medical care, because of failure to understand the person’s needs, lack of awareness of services to help meet needs, or lack of capacity to care for the person.
  • Self-Neglect - a condition that is the result of an adult's inability, due to physical or mental impairments, or both, or a diminished capacity, to perform essential self-care tasks that substantially threaten his or her own health, including: providing essential food, clothing, shelter, and health care; and obtaining goods and services necessary to maintain physical health, mental health, emotional wellbeing and general safety.
  • Willful deprivation – willfully denying assistance to a person who requires medication, medical care, shelter, food, therapeutic device, or other physical assistance, thereby exposing that person to the risk of harm.
  • Financial exploitation – the misuse or withholding of a person’s resources to the disadvantage of the person and/or the profit or advantage of another person.

Reporting abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation

Anyone can report a case of abuse in good faith. The Adult Protective Services Act provides that people – who in good faith report suspected abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, or cooperate with an investigation – are immune from criminal or civil liability or professional disciplinary action. It further provides that the identity of the reporter shall not be disclosed except with the written permission of the reporter or by order of a court. Anonymous reports are accepted.

The reporter should be prepared to answer the following questions to the best of his or her ability:

  • The alleged victim's name, address, telephone number, sex, age, and general condition;
  • The alleged abuser's name, sex, age, relationship to victim and condition;
  • The circumstances which lead the reporter to believe that the adult age 60 or older or person with disabilities age 18-59 is being abused, neglected, or financially exploited, with as much specificity as possible;
  • Whether the alleged victim is in immediate danger, the best time to contact the person, if he or she knows of the report, and if there is any danger to the case worker going out to investigate;
  • Whether the reporter believes the client could make a report themselves;
  • The name, telephone number, and profession of the reporter;
  • The names of others with information about the situation;
  • If the reporter is willing to be contacted again; and,
  • Any other relevant information.

After the Report Is Made

A trained APS case worker will respond within a specified time period depending on the severity of the case: within 24 hours for life threatening situations, within 72 hours for most neglect and non-threatening physical abuse situations, and up to seven days for most emotional abuse or financial exploitation reports.

The case worker will contact the victim and help determine what services are most appropriate to stop the abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation.

The alleged victim has a right to accept or decline services. As an adult, a competent person may refuse an assessment and may refuse all services and interventions. This is called the client’s right to self–determination, upon which the APS program is based. No decisions are made about a competent adult without that adult’s involvement and consent. 

Where a person has dementia or another form of cognitive impairment, the APS program works to assess the situation and to provide services, as needed. In some cases, the APS Provider Agency petitions the court for guardianship in order to ensure that the person’s needs are met. Guardianship and/or alternative long-term care residential services are always the last resort.

To Report Abuse

To report suspected abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation of an adult age 60 or older or a person with disabilities age 18-59 call the statewide, 24-hour Adult Protective Services Hotline: 1-866-800-1409, 1-888-206-1327 (TTY). Reporters can also contact FCPHD directly at (217) 379-9281 during normal hours of operation (8 am-4:30 pm).

Confidentiality

All reports and records of the Adult Protective Services Program are subject to strict confidentiality provisions, except as provided by law or court order.

APS Staff

                                               

Don McCall, Full-Time APS Caseworker                               Lana Sample, APS Caseworker/Supervisor

Resources

 

 

 

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