How to Handle an APS Investigation

If Adult Protective Services contacts you in an investigation, it can be upsetting. They will ask to come in and talk to you, or if you have an assisted living residence or other healthcare operation, they may ask to speak to your residents, patients, and staff, and review records.

Adult Protective Services (APS) is a state agency function typically within the state department of human services, or similarly named agency, that investigates reports of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of at-risk adults. At-risk adults are those who are elderly, disabled, or otherwise vulnerable to harm from themselves or others. APS has the admirable aim to protect the rights and well-being of at-risk adults and help them access services and resources that can improve their quality of life. APS investigations are typically run at the county level. However, this may differ by state.

Unfortunately, society today has increasingly defaulted to using government agencies as tools to express their guilt, outrage, and dissatisfaction. Rather than communicating to resolve problems, people will attempt to use government agencies and law enforcement in lieu of communication. A surprising number of individuals will attempt to incorporate APS as a tool against healthcare providers, family members, and even business partners.

Colorado, like other states, has placed some limits on APS investigators that are important to know when confronting an investigation. This is very important because APS can issue a “Notice of Substantiated Findings” that determines someone has committed abuse of an at-risk adult that affects their employment and employability long before the target of the investigation knows the facts of the “substantiated findings.”  Thus, while APS investigators are generally decent and concerned individuals, the hidden results of their findings can have a wrecking ball effect on the lives and careers of an individual who can do very little about the situation for several months.

Generally, healthcare providers must provide, upon request of the investigators, access to request interviews with relevant persons and to obtain documents and evidence and have access to:

1.     Patients who are the subject of the investigation into mistreatment of an at-risk adult and patients who are relevant to an investigation into an allegation of mistreatment of an at-risk adult;

2.     Personnel, including paid employees, contractors, volunteers, and interns, who are relevant to the investigation;

3.     Clients or residents who are the subject of the investigation into mistreatment of an at-risk adult and clients or residents who are relevant to an investigation into an allegation of mistreatment of an at-risk adult;

4.     Individual patient, resident, client, or consumer records, including disclosure of health records or incident and investigative reports, care and behavioral plans, staff schedules and time sheets, and photos and other technological evidence; and

5.     The professional license information of the individuals interview and/or investigated.

C.R.S. 26-3.1-103.

Please note that APS investigators must be given access to document and materials. However, they are not entitled to interview people without agreement of the interviewee.

In Colorado and other states, APS must only be given access to request the interview.

APS investigators are not always willing to identify the target of their investigation as they begin their investigations. Thus, the decision of whether or not to grant that requested interview is a matter to be considered carefully by the business owners, nurses and caregivers, residents, and legal representatives of residents. 

The information in this article is intended to be educational and an introduction to the subject matter presented. It is NOT specific legal advice to be relied upon for specific individual circumstances. APS investigations and their consequences are serious matters. Contact your own legal professional or reach out to our firm if you would like specific advice on this topic.

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