Home > Adult Protective Services

Adult Protective Services

The State of Pennsylvania recently expanded its dog law following the recent discovery of deplorable conditions during a kennel raid. Oddly, vulnerable adults between the ages of 19 – 59 who are abused by their care-partners or caretakers do not have those same protections.

Pennsylvania remains one of only six states that fail to offer adult protective services as recourse for acts of violence and neglect against people living with disabilities. What will it take before our legislators respond similarly and take action to protect these people?

Several bills were introduced in the most recent legislative session that would have created a protective services system for adults with disabilities. Because the bills died when the session ended, countless vulnerable and dependent adults will continue to experience neglect and abuse in their homes at the hands of their care-partners or caregivers.

Healthcare workers, police, worried friends and others have called the National MS Society seeking help on behalf of these victims. Unfortunately, the lack of adult protective services legislation means there’s little we can do for them.

Some of the calls the National MS Society has recently received include:

• A mother asking for assistance for her 27-year-old bed-bound daughter. This young woman’s care-partner withheld her medications and sexually violated her – all while he collected money to act as her caretaker
   
• A nursing home social worker who wanted to know how she could stop a family from taking this man to their home – a home where he was unable to eat because his hands were tied to his wheelchair, where he was left in urine-soaked pants for hours on end and was alone for up ten hours a day

Law enforcement could not raid these homes as was done when the abuse of dogs was suspected. What will it take before our legislators move swiftly and appropriately to protect these people?

A strong message must be sent to our legislators and Governor Rendell that action must be taken now. Encourage your legislator to help make adult protective services legislation a reality. Too many vulnerable adults have already suffered or, in the case of the 27-year-old mentioned above, died while waiting for this law. Don’t make them wait anymore.