Date of Conferral

2019

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Criminal Justice

Advisor

Robert Spivey

Abstract

The Adult Protective Services Program is tasked with enforcing the standards and policies created at the federal level relating to how provider agencies should respond to elder abuse. What has yet to be explored is whether the Adult Protective Services Program is efficiently responding to the issue of elder abuse through its monitoring and evaluation protocols, which are based on the current policies. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of the 13 planning and service areas in their response to elder abuse. The response to elder abuse is guided by the current policies and funding strategies and has determined that there is a need for a policy change. The primary research questions sought to determine if the current policies were effective in every aspect, from planning to execution of the policies as well as the funding in guiding the level of response to elder abuse. The narrative policy framework was used to assess the feelings and opinions of the 13 directors of the planning and service areas regarding the current policies and response strategies to elder abuse. The study utilized a qualitative methodology that procured data through methods such as interviews and secondary data. Content analysis and coding were the two main strategies for analyzing the data for this study. Key results indicated that the directors felt restricted in term of the current policies, while funding has remained stagnant despite an increase in new programs. A change of policy that allows more freedom for investigating elder abuse is needed, as well as a reinvigoration of funding in the area of elder abuse.

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