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Tulare County outlines adult services: APS, public guardian, IHSS and MSSP programs
Summary
The county's Health and Human Services Agency gave an overview of programs serving older adults and vulnerable adults, including Adult Protective Services, public guardian conservatorships, IHSS and the multipurpose senior services program.
Dana Wilde, division manager for the Tulare County Health and Human Services Agency adult services division, presented an overview of the county’s programs supporting older adults and people with disabilities.
Wilde summarized Adult Protective Services (APS), which receives and investigates reports of elder or dependent-adult abuse and intervenes where clients cannot protect themselves; she said the county currently receives roughly 180 APS referrals per month, with most cases involving financial abuse or self-neglect. Wilde noted APS maintains a 24/7 on-call line, short-term case management, cross-reporting to law enforcement where appropriate and referral to the public guardian where conservatorship is required.
Wilde described the public guardian program, which can be appointed by the superior court as conservator of the person, the estate, or both, and emphasized conservatorship is a last resort after other options are exhausted. She explained Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) conservatorships for people with severe behavioral health disorders and the county’s coordination with behavioral health and county counsel on those cases.
On in-home care, Wilde reviewed In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) authorized tasks (personal care, homemaker services, paramedical support, and limited special-circumstance hours) and listed services that cannot be authorized (pet care, home repairs, paying bills). Aging services described included a network of senior centers and home-delivered meals, visiting and telephone reassurance programs, behavioral health screenings and a county ombudsman program for long-term care complaints.
Wilde also described the Multipurpose Senior Services Program (MSSP), which provides case management and care coordination; she said MSSP employs two nurses and three social workers and can provide assistive technology, homemaker services, minor home repairs and respite to help participants remain at home. Wilde highlighted the county’s local master plan for aging, partnerships with organizations such as CSET and Valley Adult Day Services, outreach events including Senior Day in the Park (about 1,500 attendees), and ongoing work to connect rural communities such as Badger and Three Rivers to services.
Supervisors praised staff responsiveness, noted elder fraud concerns and commended outreach events. Wilde said the department seeks community support and funding to implement goals from the master plan for aging.
