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Lawmakers hear pleas to reduce waiver waitlists and strengthen adult protections
Summary
ADSD and watchdogs told the committee that Nevada’s home and community‑based services waitlists and gaps in oversight are hurting frail seniors, and urged funding, better interagency coordination, expanded APS authority, and legal supports to protect vulnerable adults.
State health and aging officials, the Vulnerable Adult Fatality Review Committee, and legal advocates urged the committee to tackle long waiver waitlists, enforcement gaps and the legal barriers that leave frail seniors unprotected.
"We have waitlists again for home‑and‑community‑based waivers that cause some seniors to stay on that list to the point where they have run out of every resource they have and basically die on the list literally," public commenter Donna Clants told the panel during public comment.
ADSD officials described programs intended to keep older Nevadans in the community (Nevada 2‑1‑1, Nevada Care Connection, Medicare Assistance Program, transition services) and said the agency made nearly 400 subawards to community partners in SFY2025, serving just over 60,000 clients and granting roughly $30 million to partners. Robin Tahada, APS chief, said that in SFY2025 about 28% of APS investigations were substantiated and about 60% of APS cases involved people ages 70 and older. Tahada explained statutory limits: APS handles exploitation by a trusted person (NRS 657.290 reporting duties), while scams by strangers are referred to law enforcement and the attorney general.
Mike Morton, chair of the Vulnerable Adult Fatality Review Committee, said the panel’s 2025 report reviewed five fatalities and identified recurring problems: poor communication between APS, law enforcement and regulatory entities; oversight gaps for contractors and caregivers who move between sites; and missed opportunities for earlier intervention. "Improving inter‑agency coordination, strengthening oversight, and expanding reporting requirements will help protect Nevada’s vulnerable adults," Morton told lawmakers.
ADSD’s Advocacy Rights Attorney Shauna Brennan described rising legal needs — housing stability, abuse of powers of attorney, difficulty for homebound elders to appear at hearings — and said her office is exploring a financial management program (similar to models in other states) to provide rep‑payee‑style services with fees matched to ability to pay. She also outlined implementation work on AB161 (hospice patient rights) and AB461 (long‑term care planning), and said some pieces of implementation will require sustained funding beyond federal grants.
Why it matters: Presenters argued that gaps in funding, coordination and legal assistance leave frail seniors exposed to exploitation, unsafe discharges, inadequate facility care and financial loss. Ombudsman data showed increased calls related to care planning, abuse allegations, stolen property and delayed call‑light responses.
Next steps: ADSD and legal advocates asked lawmakers to consider expanded APS authority for emergency protections and administrative warrants, sustained funding for legal aid to pursue complex civil recovery cases, and investments to eliminate waiver waitlists; the committee heard the requests but took no formal action at this meeting.
