On May 7, 2024, the Administration for Community Living (ACL) released a final rule to establish the first federal regulations for adult protective services (APS) programs. The new regulations will take effect on June 7, 2024, but regulated entities have until May 8, 2028 to comply. Additional information can be found at ACL.gov/APSrule.
The APS TARC will provide technical assistance to state APS programs in implementing changes to comply with these regulations. Technical assistance is available at any time. States are encouraged to work with their APS TARC Liaison or to reach out to us using the “Contact Us” form at the bottom of this page.
In addition to working with states, the APS TARC will be providing webinars, hosting interactive peer learning calls, and publishing briefs, blog posts, and toolkits in the coming months on a variety of topics that intersect with the regulations. To stay up to date on the latest education opportunities and publications from the APS TARC, sign up for our email list at http://eepurl.com/gkJzBf.
For more complete information, read the brief Final Rule: Establishing Adult Protective Services Regulations.
Highlights of the final rule include:
APS Operational Plans (OP) were first required under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Operational Plans are required for Elder Justice Act (EJA) funding through 2028 when State Plan requirements will replace OP requirements. Current OP projects should align with the APS Final Rule and reflect compliance with new federal regulations. Key improvement projects should map to the APS Logic Model (Intake, Investigation, Post Investigation Services and Quality Assurance). Financial information will be submitted in the spend plan and thus will be omitted from the current iteration of the OP. Annual environmental scans are strongly recommended.
Templates for the Operational Plan are provided below along with a toolkit and example form to assist with planning. Additionally, a Federal Regulations and State Program Comparison Worksheet is provided to compare the new federal requirements to your current state program. It includes a detailed list of new federal requirements to help you compare your current APS program statute, rule, policy, etc., area/term by area/term with the new Federal Rule.
Last Modified: 09/25/2024