Alleged Perpetrator/Perpetrator |
▪ RISE model “harmer”
▪ Person of interest (POI)
▪ Person alleged responsible for maltreatment
▪ Person responsible for maltreatment |
Alleged Victim/Victim
▪ Many do not see themselves as victim, not strengths-based
▪ Definitely have heard "I'm not old" when explaining what APS does
▪ Yes, I'm with intake and I have had some people upset with me when I've asked them if they are the alleged victim.
▪ Electronic records require consistent language to check certain boxes and this can create issues with terms like "alleged victim" which get built into our practice. |
▪ Eligible adult
▪ Client, Adult, Adult vulnerable to maltreatment, Older adult or Adult with a disability
▪ We no longer use "Alleged Victim", everybody is a Client.
Client/Consumer
▪ Call Joe, Joe or Susan, Susan or Mr. X or Ms. Y |
Bedfast/Bedridden/Bedbound or Wheelchair Bound |
▪ Mr. Doe was confined to bed unable to xyz.
▪ Ms. Smith used a motorized wheelchair to xyz. |
Behavioral
▪ As a person is "having behaviors";
▪ Behavior is a form of communication and should be honored, acknowledged, and investigated as such |
▪ Non-speaking |
Case Component, Case Component, Key Indicators
▪ Use social service terminology for consistency with the ACL definition of adult protective services (APS) as a social service program to maximize client safety and independence and for consistency with ACL values for person-centered planning processes.
Source: National Adult Maltreatment Reporting System (NAMRS) 60-day Federal Register Notice (FRN) Comments |
▪ Investigation: Assessment
▪ Victim: Client, Adult, Adult vulnerable to maltreatment, Older adult or Adult with a disability
▪ Perpetrator: Person responsible, or person alleged responsible for maltreatment |
Capacity |
▪ Decision-making ability
▪ Ability to understand the consequences of their decisions |
Elder/Elderly (negative)
▪ Adds to ageism;
▪ Ageist connotations |
▪ Older adult, older person |
Elder (positive)
▪ There is childhood, adulthood and elderhood
▪ Elder is a sign of respect in my culture
▪ Older would be more offensive
▪ “You calling me old?” |
▪ Elder - practice cultural humility and ask and/or learn about the person you are interacting with; this may be their preferred term |
Gender-Related language |
▪ Ask what the person prefers - formal vs. informal, preferred pronouns, etc.
▪ Gender neutral and/or inclusive language |
Homeless |
▪ Persons experiencing/experienced homelessness or housing insecurity
▪ Houseless
▪ Unsheltered |
Investigation |
Assessment |
Non-Verbal |
▪ Non-speaking
▪ Mrs. Jones uses an augmented communication device to xyz. |
Placement
▪ E.G.. “my client needs placement” or “I placed the client”
▪ The elders we serve are not things that we “place” |
▪ I helped the client relocate
▪ I assisted the client in locating a care residence
▪ The client moved to a higher level of care
▪ Transitioned to another setting
▪ Ombudsman programs - "admission" to a nursing home or other setting |
Person-First Language
▪ Is not preferred by all people with disabilities, ex. Deaf or Autistic Communities |
▪ Practice cultural humility and ask and/or learn about the person you are interacting with; this may be their preferred term |
Protection/Protective
▪ Could be perceived as paternalistic (“I don't need protection!") |
▪ Support is much better than "protection"
▪ Everyone needs support sometimes |
Recidivism
▪Client serving will come back in future when it can be excellent customer service and trust vs. negative
▪ Definition from Merriam Webster
▪ Connotation not appropriate for APS clients |
▪ Other options reoccurrence, repeat cases or repeat reports
▪ Returning clients, repeat clients |
Self-Neglect
▪ Using "substantiated" to refer to confirmed self-neglect cases
▪ Self-neglect seems victim blaming, when it's often societal neglect
▪ Person would not use the language to describe themselves, so could be problematic for APS to use
▪ Outcome of decisions, not decision itself
▪ Outcome of societal neglect; Investigate or access self-neglect |
▪ Person experiencing self-neglect
▪ Societal neglect |
Social Worker, APS Worker/APS Investigator, Front-Line Worker
▪ Vast majority of APS personnel do not have a social work degree |
▪ APS professional
▪ Client-facing (if using client) |
Suicidal |
▪ They have experienced suicidal thoughts
▪ They have lived through a suicide attempt
▪ They died by suicide
▪ They lost their life to suicide |
Vulnerable/Vulnerability
▪ Is the result of socially created processes that determine what resources and power groups have to avoid, resist, cope with, or recover from threats to their well-being
▪ People are not vulnerable; they are made vulnerable
▪ Vulnerable Adults – Our Disability Rights Centers expressed concern with this language in our policy |
▪ At-Risk Older Adult
▪ At-Risk Adult
▪ Person at-risk
▪ Adult vulnerable to maltreatment |