Service Planning with APS Clients

A service plan is developed with the vulnerable adult and involved family and caretakers in all cases where service needs are indicated. There are several factors that are considered when developing a service plan. These include:

• Client wishes
• Client risk factors
• Client resources and support systems
• Perpetrator issues
• Urgency of the situation
• Professional ethics
• Cultural considerations

Protective service plans are developed with the knowledge and approval of the client, when possible. When involuntary services are necessary to protect the life or estate of a client, guardianship is pursued with careful consideration of the effect on the client’s psychological and emotional needs. Service planning focuses on services that meet the vulnerable adult’s needs in the least intrusive and least restrictive manner possible. When a client is determined to have capacity to consent, the APS specialist must consider if available resources offer a positive alternative to the current situation from the client’s perspective.

Our goals in service planning are to:

• assess the need for services
• make a service offer
• provide the accepted services
• ensure that the service plan is in place and stable prior to case closure

Each service that is offered to the client and the client’s response to the offer should be documented in the APS Computer System Service Plan Section. Some situations warrant monitoring of the service plan. When the APS specialist IV or designee and APS specialist determine follow-up is necessary, the APS specialist documents why follow-up is necessary and the plan for completing follow-up in the APS Computer System Service Plan Monitoring Notes Section.

Interventions with Abusers by Abuser Category

When developing a service plan with clients, it is important to identify the abuser category when there is an Alleged Perpetrator involved. Dr. Holly Ramsey-Klawsnik identified five types of offenders: (1) the overwhelmed, (2) the impaired, (3) the narcissistic, (4) the domineering, or bullying, and (5) the sadistic. The type of abuser determines the services that we will recommend to the client.