House Joint Resolution No. 106 of the 1978 Session of the General Assembly requested the Department of Welfare and the Commission for the Visually Handicapped to study the need to legislatively mandate the
adult protective services program statewide and to study the costs related to such a mandate.

Legislation authorizing local boards of public welfare to provide protective services for aged and disabled adults was initially enacted by the 1974 session of the General Assembly. As indicated below, the legislation was brief and broad in its intent, providing only the general authority and few specific procedures to be carried out in the implementation of the program:

"§ 63.1-55.1. Protective services for aged and infirm persons.--Each local board is authorized to provide, subject to supervision of the Commissioner and in accordance with rules prescribed by the State Board, protective services for persons who by reason of advanced age or impaired health, or physical disability, cannot, unaided, take care of themselves or their affairs, and when such a person has no relative able, available and willing to provide guidance, supervision or other needed care. The authority to provide such services shall not limit the right of any individual to refuse to accept any of the services so offered. (1974, c. 329.)"

When Title XX of the Social Security Act, the enabling federal legislation for provision of social services, was implemented in 1975 one of its national goals to which service delivery activities were directed was, and continues to be, the protection of adults. Consequently, during the 1975 - 76 and 1976 - 77 fiscal years, the Comprehensive Annual Plan for Social Services in Virginia established by the Department of Welfare and the Commission for the Visually Handicapped included adult protective services as one of the mandated services to be offered in all localities of Virginia.

In 1977, comprehensive new adult protective services legislation was introduced in the General Assembly. This legislation provided specific definitions and procedures by which adult protective services would be offered in Virginia. The legislation was enacted that session, establishing new Sections 63.1-55.2 through 63.1-55.7 of the Code of Virginia; however, before passage, the legislation was amended in two significant ways relevant to the purpose of this report. Because of the additional responsibilities placed upon local departments of public welfare and the potential additional costs of such responsibilities, the original legislation, which mandated the provision of adult protective services, was amended to make implementation of the new law optional for each locality. Furthermore, the original bill called for statewide public information efforts to be carried out by the State Department of Welfare. When the legislation was amended to be optional, the public information provisions were deleted, since it would be inappropriate to carry out such efforts when the program would not be provided on a statewide basis.

As a result of the passage of the new adult protective services legislation, the Department of Welfare and the Commission for the Visually Handicapped determined that the legislative intent for the program would not be carried out if the Title XX Plan were to continue to mandate the provision of adult protective services. Therefore, the Comprehensive Annual Plan for Social Services for the 1977 - 78 and 1978 - 79 fiscal years included adult protective services among the optional services.

The study in response to House Joint Resolution No. 106 was carried out by the following individuals:

Department of Welfare: Margaret Smith, Barbara Jenkins, Ben Greenberg, Linda Sawyers

Commission for the Visually Handicapped: Billie Kelley

Special thanks are extended to Ms. Alice Barkus, a graduate student in the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work, who provided an invaluable contribution toward the preparation of this report. Acknowledgement is also made of the Adult Services Subcommittee of the League of Social Services Executives Services Committee, who provided the benefits of their expertise in delivering services to adults and who assisted with the direction and compilation of needed information for the study.

The study was begun in May, 1978 with the assignment of staff responsibilities and the development of a planning methodology. Efforts carried out by the task group can be summarized into three groupings. Initial efforts were made to acquire and compile all available information concerning the current adult protective services program in Virginia, caseloads and fiscal data, rules and regulations, Title XX planning information, and the like. The next series of efforts were concentrated upon interpretation of the information obtained and specific follow-up activities, which included personal interviews with those local welfare agencies who have chosen not to offer adult protective services and review of completed questionnaires by agencies represented on the Adult Services Subcommittee mentioned above. Final efforts were concentrated upon the development of cost implications and program recommendations.