Adult Protective Services (APS) or adult perpetrator registries are one tool to protect older and other vulnerable adults from abuse, neglect, or exploitation. APS registries enable employers and other entities that serve adults to search for perpetrators of adult maltreatment, identified in substantiated APS investigations, and prevent those individuals from being hired. Virginia currently does not operate an APS registry as the General Assembly has not established the agency’s authority to do so.

There is no federal oversight for APS, leaving each state to decide how to manage its APS program and choose whether to establish a registry. This individualized approach means state APS registries are as different as each state’s APS program.

The Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) convened a workgroup of subject matter experts in the areas of adult protection, advocacy, and service provision with the goal of exploring the design, scope, and costs of establishing an adult perpetrator registry in Virginia. Workgroup members did not uniformly endorse the implementation of an APS registry in Virginia. Rather members offered several recommendations on (1) the registry structure, (2) the types of individuals who should be listed in a registry, and (3) when employers should check the registry. These recommendations are meant to be informative and serve as a guide to members of the Virginia General Assembly.

DARS staff also developed an estimate of the development and continuing operation costs of a registry. While funding would be needed to build the registry technology and cover the first year of operations, the goal would be for any Virginia APS registry to become be self-funded.