HARRISBURG (TNS) — Nearly three months after a state official revealed elder protection agencies in Allegheny County and elsewhere are noncompliant with state regulations, a pair of state lawmakers believe the state Department of Aging should post a list of those agencies on its website.
Rep. Louis Schmitt and Sen. Judy Ward, both Republicans from Blair County, said the list would help the public know which elder protection divisions within the 52 “agency on aging” organizations are in compliance, and those that are not. Schmitt said he plans to file a bill that would require the division to post compliance reports.
“I would want to know,” Schmitt said.
Ward called it a good idea. “It is an important piece of information,” she said. “It makes sense from a consumer protection standpoint that this would be public information.”
Aging Secretary Jason Kavulich on Feb. 22 testified before the House Appropriations Committee that elder care divisions in some counties were noncompliant with state regulations. He told a reporter after the hearing that the one in Allegheny County was among them.
The Post-Gazette subsequently was given 48 letters sent by the state to county-level protective services programs between Jan. 1, 2023, and the end of February 2024. Six of those said the program was out of compliance. Those six were in Allegheny, Philadelphia, Westmoreland, Mercer, Lehigh and Delaware counties.
Allegheny County spokesperson Mark Bertolet said the state has approved a corrective action plan for its Office of Older Adult Protective Services. “We have made very significant strides in increasing the quality of investigations in OAPS,” Bertolet said.
The names of the six agencies were not listed on the department website on Monday, nearly three months after Kavulich’s appearance at the hearing.
At the time, Schmitt asked Kavulich about numbers of non-compliant agencies, and the problems they had.
Schmitt asked, “Is this information available on the website?” Kavulich said, “We do make it available annually. The new report will be out in May of ‘24.”
Written answers to questions put to the department Monday gave no indication a report would be made public this month.
“While the department has never been required to publicly display AAA compliance status, under the Shapiro administration, the department has been working to make more monitoring information publicly available,” spokesperson Karen Gray wrote in an email.
She said “greater transparency” is part of the department’s work on new accountability standards, among other things, and a “new process” is being piloted and will be implemented during the summer.
“As the AAA’s are evaluated, we will post the results publicly,” Gray said. “In the interim, starting in June, as directed by the secretary, we will be posting performance metrics until more comprehensive information is generated.”
The proposed 2024-25 state budget from Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed to spend $11.7 million from the state Lottery Fund to implement a 10-year master plan on aging.
“Before the Commonwealth spends any more Lottery Funds on expanding new programs or redesigning existing programs, it is imperative that existing programs paid with state dollars are 100% compliant with state regulations or guidance,” Schmitt wrote in a memo previewing his bill. “It is unacceptable that there are entities that continue to receive state dollars to provide protective services to our most vulnerable population and have been found non-compliant.”
Schmitt said he believes the corrective action plans filed with the state also should be posted.
Ward, who chairs the Senate Aging & Youth Committee, said, “These programs are paid for with state dollars, and it is imperative to know that they are in compliance.”
A bill filed by Mr. Schmitt likely would go before the House Aging & Older Adult Services Committee, chaired by state Rep. Maureen Madden, D-Monroe.
