Adult Protective Services to be Expanded

According to a Press Release issued on September 28, 2010, by PA Senator Pat Vance (R-Cumberland/York), the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on that date approved legislation sponsored by her "to provide protective services for adults with cognitive or physical disabilities."  The legislation (SB 699, PN 1888) was presented to the Governor on September 29, 2010, for his consideration of signing into law.

Senate Bill 699 (of the 2009-10 Session), is described as follows:

An Act providing for protection of abused, neglected, exploited or abandoned adults; establishing a uniform Statewide reporting and investigative system for suspected abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment of adults; providing for protective services; and prescribing penalties.

According to the Press Release, the legislation unifies a patchwork of services that currently exist for adults between the ages of 18 and 59, and reaches those adults with limited protections because they reside with families or non-regulated caregivers.

The Adult Protective Services system established by the bill clearly defines procedures for filing complaints of abuse, neglect, and exploitation. It also provides for investigations of those complaints and the development of service plans to remove the adult from imminent harm and provide for long-term needs. 

More than 40 states currently have adult protective services systems in place that provide some level of protection and advocacy for individuals with cognitive or physical disabilities between the ages of 18 and 60.  Pennsylvania, however, has had no process by which any person who knows of the abuse of an adult in this age group can offer any meaningful assistance. * * *

During the past few years, Senator Vance focused on elder law and disability issues.  Her coordination of efforts with advocacy groups -- such as those set forth in a 2-page online listing dated July 8, 2010 of organizations supporting Senate Bill 699 -- and professional associations, such as the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Elder Law Section yielded results in the Senate and the Legislature.

"For a number of years I have advocated for this legislation, but concerns regarding funding delayed action," Vance said.

"Under the new federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, it appears money will be available for this worthwhile and important program that the fills the gap between the protective service systems for children and the one for older adults."

One of the organizations on that list of supporters of SB 699 is Vision for EQuality, Inc., which announced the House adoption of it with great enthusiasm:

CONGRATULATIONS! WE DID IT!

September 28, 2010

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives today passed Senate Bill 699 to protect vulnerable adults who are abused or neglected. The House vote today was a unanimous 196-1.

SB 699 unanimously passed the Senate on July 3, 2010.

Governor Ed Rendell is expected to sign it into law. Pennsylvania is currently only one of five states yet to implement a protective services system. * * *

The advocates' years-long efforts -- now rewarded because federal funding should be available -- are noted on its home page:

Throughout Pennsylvania, there have been many cases of abuse and neglect of people with disabilities, yet there is no place to report such situations and no agency authorized to investigate them.

The PA Legislative Budget and Finance Committee (LBFC), an arm of the PA legislature, studied the issue in 2003 and concluded an adult protective services law was needed. According to that LBFC report [ An Assessment of the Need for an Adult Protective Services Program], an estimated 4,000 reports of abuse will be made statewide annually, and about 1,200 (or 30%) will be substantiated.

A House hearing held in the fall of 2006 documented a number of abuses, including a young woman with an intellectual disability who spent several days locked in a basement with her deceased sister and a woman with multiple sclerosis who was raped by her husband. Many individuals with disabilities do not come forward and press charges with traditional law enforcement because they fear retribution by the perpetrator on whom they often rely for care, food, and shelter. 

Pennsylvania has a protective services law for children and one for older adults, and now SB699 will authorize the development of a protective services system for adults ages 18 to 59. [Links added.]

Update: 11/17/10:

According to the posted Legislative History for SB 699, on October 7, 2010, Governor Rendell signed into law the legislation relating to "protective services for adults with cognitive or physical disabilities" as Act No. 70 of 2010.

According to Section 704 ("Effective Date"), "[t]his act shall take effect in six months."

Thus, the implementation date for the new law will be on April 7, 2011.

The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare will be responsible for administering the new adult protective services.  Searching the Department's website for references either to Act 70 or SB 699 does not yet yield results, but it would, no doubt, as the Department approaches the effective date for the new law.

Update: 02/13/13:

Nearly two years after the enactment, I still cannot find reference on the website of the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare to this law.  I wonder about its implementation under DPW.

Special Needs Trusts Address Long-Term Disabilities

On August 19, 2009, Michael A. Cassidy, Esq., of Tucker Arensberg, P.C., posted an entry on the Med Law Blog, entitled "Special-needs trusts can provide for disabled children."

He highlighted an article of the same title published the day before by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

I repost it, since the topic is so important to families of disabled or handicapped children, and the article is excellent.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette recently ran an article entitled "Special-needs trusts can provide for disabled children".

This article highlights an essential planning tool for individuals with special needs and their loved ones, but also the complexity of such planning. Special needs planning requires a strong estate planning foundation in addition to a working knowledge of public benefits eligibility rules.

The article notes that "anyone receiving Social Security disability benefits cannot have more than $2,000 in his own name without losing the benefits." An often misunderstood concept is the distinction between Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.

Both SSDI and SSI require that a recipient be "disabled" as defined under the Social Security Act. However, SSDI is an entitlement benefit based an individual's earnings history whereas SSI is a means-tested benefit. SSDI, therefore, requires no inquiry into an applicant's countable resources where as SSI generally applies a $2,000 resource limit.

In Pennsylvania, an individual who qualifies for SSI typically automatically receives Medical Assistance (Medicaid) benefits, which is often the most sought after of the means-tested public benefits.

For children with disabilities, Medical Assistance can serve as a primary or secondary insurance. If used as a secondary insurance, Medical Assistance often provides vital care rarely covered by employer-provided insurance, such as behavioral health wraparound services, in-home nursing/therapies/personal care, diapers, nutritional supplements and transportation. Children in Pennsylvania may qualify for Medical Assistance regardless of their eligibility for SSI and, in certain instances, their parents income.

I am aware from my involvement in past and current cases preparing, or seeking court approval of, special needs trusts, that the warning in the article should be heeded:

But recent rule changes have made the proper drafting of these trusts more important than ever. Several challenges to improperly worded trusts have caused government benefits to be denied to trust beneficiaries. * * *