Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Aging (PDA) today announced that 46 out of Pennsylvania’s 52 local aging agencies that provide a host of services to older adults – including protective services – are responding to reports of suspected elder abuse in a timely manner more than 90 percent of the time, often within 24 hours. This is a marked improvement from previous years, when just 24 agencies scored above 90 percent in 2019-2020, 34 in 2020-2021 and 40 in both 2021-2022 and 2022-2023.
The Department checks each month how quickly Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) are responding to reports of abuse, but only under Governor Josh Shapiro’s Administration is this information now public. For the first time, performance results for all of Pennsylvania’s 52 AAAs are now posted on the Department’s website and can be viewed here.
AAAs are required by law to have a face-to-face visit with older adults who may need protective services after receiving a Report of Need (RON). The timeliness of the visit depends on how the RON is categorized. When the report is categorized as an emergency or priority, for example, the AAA must meet with the individual within 24 hours of receiving the RON. The Department monitors and measures each AAA monthly on the percentage of cases where face-to-face compliance was achieved within the required regulatory time frames. The Department is continuously evaluating the criteria used to measure performance to ensure that results accurately reflect current policy and regulatory standards, such as measuring emergency and priority RONs against a 24-hour deadline and acknowledging when a consumer is unable to be located.
This accomplishment is the direct result of the Department’s overhauled approach to monitoring the AAAs more aggressively, to both hold them accountable and boost transparency of the process.
“While there are many measures that we look at when evaluating a AAA’s performance on protective services, the first priority when there is a Report of Need is to get out to see the older adult in person, assess their safety and address any immediate concerns. Through our comprehensive process for evaluating AAA performance, the Department has been working closely with the AAAs on all performance metrics, and we are proud that the performance on this key metric largely ranges from solid to excellent – a network average of 94 percent,” said Secretary of Aging Jason Kavulich. “It is evident that our work is focused on quality improvement and that our continuous monitoring benefits and protects older Pennsylvanians.”
The publication of the face-to-face measurement is yet another step the Department has taken under the Shapiro Administration to increase transparency of how well the AAAs are performing their duties for the older adults they serve.
In March 2025, PDA announced the rollout of the agency’s new Comprehensive Aging Performance Evaluation, or CAPE – an innovative tool designed to boost transparency and accountability of Pennsylvania’s AAA network that provides a host of services to older adults. In April 2025, the Department began publicly posting performance results on its website for the first batch of AAAs to be monitored under CAPE, with more AAA performance results regularly added.
Across Pennsylvania, AAAs investigate nearly 40,000 cases of suspected abuse each year. Reports of suspected abuse can be made to a AAA or to the statewide elder abuse helpline at 1-800-490-8505. The Helpline is answered live 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and all calls are confidential. Part of the AAA’s duty in responding to a report is to determine whether the abuse or neglect is, in fact, taking place.
Learn more about how Pennsylvania is serving the needs of older adults by visiting the Department of Aging's website.