Strengthening APS Programs via the Use of Administrative Data: The Role of the APS Administrative Data Initiative (AADI)

Authors: Kenny Steinman, Heather Mutchie, Olivia Valdes, Mariah Freark

What is AADI?

The Adult Protective Services (APS) Administrative Data Initiative (AADI) addresses challenges in using APS administrative data for quality assurance and research. The initiative builds on efforts by agencies and organizations like the APS Technical Assistance Resource Center (TARC Blog), the National Adult Protective Services Association (NAPSA), and the National Adult Maltreatment Reporting System (NAMRS) to guide and encourage researchers and practitioners interested in using APS administrative data. AADI proactively engages such stakeholders nationwide and aims to provide them with new types of support. 

Since 2022, AADI has focused on four goals: 

1. Creating a national network of researchers and practitioners interested in using administrative data to improve APS programs.
2. Clarifying how these data are already being used.
3. Identifying high-priority research questions that may be answered with APS administrative data.
4. Supporting existing initiatives to strengthen APS administrative data systems.

Defining APS administrative data 

APS programs routinely collect information on alleged victims, perpetrators, and reporting parties, as well as on allegations, investigations, and referrals to related services. These APS administrative data may also be valuable for studying different forms of adult maltreatment and the systems that respond to them. The scale of these data is often unmatched, providing tens of thousands of observations. Additionally, a major benefit of studies relying on APS administrative data is their low burden on overextended APS staff members and vulnerable clients.

Current challenges

APS programs have had little guidance about how best to use these data. Researchers are often unfamiliar with or unable to access it. Together, these issues have limited APS programs’ ability to compare their experiences and contributed to inconsistent research findings (Steinman et al., 2022).

Priority research questions

To address these challenges, AADI solicited feedback from dozens of stakeholders and identified six questions from a recent APS Research Agenda (Administration for Community Living, 2020) that are both important to stakeholders and at least somewhat possible to answer using APS administrative data. These include: 

1. What is the impact of caseload size on the quality of investigations and interventions?
2. What is the impact of caseload size on case worker performance, retention, and satisfaction?
3. Does the determination of a successful outcome vary by adult maltreatment type or other factors, and if so, how?
4. What types/kinds of referral services are effective for each maltreatment type?
5. What is the impact of specialized APS units on investigation outcomes?
6. What is the impact of using standardized tools on APS service delivery and client outcomes?

What’s next for AADI? 

Through our volunteers and NAPSA’s support, AADI has had an impressive start. We will continue communication avenues for researchers and practitioners, including through a discussion-based workshop at the 2024 NAPSA Conference on AADI, to carve long-term goals of AADI that can help best serve the field. 

Get involved!

We welcome your ideas and feedback. If you are interested in using APS administrative data or want more information about AADI, please contact admin@napsa.org.