APS Systematic Improvements

Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS):
ADHS licenses and monitors health and child care facilities and providers throughout Arizona. Licensing inspections, on-site surveys, and complaint investigations are conducted to promote quality care and safety and ensure that performance standards are met for facility operation and maintenance. ADHS has a searchable database of deficiencies and enforcement actions in licensed facilities.

ADHS Mission Statement: To protect the health and safety of Arizonans by providing information, establishing standards, and licensing and regulating health and child care services.

Long-Term Care Ombudsman:
The Arizona Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program (LTCOP) grew out of efforts by both federal and state governments to respond to widely reported concerns that our most frail and vulnerable citizens (those living in long-term care facilities) were subject to abuse, neglect and substandard care. These residents also lacked the ability to exercise their rights or voice complaints about their circumstances. The primary purpose of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program is to identify, investigate and resolve complaints made by or on behalf of residents of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and adult foster care homes.

Arizona Attorney General Task Force Against Senior Abuse (TASA):
The Attorney General's Office coordinates TASA, an advisory board made of leadership from the public and private sector that works to enhance the safety and welfare of Arizona senior citizens. It was formed to advise the Attorney General and members in matters related to abuse and exploitation that concern the State’s senior citizens, and encourage community alliances to combat these issues.

Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS):
The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (written as AHCCCS and pronounced 'access') is Arizona's Medicaid program, a federal health care program jointly funded by the federal and state governments for individuals and families who qualify based on income level. Contracted health plans coordinate and pay for physical and behavioral health care services delivered by more than 80,000 health care providers to 1.9 million Arizonans.

Independent oversight committees (ADOA):
In August 2018, legislative changes took effect which renamed the previously known Human Rights Committees (HRCs) to Independent Oversight Committees (IOCs). The legislative changes established within the Arizona Department of Administration (ADOA) the Independent Oversight Committees (IOCs) of: Department of Economic Security (DES), Department of Child Safety (DCS), Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), and Department of Health Services (DHS)/Arizona State Hospital (ASH):

• IOC on Persons with Developmental Disabilities (DES/DDD): Statute requires members to have expertise in at least one of the following areas: psychology, law, medicine, education, special education, social work, criminal justice; and shall include the at least two parents of children who receive services from the Division of Developmental Disabilities. [A.R.S. § 41-3801]
• IOC on Children, Youth and Families (DCS): Statute requires members will have expertise in at least one of the following areas: psychology, law, medicine, education, special education, social work; and shall include at least two parents of children who receive services from DCS; if a report of abuse has been substantiated against a parent, that parent shall not serve on an IOC. [A.R.S. § 41-3802]
• IOC on the Mentally Ill (AHCCCS): Statute requires members will have expertise in at least one of the following areas: psychology, law, medicine, education, special education, social work, mental health, housing for the mentally ill, criminal justice, public safety; at least two parents of children who receive behavioral health services pursuant to tile 36, chapter 34, and at least one member who is a current or former client of the behavioral health system. [A.R.S. § 41-3803]
• IOC on Behavioral Health Services for Persons with Serious Mental Illness (DHS/ASH): Rule requires that at least two (2) members of the committee shall be clients or former clients, at least two members shall be relatives of clients, two members shall be parents of enrolled children and at least three members shall have expertise in one of the following areas: psychology, law, medicine, education, special education, social work, or behavioral health services. [A.A.C. R9-21-105]

Arizona Corporation Commission:
On May 13, 2019, Governor Ducey signed into law SB1483. The bill amends Title 46 – Welfare, Chapter 4 by adding Article 2, Financial Exploitation (A.R.S. § 46-471 through § 46-474). The new law mirrors the Federal Senior Safe Act (5/24/2018).

The new statutes add a checkpoint and another layer of protection for vulnerable adults’ financial resources by allowing broker-dealers and investment advisers to make good faith reports about potential financial exploitation to APS and the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC). The statutes also allow broker-dealers and investment advisers to delay, for a limited time period, disbursements or transactions if financial exploitation is suspected.

APS and the ACC developed a dedicated reporting system to ensure the reports of financial exploitation were reviewed and assigned for investigation in a timely manner. APS and ACC also work cooperatively on investigations.