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NAPSA Committees
Membership in NAPSA is open to current and former Adult Protective Services (APS) agencies, organizations, administrators, directors, supervisors, program specialists, trainers, caseworkers and case aides. Supportive membership is available to any person with an interest in APS programs or issues, or who works with elderly and vulnerable adult victims of abuse, exploitation or neglect.
National Legislative Advocacy
Bill Benson, NAPSA’s National Policy Advisor in Washington, D.C., provides direct access to national government policy makers. As the former Acting Assistant Secretary for the U. S. Administration on Aging, Bill is well connected to the legislative process. With his assistance, NAPSA plays an active role in supporting the Elder Justice Act and other legislative initiatives that impact APS program. He also represents NAPSA at numerous meetings and hearings, as well as provides expert guidance on ways to promote the needs of APS programs.
Information and Technical Assistance
APS professionals from all over the country provide on-going information, technical assistance and support for members on a wide variety of subjects such as curriculum development and best practices. NAPSA centralized databases include contact information for all state APS administrators as well as all NAPSA members.
Newsletter
The NAPSA News, written for and by NAPSA members provides information on federal legislative initiatives and innovative APS programs and best practices around the country. Copies of the newsletter are available in the RESOURCES section of this Website.
Research
NAPSA is constantly involved in collecting information and data on a wide variety of APS related topics. Reports have been developed on APS caseload standards, state data management systems and problems facing state APS programs, to name just a few. Written materials developed by NAPSA may be found in the RESOURCES section of this Website.
Training
The annual NAPSA national conference is full of learning opportunities for professionals who work with vulnerable abused adults and older persons. Members receive reduced registration fees for NAPSA training events and are eligible to receive scholarships for the annual conference. Through a contract with REFT Institute, Inc., NAPSA provides a library of training materials, technical assistance with training development and professional evaluations of training materials. A set of core APS competencies is in the development phase.. These competencies will become the basis for a National APS Core Curriculum which will be available nation-wide. NAPSA has also developed a number of training materials that are available in the TRAINING section of this website.
Grant Projects
As the only national group representing the needs of APS professionals and others who work in related fields, NAPSA has participated in a variety of grant projects with organizations such as the National Organization of Victim Advocates, the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the California District Attorneys’ Association, the American Bar Association Commission on Legal Problems of the Elderly and the International Association of Forensic Nurses.
National Center on Elder Abuse
NAPSA is one of five partners in this national resource center (NCEA) that is funded by the U. S. Administration on Aging. As a Center partner, NAPSA has collected national data on the number of reports made to state APS programs nation wide, and has done a Baseline Study of various issues affecting state APS programs, In addition, NAPSA provides a daily newsfeed of articles relating to elder and vulnerable abuse, exploitation and neglect. The newsfeed appears on the NCEA Elder Abuse Listserv.
National Presentations
As part of NAPSA’s national legislative advocacy efforts, NAPSA members have testified before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging and the Senate Finance Committee. Copies of members’ testimony may be found in the PUBLIC POLICY section of this website. NAPSA members are frequently invited to participate in national meetings and to provide information and policy recommendations to organizations such as the U. S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U. S. Administration on Aging, Grantmakers in Aging, National Association of State Long Term Care Ombudsman Programs, American Society on Aging and the National Research Council of the National Academies of Science.
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