Adult protective services and victim services: A review of the literature to increase understanding between these two fields

Adult protective services (APS) is designated in each state to respond to elder abuse. As elder abuse is increasingly conceptualized as a crime, and victim services expands to encompass victims of elder abuse, these two fields will increasingly cross paths. The fields of APS and victim services are each guided by federal legislation, although the path to that legislation differed for each field. The historical development of each field helps to explain the existence of a sometimes challenging relationship between these two fields. A literature review was undertaken to compare these two fields across three domains: 1) the service providers, 2) the recipients of those services, and 3) how a case typically flows from reporting to outcomes. Four areas of possible contention were identified: mandatory reporting, APS investigation, cognitive capacity of victims, and involuntary interventions. It is anticipated that by illuminating these differences and providing an explanation for them, some tension between the fields may be assuaged. This article concludes, however, that in the myriad other ways in which comparisons were made, no meaningful differences emerged. Increasing an understanding of each other's field is intended to facilitate building relationships between these two fields, with the ultimate goal of benefiting victims.