Washington’s Adult Protective Services was too slow to respond to thousands of reports of potential abuse, neglect or exploitation in fiscal year 2025, possibly leaving vulnerable adults without services to keep them safe, according to a new Washington State Auditor’s Office report.
State law requires Washington’s Department of Social and Health Services, which oversees APS, to initiate a response within 24 hours of knowledge of a report. Reports most commonly involve concerns that a vulnerable adult is being financially exploited or isn’t properly caring for themself. But the auditor’s office found that from July 2024 through June 2025, the department didn’t initiate a response on time for over 4,000 reports, about 7% of all reports that the agency received. Responses to these reports were five working days late on average…