Increasing Safety for At-Risk Adults: Screening In-Home Care Providers (Commentary‪)‬

Years ago, the director of a program for adults with developmental disabilities asked me to teach a workshop for staff after a male aide molested a wheelchair-bound client in a bathroom. A head nurse at a hospital for frail elders asked for a workshop after a stroke patient was diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease. "Why me?" I asked the people extending these generous invitations. Good question--my field is child welfare. "Everybody else refused," they answered. Bad answer. From my perspective as a child welfare social worker, I see unnecessary gaps in screening and hiring practices for in-home helpers who work with dependent adults and frail elders. I have heard the justifications for the status quo from consumers, client advocates, and agency directors and find them unpersuasive and unnecessarily dangerous.