The Adult and Aging Services department provides services to protect, care for, and support families and individuals. They work to promote self-sufficiency through prevention, intervention, and community support. Services include In-Home Supportive Services, Adult Protective Services, public guardianship, and the Multipurpose Senior Services Program. The department's mission is to promote self-determination, access to services, and safe environments while helping seniors live independently and stay connected to their communities.

1. Adult and Aging Services
Jessica Villar

2.  To work in partnership with the community
to provide for the protection, care, and
support of families and individuals, and to
promote personal responsibility and self-
sufficiency.
 Adult and Aging Services achieves safe and
healthy families through:
 Focus on Prevention
 Effective Intervention
 On- going community support

3.  We believe in
 Self- Determination;
 Access to community services and activities; and
 Safe and enriching personal environments.

4.  Sustain independent living
 Strengthen ties to community services and
activities
 Promote a safe and healthy environment

5.  In-Home Supportive Services(IHSS)
 Provides domestic and personal services to clients in
their own home to sustain independent living. There
are 10 Social workers that only do this and their
average case loads are about 270 per Social Worker.
 Most cases all start with a referral, then if they meet
certain criteria then a social worker is sent out to
assess their needs.
 When the needs have been assessed then a number of
hours are granted to the client
 With those hours the clients then can choose who
they hire to do certain tasks designated for that
specific client.
 Social workers re-evaluate the cases yearly but can
make changes at any time if something new has
occurred or changed.

6.  Adult Protective Services
 Investigates allegations of
physical, sexual, emotional, and financial
abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
 This area of the agency takes their job very
serious and goes out on every referral made even
if the report doesn’t seem serious.
 There is always an APS worker on call after
hours and at least two during business hours that
take referrals.
 In this agency there are 5 APS workers, but they
also do other things in the agency as well.

7.  Public
Guardian/Conservator/Representative
Payee Services
 Cases and estates management services for
incapacitated individuals.
 This area of the agency has about 4 people who
do this. These social workers help pay bills and
manage their money where needed. These
people are constantly on the phone with clients
and seem so busy.

8.  Public Administrator
 Provides estate management for descendants. To
include taking inventory of the estate, securing
storage, estate auctioning, locating heirs, and
providing recommendations to the court on the
disposition of the estate.
 I personally have seen how this is done. There are
only two ladies that do this for the entire county.
 When a person dies and has no one to take over the
estate and belongings the county will cease the house
and belonging either until a family member can be
found and if there is no one the things get auctioned
off and the money goes back to the county.

9.  IHSS Public Authority Registry Services
 Established to recruit, screen, and provide a
referral list of potential providers to IHSS
Consumers who want to hire someone to provide
them with personal and or domestic care.
 Potential providers are require to get what is
called a life scan such as a background check and
fingerprinting.
 This is even required if a family member wants
to be the one to provide the services to the
consumer of IHSS.

10.  Multipurpose Senior Services Program (MSSP)
 Helps seniors to remain at home and to avoid
placement in a nursing facility.
 Provides free case management services for low-
income seniors, working in partnership with
relatives, friends, and community agencies.
 This program sees their clients at least once a
month and have a case load of about 50 clients
per social worker. These social workers help the
clients buy things to keep them as independent
as possible.
 This area deals with the oldest and more frail
population compared to the other areas of the
agency.

11.  This agencies motto is self determination and
the social workers live by that. Each clients is
treated with respect and the social workers do
everything they can to empower their clients.
Since most of the clients are sad and or angry
that they are unable to do the things they once
were able to do.
 This agency partners with the Area on Aging
locally that helps advocate for the elderly
population and gives them other services
available in the community. This agency also
helps them with legal services like making a will
and power of attorney; free of charge.
 Advocating and protecting the aging population
is this agency priority.

12.  Fraud
 Most people just want these services to help a
family member get paid.
 Fair-hearings
 Average cost to the county (tax payers) is $5,000
each.
 Last year the county could have paid a full time
Social Worker III with as many fair hearings that
they had.

13.  Merced County Pamphlet: Area on Aging 2009