Taking WV APS to Trial

What to do When Substantiated as a Perpetrator: Contact Me!

Doctors, Nurses, EMTs, CNAs, and other related healthcare workers are routinely the target of West Virginia Adult Protective Services investigations anytime there is an allegation that a vulnerable adult was abused, neglected, or taken advantage of financially by that healthcare professional or healthcare worker.  APS has the power and authority to investigate you without your knowledge, permission, or participation.  APS can and will substantiate abuse, neglect, or financial disadvantage without you even knowing it until you get a letter declaring that you are the perpetrator who abused, neglected, or financially took advantage of a vulnerable adult.  And by that time, APS will move to ensure that you are placed on the State's Abuse and Neglect Registry.

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If this has happened to you, you cannot wait.  If a Substantiated Finding is made, you ONLY have 60 days to appeal the Finding from the date of the substantiation and you MUST demand a hearing.  There is no other way to challenge APS but through a hearing before the West Virginia Office of Inspector General, Board of Review (“BOR”). 

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And in that BOR hearing, APS must demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that you, the healthcare professional, inflicted or threatened physical or psychological harm, including the use of undue influence upon the vulnerable adult or imprisoned the vulnerable adult, if it wants to prove abuse.   And to prove neglect, APS must demonstrate that you, the healthcare professional, unreasonably failed to provide the care necessary to maintain the safety or health of a vulnerable adult, including through the use of undue influence.

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Each term used by APS, such as "Abuse" and "Neglect" and "Vulnerable Adult" is defined by law.  And APS has the duty to prove its substantiation of you as a Perpetrator by law.   If you do nothing, it is assured your name will be placed upon a registry of Abuse and Neglect and will remain on that registry permanently.  Which is why it is so important to start the battle with APS as early in the process as possible.  

You should also know that APS must comply with its guidelines on investigations.  APS guidelines recommend that its investigator speak with you, the Perpetrator,  before it reaches a conclusion.  However, you are under no duty to speak with APS as anything you say to them may be used against you in substantiating a finding of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation.  If APS has called and wants you to come in for a face to face interview, make sure that you have skilled legal representation in place who can guide you through the process and advise whether meeting with APS is to your advantage. 

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The hearing before the Office of Inspector General, Board of Review is presided over by an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) who has the authority to order APS to reverse its findings if the facts warrant.  The hearing is at times held by video conference but is as serious and solemn as if it were in a courtroom.  The hearing is critical to battling APS and is your best chance in West Virginia to overcome a substantiated finding of abuse, neglect, or financial disadvantage.  The ALJ has the authority to order APS to remove your name from the abuse and neglect registry.  So, do not wait.  If you have received a letter from APS and they have substantiated a finding of abuse, neglect ,or financial expoitation and declared you a Perpetrator, then call now.   You should never face APS by yourself.