Elder abuse cases are rising in Alameda County, prompting request for more case managers

Alameda County plans to increase its Adult Protective Services’ staff to respond more quickly to reports of elder and dependent adult abuse. 

APS staff informed the Board of Supervisors Social Services Committee in January that it would need 13 new hires to reduce caseloads to 26 per month, as recommended by the National Adult Protective Services Association. At the end of 2025, APS staff was carrying an average caseload of 42 per worker per month.

But Faith Battles, Adult and Aging Services’ assistant agency director, said the program has funding for only “four to five” new hires. APS staff have asked the committee, comprising Supervisors Lena Tam and Nikki Fortunato Bas, to consider leveraging Measure W funds to increase program staffing. 

Measure W is a half-cent sales tax approved by Alameda County voters in 2020 to address homelessness. As of June, the fund had accrued $810 million and is expected to bring in $1 billion more by July 2031. Up to 20%of Measure W funds may be allocated to support social services programs other than homelessness.

Tam and Fortunato Bas have said they support more APS staffing, but neither has committed to using Measure W as a possible funding source. 

“Measure W is just one of several possible resources to cover additional staff,” Tam said in an email to Oakland North. 

Fortunato Bas said in an email that she supports increasing APS staffing and connecting victims of abuse to the District Attorney’s Office, but she did not comment on potential use of Measure W funds to achieve that.

Alameda County Social Services spokesperson Sarah Nguyen said, “Progress is actively underway, and we are positioning ourselves to move quickly as resources are confirmed.” She did not respond to Oakland North’s questions about the cost of the additional hires or if they would be in place before the end of the fiscal year on June 30. 

Taking too long to respond

By law, California county APS programs are required to respond within 10 calendar days of receiving a report of abuse against elders, defined as people over the age of 60, and dependent adults, who are under age 65, with physical or mental limitations that inhibit their ability to protect their own rights

Police, emergency medical services, clinicians and financial institutions are mandated to report suspected abuse or self-neglect to county APS programs. Similarly, APS workers are mandated to refer evidence of physical, emotional or financial harm to law enforcement. 

Additionally, all county APS programs have phone numbers and online portals where family members or other members of the public can report concerns about the welfare of older and dependent adults. 

In 2025, Alameda County APS received over 8,000 reports of elder and dependent adult abuse. The program has experienced significant staffing attrition in recent years. According to data presented to the supervisors in January, there were fewer than 10 adult protection social workers in 2024. There are 22 presently. 

In the program’s annual report, Adult Protection Supervisor Yolanda Carcamo warned that heavy caseloads and short staffing made it “difficult to meet best practice standards for timely intervention.”

Alameda County APS’s timely response rate for December — the most recent month available — was 37%.

According to the county website, adult protection worker I and II positions require a bachelor’s degree in a sociology or a social work-related field, and three years’ experience or a master’s degree. The salary range is between $84,000 and  $117,000 annually. 

This translates to $420,000 to $585,000 in salary for five positions, and between $1.1 million and $1.5 million for 13. 

Additionally, the program is seeking six adult protection supervisors to oversee field investigations and case management. The annual salary for one full-time supervisor starts at $123,000, meaning it would cost a minimum of $738,000 for six. 

“APS is such a labor intensive program. And with that, it’s expensive,” said Jennifer Spoeri, executive director of the National Adult Protective Services Association. She added that having adequate staff to effect timely responses is “foundational” to any APS program.

“You’ve got to keep caseloads down,” she said. “You’ve got to be able to have them make the follow-up calls, to get the records, to make the visits.”

More cases of financial abuse

Alameda County’s APS caseloads are consistent with national and local trends. A 2020 report by the Administration for Community Living, the federal agency that issues guidelines for APS services, found that most programs in the country are overburdened, with some jurisdictions reporting averages of up to 50 cases per worker per month. 

The total number of allegations that Alameda APS must triage has steadily increased over the last three years, from more than 7,300 reports in the 2023 fiscal year, to 8,900 in 2024, and 9,200 in 2025. 

When APS investigates an allegation, it may find that the allegation is substantiated, or that the report requires additional investigation. Alameda APS offers services to adults after an allegation is reported. Acceptance of its services is voluntary; when a client accepts, APS opens a case and assigns a social worker to manage it. 

In 2025, Alameda APS opened more than 5,900 cases involving over 10,800 allegations of physical, emotional and sexual abuse, self-neglect and financial abuse. Many cases have more than one allegation of abuse. 

Nguyen explained that an uptick of financial abuse allegations in recent years has contributed to the program’s increased caseload burden. She characterized these cases as complex, requiring extensive investigation and support from social workers. Last year, 30% of elder abuse allegations involved financial abuse.

The county’s Financial Abuse Specialist Team, composed of APS workers, law enforcement, and representatives from the offices of the tax collector, county counsel and district attorney usually work with financial analysts to investigate and resolve financial abuse cases.

Paul Greenwood, an AARP fraud ambassador who spent 22 years prosecuting elder abuse in San Diego County, said the volume of financial abuse cases has increased over time, with criminals using more sophisticated technological methods to defraud victims. Cryptocurrency scams, he added, pose a particular challenge to APS and law enforcement investigations.

Greenwood said many state and local governments underinvest in the front-line social workers needed to investigate elder abuse. These are the positions Alameda County APS has prioritized.

Santa Clara County, where the senior population of 440,000 is 16% greater than in Alameda County, has 40 adult protection social workers — nearly twice as many as Alameda.

Last year, more than 40% of Santa Clara’s elder abuse allegations involved financial abuse. The county’s Financial Abuse Specialist Team reported that it had protected or recovered over $67 million in financial assets at risk of loss through theft, fraud and undue influence on elder and dependent adults. In one recent case, the team protected nearly $25 million of assets for a woman experiencing cognitive decline who was being influenced by someone she knew and had trusted. As it investigated the financial dealings, the team obtained a restraining order and secured a temporary conservatorship to keep the woman and her assets safe. 

Greenwood said that the increased incidence and sophistication of elder financial abuse, and the amount of time and work required to combat it, does not receive adequate attention.

“I’ve been trying to call this out to the budget keepers and policymakers for years,” he said. “I don’t think they’re hearing it.” 

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