A descriptive study of seventy-five adult protective service cases receiving services from the Texas Department of Public Welfare in the Houston, Texas area 1972-1973

"Purpose: The main purpose of this study was to analyze some of the existing data on the non-institutionalized adults receiving protective services, within the Houston city limits, by the Texas Department of Public Welfare. Since the State Welfare Department has been providing adult services, along with adult protective services, for approximately sixteen months, there has been no accurate data gathering system maintained. The number of protective service cases have not been counted, possibly because of their small ratio when compared to the total non-protective adult services being provided to those financially eligible. The sample with which this thesis deals is, therefore, an incidental and not a random sample. Due to the newness of the adult protective services program on a statewide scale, data obtained at this time will contribute to knowledge about program effectiveness as well as to providing input to further development and/or expansion. Methods: The research data from this study were obtained from reading all case records which I was able to identify as an adult protective service case. The case records read were both active and inactive, maintained by the Texas Department of Public Welfare in Houston, which were open within a sixteen month period beginning January, 1972 and ending April, 1973. The case records were read with a case reading schedule which contained thirty-eight sections. An agency informational face sheet, Department of Public Welfare Form 211, was available in all case records which were read for this study. Information not available on the Department of Public Welfare Form 211 was obtained through reading case recordings written by the caseworker providing services. In some instances it was necessary to interview the actual caseworker to obtain needed information. A total of 120 hours was spent on selecting, finding, and reading case records for this study. Due to the confidentiality of the case records, permission had to be obtained from State Welfare Commissioner Raymond Vowell prior to actual reading of the cases. Findings: 1. The recipient was most often a 75 to 84 year old white widowed female who lived alone in a house which she owned. 2. At the time of referral the primary source of income was an Old Age Assistance check and the average monthly income from all sources averaged $95.00. 3.The recipient had to pay an average housing cost of $29.78 per month for housing which was rarely located in a government housing project. The house most often had less than three rooms including a bath and kitchen and had only one bedroom. 4.If the persons receiving protective services lived with a relative it was most often a son. 5. The majority of the recipients were unable to leave the residence without assistance, but did have a telephone available in a majority of the cases. 6. The persons receiving protective services tended to refer themselves and were found to be cooperative toward agency assistance. 7. The majority of the recipients had never received prior protective services from the agency. 8. Based on narrative recording, a majority of the cases were not contacted by a caseworker until the following day after referral. 9. The majority of the persons who received protective services were found to be unable to provide self care. The major area of needed service was social which included developing a plan of need with the client and assisting to achieve these goals through agency or community resources. The plan of need included arranging for medical, including psychiatric, services which would safeguard and improve the circumstances of the client. Some of the social service needs included assistance in finding social care arrangements, assisting with guardianship, assisting in nursing home placement, and counseling. 10. The protective service recipient was referred to other community resources the majority of the time for assistance not available through the agency. 11. The majority of the clients referred to a community resource were placed in a temporary foster or nursing home. 12. Services determined or needed by the caseworker and/or recipient were met by the agency in the majority of the cases. 13. The recipient's residence at the close of services which averaged 73.6 days from referral to close of services, was most often in the same home they lived in at the time of referral. 14. In the majority of the cases the recipients were not declared incompetent. 15. One of every 15 recipients died during the course of services. An explanation of such a high rate of death is possibly attributed to the age and illness of recipients who had come to the agency's attention."