Carrie Nelson is proud to help prevent and address abuse, neglect and exploitation of elderly Westmoreland County residents.

But when the county Area Agency on Aging lost 75% of its protective services care managers in the summer of 2022, Nelson, as executive director, was put in a difficult position.

“We focused on getting the face-to-face (visits with clients) done so that we could get out there and get eyes on and make sure that if there was a risk, we could deal with that risk.”

When the county agency receives a report of elderly abuse, neglect, abandonment or exploitation, it has 24 hours to complete a face-to-face visit and 20 days to finalize the investigation. But that timeline was nearly impossible to meet when the agency lost six of its eight protective services care managers.

The staffing cut came about when the agency — which is required by law to offer 24/7 services — lost its provider for overnight coverage because of its own workforce shortage.

Employees stepped away to avoid working atypical shifts. New hires were hard to come by.

With the help of the state Department of Aging, the agency has gotten back on track — jumping from a 29% timely response rate in 2024 to 97% this year, said Pa. Secretary of Aging Jason Kavulich.

“We talk about all of those great challenges that the aging system and other systems and human services have, but we don’t spend the time always to recognize the people that do the work every day,” Kavulich said, addressing dozens of the county agency’s workers who packed into a room in their Greensburg office building Thursday afternoon.

“When I say they went from a number that I’d love to shoot if I played nine holes to 97%, I’m not joking,” he said. “It’s serious, something to be proud of.”

Kavulich also unveiled a new online database the Department of Aging launched this month to publicize the performance of all 52 of Pennsylvania’s area agencies on aging. It will include data surrounding older adult protective services, at-home help and caregiver support.

The additional transparency is more important now than ever, Kavulich said, as there has been an 82% increase in protective services cases reported by the state’s aging agencies since 2017. The state investigates about 40,000 cases of suspected abuse each year.

Pennsylvania’s elderly population also has increased 22% in that same time frame.

Westmoreland has the eighth highest population of people 65 years and older across the state’s 67 counties, according to 2023 data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Funding for the agencies, Kavulich said, has increased only about 3% in the last eight years. Gov. Josh Shapiro has pitched allocating $20 million to the agencies in his 2025-2026 budget proposal.

“It’s not easy to stand up here and talk about our deficiencies because of the important work that we do,” Nelson said. “But I can stand here today and say how extremely proud I am of everyone in this room, everyone behind me, of the progress that we made.”

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