This online engagement was hosted on engageNL from October 31 to December 18, 2019. Below is a record of this engagement.
Overview
The Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development is completing a five year statutory review of the Adult Protection Act, 2014 and is seeking input from the general public and key stakeholders.
The Adult Protection Act was proclaimed on June 30, 2014, and is the law in Newfoundland and Labrador, which protects adults who do not understand or appreciate the risk of abuse and neglect. If you think somebody is being abused or neglected, it is your legal obligation to report it. To make a report, call toll-free 1-855-376-4957 or contact your local police.
Background
The purpose of the Adult Protection Act is to protect all adults who are at risk of abuse and neglect and who do not understand or appreciate the risk. The Adult Protection Act replaced the Neglected Adults Welfare Act, which had been in place since 1973. This adult protection legislation applies to every person who is not a child or youth regardless of living arrangements, including persons who are residents of hospitals, personal care homes or long term care homes.
The Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development is responsible for the oversight of the Adult Protection Act. Staff with the Regional Health Authorities, RNC and RCMP are responsible for following up on adult protection reports.
Since the Adult Protection Act was proclaimed in June 2014, there have been almost 1,500 reports received with less than 10 per cent of these reports having to proceed to investigation as supports were put in place to assist those individuals. A total of 75 per cent of these reports were about adults over the age of 60 and 25 per cent were about adults under the age of 60. A majority of reports come from the community.
Your input will be used to evaluate the functioning and implementation of the Adult Protection Act and highlight any potential areas in which this legislation may be improved.
Get Involved
The feedback form will be available until December 18, 2019.
Please note that all responses are confidential and the collection of information is being done under the authority of section 61(c) of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 2015, for the purpose of collecting public feedback on the review of the Adult Protection Act. Please contact Andrea Lawlor, ATIPP Coordinator at (709) 729-6370 or by email at [email protected] if you have any questions or concerns.
Contact Us
For more information or if you have any questions or additional comments please contact Steve Ross, Adult Protection Consultant, at (709) 729-6589 or by email at [email protected].
