UPDATES & INFORMATION Grant Update - Risk/Safety Screening Tools September 1, 2021, APS released a Management Bulletin (MB) to incorporate a standardized safety screening tool into APS practice. Developing a standardized safety tool was a goal and outcome measure expected under the 2019 Elder Justice Act - Administration for Community Living (ACL) grant that APS received. The tool aligns with national standards and to meet APS’ stated goal of addressing safety concerns for alleged victims. The next phase of this effort will include the release of a build of the safety screening tool into TIVA2 to replace the currently implemented paper version. The digital version of the safety screening tool is expected to be available on the planned April 2022 TIVA2 release. Another standardized screening tool that is a main objective of our initial ACL grant is the risk screening tool. Risk screening differs from safety screening in several ways, but the most important is that a risk screening identifies conditions, behaviors, or circumstances that create situations where alleged victims are at an increased chance of not remaining healthy or stable in their environment. When screening for risk, APS is screening to understand the context an alleged victim exists within and the end goal is to identify tailored resources, supports, or referrals that APS may be able to offer the alleged victim to improve their condition. All staff will have
access to an online training of the risk screening tool sometime in the fall and the tool is expected to become part of APS policy for all investigations sometime in winter.
Grant Update - UW Forensic Interviewing Videos Forensic Interviewing for alleged victims continues to enroll and train staff in this approach through the University of Washington (UW). In response to feedback the training team received from participants, our program will be expanding our partnership with the UW to include the development of an additional 3 forensic interviewing training videos. For those that have not had the opportunity to take the training, on day 3, a video featuring an APS investigator completing an interview with an actor portraying an alleged victim is a highlight to demonstrate the real application of the skills taught in the training. In feedback forms, APS staff expressed the desire for additional examples, especially given that most freely available videos online heavily feature children. APS leadership and the training unit have started the process of developing these additional videos and is working to identify APS staff that will serve as our interviewers. The new videos will be completed by the end of the summer, and we look forward to incorporating them into the existing forensic interviewing training and we are exploring new ways that we will be able to share the content.
