GANE App

Problem Statement: Law enforcement and Adult Protective Services (APS) staff frequently encounter situations where someone appears to have been abused, neglected, or exploited. Further, law enforcement personnel increasingly encounter situations where persons with diminished cognitive capacity appear to be wandering and/or lost. When someone is deemed to be unsafe, whether removed from an unlicensed home or wandering, for example, options available to place them temporarily to ensure their safety are limited. Health care professionals could benefit from quick access to information, screening, and services for these and other situations that often occur in the middle of the night.

Background: DAS staff from Adult Protective Services, Forensics, and Livable Communities have worked in collaboration with the Georgia Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association on a variety of projects related to abuse, neglect, and exploitation, including ACT Training for law enforcement personnel, identifying alternative placements for vulnerable adults residing in unlicensed personal care homes, obtaining driving assessments for those with dementia to determine continued ability to safely drive, and determining financial capacity of individuals. Through this collaboration and subsequent discussion, it was determined that an ANE App could prove useful for law enforcement, APS, other health care professionals, and the general public.

App Features:

Available to General Public and Health Care Professionals:
- Contact Information for various agencies
- Information on laws related to abuse, neglect, and exploitation

Available to Law Enforcement and other Professionals that respond to abuse, neglect, or exploitation, via an Activation Code:
- Screening questions & algorithm for Cognitive Functioning
- Screening questions & algorithm for determining abuse, neglect, and exploitation
- Screening questions & algorithm for determining financial capacity
- Emergency Placement places, by zip code, and nearest to your location (pending)
- Mattie’s Call (receive and send alerts)
- Push notifications of latest scams

Expected Outcomes:
Increased recognition and reporting of ANE to the appropriate investigative/regulatory agencies.
Provide timely emergency placement options for vulnerable adults in crisis (pending)
Better identification of individuals in need of immediate safe interventions due to wandering behaviors.
Heightened awareness of ways to avoid scams against vulnerable adults

GANE, Georgia Law Enforcement, GBI, Division of Aging Services, DAS, Georgia, Abuse, Neglect, Exploitation, Law Enforcement, "GANE"