As the Pennsylvania Department of Aging kicked off a statewide tour this week highlighting its new approach to evaluating the performance of older adult protective services, Secretary Jason Kavulich hosted a virtual training for 500 aging network professionals to directly address issues identified through the new system that, for years, often went unaddressed.
That new monitoring system, the Comprehensive Aging Performance Evaluation (CAPE) is identifying issues in ways that the prior ineffective pass/fail system couldn’t do – and helping the Department focus training resources in the local communities where they are most needed.
“Nearly five hundred aging services professionals don’t attend a training because they have free time: they attend because they are deeply invested in their work and in their community and want to do the best they can for those we serve,” said Secretary Kavulich. “Hundreds of professionals who care deeply about older adults and strive to constantly grow as professionals were brought together because CAPE guided us to where the system needed to improve. CAPE is unlike anything the Department has ever used before and is delivering improvements, increased oversight and accountability, and ultimately, keeping older Pennsylvanians safe.”
Launched in 2025, CAPE is designed to reveal issues that the prior legacy system allowed to remain hidden, because it solely relied on a pass or fail grade for Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs), without detailing why a AAA passed or failed. Under CAPE, each of Pennsylvania’s 52 AAAs is evaluated for 61 different metrics during a singular monitoring review. This approach gives the Department a better snapshot of the local organization’s overall functioning, helping to quickly identify trends and issues, and urgently provide assistance to address any deficiencies.
One of the biggest issues identified through CAPE thus far is proper documentation at a AAA: the written record of observations, events and actions taken over the course of a protective services investigation. More than 60% of the AAAs evaluated so far were below the threshold of compliance for this measure. While a lack of documentation doesn’t mean that a service wasn’t provided, it can make it difficult for reviewers to determine what work was performed or how an investigation progressed.
Because of CAPE’s ability to efficiently identify issues, the Department quickly developed and offered the first in a series of in-depth trainings this week aimed at helping new and seasoned workers strengthen the quality and clarity of their written documentation. Protective services professionals from AAAs across Pennsylvania quickly signed up.
Following the first session, Janine Maust, executive director of Indiana County Aging Services, said that the Department’s new approach to training will be valuable both to her brand-new staff to build a good foundation for solid practices, and to seasoned staff to better understand how to improve their practices in response to CAPE findings.
“The Department has listened to us. They’ve developed this training for us. And this isn’t just a one-and-done,” said Maust, adding that the training provides her as a supervisor with useful tools to review the quality and consistency of the work her team is doing.
