Adult Protection reports are made through the Minnesota Adult Abuse Reporting Center (MAARC). MAARC is the centralized intake/common entry point for all adult protection reports. MAARC determines the Lead Investigative Agency (LIA) and sends the reports accordingly. Adult Protective Services (APS) are provided by the county social service agency in which the Vulnerable Adult resides at the time of the incident. The primary goal of Adult Protection is to assess the concerns of the report and offer supportive services to mitigate the concerns. The County is also responsible for Emergency Protective Services (EPS), where they are responsible to ensure immediate protection of the vulnerable adult living in their community. Benton County has an on-call system for afterhours, weekends, and holidays where the Benton County after-hours on-call team receives, reviews, and responds to EPS reports falling outside of the established work week. When an Adult Protection report is received, human service staff must verify that Benton County is the Lead Investigative Agency (LIA) and if we have a role in addressing immediate safety concerns. Staff then need to assess if the alleged victim is a vulnerable adult based on statutory definition in MN Statute 626.5572 Subd. 21 (Attachment A), and does the allegation fit the abuse criteria as outlined in MN Statute 626.5572, Subd. 2 (Attachment B). Benton County Adult Protection staff will use the Structured Decision Making (SDM) tool to aide in the screening of the report received.
For more information, see the following: Benton County Prioritization Guidelines for Adult Protection Maltreatment Reports (PDF)