Auditor General Tim DeFoor has announced a performance audit will take place after reports of elder abuse.
Pennsylvania’s Auditor General Tim DeFoor’s office has requested data and spoken with top staffers at the Department of Aging, according to sources.
DeFoor has launched an audit of the state agency that protects Pennsylvania’s older adults from abuse and neglect.
While the motivation and scope of the audit have not been discussed by DeFoor, the announcement comes after a recent investigation found significant failures in Pennsylvania’s older adult protective services system.
DeFoor’s spokesperson April Hutscheson confirmed the “performance audit” will be taking place for the aging department, but she did not provide details on the reason why or the scope of the audit.
In a statement, aging department spokesperson Karen Gray said the agency will be “cooperating fully” with the audit.
“We’re proud of the actions we’ve taken recently to increase accountability and transparency of the Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) network and improve protective services to ensure older adults are safe,” Gray said.
The auditor general’s office conducts financial audits mainly, but also conducts performance audits, such as the one being launched for the aging department. The audit will assess whether the department is meeting its goals and make recommendations on how it can be run more efficiently.
The results of reviews made by the auditor general’s office are made public.
The last review of the aging department took place in 2009. It focused on the state’s network of day centers that offer services for older adults, but did not examine protective services programs.
The inspector general investigated the quality of protective services for older adults in 2018, 2023, and 2024. The results of the 2018 report were redacted, while those of the most recent investigation were never made public.
Governor Shapiro’s office declined to comment on whether it ever received the report.
This fiscal year, the state allocated just over $356 million to the 52 county aging agencies, according to officials. In the budget being negotiated in Harrisburg, Shapiro has proposed an additional $20 million for those agencies and another $2 million for the aging department to enhance its monitoring of them.
The announcement of the auditor general’s office plan to audit the aging department is the latest probe into a state agency that has been questioned on its care for elders several times in recent years.
