Every day, often behind closed doors, older adults endure abuse–whether financial exploitation by a trusted confidant, neglect by a caregiver, or outright physical violence at the hands of a family member. National survey data suggests that more than 10% of Americans 60 and older experience some form of abuse or neglect each year. And AARP estimates that financial exploitation costs older Americans more than $28 billion each year.
For decades, state lawmakers across the country have placed their faith in one popular tool to help stop it: mandatory elder abuse reporting laws. As of 2025, 16 states have sweeping reporting requirements that require nearly everyone who becomes aware of mistreatment to report it. And every state requires at least certain categories of people to report abuse.
Mandatory reporting aims to overcome the many reasons people might otherwise stay silent such as fear of retaliation, reluctance to damage relationships, or simple unwillingness to get involved. By making reporting a legal duty, states hope to turn bystanders into protectors.
The logic behind these laws is intuitive: if doctors, social service providers, and others must report suspicions of abuse, more cases will come to light and more older adults will be protected from mistreatment. In each state, an Adult Protective Services agency receives reports. APS investigators screen the allegations, decide if they satisfy the state’s criteria for future action, and, if they do, launch an investigation. In 2020, a federal entity supporting APS agencies estimated that about 62% of reports nationwide were investigated further. APS workers may then offer services to the victim, develop a safety plan, or even refer cases to law enforcement.
When reporting brings abuse to light, prosecutors can crack down on offenders, potentially deterring further abuse. Earlier this month, for example, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced he would take “immediate action” against offenders and charged the owner of a “severely understaffed” San Diego assisted living facility with felony elder abuse after the facility’s residents were found suffering from dehydration, malnourishment, and bedsores.
How Current Politics Fall Short Of Protecting Elders
Recently, I partnered with a group of the nation’s leading elder abuse experts to figure out if mandatory reporting laws actually help older adults.
That research found virtually no evidence that they do. There is some evidence that both the number of reports and number of investigations spike when new mandates are introduced. But these initial increases do not necessarily last, nor do they lead to more substantiated abuse cases.
More troubling, there is virtually no evidence that mandatory reporting improves older adults’ long-term well-being.
Not only is there a lack of evidence that mandatory reporting laws help, but there is good reason to be concerned that they come at too high a cost.
Mandatory reporting requirements may get in the way of actually helping victims. One way they may do this is by straining the resources of APS agencies, which are chronically underfunded. If mandated reports flood agencies with low-quality reports, scarce resources could be diverted from cases where help is most needed. Another way they may get in the way of helping victims is by undermining valuable relationships that older adults or their caregivers have with reporters. A doctor, social worker, or clergy member who files a report may lose the trust of the person about whom they made a report.
Once trust is broken, opportunities for sustained support may disappear. This may be particularly an issue when abuse allegations are not substantiated. Victims may be frightened into silence. Abusers may become more secretive. Moreover, sometimes the interventions that result from mandated reports are themselves concerning. Two of the more common involuntary interventions offered by APS are guardianship and nursing home placement. Both result in a substantial deprivation of liberty.
Such involuntary APS interventions are sometimes necessary to protect a person, but other times such drastic remedies are used even though other less restrictive alternatives could meet the individual’s needs. Consider, for example, the case of Bessie Owens, a Detroit woman who became the subject of a report to APS after she asked for a ramp to make her home accessible. The APS investigator who responded quickly petitioned for guardianship over Owens without providing notice to Owens’ family. Owens described the experience as “intrusive” and explained in a public hearing broadcast by WXYZ news in Detroit that “I do not want or need strangers—bureaucrats—over my life.” Ultimately, the guardianship was terminated and Owens’ rights restored, but only after a Detroit news station brought Owens’ plight to the public’s attention.
A Better Way To Combat Elder Abuse And Exploitation
Repealing mandatory reporting statutes may not be politically realistic but amending them is. States should reconsider blanket mandates and focus on situations where victims are at ongoing risk or are genuinely unable to act for themselves. Wisconsin’s approach, which allows would-be reporters to consider whether reporting is in the victim’s best interest, could be a model for other states seeking to achieve a better balance between protecting older adults on one hand, and respecting their privacy and right to self-determination on the other.
Modernizing reporting mandates, however, is only the first step. Ultimately, the success of mandatory reporting laws depends on the strength of the systems that respond to reports when made. If APS lacks resources to investigate and offer services, or if the services offered have limited value, then reports (even if dutifully made) may not result in meaningful protection.
Accordingly, it is important to think about how to expand the tools that are available to APS. One promising approach is being pioneered by the RISE Collaborative model. The approach pairs older adults who have experienced mistreatment with a professional “advocate” who helps the older adult embrace a desire for improvement and identify goals. The advocate can then work with the older adult to help achieve those goals including repairing relationships that may have been damaged by the abuse.
Mandatory elder abuse reporting laws were born of good intentions. But good intentions are not enough, and research shows that reliance on mandatory reporting to “fix” the problem of elder abuse is misplaced. To effectively combat its elder abuse epidemic, America needs systems tailored to improving outcomes for elder abuse victims, not symbolic gestures.