Washington is fighting to limit its duty to protect vulnerable adults

This article was first published by InvestigateWest.

Starting in February 2020, investigators with Washington Adult Protective Services responded to nine reports about Raymond Bell, a 71-year-old man with dementia and no nearby family.

Neighbors, bank employees, police, a hospital worker and Bell himself all raised concerns that a woman named Annette Shine — who Bell said moved in with him following her release from prison for bank robbery — could be financially exploiting Bell.

Yet the state agency didn’t protect him from Shine, closing each of the nine reports as “inconclusive” or “unsubstantiated,” its investigative records show. It wasn’t until after Shine had orchestrated the sale of Bell’s house in Renton, a city just southeast of Seattle — reportedly pocketing the money and leaving Bell wandering the streets — that an investigator determined legal documents giving Shine authority over Bell were forged, according to a lawsuit against APS on behalf of Bell. Shine, who has not been criminally charged with any wrongdoing in the case, did not reply to InvestigateWest’s emails and phone calls asking for comment.

The state will not face legal consequences for its allegedly negligent investigations about Bell — or, potentially, for any other vulnerable adult similarly let down by APS after a Washington State Court of Appeals ruling in June.

That’s because, when a case management company sued the state on Bell’s behalf in 2023, Washington judges found that APS has no mandate to actually investigate reported abuse under state law. Therefore, the state couldn’t be sued for negligently doing so.

While many other state laws — including in Oregon, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Alaska, Florida and others — require government agencies to investigate reports of vulnerable adult abuse, the judges in Bell’s case found that Washington has a specific loophole: It requires APS to “initiate a response” to a report, but not to “investigate.”

The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, which oversees APS, told InvestigateWest that although the department can’t speak in detail about the case due to ongoing litigation, it believes the ruling is “consistent with the Legislature’s intent in the Abuse of Vulnerable Adults Act.”

“Our highest priority is ensuring the safety, dignity, and well-being of vulnerable adults in our community,” the department said in an email response to InvestigateWest. “We follow up on every report of potential abuse, neglect, or exploitation.”

Although the ruling is unpublished — meaning it only applies to Bell’s case — the state department is now asking the court to publish its June opinion. That would mean the ruling could become legally binding on other courts, potentially limiting any legal recourse that vulnerable adults and their families have against the state when APS fails to act. The attorneys who represented Bell intend to bring the decision to the state Supreme Court for review.

The ruling comes at a time when the state agency is pressuring its investigators to close cases quickly as it implements the first-ever federal regulations for adult protective services, according to emails from APS management and interviews with 11 current or former investigators. While many elder-justice advocates support the new regulations, which aim to standardize the quality of care across the nation, Washington APS investigators who spoke to InvestigateWest worry that the agency’s focus on closing cases could leave more people like Bell without meaningful protection.

“The problem comes when the measure of success at APS becomes closing the file rather than resolving the danger,” said Ian Bauer, one of the attorneys who represented Bell in the lawsuit. “They are not the same thing. And when APS confuses the two, that’s when vulnerable adults are left in harm’s way.”

Limiting liability

A year before Raymond Bell’s situation was first reported to APS, Washington paid $8 million on behalf of another vulnerable adult named Vernon Gray.

Between 2009 and 2016, APS responded to repeated pleas to help Gray, a middle-aged man with a developmental disability. People described Gray as living without plumbing or heat in a Seattle home infested with so many rats that the grass moved “in waves like water as the rats ran through his lawn.” But APS took no action to protect Gray, and by 2017, he was homeless and nearly blind, as alleged in a tort claim filed against the state on Gray’s behalf in 2018.

The state agreed to settle the case before a lawsuit was filed. A spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services told The Seattle Times in 2019 that the department was “sorry for what happened to Mr. Gray” and called the case a “system-wide failure.”

In Bell’s case, however, the state attorney general’s office, under the direction of now-Gov. Bob Ferguson, took a different tack — arguing that Washington law does not actually require the state to provide protective services for vulnerable adults. In the June Court of Appeals ruling, a panel of three judges agreed that unlike allegations of child abuse, which the state has a duty to investigate, the law doesn’t obligate the department to provide protective services or investigate alleged vulnerable adult abuse.

“Instead of accepting accountability for what occurred, they’ve tried to just close the courthouse doors to Raymond and every single vulnerable adult that encounters Adult Protective Services,” Bauer said.

The ruling arrived as Washington seeks ways to handle skyrocketing legal costs for government misconduct claims. The state’s payouts reached a record $537 million in the past year, straining the state’s finances, The Washington State Standard reported in July. That’s five times what Washington paid in 2021, with most of the costs stemming from the Department of Children, Youth and Families, which is responsible for the child welfare system and juvenile detention.

Beth McDaniel, an elder-law attorney in Renton who serves on the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys board of directors, said that given the court’s decision in Bell’s case, people with concerns about elder abuse might be better off calling 911 than APS.

“People need to know that aside from it being on the record that a complaint was made, there are no guarantees that protective action will be taken by the state,” McDaniel said. “It’s sobering.”

McDaniel also noted that although state law enables the Department of Social and Health Services to petition for guardianship of vulnerable adults in certain instances like Bell’s, the department didn’t do so in this case.

“The fact that there were nine different reports and four different investigators who had their fingers in it, you would think at some point, counsel for APS would have been involved and filed a guardianship petition,” McDaniel said. “But the guardianship petition was filed Feb. 22, 2022 — not by APS, but by the University of Washington Medical Center.”

Seeking protection

For former Pierce County APS investigator Haley Ness, the state’s focus on limiting liability isn’t surprising. In Ness’ two years at APS, she repeatedly felt like the state cared more about avoiding lawsuits than about someone dying, she said.

Ness had been one of the top case closers in the state, praised by APS in its 2024 quarterly magazine for having among the highest rates of substantiated cases in the region while working the most complex ones. Her investigations ranged from multimillion-dollar fraud schemes to sexual abuse of developmentally disabled adults, she said. She carried a hazmat suit with her to victims’ homes, never knowing what she might find — bedbug infestations, maggots feasting on open wounds, feces covering the walls from floor to ceiling. She’d seen it all.

People who worked with her noted the difference she made. One nursing director said that Ness “restored our faith” in the state agency. A mental health professional called her a “go-getter,” and was “incredibly impressed” with her follow-through and reliability. A fire chief said that Ness saved two people’s lives.

But just a few months after spotlighting her in its magazine, the state agency fired Ness. Her efforts to help a bedbound man get a protection order against his brother had raised legal risks for the state, according to Ness and records from her termination. When asked about Ness’ termination, the Department of Social and Health Services said that it’s unable to respond to concerns about personnel matters.

Ness believed she’d acted within APS policy when she helped the man, who wasn’t physically able to write or type, to fill out the court paperwork online, since the policy says that vulnerable adults “may seek a protection order on their own with the assistance of an APS worker.” She also felt that the case was urgent — the man accused his brother of acting so aggressively that his caregiving agency dropped him as a client, leaving no one to give him his insulin, food or water, according to the protection order petition.

Ness sent several emails and messages over Microsoft Teams to program managers and supervisors updating them on the court process. Her manager replied thanking her for protecting her client, messages show.

But when Ness later emailed the case information to the state attorney general’s office, which represents APS in legal proceedings, an assistant attorney general replied with concerns that Ness had overstepped by filling out the petition and possibly providing legal assistance to the vulnerable adult.

The state fired Ness — who was employed under a probationary appointment because she had recently moved into a new role — in November 2024 for “rendering legal services” without the state agency’s awareness, according to the Department of Social and Health Services separation letter. The department had determined that “on several occasions” Ness had completed a protection order on behalf of the department without the involvement of the assistant attorney general. The letter doesn’t specify what those occasions were.

Ness said her employers had never raised concerns with her performance before, as her supervisor had been praising her for doing an “excellent job” closing cases and in her new role, according to monthly staffing reports from March and April 2024.

In July 2026, Ness sent a mass email to hundreds of people, including staff and leadership of APS and other state agencies, detailing her concerns with APS and calling for agency accountability. In her experience, “staff were steered toward the option that generated the least exposure rather than the option that protected the person,” she wrote in her email. “I watched vulnerable adults deteriorate and die inside that gap.”

The Department of Social and Health Services Human Resources Division replied to Ness asking for further information for its “thorough review” of her email. “I can assure you we are taking these matters seriously,” a human resources worker wrote. Washington APS Director Kathy Morgan also replied acknowledging receipt of Ness’ email and saying she would reach out with any questions. Ness hasn’t heard anything further from Morgan, she said.

‘Close as many cases as possible’

Investigators in APS’ Tacoma office have been slammed. Some say they’re getting over 30 cases per month, with an expectation from their managers to close around 20. Workers who didn’t hit that number say they’ve gotten verbal and written warnings.

In eastern Washington, monthly goals include closing more investigations than received, according to meeting agendas from April through June 2026 obtained by InvestigateWest. Management would talk to the supervisors of investigators who weren’t meeting these expectations to determine why, the agendas say.

Although APS has long been focused on metrics like case closures, some employees feel like the pressure to close cases has become even greater as the state comes into compliance with the first-ever federal regulations.

“With new changes coming, there is a push to close as many cases as possible (while ensuring investigations are thorough) before new regulations take effect in July,” one Tacoma supervisor emailed investigators in May, adding that the goal is to drop the total number of open investigations.

The federal regulations — issued in 2024 by the Administration for Community Living, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that oversees state-run APS programs — aim to improve states’ protection of vulnerable adults. Recognizing that the historic absence of federal standards has led to “significant program variation” and, in some cases, “sub-standard quality,” they set minimum standards for response times, promote collaboration with law enforcement and Medicaid agencies, and require APS programs to submit annual performance data, among other requirements.

The changes are widely welcomed by state APS agencies, many of which were already complying with voluntary national guidelines and data submissions. Elder-justice advocates also support the regulations, viewing them as an important step toward standardizing care across the nation.

States have until May 2028 to comply. If they don’t, they risk losing a source of federal APS program funding that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding — a $15 million annual allocation for the entire nation — has remained relatively stagnant since Congress first started regularly funding it in 2023. While advocates have called the amount “wholly inadequate,” and are pushing for at least $100 million, the funding is especially critical at a time when states are receiving more APS referrals than ever before. Washington’s reports have risen by more than 25% since 2021, reaching 84,431 last year, according to annual APS data.

The state agency has struggled to keep up. Data reported by 36 state APS programs in 2023 shows that Washington took longer to close cases than any other state — typically taking 113 days compared to the national median of 43 days. Washington has also been falling consistently short of its goal to close 75% of its vulnerable adult investigations within 90 days, instead closing only about 15% within 90 days, according to APS data from 2022 to 2025. In about a third of investigations, however, the agency said there was a valid reason for the delay, like pending guardianship proceedings or law enforcement investigations.

The state Department of Social and Health Services declined InvestigateWest’s interview requests, instead responding over email. Media Relations Manager Jessica Nelson wrote that the federal regulations did not change APS policies related to case closures. Because Washington policies already largely align with the new federal standards, they are “in a very good position to implement these rules without a lot of changes for our staff” and expect to be in full compliance by May 2028.

Since Washington began implementing some of the changes in July, investigators must conduct in-person victim interviews within seven calendar days in cases where the victim is not at immediate risk. This includes weekends and holidays. Investigators previously had either five or 10 business days, depending on the urgency of the situation.

APS is also succeeding in reducing its number of open cases, according to the department. There are now around 7,400 cases open over 90 days, down from 10,600 in November 2025.

“While change can be difficult, we have worked to keep staff informed and sought their input to prepare for these changes,” Nelson wrote.

But for investigators, the shortened response times feel unrealistic, especially for those getting over 30 cases per month, employees say. And many feel like they’ve gotten little support from APS leadership to achieve such goals.

When one former Tacoma investigator wasn’t moving as fast on cases as his managers wanted, his work-from-home privileges were revoked, adding an hour or two of driving to his schedule each day, the investigator said. His supervisor threatened to write him up after he arrived back at the office 15 minutes late one afternoon, having spent a few hours with a terminally ill woman who needed help, he said. The investigator, who asked not to use his name because he still works for the state, quit shortly after.

“They’re not there to help the people that need help. They’re there just to get the numbers out,” he said.

Morgan, the agency director, told InvestigateWest in an email response that staff have “many opportunities” for support. Nelson also stated that supervisors and a quality assurance team review cases for closure and that the department works with staff and supervisors to correct any issues.

Current and former investigators think there are other steps that the state could take to improve their efficiency and lighten investigators’ workloads. Several workers pointed out that the screening process for incoming reports is inefficient. For example, when financial institutions flag someone who was targeted for a scam, APS investigates even when the scammer is overseas and the victim didn’t lose any money. Screening out cases like this would give investigators time to focus on more urgent cases.

APS leadership, meanwhile, has tried to make sure that the regulations don’t come with new legal risks for the state. In her November 2023 public comment on the proposed standards, Morgan cautioned that the regulations “may create exposure to liability” in states with few liability protections. She wrote that while Washington APS supports the overall goal of better serving vulnerable adults, the proposed regulations could “establish a duty of care for APS programs, similar to child protection, which could introduce additional risk.”

Morgan emphasized to InvestigateWest that her comments were made regarding the draft regulations and it would “not be accurate to say that this public comment applies to the final version of the federal rules.” She also highlighted that unlike Child Protective Services, APS generally interacts with adults who have the right to make decisions for themselves.

Bauer, the attorney in Bell’s case, is hopeful that federal oversight can help create more accountability for APS. At a state level, Bauer described the state Department of Social and Health Services’ oversight of APS as “the fox guarding the henhouse.”

“The government is watching themselves,” he said. “There is not any meaningful oversight.”

But as states come into compliance with the new regulations, Bauer is unsure that the focus on performance data will actually lead to better outcomes in Washington. In Bell’s case, although Bell accepted a referral for case management in 2020, he didn’t financially qualify for the program that APS sent him to, according to APS records filed in the court case. APS closed the investigation anyway, and Bell cycled through the agency seven more times — inflating the number of case closures without receiving the services he asked for.

An initial proposal for the new federal regulations would have required states to measure the longer-term effectiveness of APS interventions, but that requirement was struck from the final rule due to feedback from states, including Washington, that outcomes after case closures were too difficult to follow up on.

“What concerns me is a system that rewards what is easiest to count — response times, caseload numbers, files closed — when the thing that actually matters is much harder to measure,” Bauer said. “At the end of the day, APS’s job isn’t to close cases. It’s to protect vulnerable adults. And that perspective is off at this agency.”

Left behind

Bell, who would now be 77 years old, will never see the outcome of his case. He died in December 2024 as his case was being appealed. No criminal charges were ever brought against Shine for allegedly exploiting him.

Bell’s old house in Renton, where he once tended to his garden and chatted with neighbors, is now occupied by a woman named Berhan Feseha. When Feseha bought the house five years ago, she hadn’t expected the former homeowner to keep showing up at her door, a flat cap covering his balding head, seemingly unaware that he didn’t live there anymore.

He stopped coming through the neighborhood around winter of that year, right as it was getting cold, she said. Sometimes she still gets his mail. She sends it back to the post office.

“I don’t know what’s become of him, but I always did worry,” Feseha said. “I always did think, who was protecting him?”

InvestigateWest (investigatewest.org) is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest. Contact reporter Kelsey Turner at kelsey@investigatewest.org or 503-893-2501.

Source: Washington State Standard

This article was originally published by Washington State Standard.