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APS Program Operational Plan: Hawaii

State/Territory/District Hawaii

Contact Lori Tsuruda

Budget Allocation $1,995,000.00

Timeline AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT (ARPA) OF 2021 - Grant 1 

August 2021 – September 2023 $645,450.00

ARPA OF 2021 - Proposed - Grant 2 

August 2022 – September 2024 ~ $1,349,550.00

Vision 2025

The Vision clarifies what your ARPA Grant 1 Program 

aspires to become and to achieve. It is designed to 

inspire by providing a picture of where the program 

is heading in 3-5 years.

Note: If you are a part of a larger organization, does 

it have its own future vision? If so, you may want to 

adapt it to your own program.

Hawaii’s APCS’ Vision: Protective services will be recognized as improving the safety 

and welfare of vulnerable adults with timely investigations and/or referrals to 

community or residential services to address and prevent further abuse risk with the 

fewest restrictions on the vulnerable adult’s personal liberty and rights. 
APS Program Planning Template: State/Territory/District-Specific Focus Page 2

Mission Statement

Mission and Values statements can be an effective 

tool to educate the public; state and local 

government officials; state government agencies; 

provider agencies; and service recipients as to what 

the Adult Protective Services is and how they do 

business.

Mission Statements answer four key questions 

about your APS Program:

• Who do we serve?

• What needs do they have that we can fulfil?

• How do we meet those needs? How do we 

make the clients' lives better?

• Does it link directly to the Vision Statement?

Note: if you are a part of a larger organization, does 

it have its Mission Statement? If so, you may want 

to adapt it for your own program.

Hawaii’s APCS’ Mission: 

To protect vulnerable adults from abuse, neglect, and exploitation, and ensure their 

health, welfare, and safety in the community through crisis intervention, investigation, 

and to administer programs to assist a vulnerable adult’s ability to maintain their 

independence in a safe and healthy manner for as long as possible, thereby preventing 

premature institutionalization.
APS Program Planning Template: State/Territory/District-Specific Focus Page 3

Guiding Principles / Core Values

Guiding Principles or Core Values guide internal 

processes and client interactions for your APS 

Program. 

Note: if you are a part of a larger organization, does it 

have its own set of Guiding Principles or Core Values? 

If so, you may want to adapt it for this program.

APCS defines our Core Values as “THRIVE”:

T Team-oriented

We acknowledge that internal and external partnerships are critical to the success of 

DHS.

H Human-centered

We develop strategies and make improvements as necessary from the client’s 

perspective.

R Respectful

We recognize the inherent value of each person as well as the diverse cultures of 

Hawaii. 

I Intentional

We are mindful of our decisions and actions in our collective work.

V Visionary

We strive to support our clients by co-creating generative, forward-looking strategies. 

E Evidence-based

We make decisions that are based on data and take actions that we know will have 

sustainable outcomes.
APS Program Planning Template: State/Territory/District-Specific Focus Page 4

Goals for Program Improvement

These are goals to be obtained in order to move your APS 

program from current practices to your Vision.

Now that you have new funds targeted for your work with 

APS, what can be enhanced or improved in your current 

program? These goals must meet the APS Formula Grant 

requirements. It is recommended these goals become 

SMART goals (specific, measurable, actionable, and 

timely).

Using the results of your Environmental Scan, identify key 

issues that need to be addressed during this planning 

cycle. 

These are goals to move your APS Program from current 

practices to your Vision #1.

ARPA Grant 1

Goal 1

APCS units will develop, then administer their own unit-initiated, unit-specific QA 

with computer elements of significance to the unit. 

Goal 2

Upon QA completion, the units will share their results to the rest of APCS. Relevant, 

statewide elements will be identified and embedded into our new APCS database 

and “system of record” as the start of APCS automated QA. 

Goal 3

Administer the new embedded automated QA to a small sample of APCS cases if the 

elements work, are of substance, and valid.

ARPA 2 Project 1

Phased progress of the new, multifunction system of record starting with intake, 

investigation, then abuse determination, document generation, and display of 

determination evidence with APCS workgroup input, participation and feedback.

Anticipate this input and feedback loop progress to entail several years due to the 

depth and breadth of required information.

Targeted Improvement Projects

Using the results of your Environmental Scan and PESTEL, 

describe the targeted improvements and enhancements 

needed for this planning cycle. 

Your improvements should be concrete, measurable, and 

complete.

WHY is this improvement needed? 

ARPA 1 Project 1

University of Hawaii (UH) Thompson School to engage all units to develop their own 

QA, then evaluate unit results for relevancy and inclusion as statewide QA data to 

embed within our new database and system of record.

ARPA 2 Project 1 

UH Maui College, Software Development Center to continue to develop a new, 

single entry system of record with identified functional program requirements with 

modularized components from intake to investigatory abuse analysis and 

determination, retrieval of information to generate protective service documents, 
APS Program Planning Template: State/Territory/District-Specific Focus Page 5 

What Purpose or NEED will it fill? 

What RESOURCES will be used? 

What ACTIVITIES will it entail? 

What are the direct OUTPUTS of the activities? What are 

the intended results and how will clients benefit?

See example on next page.

and ability to retrieve and display protective determination evidence expediently. 

Utilize departmental or contracted technical information technology (IT) support for 

the official start of APCS’ new system of record, termination of data entry into the 

legacy system, and ability to retrieve old data from the legacy system. 

Determination of system functions needed to view “archival” legacy data and ability 

to migrate legacy data to the new system of record. Determination of what defines 

APCS’ “archival” legacy data viewing and migration into the new system of record. 

Establish benchmarks, e.g., how many prior years will be considered as archival 

viewing and migration into the new system of record. Testing of migration of the 

“archival” legacy system and new system of record for easy use by workers. 

ARPA 2 Project 2 

Upgrade current HP tablets to devices and equipment that will support the new 

system of record. 

ARPA 2 Project 3

Intake process needs to be included in the automated QA process and monitoring.
APS Program Planning Template: State/Territory/District-Specific Focus Page 6 

Purpose/Needs to 

be filled by ARPA 

Funds

Inputs (Resources 

Deployed)

Activities Outputs from 

Investment

Short-Term Outcomes Long-Term Outcomes

APCS does not have

an automated QA 

program to 

monitor case 

information for 

policy/procedure 

compliance, 

identify initiated 

interventions, and 

to analyze if 

interventions 

resulted in positive 

case outcomes. 

$645,450 for the 

development of 

unit, then 

statewide 

embedded QA data 

to capture 

compliance, 

initiated 

interventions, and 

intervention 

outcome 

measurements. 

Previously 

contracted 

providers, UH, 

Maui College, 

Software 

Development 

Center and UH 

Thompson School 

of Social Work and 

Public Health are 

familiar with APCS. 

Workgroups of 

APCS 

ARPA 1 Project 1:

UH Thompson 

School to engage 

units to develop 

their own QA, 

evaluate each unit’s

results for relevant, 

statewide data and 

work with UH Maui 

College for data 

inclusion within the 

new database. 

Embed the new QA 

program in the new 

system.

Unit QA

engagement to 

identify 

meaningful, 

statewide QA data 

measures for a 

qualitative review 

of protective 

services. 

Worker involvement in 

the improvement of 

their services to 

alleged victims and 

their families. 

A sound method to 

retrieve statewide 

entries to monitor 

policy, procedure, and 

best practice 

compliance. 

Unit and worker

accountability and 

monitoring will result in 

improved statewide 

outcomes for alleged 

victims and their families. 

Specific unit 

measurements will 

reveal more precise

training needs and 

appropriate training 

methods to result in 

improved interaction and 

collaboration with our 

alleged victims and their 

families. 

 
APS Program Planning Template: State/Territory/District-Specific Focus Page 7 

Purpose/Needs to 

be filled by ARPA 

Funds

Inputs (Resources 

Deployed)

Activities Outputs from 

Investment

Short-Term Outcomes Long-Term Outcomes

administrators, 

supervisors, 

registered nurses, 

investigators, and 

case managers.

New system of 

record requires 

multifunction 

capacity for 

investigatory abuse 

determination, 

document 

generation, and 

display of 

determination 

evidence. 

$823,476 for UH

Maui College, 

Software 

Development 

Center to construct 

a comprehensive 

new system of 

record. 

$200,000 for 

support from the 

department’s 

Office of 

Information 

Technology (OIT) 

to assist UH Maui 

College with 

available 

departmental IT 

resources to build 

the new system of 

record.

ARPA 2 Project 1:

Ongoing, active 

development and 

review of the 

functions of each 

phase of APCS case 

progress: intake, 

investigation, abuse 

determination, and 

case work 

documentation. 

Develop the

investigatory abuse 

functions of the new 

system. The official 

start of APCS’ new 

system of record, 

termination the 

legacy system, and 

A thorough 

examination of 

process markers 

and abuse 

information to 

display case 

progression from 

intake, 

investigation, 

abuse 

determination 

translated into data 

in the new 

computerized 

system of record. 

The new system will 

meet the 

requirements for 

architecture, 

infrastructure, system 

interface, and security.

By end of first year, 

will identify intake 

process markers and 

abuse data for the 

with intake mock-ups 

and timelines for 

investigation phase 

production. 

Workers have been 

trained on active 

system functions to 

“phase in” use of the 

new system. 

A dynamic intake, 

investigational, abuse 

determination, and 

document generating 

system using information 

and evidence gathered 

for efficient and timely

processing. System to 

include assessment 

tool(s) to identify alleged 

victim risk and needs, 

case management, 

and/or linkage to needed 

goods and/or services. 

System will also house 

practical tools to 

complete thorough

investigations of alleged 

abuse. 
APS Program Planning Template: State/Territory/District-Specific Focus Page 8 

Purpose/Needs to 

be filled by ARPA 

Funds

Inputs (Resources 

Deployed)

Activities Outputs from 

Investment

Short-Term Outcomes Long-Term Outcomes

interfacing of the 

two systems.

Upgrade current 

tablets to devices 

and equipment to 

support the new 

system of record. 

$200,000 to 

purchase new 

device/equipment 

with 

recommendations 

from UH Maui 

College and 

department’s OIT 

who are 

knowledgeable of 

worker needs and 

device/equipment 

performance. 

ARPA 2 Project 2:

Purchase new 

tablets with 

technical support 

from UH Maui 

College and the 

department’s IT 

office prior to new 

system of record 

going live. Possibly 

purchasing different 

devices to trial 

functionality and 

ease of use.

Workers report 

devices enable 

them to complete

their work tasks. 

Workers have been 

trained on device use 

and connectivity to do 

their work tasks. 

Reliable device, 

equipment, and IT 

support for APCS to meet 

worker needs with the 

ability to capture device 

utilization for best use of 

available resources.

Intake process 

needs to be 

included in the 

automated QA 

process and 

monitoring. 

$126,074 for the 

development of 

Adult Intake Unit 

(AIU) embedded 

QA data to capture 

compliance

Previously 

contracted 

providers, UH Maui 

ARPA 2 Project 3:

UH Thompson 

School to engage AIU

in the development 

of their own QA, 

evaluate the results 

for relevant data and 

work with UH Maui 

College for data 

Engagement with 

AIU staff to identify 

meaningful QA 

data measures for 

a qualitative review 

of APCS’ Intake 

services. 

Intake worker 

involvement in the 

improvement of their 

services.

A sound method to 

retrieve intake entries 

to monitor policy, 

AIU and worker

accountability and 

monitoring will result in 

improved outcomes for 

alleged victims and their 

families. 
APS Program Planning Template: State/Territory/District-Specific Focus Page 9 

Purpose/Needs to 

be filled by ARPA 

Funds

Inputs (Resources 

Deployed)

Activities Outputs from 

Investment

Short-Term Outcomes Long-Term Outcomes

College, Software 

Development and 

UH Thompson 

School of Social 

Work and Public 

Health are familiar 

with APCS. 

Work with AIU 

supervisor, staff, 

Administrators, 

and Program 

Development. 

inclusion within the 

new database. 

Embed the new QA 

program in the new 

system.

procedure, and best 

practice compliance. 

Specific intake

measurements will 

reveal more precise 

training needs and 

appropriate training 

methods to result in 

improved interaction 

with the public. 
APS Program Planning Template: State/Territory/District-Specific Focus Page 10

Budget / Spending Plan for ARPA funds – Semi-annually for 3 to 5 years

Budget/Spending Plan will be used to enhance, improve, and expand the ability of APS workers to investigate allegations of abuse, neglect, and 

exploitation. Be sure to use separate line items for each major improvement project.

Operational Plan Submission due by January 31, 2022. 

ARPA 1- First Grant Allocation - August 2021 - September 2023 

Project Project 2022 2023 ARPA -1

Number Description Period 1 Period 2 Period 1 Period 2 Total

Project 1

Unit QA with 

embedded data into 

new system 158,569.00 158,569.00 164,156.00 164,156.00 645,450.00 

ARPA 2 - August 2022 September 2024 

Project Project 2023 2024 ARPA - 2

Number Description Period 1 Period 2 Period 1 Period 2 Sub-total

New multifunction 

Project 1 system of record build 255,869 255,869 255,869 255,869 1,023,476

Project 2 Devices and Equipment 200,000 200,000

Project 3 QA Intake 31,518 31,518 31,519 31,519 126,074

TOTAL 287,387 287,387 287,388 487,388 1,349,550

• * If system build not complete, will submit request for a “No Cost Extension” to extend budget allocation.

Summary of ARPA 1 + ARPA 2 Expenditure Plan

Grant Award Timetable Amount

ARPA 1 2022 - Period 1 158,569.00

ARPA 1 2022 - Period 2 158,569.00

ARPA 1 & 2 2023 - Period 1 451,543.00

ARPA 1 & 2 2023 - Period 2 451,543.00

ARPA 2 2024 - Period 1 287,388.00

ARPA 2 2024 - Period 2 487,388.00

Total 1,995,000.00