In 1999, there were 1.9 million persons age 65 or older and 2.6 million people with disabilities in Texas. In Fiscal Year 1999, Adult Protective Services completed 8,816 MHMR investigations, which include MHMR settings such as state hospitals, schools, and centers. In these investigations, abuse, neglect, or exploitation was confirmed in 1,005 cases. In the last decade, the number of in-home cases investigated by Adult Protective Services has increased more than 145 percent. About Maltreatment Abuse includes sexual assault, confinement, verbal, psychological, and physical abuse.
Obvious symptoms are scratches, cuts, bruises, burns, and broken bones.
Exploitation is misusing the resources of an elderly or disabled person for personal or monetary benefit. Elderly or disabled people may be isolated, ill, without a capable person to care for them, or without resources to meet basic needs. If Adult Protective Services has determined that they are in a state of abuse, neglect, or exploitation, they are eligible for adult protective services.