HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania Auditor General Tim DeFoor released a scathing 80-page performance audit Wednesday blasting the Pennsylvania Department of Aging, alleging systemic oversight failures that leave vulnerable seniors at risk of abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation.
The audit identified 10 major operational weaknesses and outlined 39 specific recommendations to repair the Commonwealth's protective services network.
Central to the findings is the department's newly implemented evaluation framework—the Comprehensive Agency Performance Evaluation (CAPE)—which Secretary Jason Kavulich has touted as an upgraded oversight tool. However, auditors concluded that the CAPE system lacks essential risk-assessment protocols, relies on unvalidated self-reported data, and evaluates the state's 52 local Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) on an 18-month cycle, violating state statutory mandates that require annual reviews.
The audit also found critical lapses in mandatory caseworker training, treating the state's 20-day investigation deadline as an optional goal rather than a binding requirement, and failing to establish standard timelines for financial exploitation cases.
