Can APS just walk in?

If you closed the door and left them on the porch, stairs or whatever they had no right to enter the house.
You ask for ID.
You have every right to call the persons office to verify the employee.
And I would think if you are not POA, family member you should not answer any questions that would violate the person or the family privacy. HIPAA violation if you give any personal information to someone that does not have clearance

If you closed the door and left them on the porch, stairs or whatever they had no right to enter the house.
You ask for ID.
You have every right to call the persons office to verify the employee.
And I would think if you are not POA, family member you should not answer any questions that would violate the person or the family privacy. HIPAA violation if you give any personal information to someone that does not have clearance

I would hope that they would have to show proper ID--I don't want total strangers just busting into my home.

I can see, however, if you answer the door and are sideswiped, so to speak by someone who is pretty quick to gain access.

A friend of mine has her 3 grandkids and she has been visited by CPS many times. She did say that once they came and she wasn't home and 2 of the kids were and the person just pawed through her stuff (this is acc. to the kids). Maybe CPS is different--it's kids and they are very at risk.

Next time (and this may be a warning to all of us!!) ask for ID and take a business card from the person. I don't think you 'have to' let them in--but it doesn't look good if you are not somewhat accessible.

My mother had APS come by a couple of times, neighbors had called on YB's hot tempered yelling--which was not directed at mother, but still.

If your friend was "under heavy meds" I hope you hung around to make sure every thing was on the up and up. Did they show any paperwork, or fill any in? This sounds fishy to me too

RevRon, I concur with Barb and NotGoodEnough, as well as Countrymouse on the broader issues.

Did this woman offer any ID?  Was she carrying notebooks or anything in which she could take notes?   And, although I hate to ask it, has anything been missing?

Yes. Adult Protective Services must either have an open case or must have been called to check on an elder in danger. Yes, they can "just walk in". If they have reason to suspect the elder is in danger of some kind either from self or others, they can in fact come with the police.

Ask permission first.

IF permission is refused, by the person whose house it is (even if that person is the subject of concern), then the worker may have to insist on the right of entry, with the backing of law enforcement if necessary. But only if!

We have a similar issue with reporting. There are certain safeguarding and welfare issues which, if they come to light, we must report; and we must report them with or without the person's agreement. But we'd much rather gain the agreement, and there is usually a way to achieve it - it only wants a little tact and consideration.

Barb raises an essential point about checking identity before granting access - a timely reminder, it's the sort of thing we all know we ought to do but...

I think the person should have waited at the door. Then when the woman came out explain why she was there and what she would be doing. It is a private residence and that should be respected. Was she really "searching" or just walking around for something to do until your friend came into the room. Was she opening cabinets and the refrigerator? They are required to make sure there is food in the house. I just read that you can't bar them from coming in. If u do, they can get police involved.

When APS arrived at my neighbor's, I was talking to her from outside. The worker asked to come in, and stated if entry was refused, that he would be required to call the sheriff.

Are you certain it was actually APS? I've heard a lot recently about folks impersonating APS to gain unlawful entry.

No. Make a formal complaint.

APS probably do, depending on circumstances, have the legal right to insist on entry into a person's home. But the way you describe this situation, this is about codes of conduct rather than the law as such.

At the very top of the form we fill in at Every Single Visit, it reads, on the checklist:

"Consent gained for support (consider the client's mental capacity to consent): Y/N.
Details if consent could not be gained............................................................................"

Similarly, that worker from APS ought to have waited for your friend's explicit consent to enter the home, let alone to begin searching it.

Assist your friend to make a formal complaint. You can find out from APS themselves what the correct procedure is; and then the aim is for workers on that team to be reminded that there are protocols and they do need to be followed.

Consent needs to be given for:
entry into the home
any actions taken while in the home
recording of information
forwarding of information

When APS is investigating a concern, they do of course have various legal tools at their disposal simply because some of the people most at risk won't be able to give their consent whether through incapacity, coercion, illness, whatever. But in this case it seems there was nothing to stop the worker waiting a reasonable time for you to bring your friend in, and then asking your friend's permission to begin the visit. Plain disrespectful, I call it. I hope you get a satisfactory response and an apology on your friend's behalf.