Principles

• Adults have the right to be safe.
• Adults retain all their civil and constitutional rights unless some of these rights have been restricted by court action.
• Adults have the right to make decisions that do not conform with societal norms as long as these decisions do not harm others.
• Adults are presumed to have decision-making capacity unless a court adjudicates otherwise.
• Adults have the right to accept or refuse services.

Practice Guidelines

• Recognize that the interests of the adult are the first concern of any intervention.
• Avoid imposing personal values on others.
• Seek informed consent from the adult before providing services.
• Respect the adult’s right to keep personal information confidential.
• Recognize individual differences such as cultural, historical and personal values.
• Honor the right of adults to receive information about their choices and options in a form or manner that they can understand.
• To the best of your ability, involve the adult as much as possible in developing the service plan.
• Focus on case planning that maximizes the vulnerable adult’s independence and choice to the extent possible based on the adult’s capacity.
• Use the least restrictive services first—community based services rather than institutionally based services whenever possible.
• Use family and informal support systems first as long as this is in the best interest of the adult.
• Maintain clear and appropriate professional boundaries.
• In the absence of an adult’s expressed wishes, support casework actions that are in the adult’s best interest.
• Use substituted judgment in case planning when historical knowledge of the adult’s values is available.
• Do no harm. Inadequate or inappropriate intervention may be worse than no intervention.

Annual Fact Sheets