Shapiro Administration Hosts Statewide Training for 500 Aging Network Professionals to Improve Their Work Protecting Older Adults

As the Pennsylvania Department of Aging kicked off a statewide tour this week highlighting its new approach to evaluating the performance of older adult protective services, Secretary Jason Kavulich hosted a virtual training for 500 aging network professionals to directly address issues identified through the new system that, for years, often went unaddressed.

That new monitoring system, the Comprehensive Aging Performance Evaluation (CAPE) is identifying issues in ways that the prior ineffective pass/fail system couldn't do - and helping the Department focus training resources in the local communities where they are most needed.

"Nearly five hundred aging services professionals don't attend a training because they have free time: they attend because they are deeply invested in their work and in their community and want to do the best they can for those we serve," said Secretary Kavulich. "Hundreds of professionals who care deeply about older adults and strive to constantly grow as professionals were brought together because CAPE guided us to where the system needed to improve. CAPE is unlike anything the Department has ever used before and is delivering improvements, increased oversight and accountability, and ultimately, keeping older Pennsylvanians safe."