ACL contracts with WRMA

Summary

In 2013, the federal government identified a need to collect annual, national data from adult protective services (APS) programs in 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five territories. WRMA developed the National Adult Maltreatment Reporting System (NAMRS) in response to this need, building on our experience with the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) and utilizing decades of subject matter expertise in protective services.

Since the initial NAMRS pilot project, WRMA has twice been awarded annual contracts to administer NAMRS, conduct research in APS on COVID-19 and predictive analytics, and to provide technical assistance to APS professionals via the APS Technical Assistance Resource Center (APS TARC).

The APS TARC is conducting the first-ever national evaluation of adult protective services programs. Click the button below to learn more about this important work.

Details

WRMA has administered the APS TARC for the federal government since 2013. In addition to NAMRS and the TA resource center, APS TARC includes research projects, such as:

• Use of predictive analytics in APS
• Effects of COVID-19 on APS programs
• APS policy, practice, and outcomes evaluation

WRMA was responsible for building the NAMRS system using a flexible architecture to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. Reporting to NAMRS is done on a voluntary basis and within two years, WRMA achieved 100% participation from 50 states, five territories, and the District of Columbia. WRMA provides technical assistance, training, and IT support for the program, as well as planning for ongoing stakeholder engagement and federal Office of Management and Budget authorization.

The national technical assistance program administered by WRMA provides assistance to state and local APS programs on a variety of topics from practice to policy. WRMA provides webinars, briefs, toolkits, a listserv, conference presentations, and more to assist APS programs in enhancing their effectiveness. Our monthly webinars engage thousands of APS professionals on topics such as documentation skills and using data to improve APS services. Our subject matter experts include staff with a variety of state, local, and national expertise with decades of direct experience in APS.

Additionally, WRMA conducts research on issues identified by the client as having a high impact on the field. For example, in federal fiscal year 2020, WRMA undertook a project to collect data from multiple sources to explore the use of predictive analytics in APS. An example of our ability to change course at the client’s need came during the  COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. WRMA was able to quickly shift a project on opioid abuse to focusing on the impact of the pandemic on APS.