Steep Rise in Deaths of Older Adults Following Abuse or Neglect Complaints in Pennsylvania

COVID-19 pandemic, growing older population, and increase in complaints speculated as contributing factors.

Pennsylvania has seen a steep increase in the deaths of older adults following an abuse or neglect complaint, from 120 deaths in 2017 to almost 1,400 in 2022.
The Department of Aging and county-level agency officials speculate that the increase may be due to a growing population of people 65 and older, an increase in complaints, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Department of Aging does not track causes of death, and individual county-level agencies are not required to provide this information to the state.
The number of complaints called into caseworkers rose over the same period, but by a much smaller proportion — by about half, or 55%, according to state data.
The shortage of caseworkers during the COVID-19 pandemic became so extreme that, in 2021, then-Gov. Tom Wolf's administration took the extraordinary step of marshaling state employees to handle investigations for Philadelphia's agency.