Adult Protective Services Colorado

You've noticed unexplained withdrawals from your parent's bank account. A new "friend" has been driving them to the ATM daily. The caregiver hired to help with meals is pressuring your parent to sign financial documents. Something is very wrong — and you need to know exactly who to call and what will happen next.

Colorado's Adult Protective Services (APS) investigates reports of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of at-risk adults aged 18 and older. Understanding how the system works is critical — both for protecting your parent and because APS intersects directly with the guardianship and power of attorney process.

What Qualifies as Elder Abuse in Colorado

Colorado law defines several categories of mistreatment:

Physical abuse — non-accidental physical contact that results in pain, injury, or impairment. This includes hitting, pushing, restraining, and inappropriate use of medication.

Neglect — failure to provide necessary food, shelter, clothing, medical care, or supervision. This can be by a caregiver, family member, or the older adult themselves (self-neglect).

Financial exploitation — illegal or improper use of an at-risk adult's funds, property, or assets. This is the most common form of elder abuse in Colorado and includes unauthorized withdrawals, forged signatures, coerced changes to wills or deeds, and scams.

Sexual abuse — any non-consensual sexual contact.

Emotional abuse — threats, intimidation, harassment, or isolation that causes emotional distress.

How to Report

Call the county Department of Human Services in the county where the at-risk adult lives. Every Colorado county has an APS intake line. For Denver County, call 720-944-3666. For statewide guidance, contact the Colorado Department of Human Services at 1-844-CO-4-KIDS (which also routes adult reports to the correct county).

Mandatory reporters — healthcare workers, law enforcement, clergy, and certain other professionals — are legally required to report suspected abuse. But anyone can make a report, and Colorado allows anonymous reporting.

What to include in the report:

• The at-risk adult's name, age, and location
• The suspected abuser's name and relationship to the victim
• Specific incidents with dates and details
• Any evidence of physical injury, financial loss, or declining condition
• Whether the adult is in immediate danger

What Happens After a Report

APS must screen every report within one business day to determine whether it meets the criteria for investigation. If accepted:

1. Investigation begins within 3 business days (or immediately if the adult is in imminent danger)
2. An APS caseworker contacts the at-risk adult, interviews witnesses, and reviews relevant records
3. The investigation results in one of two findings: substantiated (credible evidence of abuse) or unsubstantiated (insufficient evidence)
4. Substantiated findings are entered into the Colorado Adult Protective Services data system

If the investigation reveals criminal conduct, APS coordinates with law enforcement. If the adult needs emergency protection, APS can petition the court for temporary protective orders.

The CAPS Check and Guardianship

Here's where APS intersects directly with the legal authority process: every person who applies to become a guardian or conservator in Colorado must undergo a CAPS check — a search of the Colorado Adult Protective Services database for substantiated findings.

CAPS stands for the Colorado Adult Protective Services automated search. The proposed guardian submits a CAPS Written Authorization Form to the court clerk, who runs the search against the CDHS database. The current processing fee is approximately $9.

A substantiated CAPS finding doesn't automatically disqualify someone from serving as guardian, but it raises a serious red flag that the judge will scrutinize. The court can request additional information, impose restrictions, or deny the appointment entirely based on CAPS results.

Protecting Your Parent Through Legal Authority

If your parent is vulnerable to exploitation but still has decisional capacity, the strongest protection is a properly executed durable financial power of attorney that names a trusted agent to monitor and manage their finances. Once the POA is in place, the agent can:

• Monitor bank and investment accounts for suspicious activity
• Alert financial institutions to potential exploitation
• Take legal action against exploiters on the parent's behalf

If capacity is already lost and no POA exists, guardianship or conservatorship is the path to protection — and the court process includes the background checks (CBI, CAPS, credit) designed to ensure the appointed guardian is itself trustworthy.

What APS Cannot Do

APS investigates and refers for services, but it does not:

• Remove an at-risk adult from their home against their will (unless a court orders it)
• Grant legal authority over the adult's finances or medical decisions
• Provide ongoing case management or long-term care coordination (that's the CMA's role)
• Prosecute criminal cases (that's district attorney territory)

If your parent needs both protection from abuse and someone with legal authority to act, you'll need the APS system for investigation and the court system for guardianship — two parallel processes that the Colorado Power of Attorney & Guardianship Kit walks you through together.

See more Colorado guides →