Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs – MDT Protocol Example
- Established defined responsibilities and roles for each Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) member.
- Received crisis calls to assist an Elder who may have been abused. The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs (CTWS) define an Elder or vulnerable adult in these circumstances as:
- An individual age 60 years or older in this tribal community.
- An individual under the age of 60 years, who has a disability or decreased capacity that may make them vulnerable.
- An investigation may be initiated based upon the report. The focus of the MDT is to resolve the reports prior to going through the tribal court or family members being charged for crimes.
- Contact the Victims of Crimes office (VOC) to investigate reports of suspected Elder abuse. If a VOC office is not available in your community, it is important to know what agency will conduct the Elder abuse investigation. The following actions are typical of the VOC:
- The VOC office will contact the police department to get a police report from the alleged victim.
- The VOC may choose to fill out forms to obtain an emergency protection order for the victim against their offender(s). This may help to get the perpetrator out of the Elder’s home until the court date.
- Best practice suggests responding to emergency cases within the same day or within the next two days of an initiated report (protection orders, guardianship of an Elder or conservator over the Elder finances).
- The chairperson for the CTWS-MDT is often “on-call” on nights and weekends and will respond to some cases of suspected Elder abuse. Often, people in the CTWS tribal community will call the chairperson personally to make reports. The MDT chairperson will then call the police department to make “courtesy checks” on the Elder. To help reduce team member burn out, it is recommended to establish an “on call” schedule for all MDT members.
- These calls help to create documentation for any case that may need the assistance of the MDT or VOC investigation.
- Many Elders may not report abuse for fear of losing assistance that help their daily functioning (i.e. someone to help prepare their food). Collaborating with senior programs, the nutrition program, and the food stamp program can help the Elder receive resources by assisting in the application process for Social Services. As a result, the Elder may qualify to receive nutrition benefits such as food stamps, food vouchers, or commodities.
- An advocate at the Tribal Housing Authority may help the Elder address housing, home repair, and safety needs by helping with applications for home repair services, relocation for safety purposes.
- Each case is distributed among the MDT members based on the resources that the Elder needs. The CTWS-MDT is not required to keep a formal case file other than documentation in the form of a case summary sheet for each Elder. MDT members working the case will follow their primary agencies/programs protocols and case management procedures (a social worker may need to keep detailed records of services provided for the Elder but these records will be housed at their Social Services office). A monthly MDT meeting is held to update the MDT members on all open cases. Each member of the MDT provides a brief status report on services provided through their agency to the Elder until the case is resolved.
- A one-page informal case summary sheet is maintained only to indicate which programs are assisting the Elder. Information obtained in the case summary sheet includes:
- Client name
- The reporting department
- If the Elder has an attorney
- The follow-up entities
- The updates and outcomes from last MDT meeting
- If the case is still open or if it has been resolved.
- A one-page informal case summary sheet is maintained only to indicate which programs are assisting the Elder. Information obtained in the case summary sheet includes:
