Bureau of Human Services Licensing
The Bureau of Human Services Licensing is responsible for the overall management and coordination of Personal Care Home and Assisted Living Residences licensing programs administered by the Department of Human Services (department) in the Central, Northeast, Southeast and Western regions. Responsibilities include the management, planning, direction, oversight, design, development, and administration of licensing statutes, licensing regulations and policy, licensing enforcement policy, licensing training, licensing research, and licensing data systems for more than 1,100 out-of-home care settings licensed by the department serving over 67,000 adults with mental illness, developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, behavioral, and/or cognitive disorders.
Theresa Hartman, Director
Bureau of Human Services Licensing
Division of Licensing Administration
The Division of Licensing Administration is responsible for conducting administrative functions for all licensing programs within the department, including verifying initial application contents, fee collection, and license issuance. Responsibilities include directing the development of information management systems for the bureau; conducting regulatory and other related research using varied information technology systems; reviewing and analyzing data from various data systems; organizing, sorting, and analyzing information; preparing detailed reports for the bureau director and executive staff; and developing and managing various data analysis systems such as regulatory waivers, licenses, closures, and hearing appeals.
Division of Adult Protective Services
The department is responsible for the implementation and oversight of the Adult Protective Services (APS) Act for adults 18 years of age or older, but less than 60 years of age, who have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. The APS Act reinforces the commonwealth's commitment to providing services necessary to protect the health, safety, and well-being of adults who lack the capacity to protect themselves and who are at imminent risk of abuse, neglect, exploitation, or abandonment. APS also safeguards the rights of adults while providing for the detection, reduction, correction, or elimination of abuse, neglect, exploitation, and abandonment. The department has a responsibility to educate the public as to the availability of services and create an awareness of issues affecting adults to prevent abuse.
The department works closely with the Pennsylvania Department of Aging (PDA), the statewide APS contractor agency (Liberty), and the Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) to administer the APS program at the local level. Local AAAs are responsible for the intake of reports while Liberty is responsible for the investigation of allegations and providing protective services to adults. Within the department's Bureau of Human Services Licensing, the Division of Adult Protective Services is responsible for the general oversight and management of the APS law and program, including conducting quality assurance reviews and providing technical assistance across the commonwealth.