Adult Protective Services in New Hampshire: Reporting, Process, and Outcomes

Adult Protective Services in New Hampshire is run by the Bureau of Adult and Aging Services, a division of the state Department of Health and Human Services that investigates reports of abuse, neglect, and exploitation involving vulnerable adults. If you suspect someone is being harmed, you can call Central Intake at 603-271-7014 or, in state, 1-800-949-0470, submit a report through the NH EASY online portal, or fax it to 603-271-4743. Call 911 first if there’s an immediate emergency. The bureau was known as the Bureau of Elderly and Adult Services until July 2024.

Who Counts as a Vulnerable Adult

New Hampshire’s statute covers anyone 18 or older whose physical, mental, or emotional condition leaves them unable to manage their own personal, home, or financial affairs, or unable to hand off that responsibility to a trustworthy caregiver.¹ The law uses the word “vulnerable” rather than listing specific diagnoses. Advanced age, developmental disabilities, traumatic brain injuries, and progressive cognitive conditions like dementia all commonly qualify, but the legal test is functional: can this person protect their own interests?

The protections apply wherever the person lives. Private home, assisted living facility, licensed nursing home — the bureau investigates regardless of setting, though reports involving licensed facilities may also trigger a parallel review by the state’s licensing authority.²

What Kinds of Harm Can Be Reported

The statute recognizes five categories of reportable harm:¹

Physical abuse: physical force that causes or could cause injury.
Emotional abuse: misuse of power or authority, verbal harassment, or unreasonable confinement that causes or could cause mental anguish.
Sexual abuse: sexual contact or interaction without informed consent.
Neglect: any act or failure to act by a caregiver that deprives the adult of essential services or supports needed for minimum health and safety. This includes failures around food, medication, hygiene assistance, or medical care.
Self-neglect: when the adult’s own actions or inaction cause the same kind of deprivation. These cases don’t involve an outside perpetrator but still trigger investigation and possible services.

Financial exploitation has its own detailed definition. It covers the illegal use of a vulnerable adult’s money, property, or person for someone else’s benefit, as well as any breach of a fiduciary relationship. Common examples include a power-of-attorney agent draining accounts, a caregiver pressuring an elderly person into signing over property, or anyone obtaining money or services through deception, harassment, or undue influence.¹

You can also file a report when a vulnerable adult is living in hazardous conditions, even if no specific perpetrator is identified.³

How to Report Suspected Abuse

Reports go to APS Central Intake. During business hours, call 603-271-7014 or the toll-free in-state line at 1-800-949-0470. You can also submit a report online through NH EASY, the state’s benefits portal, or by fax at 603-271-4743.⁴

The statute requires an immediate oral report, followed by a written report if the department requests one. After business hours, on weekends, and on holidays, reports go to the local police department or the county sheriff, who must notify the department within 72 hours.³

Reports are more useful when they include specifics, but gaps shouldn’t stop you from calling. Try to provide:

The adult’s full name, date of birth, and current location.
The suspected perpetrator’s name, relationship to the adult, and any contact information.
Concrete observations: unexplained bruising, sudden weight loss, behavioral changes, an apartment with no heat, missing medications.
Financial red flags if you suspect exploitation: unusual bank withdrawals, disappearing valuables, a new acquaintance who seems to control the person’s finances.
A rough timeline: when you first noticed the problem and whether it has gotten worse.

The intake worker will walk you through what else they need. The department would rather receive an incomplete report than no report at all.

Who Must Report, and the Legal Consequences of Silence

New Hampshire is a universal mandatory reporting state. Every person who suspects a vulnerable adult is being abused, neglected, or exploited must report it, not just doctors, social workers, or other licensed professionals.³ You don’t need proof of a crime. A reasonable belief that something is wrong is enough to trigger the obligation.

Knowingly failing to report is a misdemeanor.⁵ Anyone who makes a report in good faith receives immunity from civil and criminal liability, and that protection extends to anyone who provides information during the investigation or participates in later administrative or judicial proceedings.⁶ The alleged perpetrator does not receive this immunity.

What Happens After You Call

Once Central Intake accepts a report, the department must begin investigating within 72 hours. In cases of imminent danger, meaning circumstances where injury or death could occur right away, the investigation starts immediately and the bureau can authorize emergency protective services on the spot.² If the allegations involve serious bodily injury or a suspected crime, the bureau must also notify law enforcement and the state attorney general’s office within 72 hours.⁷

Investigators interview the vulnerable adult privately, speak with potential witnesses, review medical records, and examine financial documents when exploitation is alleged. A key part of the process is assessing the adult’s capacity and wishes. New Hampshire law does not allow involuntary participation. The adult can decline to be interviewed, though investigators will still assess whether imminent danger exists before closing a case on that basis.⁸

Not every report produces a full investigation. The department will not investigate if the person doesn’t meet the definition of a vulnerable adult, if the allegations don’t match any statutory category, if the adult has moved out of state, or if the report lacks enough information to proceed. Reports determined to be frivolous or without factual basis are screened out as well.⁸

Possible Outcomes

Each investigation ends in one of two findings: founded or unfounded. A founded determination means the evidence supports at least one of the allegations.² The bureau tries to resolve the danger with the least restrictive option available.

Protective services can include arranging home health aides, connecting the adult with meal programs, coordinating medical evaluations, or helping secure safe housing. These services are voluntary whenever the adult has capacity to consent. The statute defines protective services broadly as any action that prevents neglect, abuse, or exploitation through voluntary agreement or appropriate court action, including supervision, counseling, and help finding safe living arrangements.¹

When voluntary measures aren’t enough, say the adult lacks capacity and refuses help while living in dangerous conditions, the bureau can petition the probate court for guardianship under RSA 464-A. This is a last resort. The administrative rules require that less restrictive options have been exhausted, the investigation produced a founded determination, and the bureau administrator has confirmed the need for protective services before anyone files a petition.⁹ Guardianship can be terminated later if the court finds the person is no longer incapacitated or their needs are being met another way.¹⁰

The State Registry and the Rights of the Accused

New Hampshire maintains a confidential state registry of founded reports involving paid or volunteer caregivers, guardians, and agents acting under a power of attorney.¹¹ Only founded reports go on the registry. Employers in healthcare, long-term care, and home health can check it, and a listing can disqualify someone from working with vulnerable populations. Under 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7, individuals with substantiated findings of abuse, neglect, or misappropriation of property can also be excluded from Medicare and Medicaid.

Because the stakes are high, the law builds in due process. Within five business days of completing an investigation, the department must notify a registry-eligible perpetrator that a founded report will be entered, explain the consequences, and lay out the appeal options.¹¹

The accused has 10 business days from that notice to appeal. The name is not entered on the registry while the appeal is pending. The appeal process includes the right to a full administrative hearing and the right to hire an attorney at the person’s own expense.² Missing the 10-day window waives the right to an administrative appeal entirely.

If the administrative hearing upholds the finding, the person can appeal to Merrimack County Probate Court within 30 days. The court reviews the administrative record but does not take new evidence, and the burden is on the appellant to show that the department’s decision was clearly unreasonable or unlawful.¹¹ Anyone on the registry can also petition the probate court to have the report expunged.

People found to have committed abuse or neglect but who aren’t registry-eligible, typically family members and others who aren’t paid caregivers, follow a different track. They can request a reconsideration from the bureau administrator within 10 business days.²

1
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 161-F:43 – Definitions
2
New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. He-E 701 Adult Protection Services Program
3
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 161-F:46 – Reports of Adult Abuse, Investigations
4
New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. Adult and Aging Care
5
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 161-F:50
6
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 161-F:47 – Immunity From Liability
7
Legal Information Institute. New Hampshire Code He-E 701.03 – Protective Reports
8
Legal Information Institute. New Hampshire Code He-E 701.04 – Protective Investigation
9
Legal Information Institute. New Hampshire Code He-E 701.18 – Role of BEAS in the Guardianship Process
10
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 464-A:40
11
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 161-F:49 – Registry