By Susan Tang · July 30, 2026
New York City runs Adult Protective Services differently than a county-by-county state does -- one centralized system, with a Staten Island borough office. Here is who to call, and why it matters which one you choose.
New York City's model is different from a county-DSS state
In many states, Adult Protective Services is organized county by county, through a local Department of Social Services. New York City does not work that way. Adult Protective Services across all five boroughs, including Staten Island, is centralized under the NYC Human Resources Administration (HRA), Office of Special Services -- with a borough-level office handling Staten Island cases specifically, rather than a separate county agency operating independently.
This distinction matters if you have ever lived in, or looked up guidance for, a county-based state -- the phone numbers, structure, and reporting process here are genuinely different, and assuming a county-DSS model will send you looking in the wrong place.
The Staten Island APS line
NYC HRA Adult Protective Services' Staten Island borough office can be reached directly at (929) 221-8794. This is the number to call for suspected abuse, neglect, exploitation, or self-neglect involving an adult living on Staten Island -- whether the person lives alone, with family, or in a setting other than a licensed facility.
APS responds to a broader range of situations than the word "abuse" alone suggests. Self-neglect -- an older adult living in genuinely unsafe conditions with no one else involved in causing it -- is also within APS's scope, not just cases involving another person's misconduct. If you are unsure whether a situation qualifies, call anyway; APS is set up to make that determination, not the caller.
The citywide backup line
If the Staten Island borough line is unavailable, NYC's citywide DSS-OneNumber referral line, (718) 557-1399, covers all five boroughs, Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm. Say "APS" when prompted to be routed appropriately. This citywide number exists specifically as a fallback and is worth keeping alongside the borough-specific number rather than instead of it.
Neither of these lines is designed for emergencies. If someone is in immediate physical danger, call 911 first. APS can and often does follow up after emergency responders have addressed the immediate crisis, but it is not itself an emergency dispatch service.
The Ombudsman: a different resource, for a different situation
If the concern involves a resident already living in a licensed long-term care facility -- an assisted living community, nursing home, or Adult Care Facility -- the relevant resource is not APS but the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, operated in the NYC region by the Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York (CIDNY), at 1-888-855-9807. Staten Island (Richmond County) falls entirely within CIDNY's NYC-region coverage -- unlike some metros, this means the whole coverage area sits under one ombudsman region rather than being split across regions.
The ombudsman advocates for a resident's individual preferences and can attend care conferences on their behalf, but it does not license, inspect, or fine a facility -- and critically, it acts only with the resident's consent. If a parent with intact capacity does not want a complaint pursued, that decision stands, even if family members disagree. This surprises many adult children encountering the ombudsman system for the first time.
The state regulator: a third, separate option for facility complaints
Separate again from both APS and the ombudsman, NYSDOH runs its own facility complaint lines, which can lead to a formal regulatory investigation and, potentially, enforcement action -- something neither APS nor the ombudsman does directly. For Adult Care Facilities (Adult Homes, Enriched Housing Programs, and any ALR/EALR/SNALR-certified communities), the complaint line is (212) 417-5990, during business hours through the Metropolitan Area Regional Office. For nursing homes and home health agencies, the number is (212) 417-4999, or the statewide hotline 1-888-201-4563.
These three systems -- APS, the ombudsman, and NYSDOH's regulatory complaint line -- are not interchangeable, and using one does not preclude using another where appropriate. A facility-based concern involving a specific licensed community might reasonably involve both the ombudsman (as a resident advocate) and NYSDOH (as the regulator with enforcement authority), used together rather than as alternatives to each other.
How to decide which one to call
If the person is in immediate physical danger, call 911 first, regardless of anything else in this article. If the concern involves an adult living outside a licensed facility -- at home, alone, or with family -- and involves possible abuse, neglect, exploitation, or unsafe self-care, call NYC HRA Adult Protective Services' Staten Island office at (929) 221-8794, or the citywide backup line at (718) 557-1399 if needed.
If the concern involves a resident already living in a licensed facility and you want an advocate who will represent that resident's own wishes, call the CIDNY Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program at 1-888-855-9807. If the concern involves a facility's licensing, staffing, or regulatory compliance and you want the possibility of a formal state investigation, call NYSDOH's Adult Care Facility line at (212) 417-5990 or the nursing home/home health line at (212) 417-4999.
It is not unusual, or wrong, to call more than one of these in a serious situation. Each system does a genuinely different job, and none of them substitutes fully for another.
What happens after you make the call
APS does not remove an adult from their home or take control of their finances simply because a report was made -- a report typically leads to an assessment, conducted with the older adult directly, to determine what is actually happening and what, if anything, they consent to in terms of intervention. Adults with capacity generally retain the right to decline services or refuse to leave a situation family members consider unsafe, which is a source of real frustration for some families but reflects a deliberate legal balance between protection and autonomy.
This is worth understanding before making a report, not after, so a family's expectations match what APS is actually able to do. It does not diminish the value of reporting -- documented reports matter over time, even where an initial assessment does not lead to immediate action, and a pattern of reports can shift how a situation is eventually handled.
Financial exploitation is elder abuse too, and it often gets missed
Not every situation APS handles involves physical harm. Financial exploitation -- a caregiver, family member, or stranger misusing an older adult's funds, property, or legal authority -- falls squarely within APS's scope, and it is frequently harder for family to recognize than physical neglect, because the signs are financial rather than visible: unexplained withdrawals, new authorized users on accounts, a will or power of attorney changed under unclear circumstances, or bills suddenly going unpaid despite adequate income.
If a family member suspects financial exploitation specifically, the same Staten Island APS line, (929) 221-8794, is the right first call, since APS investigates financial exploitation alongside physical abuse and neglect. An elder law attorney may also be a useful parallel resource for financial exploitation specifically, since undoing a fraudulently altered power of attorney or will can require legal action beyond what APS itself handles.
What to have ready when you call
Specific, dated observations are more useful than general impressions on any of these calls -- what you saw, when, and how often, rather than a general sense that something feels wrong. If the concern involves a licensed facility, having the facility's exact name and address ready helps the ombudsman or NYSDOH route the concern correctly, particularly given how often facility branding differs from the legal license holder of record.
You do not need to have already confirmed abuse or neglect before calling any of these lines -- APS, the ombudsman, and NYSDOH all exist specifically to investigate and determine what is actually happening. Calling with a genuine, specific concern is the appropriate use of any of these resources, even where the outcome turns out to be less serious than initially feared.
