By Indy Senior Advisor Care Team · July 2, 2026
Three different systems handle three different kinds of concerns for Indianapolis-area seniors. Calling the wrong one wastes time a family may not have.
Three systems, three different jobs
Families facing a concerning situation involving an older relative in the Indianapolis metro often aren't sure which of three systems to call: 911, Indiana Adult Protective Services, or the Long Term Care Ombudsman. Each does a genuinely different job, and using the wrong one first can waste time in a situation where time matters.
Part of the confusion is understandable: all three systems exist to protect vulnerable older adults, and a family under stress reasonably assumes any of them would know what to do with a concerning report, even if it technically belongs with a different agency. In practice, each system's staff are trained to redirect calls that don't belong with them, but starting with the right one saves real time.
This article walks through each system in the order a family typically needs to think about them: the immediate-danger question first, then the two systems that handle non-emergency concerns depending on what kind of concern it actually is.
Call 911 for anything immediate
If someone is in immediate danger -- an injury, an acute medical event, a threat happening right now -- call 911 first, always. Adult Protective Services is not an emergency responder and does not dispatch immediate help; it investigates reports after the fact, over a period of days, not minutes.
It's worth explicitly telling the 911 dispatcher, or the responding officers or paramedics, that the situation involves an older adult and any relevant context -- a dementia diagnosis, a recent fall history, medications currently being taken -- since this can meaningfully affect how first responders approach the situation and what follow-up resources they connect the family with afterward.
Call Adult Protective Services to report suspected abuse or neglect
Indiana's Adult Protective Services line, 1-800-992-6978, is the right call for suspected abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation of an endangered adult -- someone 18 or older, incapacitated, and harmed or threatened. Indiana is a mandatory-reporting state, meaning anyone who suspects this, not only professionals, is required to report it. APS is organized as five statewide regional teams, not by county, so there is no separate Marion County or Hamilton County number to look up.
Reports to APS can be made anonymously, and Indiana law does not require proof before reporting -- a genuine, good-faith suspicion is the standard. This lower bar is intentional: waiting for certainty before reporting suspected abuse or neglect often means waiting too long, and the law is structured to encourage reporting when in doubt rather than discourage it.
Financial exploitation in particular -- a caregiver or acquaintance misusing a vulnerable adult's money or property -- falls squarely within APS's role and is worth reporting even when physical safety isn't the immediate concern.
Call the ombudsman for a resident-advocacy issue inside a facility
If the concern involves how a licensed community is treating a resident -- a care plan not being followed, a dispute over a room change, a pattern of concerning behavior by staff -- Indiana's Region 8 Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, covering this entire metro, is often the better first call. The ombudsman advocates for the resident directly and can attend a care conference, though only with the resident's consent.
It's worth understanding the limits of the ombudsman's role clearly, since this is where families are most often surprised: an ombudsman advocates for the resident's own expressed wishes, not for what family members believe is best. If a resident with capacity does not want a specific complaint pursued, the ombudsman will respect that even when family members strongly disagree. This isn't a bureaucratic technicality -- it reflects a real commitment to resident self-determination that is central to how the ombudsman program is designed to work.
Call the Indiana Department of Health for a facility-wide licensing complaint
If the concern is broader than one resident -- unsafe staffing levels, a pattern of facility-wide problems -- that goes to the Indiana Department of Health, separate from both APS and the ombudsman, either through its online complaint form or at 1-800-246-8909.
This distinction -- an individual resident's treatment versus a facility's overall operation -- mirrors the difference between the ombudsman and APS described above, but shifts the focus from an individual complaint to a pattern that may affect every resident in a building. If a family's specific concern seems to reflect a broader problem, mentioning that explicitly when filing helps IDOH route the complaint appropriately.
When in doubt, start somewhere
If you are not sure which of these applies, calling any one of them is better than calling none. Every one of these systems is used to redirecting calls that landed in the wrong place, and describing the situation plainly to whichever number you reach first will get you pointed toward the right next call.
It also helps to remember that none of these calls are mutually exclusive, and that reporting to the wrong system first is a minor, easily corrected inefficiency, not a mistake that closes off other options. The only real risk is not reporting a genuine concern at all out of uncertainty about which number to dial.
A worked example: a bruise that doesn't have a clear explanation
Consider a common, ambiguous situation: a family notices a bruise on a parent living in a licensed community, and the explanation offered by staff seems vague or inconsistent. This typically isn't a 911 situation unless there's reason to believe the resident is in ongoing immediate danger. It could reasonably be reported to Adult Protective Services if abuse or neglect is genuinely suspected, or raised with the ombudsman if the concern is more about how the facility is communicating with the family and whether the resident's own account of what happened is being taken seriously.
In practice, many families in this situation reasonably contact both -- the ombudsman to advocate for the resident's immediate treatment and communication with the family, and APS if the underlying concern rises to suspected abuse or neglect requiring formal investigation. There's no penalty for reporting to more than one system when a situation genuinely touches on more than one system's role.
What matters most in an ambiguous situation like this is not perfectly categorizing it in advance, but simply making the call and describing the situation plainly. Whoever answers -- APS, the ombudsman, or the facility itself -- is generally equipped to point toward whichever additional step actually fits, once they understand what's actually being described.
Keeping records regardless of which system you call
Whichever number a family calls first, keeping a written record -- dates, times, who was spoken with, and what was said -- makes any subsequent step, whether that's a follow-up call, an escalation, or a facility complaint, considerably more effective. Memory of a stressful phone call fades quickly, and a specific written record protects a family's ability to follow up effectively days or weeks later.
This is also useful preparation if a situation eventually requires involving an elder law attorney or pursuing a more formal complaint through the Indiana Department of Health -- a clear, dated timeline is far more persuasive and actionable than a general recollection that 'something like this happened a few times before.'
