Celebrating Two Years of the North Carolina Adult Protection Network Help Desk

In November 2022, the UNC School of Government’s North Carolina Adult Protection Network (APN), with grant funding from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), launched the APN Help Desk to build and strengthen adult protection multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) across North Carolina. Two years later, the APN team, led by Meredith Smith, Kristi Nickodem, and Kristy Preston, is excited to share the impact of their work across North Carolina.

Since the launch, APN Help Desk staff have connected with all 100 counties in North Carolina, through attending MDT meetings, site visits, virtual meetings, phone calls, emails, presentations, and more. The APN’s goal is to ensure every county has access to the guidance, tools, and support they need to create and sustain strong MDTs that collaborate effectively to address adult protection challenges in their communities. An MDT is a group of professionals in a geographic region who commit to working together toward a common goal. An adult protection MDT works to find ways to prevent and respond to adult abuse, including physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, self-neglect and caretaker neglect, and exploitation, including financial exploitation.

Here’s a snapshot of the APN Help Desk’s work over the past two years:

Statewide Growth in MDTs: One of the team’s biggest accomplishments is supporting the growth of adult protection MDTs in North Carolina—from 29 teams in November 2022 to 57 teams as of November 2024. An additional 37 counties are currently working to build an MDT. Through sustained outreach and resources, the team connected with a broad mix of counties—rural, suburban, and urban— from every region of the state.
Connections: The APN team provided over 300 email consultations to 93 counties, conducted 18 site visits, held 52 virtual meetings, and engaged in 84 personal contacts with stakeholders in 57 counties.
In-Person MDT Engagement: Help Desk staff engaged with 19 in-person adult protection MDT meetings across 13 counties, providing on-the-ground support to help counties problem-solve and build momentum.
Events & Conferences: School faculty and staff gave presentations on MDTs and other adult protection topics across the state, reaching a variety of audiences—from county DSS staff to local district attorneys to statewide adult abuse prevention stakeholders.

Beyond direct support, the APN team has also developed new resources to assist adult protection MDTs:

Revamped Adult Protection Network Website: This hub for adult protection resources has been redesigned to offer easier access to information, tools, and training events.
The MDT Toolkit: A comprehensive resource to guide communities through every step of building and sustaining an MDT, including model forms and documents.
The Basics: Building Adult Protection MDTs: A series of 13 e-learning modules designed to offer introductory, interactive trainings that cover essential topics for creating, growing, and sustaining adult protection MDTs.
Beyond the Basics: Strengthening Adult Protection MDTs: A series of five webinars that dive into advanced topics around the work of MDTs, including guardianship, the role of the prosecutor, adult protective services, the mental health system, and confidentiality/information sharing.

Continued Support Through 2025

As the APN team celebrates the two-year anniversary of the Help Desk’s launch, it encourages any county seeking help in creating, revitalizing, or sustaining an adult protection MDT to reach out to the Help Desk. Visit the Find Your Peers page to see where adult protection MDTs are active across North Carolina and to see if your county needs to be added to the map.

The APN team thanks all stakeholders who partnered with the Adult Protection Network in helping foster its success. “We are excited to continue working together, growing the MDT network, and strengthening protections for vulnerable adults in North Carolina,” said faculty member Kristi Nickodem.

The North Carolina Adult Protection Network is a web-based collection of resources and professionals in state, county, and local government who are working to support adults in need of protection from abuse, neglect, and exploitation and hold abusers accountable. The resource aims to connect, inform, and support these professionals working in aging and adult services across the state.

The project was originally funded through a contract with the North Carolina Conference of Clerks of Superior Court and the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts. Funding support was also provided by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Aging and Adult Services.