Hotlines, Help and Oversight Links

Links reviewed August 2026. Agencies reorganize and retire pages without notice; if a link fails, search the agency name directly. Descriptions and annotations are from Schwartz & Schwartz. Listing a resource is not a referral or endorsement, and nothing on this page is legal advice.

If you need to report abuse now
Adult Protective Services, statewide, 24/7  —  1-833-401-0832 (enter your ZIP code to reach your county agency)
Long-Term Care Ombudsman CRISISline  —  1-800-231-4024 (abuse or neglect inside a licensed facility)
California Attorney General, Medi-Cal Fraud & Elder Abuse  —  1-800-722-0432
National Elder Fraud Hotline  —  1-833-372-8311
Los Angeles County Elder Abuse Hotline  —  1-877-477-3646
If someone is in immediate danger, call 911.

On This Page

Hotlines & Reporting

• Adult Protective Services (California Department of Social Services)Every California county operates an Adult Protective Services agency serving adults 60 and older, and dependent adults 18 to 59 with disabilities, who cannot meet their own needs or who are victims of abuse, neglect or exploitation. APS investigates reports involving people in private homes, apartments, hotels and hospitals, and those experiencing or about to experience homelessness. To report anywhere in the state, call 1-833-401-0832 and enter your ZIP code to reach your county agency — 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The page explains cross-reporting duties among APS, law enforcement and the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, and links the mandated-reporter forms, including SOC 342, the form used by employees of financial institutions.
• Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program (California Department of Aging)Where APS handles abuse in private homes, the Ombudsman has jurisdiction over abuse and neglect inside licensed facilities — skilled nursing homes, residential care facilities for the elderly, adult residential facilities and adult day programs. Local ombudsman representatives investigate and attempt to resolve complaints made by or on behalf of individual residents. Statewide CRISISline: 1-800-231-4024. Every licensed facility is required to post that number conspicuously alongside its local ombudsman contact.
• Division of Medi-Cal Fraud & Elder Abuse (California Attorney General)DMFEA serves as California’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and investigates and prosecutes both Medi-Cal fraud and the physical and financial abuse and neglect of elders and dependent adults in care facilities statewide. Its own published examples include nursing homes allowing residents to suffer bedsores, malnutrition and dehydration, and nurse assistants physically and financially abusing patients in their care. Elevated from a Bureau to a full Division in January 2021. To report: file a complaint online or call (800) 722-0432.
• Elder Justice Initiative — Find Help or Report Abuse (U.S. Department of Justice)The Department of Justice’s central page for victims and families, with reporting pathways for fraud, abuse and neglect. The National Elder Fraud Hotline is 833-372-8311 (833-FRAUD-11), staffed by case managers who help with reporting and follow-up. The Initiative also maintains resources specifically on elder financial exploitation.
• ReportFraud.ftc.gov (Federal Trade Commission)The FTC’s intake portal for fraud, scams and bad business practices. Reports feed the Consumer Sentinel database used by federal, state and local law enforcement, so filing helps build cases even where an individual loss is too small to prosecute on its own.
  Where to file insteadComplaints about a financial product or service go to the CFPB at consumerfinance.gov/complaint, not the FTC. Note also that the CFPB directs older adults to the FTC after gift card and cryptocurrency scams specifically — because those payment methods carry no recovery rights, reporting is often the only step available.

Oversight: Facilities, Fiduciaries & Financial Institutions

• Cal Health Find (California Department of Public Health)The public database for the more than 10,000 health care facilities CDPH licenses and certifies, including skilled nursing facilities. Each listing shows ownership, licensing and certification status, and — most usefully — performance history: complaints, facility-reported incidents, state enforcement actions and deficiencies found by Licensing and Certification staff. Facilities can be compared three at a time, and complaints can be filed online.
  Caveat CDPH itself flagsBecause routine inspections were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, complaint, deficiency and enforcement data for 2020 and 2021 may appear artificially low. A clean record for those two years should not be read as a clean record.
• Community Care Facility Search (CDSS Community Care Licensing Division)The counterpart database for the non-medical side of care — assisted living and residential care facilities for the elderly, adult residential facilities and adult day programs. Because these facilities are non-medical, most never appear in Medicare’s data at all, making this the public record for them. Search by facility name, or generate a list of every licensed facility in a city, county or ZIP code. Each listing shows license status and approved capacity along with compliance history: citations, inspection reports and complaint investigation reports. CCLD complaint hotline: 1-844-LET-US-NO (1-844-538-8766).
• Medicare Care CompareThe federal star rating system for Medicare- and Medicaid-participating nursing homes, rated one to five stars overall and separately on health inspections, staffing and quality measures. The health inspection rating draws on the current and prior standard inspections plus three years of complaint and infection control inspections.
  Two limits worth knowingFacilities that are not Medicare- or Medicaid-certified do not appear here at all — for those, use the Community Care Facility Search above. And this tool replaced the retired Nursing Home Compare; older references to that name, including some still live on state and county websites, point to a URL that no longer serves the tool.
• Professional Fiduciaries Bureau (California Department of Consumer Affairs)The Bureau licenses and regulates non–family member professional fiduciaries in California — conservators, guardians, trustees, agents under a durable power of attorney and personal representatives of decedents’ estates — under the Professional Fiduciaries Act, Bus. & Prof. Code section 6500 et seq. The page offers license verification, guidance on what to know before hiring a professional fiduciary, and the complaint process. Disciplinary actions and citations are posted at Bureau Actions.
  The limits of the Bureau’s authorityThe Bureau can impose citations, fines and formal discipline against a license. It cannot remove or appoint a fiduciary, compel repayment of misused assets, direct distributions from an estate or trust, or review probate court decisions. A complaint to the Bureau is not a substitute for a petition in the probate court, and filing one does not toll any limitations period.
• Submit a Complaint (California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation)The DFPI accepts complaints against the institutions and professionals it licenses — state-chartered banks and credit unions, money transmitters, securities brokers and dealers, investment advisers, certain fiduciaries and lenders, and payday lenders — and against unlicensed persons operating within its jurisdiction. Help with the complaint form: 1-866-275-2677.
  Not for national banksThe DFPI does not regulate national banks. Complaints involving Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase or Citibank go instead to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency at 1-800-613-6743. Sending a complaint to the wrong regulator costs weeks.

Help — National

• National Center on Elder AbuseThe national resource center on elder mistreatment, funded by the Administration for Community Living. NCEA gathers and disseminates research, training materials and best practices for professionals and the public, provides technical assistance to states and community organizations, and operates a long-running elder abuse listserv. 855-500-3537.
• Eldercare LocatorA public service of the Administration for Community Living connecting older adults and their families to local services — home care, transportation, housing alternatives, home repair, recreation, and legal and other community assistance. Often the fastest way to identify the right local agency in an unfamiliar county. 1-800-677-1116.
• National Center on Law and Elder RightsA centralized resource for the legal services and aging communities, providing legal training, case consultations and technical assistance on issues affecting older adults with the greatest economic and social needs.
• Office for Older Americans (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau)The CFPB office dedicated to protecting consumers 62 and older from financial harm. Its Managing Someone Else’s Money series is the most useful item here — four plain-language guides written for agents under a power of attorney, court-appointed guardians and conservators, trustees, and Social Security representative payees or VA fiduciaries, setting out what each role does and does not permit. The office also publishes Money Smart for Older Adults, a train-the-trainer scam prevention program produced with the FDIC, fraud prevention handouts, and research on elder financial exploitation reported through suspicious activity reports.
• National Council on AgingA national advocacy organization for older Americans, and a long-standing advocate for reauthorization and funding of the Elder Justice Act, first enacted in 2010. NCOA recognizes World Elder Abuse Awareness Day each June 15 and publishes accessible material on the forms and prevalence of elder abuse.
• AARPMembership and advocacy organization for people 50 and over, publishing extensive consumer material on fraud and scams targeting older adults, including its Fraud Watch Network.
• Alzheimer’s AssociationInformation, caregiver support and a 24/7 helpline on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Relevant to abuse and undue influence questions because cognitive impairment is among the most significant risk factors — research indicates nearly half of those with dementia experience abuse or neglect.
• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesThe federal agency administering Medicare and, with the states, Medicaid. Its Quality, Safety and Oversight materials cover certification and compliance requirements for nursing homes, including the federal enforcement framework that operates alongside California’s.

Help — California

• California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR)A statewide nonprofit advocating for the rights and quality of care of long-term care residents. Its practical fact sheets are among the most useful material available on choosing and evaluating facilities, including RCFE and dementia care evaluation checklists and guidance on residents’ rights.
• Conservatorships — California Courts Self-Help GuideThe Judicial Branch’s plain-language explanation of California conservatorships: the difference between conservatorship of the person and of the estate, general versus limited conservatorships, the requirement that a conservatorship be the least restrictive assistance sufficient to meet the person’s needs, and why mental health conservatorships cannot be initiated by family members. A companion page lists legal and social service resources, including court self-help centers, lawyer referral services and law libraries.

Help — Local & Regional

• Adult Protective Services — Los Angeles County Aging & DisabilitiesAvailable 24 hours a day, seven days a week, investigating situations involving adults 60 and older and dependent adults 18 to 59 with physical or mental impairments believed to be in danger from physical, sexual or financial abuse, isolation, neglect, self-neglect or risk of homelessness. Elder Abuse Hotline: 1-877-4R SENIORS (1-877-477-3646) for urgent matters, with a web intake portal for non-urgent reports.
• Office of the Public Guardian — Los Angeles CountyEstablished in 1945, the first such office in California, and organizationally housed within the Department of Mental Health, whose Director is appointed by the Board of Supervisors as Public Guardian and County Conservatorship Investigator. The office serves as conservator for people who cannot provide for their own basic needs or manage their finances and who typically have no family or friends able or willing to help. It operates two divisions: Probate Conservatorship and LPS Conservatorship. Fees are set by ability to pay and approved by the court. General information: 213-974-0515. The site also carries pages on conservatorship generally, the role of County Counsel, and an FAQ, plus the Supporting Your Loved One handbook in English and Spanish. For a fuller operational summary — referral procedure, service hours and office location — see the 211 LA listing.
  Who may refer, and on what basisThe probate side reaches older adults who cannot provide for their own food, shelter or clothing or who are unable to protect themselves from exploitation — and anyone may submit a written referral. The office then investigates and, if appropriate, petitions the court for appointment. LPS referrals, by contrast, are accepted only from designated acute psychiatric facilities and must be signed by two licensed psychiatric professionals, one of them a physician.
• Long-Term Care Ombudsman Services — WISE & Healthy Aging (Los Angeles & San Bernardino Counties)The designated Long-Term Care Ombudsman for Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties, responsible for residents of more than 2,200 long-term care facilities. Representatives investigate complaints about neglect and quality of care and advocate for individual residents. Hotline: 1-800-334-WISE (9473).
• Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office — Elder AbuseThe District Attorney’s resources for seniors, including its Safe Senior Care guidance on verifying a facility’s citation history and checking whether a health care provider is licensed.
• Adult Protective Services — Santa Barbara CountyResponds to reports of abuse or neglect of elderly and dependent adults, including financial, physical, sexual and psychological abuse as well as neglect by another and self-neglect, with referrals to supporting services. Social workers are on call 24 hours a day. See also the County’s Report Abuse page and its broader Adult Services page, which also covers In-Home Supportive Services.
• Ventura County Area Agency on AgingA division of the County of Ventura Human Services Agency and the designated Area Agency on Aging for the county, serving residents 60 and older along with adults with disabilities and their caregivers. Programs include long-term case management, congregate and home-delivered meals, health insurance counseling through HICAP, dementia programs, family caregiver services, in-home services and fall prevention. 805-477-7300.
• Friendship Center (Santa Barbara)Adult day program providing social and cognitive engagement, and respite for family caregivers, in the Santa Barbara area.
• Riverside County Office on AgingAuthorized under the Older Americans Act and the Older Californians Act as the Area Agency on Aging for Riverside County, and charged with developing safety net services for vulnerable older adults and adults with disabilities. It runs more than twenty programs, including family caregiver support, congregate and home-delivered meals, and the Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program; in fiscal year 2024–2025 it reported delivering 773,063 meals and answering 35,672 calls. Its Network of Care directory is the searchable index of local services for seniors and people with disabilities. Call center: (877) 932-4100, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with offices in Riverside, Jurupa Valley, Temecula, Indio and Blythe. Office visits are by appointment only.
• Mizell Senior Center (Palm Springs)Community center for older adults in the Coachella Valley, offering meals, classes, social services and caregiver support.

These links are provided as a convenience. Schwartz & Schwartz does not operate, control or endorse any listed organization, and inclusion here is not a referral. Nothing on this page is legal advice. Agency contact information and hotline numbers change; confirm before relying on them.