KYC’s Local Heroes

September 25, 2018

Two of KYC’s Adult Pro­tec­tive Ser­vices (APS) team mem­bers were hon­ored ear­li­er this month at a Local Heroes Award cer­e­mo­ny host­ed by Brook­dale Hoff­man Estates Senior Liv­ing Solu­tions. Pat­ty, Man­ag­er of Adult Pro­tec­tive Ser­vices, and Denise, Adult Pro­tec­tive Ser­vices Case Work­er, were rec­og­nized for their out­stand­ing work to help pro­tect our old­er adult pop­u­la­tion and adults with disabilities. 

Our APS team fol­lows up on sus­pect­ed cas­es of abuse or neglect of adults ages 60 and over, or peo­ple ages 18 and over who have dis­abil­i­ties. They work to edu­cate and cor­rect abu­sive behav­ior or harm­ful sit­u­a­tions to help ensure that peo­ple of all ages and abil­i­ties are able to lead healthy, dig­ni­fied lives in our communities.

Pat­ty and Denise trav­el through­out the com­mu­ni­ty to inves­ti­gate first-hand cas­es of phys­i­cal, sex­u­al, and emo­tion­al abuse, in addi­tion to cas­es of con­fine­ment, pas­sive neglect, will­ful depri­va­tion, and finan­cial exploita­tion. They must often con­front alleged abusers who are fam­i­ly mem­bers of the vic­tim, who are either unin­ten­tion­al­ly or inten­tion­al­ly harm­ing their rel­a­tive. In these extreme­ly sen­si­tive sit­u­a­tions, Pat­ty and Denise must care­ful­ly bal­ance the best inter­ests of the vic­tim to ensure their safe­ty and well-being while also work­ing to pre­serve their rela­tion­ships with loved ones. The dif­fi­cult work they do each day helps pro­tect the mem­bers of our com­mu­ni­ty who can be most vul­ner­a­ble to mis­treat­ment or exploitation.

Pat­ty and Denise were rec­og­nized and cel­e­brat­ed along­side local fire­fight­ers and police offi­cers, as well as oth­er out­stand­ing mem­bers of the com­mu­ni­ty who have ded­i­cat­ed their time and work to serv­ing oth­ers. Tish Rud­nic­ki, KYC’s Chief Pro­gram Offi­cer, had the hon­or of pre­sent­ing the Local Heroes Awards to Pat­ty and Denise. This spe­cial acknowl­edge­ment of their ded­i­ca­tion to help those who need it most is well-deserved. Con­grat­u­la­tions to KYC’s very own Local Heroes.

---

Previous Article Next Article