The Act 24 Report

Each year, every court office is required to submit an Act 24 report, detailing various statistics related to the petitions filed in their county over the previous year, to the Pennsylvania Departments of Human Services and Aging.

Within the Act 24 Report screen, the ability to generate your county’s version of this report is based on the selection of the current calendar year or any prior year (beginning with 2019).

The format of the report generated by the GTS is comparable to the Microsoft Excel version that was previously sent on an annual basis by the AOPC Research and Statistics Department. This newer version automatically assembles the statistics based on the corresponding case information entered in the GTS and groups this information into the following categories:

  • Number of Petitions Filed Per Age Category (39 and under, 40-59, 60-79, etc.)

  • Type of Petitioner (ex. Agencies, Relatives, Other Individuals, etc.)

  • Type of Relief Requested (Emergency vs. Regular)

  • Reimbursement Information

Generating Interim vs. Final Reports

In the GTS, the Act 24 Report can be created for one of two purposes:

Interim – A year-to-date, or annual, statement of the Act 24 information available in the GTS for your county. This version is designed for internal use only, can be run on demand, and provides a means to perform periodic reconciliations of your county's Act 24 data. Reimbursement information does not display. The Is Final Report checkbox must be deselected, which is the default setting, prior to clicking the SUBMIT button.

Final – An annual statement for a previous calendar year based on the Act 24 information available in the GTS for your county. A final report can only be generated once for a calendar year and includes the reimbursement and contact information that is required for submission to the relevant government agencies. The Is Final Report checkbox must be selected prior to clicking the SUBMIT button.

Generating a final report involves a few additional steps that are not required with the interim version. Selecting the Is Final Report checkbox displays a series of fields that must be completed before creating the report. The court office must provide the number of times money was paid by the county for the appointment of an attorney or for an evaluation and the total amount to be reimbursed for each of those expenses. The court office must also provide the name and contact information for the person who provided the reimbursement values and for the person responsible for reviewing the statistical information provided by the GTS. None of the details entered in these fields can be changed for the corresponding year once the final report is generated. Furthermore, no interim reports can be generated for any year where the final report has been created for that same year.

The Act 24 report generated out of the GTS must still be mailed to the appropriate government agencies by the date specified in the e-mail instructions sent by the Office of Elder Justice in the Courts (OEJC).

 

 

Historic Reports

When a final or interim report is generated, it is accessible under the Historic Reports section of the Act 24 Report screen. Only the most recent interim report displays for a given year and it is permanently removed from view once a final report is created for that same year. Final reports always remain available to view.

 

 

Petitioner Type 'Unknown' Troubleshooting

The petitioner type Unknown may appear under the Type of Petitioner section of an Act 24 report. This can cause confusion for court staff reviewing the report. This typically occurs for one of the following reasons:

  • A filer of a petition is designated as Unknown through the Relationship to IP field.

  • A final decree was recorded on a case without a corresponding petition.

The following options are available to address this issue:

  • No action required - If the petitioner on a case is truly unknown, no action needs to be taken.

  • Update the petitioner's relationship - Navigate to the Other Case Participants tab of the GTS Case screen and update the Relationship to Incapacitated Person field for the participant identified as the petitioner.

  • Record the missing petition - If the petition cannot be recorded in the GTS, a Data Fix Request needs to be submitted to the Help Desk. Specify the request is for your Act 24 report and include the following information:

    • The case file number

    • The case action that needs to be added: Petition for Adjudication of Incapacity and Appointment of Guardian

    • Filing Date

    • Filer

    • Filer's Relationship to the IP

    • Domains & Relief Types

    • Proposed Guardians & Domains (optional)