HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration became so concerned about how three cases of neglect or abuse of older people were handled in Philadelphia that it is ordering improvements at an agency there, but officials are refusing to disclose what happened to those three people, or whether they are alive.

The Aug. 6 letter by Wolf’s Department of Aging secretary, Robert Torres, came weeks after staff at the state agency began raising alarms, including that caseworkers’ caseloads were above the limit in state law.

Torres’ letter went to the president of the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, a nonprofit with a state contract to field and respond to calls about elder abuse and neglect in the city.

A copy requested by The Associated Press was heavily redacted. The redactions left it unclear whether those three adults are alive or dead, and both the department and the nonprofit have refused to disclose what exactly happened to them.

The AP is appealing the redactions.

But an internal email in late June by the director of the department’s protective services office may give details about one case.

In it, Denise Getgen wrote to a colleague to ask why a PCA caseworker would find out that an older person “is possibly sick and dehydrated, and incapacitated and then not act immediately to assess and/or address these serious medical concerns?”

Two of the cases had been “terminated,” or closed, while one remained active, Torres’ letter said.

Among other things, Torres ordered PCA to retrain its staff on medical risk and intervention and write a policy on when caseworkers must see potential victims in person and on what to do when a caseworker can’t get in touch with a potential victim.

The Philadelphia Corporation for Aging is one of 52 local agencies across Pennsylvania, some of which are county-run while others are nonprofits, that field calls about elder abuse or neglect. They employ caseworkers to investigate and coordinate with doctors, service providers and if necessary, law enforcement.

In recent years, the number of such calls have risen, according to state data.

Most calls involve an elderly person who lives alone or with a family member or caregiver. Poverty is often a factor.