Broken Trust of the Elderly - NYTimes.com

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excerpts from NY Times Editorial

The hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, as well as several recent studies, make clear that elder abuse is a growing problem that far outmatches the resources available to fight it.

One national study estimated that in the last year 14 percent of older adults had been neglected, abused or exploited. The numbers could be far higher since the sample did not include people living in institutions or those with significant mental impairments. A 2009 study on financial exploitation estimated that elderly victims lost at least $2.6 billion a year to fraud and abuse.

. . .

The solutions begin with filling the gaps in data collection and services. The Government Accountability Office found that in 25 of 39 states surveyed, financing for adult protective services had fallen or flat-lined in the last five years. Case workers are poorly trained and overwhelmed. The study also found that federal programs to fight abuse are scattered ineffectively across the Department of Health and Human Services. The report urged the department to create a resource center to collect and share abuse data among the states.

Only with coordinated efforts — like those urged by the offices and agencies created years ago to advocate for children and victims of domestic violence — will real progress be made. The committee’s chairman, Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, is sponsoring a bill to create an office of elder justice, in the Justice Department, to tighten reporting standards and definitions of elder abuse and to help states investigate cases and impose stricter protections for victims. Congress should pass it.

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Elder Abuse: Pearl Harbor Survivor Found Living in Filth, Caretaker Arrested for Elder Abuse - OrlandoSentinel.com

The caretaker of a 93-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor found disoriented and living in filth in his San Diego County home pleaded not guilty to elder abuse and other felonies Thursday.

Milagros Angeles, 62, is charged with false imprisonment of an elder, theft by a caretaker and altering checks to steal thousands of dollars from her employer.

She was ordered held on $1 million bail.

Deputy District Attorney Danielle Hickman told the judge that Angeles had been working for widower Arnold Bauer since 2009.

The war veteran's bank became concerned when employees noticed he hadn't been in since October and notified Adult Protective Services, Hickman said.
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In the D.C. area and across the U.S., scams against senior citizens are on the rise

By Dan Morse Washington Post Staff Writer

Murders and violent crimes are down around the Washington region and the country, but one kind of crime is rising steadily: scams against the elderly.

Senior citizens lose at least $2.6 billion a year to thieves, many of whom are in their own families, according to a study last year by the MetLife Mature Market Institute. And that estimate is conservative, MetLife says, given the schemes left unreported.

As the nation ages, the number of targets increases. By 2030, the United States will be home to 34 million people older than 75.

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The Long Term Living Training Institute of Pennsylvania: Adult Protective Services Collaboration

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September 9, 2009. Boston, MA. In July, 2009, the Institute for Geriatric Social Work (IGSW) at Boston University School of Social Work developed a collaboration with the Long Term Living Training Institute of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Association of Area Agencies on Aging (P4A) to enrich the training of Adult Protective Services (APS) staff across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The training program enables over 2000 APS workers who are located in the 52 Area Agencies on Aging to choose from a course list comprised of the following online courses: Elder Abuse: Clinical Issues Elder Abuse: Policy and the Law Advocacy and Aging Ethics (available February, 2010) Legal Issues in Aging Mental Health and Aging Issues Compulsive Hoarding in Older Adults IGSW's online courses have been shown to be effective for busy professionals, providing convenient, focused training that maximizes the transfer of practice skills and practice-relevant knowledge. Participants can access the training 24/7 from any computer with Internet access, and complete the courses at their own pace. The Institute for Geriatric Social Work (IGSW) at Boston University is dedicated to strengthening the workforce for an aging society through educational innovation. IGSW was established in 2002 with funding from the Atlantic Philanthropies. Website: http://www.bu.edu/igsw