Welcome to the NYC Elder Abuse Center’s (NYCEAC) September 2015 roundup of the latest in elder justice news & resources. We’ve selected and analyzed the most helpful articles and resources relevant to elder justice professionals. If you would like to share a news item or resource with us, please contact us at info@nyceac.org or via our Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
NEWS
In the Media
The Fragile Patchwork of Care for New York’s Oldest Old
The New York Times reports that unpaid caregivers provide 90% of care of New York’s elderly. Those who do not have someone in their lives to provide this care, fare worse, which is why it is critical that older adults have access to professional caretakers.
Image credit: MorgueFile.com
An Aging Population, Without the Doctors to Match
The U.S. population is aging, yet many health care professional receive little to no training on working with older adults. The New York Times explains that the quality geriatric care equates better mental and physical health. Additionally, abuse can be mistaken for normal aging if physicians do not have experience working with older adults.
To Sell Medical Students On Joys Of Geriatrics, Send In 90-Year-Olds
With 10,000 “baby boomers” turning 65 every day, we urgently need more physicians to specialize in geriatrics – and to become leaders in the elder justice movement. NPR reports the best way to entice new physicians to enter the field of geriatrics, is to hear stories from older adults themselves.
Growing Kind of Elder Abuse: Marrying Seniors for Their Money
Attorney Michael J. Fedalen has seen an alarming increase in younger adults coercing elders into marriage. Caregivers entrusted with an elder’s care have been found to manipulate their patients into secret marriages or simply make patients give them large sums of money. Stereotypically pictured as an elderly man with a much younger woman, Healthline reports men and women are targeted equally in sweetheart scams.
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney’s Heroic Appeal to Congress to stop ‘Chronic Elder Abuse In America’
Huff Post featured screen legend and non-stop elder justice advocate, Mickey Rooney. For years, he championed the cause and testified before congress encouraging the pass a federal law to end elder abuse and persecute those responsible. His activism continues to inspire those fighting for elder justice.
Lies, Secrets, and Scams: How to Prevent Elder Abuse
A recent Consumer Reports article explores how con artists work to defraud older adults and the impact both financial and emotional on those who are exploited. This piece aims to assist consumers in understanding and preventing elder financial abuse.
Financial Elder Abuse Costs $3 Billion a Year. Or Is It $36 Billion?
In a follow up report to the article listed above, Consumer Reports investigates the large discrepancies reported by various sources detailing the annual dollar amount stolen from elder financial abuse victims. This represents a challenge to those working in elder justice and the general public. It is difficult to address a problem that is not being accurately measured.
News from Alternative Media
Better Financial Regulations to Protect Elders
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the independent regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States, has approved a rule-making item to help firms better protect seniors from financial exploitation. The rule permits firms to “place temporary holds on disbursements of funds or securities, from the accounts of investors aged 65 or older where there is a reasonable belief of financial exploitation.”
Justice Department and the Corporation for National and Community Service Expand Their Partnership to Provide Legal Aid to Victims of Elder Abuse and Financial Exploitation
The Department of Justice, through its Elder Justice Initiative and its Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the federal agency which administers AmeriCorps and other national service programs, are announcing Elder Justice AmeriCorps, a new grant program to provide legal assistance and support services to victims of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation and to promote pro bono capacity building in the field.
Administration on Aging (AoA) Draft Voluntary Consensus Guidelines for State APS Systems
The Administration for Community Living (ACL) is providing the Draft Voluntary Consensus Guidelines for State Adult Protective Services systems to promote an effective adult protective services (APS) response across the country so that all adults, regardless of the state or jurisdiction in which they live, have similar protections and service delivery from APS systems. These draft guidelines were developed by subject matter experts in the field of APS and abuse, neglect, and exploitation of older adults and adults with disabilities. These guidelines are informational in content and are intended to assist states in developing efficient and effective APS systems.
RESOURCES
Reports, Videos & More
Training Resources on Elder Abuse
The Training Resources on Elder Abuse site is a searchable database of elder abuse related training materials designed for professionals, caregivers and the community. Inspired by the Elder Justice Roadmap with the goal to increase the number of professionals, caregivers and community members who receive high quality training on elder abuse. This project is a collaboration between the USC Department of Family Medicine and Geriatrics and the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), and was funded by the Archstone Foundation.
The Office for Victims of Crime Report to the Nation 2015
The Office for Victim of Crime (OVC) mission is to provide aid and promote justice for crime victims. Read their annual report on their work and the current situation for victims of crime, including elder abuse.
Anatomy of a Swindle
Many older adults received calls or emails suggesting that they’ve won a sweepstake they never entered? Consumer Reports writes that falling for these scams can result in being out hundreds of thousands of dollars and particularly target elders. Read more to educate yourself on this practice to protect yourself and older adults.
Protecting Yourself From Scams and Swindles
The National Council on Aging has an excellent resource on protecting yourself and the elders in your life from falling for scams. Read more about common traps and learn smart tips to avoid scams.
Promoting Emotional Health and Preventing Suicide
September was Suicide Prevention Awareness Month and a new tool for suicide prevention in older adults has been released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Administration for Community Living. Promoting Emotional Health and Preventing Suicide: A Toolkit for Senior Centers, serves as a companion piece to the SAMHSA publication Promoting Emotional Health and Preventing Suicide: A Toolkit for Senior Living Communities. The toolkit for senior centers includes resources to help senior centers implement three strategies that promote emotional health, recognize and respond to suicide risk, and respond to a suicide attempt or death.
Mapping U.S. Elder Care Facilities
ForMyParent is a tool to search elder care facilities all over the country, read and leave reviews, report abuse, and more. Check it out here.
Preventing Elder on Elder Violence
The Center for Prevention of Resident-to-Resident “Aggression” in Dementia discussed the issues that can arise from dementia-related aggression in elder care facilities. Read more here.
Conferences, Trainings & Events
Intersection of Domestic Violence and Financial Exploitation/Abuse
The Financial Crime Resource Center at the National Center for Victims of Crime is hosting a Intersection of Domestic Violence and Financial Exploitation/ Abuse Training in Washington, D.C. on October 20th. Click here to learn more and to register.
Annual Aging in America Conference
The American Society on Aging will host it’s annual conference in Washington, D.C. on Aging in America from March 20-24. Registration opens October 1st. Register for this multifaceted and multidisciplinary conference before October 31 for special rates.
Elder Abuse Training for Prosecutors
The National Institute on the Prosecution of Elder Abuse (NIPEA) will be held on November 10-13, 2015 in Denver, CO. This course will be hosted by AEquitas: The Prosecutors’ Resource for Violence Against Women and is open to prosecutors only. NIPEA is designed to provide substantive knowledge and practical skills to prosecute cases of elder abuse. Curriculum topics include an overview of elder abuse including the dynamics prevalent in these cases, interviewing older witnesses and victims, competence and capacity, typical defense justifications, ethics and professionalism, Crawford and its progeny, and sentencing. For further information, please contact Christina Supinski, Communication and Operations Manager, at csupinski@aequitasresource.org.
Employment Opportunities
The Guardianship Project Seeks a Case Manager
The Guardianship Project, a Vera Institute of Justice demonstration project, provides model guardianship services to older adults and people with disabilities who have been adjudicated as incapacitated by a court and lack family or friends able or willing to care for them. The Guardianship Project seeks a Case Manager to provide direct assistance to its clients. View the job listing here.
NYC Human Resources Administration Emergency & Intervention Services Seeks a Community Liaison
The Emergency & Intervention Services (EIS) is recruiting three Community Associates for the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence to function as Community Liaisons. Responsibilities will include working with The New York City Family Justice Center which provides comprehensive wraparound services to victims of intimate partner violence, elder abuse and sex trafficking. Click here to view the job listing on Idealist.
RELATED STORIES
News & Resources Roundup – July 2015
News & Resources Roundup – August 2015
Thank you for the mention of our articles. In the future, please include Consumer Reports in “In the Media” rather than in “alternative media.” We have a subscription base in the millions, both online and in print.
Thank you for bringing this placement discrepancy to our attention. We have corrected the error. Thanks also to Consumer Reports for focusing on and bringing much needed awareness to the subject elder abuse. We look forward to sharing these and other articles in our News and Resources blog and across our social media.