Q. Not long ago, my mother, who is in her 80s, was the victim of financial exploitation by an in-home health aide. It started with trips to the grocery store and small loans. Before long, the caregiver was regularly taking my mother and her credit card to the mall to purchase clothes and other items — not for my mother.
Eventually, a clerk noticed what was going on and alerted security and our family. By then, however, my mother was out hundreds, possibly thousands of dollars. No charges were filed, but the caregiver was dismissed.
I wish I had recognized my mother was being abused financially, so I could have stopped it sooner. Do you know of any warning signs, so I know for next time? (Hopefully, there won’t be a next time!) Also, what is being done by our government to curb elder abuse, since it has become such a serious issue, and what can I do to help my own family and other seniors in similar situations?
- An Office of Elder Justice and Adult Protective Services has been established in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, meaning the front line in fighting elder abuse has its first-time federal home.
- The U.S. Justice Department last year released its Elder Justice Roadmap Project designed to focus attention on elder abuse prevention with recommendations for future action around brain health, among other topics.
- Under the Dodd-Frank Act, an Office of Older Americans was established in the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and it has spearheaded important educational and awareness-raising work to protect older adults from financial abuse.
- Last year, the Administration for Community Living created the first federal home for Adult Protective Services (APS), where it’s developing a national adult protective services data system to capture and analyze reports of abuse.
- The Department of Justice now has a useful Elder Justice website — what McEvoy calls a “one-stop shopping site for victims, families, prosecutors, researchers and practitioners.” Here, you can report elder abuse and find your local Adult Protective Services and Area Agency on Aging.
- The Department of Justice has also created training modules to help attorneys recognize and address financial exploitation of older Americans. And it now has a pocket guide for police, explaining the legal issues of elder abuse.
- One of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s priorities is to give financial service professionals more effective tools to protect clients whenever an adviser or registered representative suspects financial or other abuse of a vulnerable client.
- The 2015 White House Conference on Aging, which will be held on July 13, has made elder justice one of its four priorities. Some further administration initiatives around elder justice are expected to be announced at the conference.
The first step in preventing elder abuse of a loved one is recognizing it. Keep in mind that any time a senior is not being treated correctly constitutes elder abuse. And elder abuse is not just physical–other categories include sexual, psychological, and financial abuse, and abandonment and neglect. Pay attention to the elderly people you know. Be on the lookout for some of these common signs that abuse may be happening:
- Frequent arguments between caregivers and the patient, whether they are professional caregivers or family members
- Changes in a senior’s personality or behavior
- Unexplained injuries such as burns, bruises, welts, cuts or scars
- Broken bones, dislocations and sprains
- Failure to take medication or overdose of medication
- A caregiver’s refusal to let you see the patient alone
- Appearing disheveled, in torn or soiled clothes or not appropriately dressed for the weather
- Appearing hungry, malnourished, disoriented, or confused
- Unexplained charges or a suspicious drain of money beyond daily living expenses
- Unexplained weight loss that could indicate lack of proper nutrition or neglect.
Planning for long-term care will not eliminate the risk of needing it, but it enables you to sort options and make smarter decisions ahead of time. As a result, you’ll have the peace of mind that no matter what happens, you will know what to do as a family. If you or your parents have not done Long-Term Care Planning, Estate Planning, or Incapacity Planning (or had your documents reviewed in the past several years), please call us as soon as possible to make an appointment for a consultation:
Fairfax Elder Law: 703-691-1888
Fredericksburg Elder Law: 540-479-1435
Rockville Elder Law: 301-519-8041
DC Elder Law: 202-587-2797