In its capacity as the NCEA affiliate charged with raising public awareness on a national scale, the Clearinghouse on Abuse and Neglect of the Elderly at the University of Delaware (UD) has contracted with National Cinemedia to place the fifteen-second spot. This is the first time that a single message will be aired, simultaneously, throughout the country. The trailer will run for four weeks, from May 22nd through June 18th, 2009, spanning the coveted Memorial Day weekend when summer blockbuster releases typically premier. It will run on a total of 694 screens throughout 25 major metropolitan areas surrounding New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Boston, Minneapolis, Seattle, Atlanta, and a host of other cities and regions.

“In-theater advertising is one of the most powerful mediums through which we can broadcast our message of elder abuse awareness and prevention,” said Carolyn Petrak, director of social marketing of NCEA’s UD team. Ms. Petrak worked with Marianne Hooper of National Cinemedia to get optimum exposure for the spot. During the one-month placement, the announcement has the potential to be viewed over 2.8 million times. A number of other forums were considered, but in-theatre placement was chosen, in part, because of the mainstream appeal of major motion pictures. The NCEA is committed to taking the elder abuse message “to the streets,” or in this case, to the silver screen.

The timing of the placement is ideal for another reason: it directly precedes World Elder Abuse Awareness Day,  officially observed on June 15th each year.  “A month of showing the spot in movie theaters followed by all of the World Day activities throughout the U.S. and around the world could generate a great deal of synergy,” commented Sharon Merriman-Nai, project director at UD. The NCEA believes that kind of reinforcement will create greater public recognition of the problem.

Mr. Mapother, a stage and screen actor, has worked on national and local levels to promote elder abuse awareness. He first became involved in the cause through the efforts of his cousin, Jennifer Liebson, Chairperson of the Metro Local Coordinating Council on Elder Abuse in his native state, Kentucky. Mr. Mapother is known for his roles as Ethan Romm on the ABC hit drama, “Lost,” and in feature films including “In the Bedroom,” “The World Trade Center,” “Zodiac,” among others.

The announcement was co-produced by the State of Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the NCEA, with Kimberly Baker, formerly of the Cabinet acting as executive producer. The spot was filmed and edited by Bruce Johnson and his production team from Eastern Kentucky University.

“We are excited to be coordinating a public awareness activity of this scope and exposure that has the potential to reach millions of people. However, we are most proud of this effort because it demonstrates how extensive our reach can be when we collaborate across systems and sectors to promote awareness,” commented Dr. Stein.

In preparation for the national screenings, the NCEA is developing an electronic “press kit” of materials. The kit is intended to assist states and communities prepare for inquiries from the press and community members in response to this exciting effort, and to provide ideas for publicizing the event. The NCEA expects to distribute the kit approximately 4-6 weeks prior to the screenings, and will continue to post updates via the newsletter, listserve, and NCEA partner and collaborator networks.

The NCEA commends Mr. Mapother and the State of Kentucky for their considerable efforts to promote elder abuse awareness.

Some of the NCEA E-News readers may remember a TV commercial from the sixties with the tag line, “Only her hair dresser knows for sure.” In this very popular campaign, the great mystery was whether or not the woman in the ad colored her hair. But the secrets that many of Helen Karr’s older salon customers shared with their stylists were of a much more sobering nature.

In her previous career, Ms. Karr was the operating supervisor for a department store chain of beauty salons in California, Utah, and Nevada. As she traveled through the tri-state area, she had a great opportunity to observe the clientele, and to listen to the stylists. Just as the client’s would share their experiences – good and bad -- with the stylists, the beauticians quite often would talk with one another, and their supervisor, about the more colorful, and also the more disturbing, of these personal histories.

“I remember hearing these stories of how older women were being taken advantage of, and thinking, isn’t there someone to help them? Isn’t there somewhere to go?” In particular, Ms.Karr recalls one case that made an indelible impression, a case involving an older woman who was being financially exploited by a drug addicted granddaughter. She also noticed that there were other clients who appeared to be neglected. “They were accompanied to the salon by nicely dressed caregivers, but the elders were unkempt and sometimes not very clean. I thought, ‘something’s not right.’ ”

Then, she read an article about two older women attorneys who provided low-cost or pro bono legal help to those most in need. “I decided that I could become a lawyer, and begin a practice to help abused older women. But my plan was not thought out, it was very naïve; I just wanted to help these women. I thought, ‘Well, lawyers can help, but lawyers are expensive’ so my plan was to open a small law office to help abused older women and not charge very much.”

Focusing on this goal, Ms. Karr enrolled in San Francisco Law School, taking classes at night for four years. After the first year, she retired from her career as the salon chain supervisor, and began to volunteer as an intern in a law firm, developing expertise working with seniors and their issues. On her 64th birthday, her dream became true, Ms. Karr was sworn in as an attorney.

For the past 10 years, Ms. Karr has been integrally involved in a number of “elder abuse” laws in the state of California. She worked on the development of the Elder Abuse Unit of the San Francisco District Attorney’s office, where she is now employed as an elder abuse specialist, responsible for community outreach and education. In addition to conducting legal research, she represents the unit in multidisciplinary arenas, including the San Francisco Forensic Center. She also conducts outreach, education, and legal research for the State Bar of California.

One of the most challenging and ultimately rewarding experiences of her tenure has been working to promote California legislation mandating employees of financial institutions to report suspected financial exploitation. California is one of a handful of states that has a Senior Legislature modeled on the state legislature. There are 40 senior senators and 80 senior assembly members elected by the members of the Commission on Aging throughout the California Area Agencies on Aging. Ms. Karr served as a Senior Assembly Member while still in law school. The Senior Assembly and Senate convene for a four-day session annually and generate proposals for new laws that affect the aging population. They then vote on their priorities and the top twenty are presented to the state legislators to see if they will author any of these proposals. As a Senior Assembly member, Ms. Karr was responsible for proposing that financial institutions become mandated to report suspected exploitation, and after 6 long years, the legislation was enacted in 2008.

For the past several years, in addition to her work in the San Francisco District Attorney’s office and for the California State Bar, Ms. Karr has been trying to launch a national public awareness initiative: an elder abuse postal or semipostal stamp.

She has written several times to the U.S. Postal Service Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee urging them to select elder abuse prevention and awareness as theme for a commemorative U.S. postage stamp. Thus far, the Committee has declined to take up the topic, indicating that they receive tens of thousands of suggestions for stamps annually.

Not one to be easily discouraged, Ms. Karr was mailing a package at the local post office one day and noticed the posters for the Breast Cancer Research semipostal stamp – a stamp that includes a surcharge to raise funds for the identified cause. Ms. Karr began to investigate this alternative as not only a chance to raise awareness of elder abuse, but also to raise much needed revenue.

A semipostal stamp must be introduced and authorized by the U.S. Congress, and funds raised are allocated to a designated executive agency. The Breast Cancer Research stamp campaign is the first of its kind in the U.S. and, to date, sales have raised over $58 million dollars. Two other semipostal stamps have been authorized to date: the Heroes of 2001, sold from 2002 through 2004 which raised over $10 million to support the families of emergency relief personnel killed responding to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center; and the Stop Family Violence stamp, which raised $3 million dollars from 2003 through 2006 to support federally funded programs.

As of May 1, 2008, the State of California (Senate Joint Rules Resolution 12 – SJR 12) sent a request to the President and to the U.S. Congress to issue an elder abuse awareness semipostal stamp. Ms. Karr is committed to exploring avenues so that this initiative may become a reality someday.

Ms. Karr was selected as the “19th Assembly District Woman of the Year – 2007.” She was selected as Senator Diane Feinstein’s delegate to the 2005 White House Conference on Aging. She is a volunteer for the San Mateo County’s SAIF (Seniors Against Investment Fraud) program and was recognized by the Corporation for National and Community Service as the recipient of the “2005 Spirit of Service Award.” Ms. Karr received a California State Bar award for serving as an advisor for its consumer publication, “Seniors & the Law,” and was selected as “Alumni of the Year - 2007” from San Francisco Law School. She was recently awarded the Elder Financial Protection Network’s 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award.

The national economic crisis has not only affected Wall Street, and Main Street, it has also impacted adult protective services (APS). According to a report in the Winter 2008 NAPSA News, a number of state APS programs are experiencing budget reductions resulting in reductions in work force and service provision. While the National Adult Protective Services Association (NAPSA) survey generated information on only 21 states, the trends are disturbing, particularly given the increasing percentage of elders in the general population and longer life expectancy.

NAPSA recently canvassed its membership to capture information on budget trends for a three year period: the previous fiscal year, the current fiscal year, and the upcoming fiscal year. The budget year was defined according to individual states’ fiscal reporting periods. Sixty-seven respondents reported from 21 states. Over all, nine of the 21 states indicated that their budgets had been cut between two to fifteen percent during the previous year; four states experienced reduction in staff due to attrition and hiring freezes; and five states indicated they had reduced services (ranging from triage and screening of lower priority cases, in-home care services, home visits, face-to-face contacts, training and prevention services, and adult foster care services.)

Of the eighteen states reporting on the current fiscal year, eight states reported budget reductions; seven states had experienced reduction in staff not only due to attrition but also due to layoffs and reduced hours; five states had reduced services.

Eight of eighteen states anticipate budget cuts ranging from two to ten percent for the upcoming fiscal year and a third of the respondents also anticipate staff reductions. Over a third of the respondents anticipate that services will also be reduced. Of note, such reductions may include not addressing cases of self-neglect. At the same time, about a third of the respondents anticipate ongoing increases in caseloads. Seven states indicated that it is too early in the budget process to report on anticipated changes.

According to NAPSA’s executive director, Kathleen Quinn, additional states continue to report budget cuts necessitating staff reductions and cutbacks in service provision. To read the NAPSA News report, Click Here.

In light of these economic constraints, it is critical that elder abuse prevention and intervention services  integrate outcomes-based measures into  programming in order to demonstrate the value and positive impact of these services, and to enhance practice based on ongoing evaluation. The NCEA is targeting the development and support of evidence- and outcomes-based practice through a number of initiatives. An upcoming webcast, Exploring Evidence-Based Practices in Elder Abuse, will include a discussion of research and practice literature, highlight current projects utilizing evidence-based strategies, and consider future directions. (See the related article for information on registering for this free event.) This presentation will dovetail with the two preceding NCEA webcasts on promising and outcomes based practice A Primer on Evaluating Field Programs and Projects, December 2008, and Evidence-Based Promising Practices in Elder Abuse, September 2008.
 
NCEA webcasts are hosted by NAPSA in its capacity as the NCEA affiliate responsible for promoting training efforts. For those who are unable to participate “live,” presentations are archived usually within two weeks following the broadcast and are accessible from the NCEA website.

As noted above, there is tremendous need to develop and incorporate evidence-based practices in elder abuse programming. The purpose of this forthcoming NCEA webcast is to define and describe the concept of evidence-based practices as they relate to elder abuse and aging services programs. The presentation will highlight both research and practice literature, current projects utilizing evidence-based strategies, and what to expect in future directions and outcomes in the field.

The NCEA Webcast will be presented by Dr. Pamela Teaster, Professor, of the
University of Kentucky and President of the National Committee for the
Prevention of Elder Abuse (NCPEA), a partner in the NCEA. Dr. Teaster is a prolific and highly regarded researcher in the elder abuse and aging services arena.

Co-presenting with Dr. Teaster will be Carrie F. Mulford, Ph.D., and
Catherine McNamee, M.S. of the National Institute of Justice, the research
arm of the Department of Justice. Both Dr. Mulford and Ms. McNamee have
overseen the funding and implementation of significant elder abuse
research projects throughout the country.

The webcast will be hosted by NCEA grantee, the National Adult Protective Services Association (NAPSA). Kathleen Quinn, Executive Director of NAPSA, will introduce the program and moderate the discussion. It will be archived on the NCEA and NAPSA websites for future viewing.

Date: Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Time:

• Eastern:         1:30:00 PM
• Central:        12:30:00 PM
• Mountain:     11:30:00 AM
• Pacific:         10:30:00 AM

Register now by Clicking Here, or:

• Go to https://www.telspan.com/Registration/Jump.aspx
• Copy and paste the event number 3490 on that page
• Click Register Now button
• For assistance, please call 800-898-2315.

• Public Policy on Aging Report
  A publication of the National Academy on an Aging Society, a policy institute of the Gerontological Society of America, this report provides an “updated and informed assessment of where the Older Americans Act and the Aging Network stand in the face of pressing demographic, economic, and health care issues.” <<Read More>>

The Public Policy on Aging Report (Summer 2008) chronicles the evolution of the aging services network -- and its expanding responsibilities --since the passage of the Older Americans Acts in 1965, and the impact of the introduction of interrelated legislation, such as the Family Caregiver Support Act of 2000. The overview also highlights the structure of the network through state and area agencies on aging (AAA), local service providers, and the major services supported, including vulnerable elder rights protections. Choices for Independence, Money Follows the Person, Cash & Counseling, Nursing Home Diversion Modernization Initiative, and Project 2020 are among the recent programs discussed.

The report features a summary of responses from AAA representatives who participated in the 2007 Annual Aging Network Survey, including two overarching findings: there is a great deal of variability in terms of function, budget, operational structure, and scope of responsibility across area agencies on aging; there is also a great deal of variability in terms of “innovation and interest in expanding the reach of the network.” Results indicate that the network has made significant progress in the areas of enhanced consumer direction and organizational capacity. However, it has been less successful in developing private pay strategies and business planning.

The report concludes with a discussion outlining public policy approaches that foster civic engagement among elders by minimizing “the economic and health related barriers to civic participation.” The approach involves a broader view of civic engagement than volunteerism that would also encompass cultural, religious, and social opportunities for seniors as stepping stones to increased engagement, and the role that AAAs can play in developing these opportunities.

The issue was edited by Robert B. Hudson, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Social Welfare Policy at Boston University’s School of Social Work.

• AARP Public Policy Institute and the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging Release: “Power of Attorney Abuse: What States Can Do About It”
  The AARP Public Policy Institute recently published a report by the American Bar Association (ABA) Commission on Law and Aging that compares current state laws with the New Uniform Power of Attorney Act.<<Read More>>

The Uniform Power of Attorney Act (UPOAA) is a model law drafted in 2006 by the Uniform Law Commissioners to promote autonomy and minimize power of attorney abuse. Key tenets include provisions: to ensure a “clear statement of the agent’s duties, including the agent’s responsibility to act in good faith, within the scope of the authority granted, and according to the principal’s known expectations or best interest -  as well as more specific duties;” strict requirements for exercising authorities with serious financial ramifications; liabilities for damages and fee’s related to malfeasance; and the refusal to honor a POA if a third party reports suspicions of abuse to protective services.

According to the report, authored by Lori A. Stiegel and Ellen VanCleave Klem of the ABA Commission on Law and Aging, New Mexico and Idaho have enacted UPOAA, and only a handful of other states have statutes that provide any aspects of the protections noted above. The report includes guidelines for states to adopt the UPOAA in its entirety or to enhance aspects of current legislation.

To access the full report and summary, Click Here.

• Annual Update of State Adult Guardianship Legislation
  Annually, the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging compiles a summary of state enacted legislative reform addressing adult guardianship. The Commission recently posted the 2008 update.<<Read More>>

The American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging’s 2008 State Adult Guardianship Legislation: Directions of Reform is now available. The following are among the states and trends highlighted:

• Guardianship jurisdiction was addressed as Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, and Utah passed the Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act; California and Idaho also addressed jurisdiction;
• Vermontenacted major legislative changes that promote alternatives to guardianship, incorporate changes in the evaluation process, require background checks on proposed guardians, and other measures to preserve individuals’ rights;
• Colorado enacted legislation entitled the “Judicial Toolbox” intended to strengthen fiduciary accountability;
• Idaho, Kansas, and Oklahoma enacted legislation encompassing preventive measures.

Other states that enacted changes include Arizona, Florida, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.

To read the report, accessible from the Commission’s web pages, Click Here.

• Borchard Foundation Fellowship Announcement
  The Borchard Foundation Center on Law & Aging is currently soliciting applications for the 2009-2010 fellowship in law and aging.<<Read More>>

The Borchard Fellowship in Law & Aging provides two law school graduates interested in an academic and/or professional career in law and aging the opportunity to pursue their research and professional interests for one year.
The fellowship is $40,000 and intended as a full-time position only. Fellows must be either U.S. citizens or legal residents of the U.S. The period runs from July 1st to June 30th each year, or for the calendar year beginning the month after completion of a state bar examination. Details on the fellowship requirements, application process, and application forms are available from the Borchard Foundation website.

Examples of activities and projects by recent Borchard Fellows include:

• Writing and publication of law review articles and/or state-specific consumer oriented materials on law and aging issues;
• Development of a non-profit senior law resource center providing direct legal services and public education;
• Development of an interdisciplinary elder law clinical program at a major public university law school;
• Development of a mediation component for a legal services program elder law hotline;
• Development of an interdisciplinary project for graduate students in law, medicine, and health advocacy to foster understanding and collaboration between professions;
• Providing supervised pro bono legal representation of older clients;
• Analysis of Medicare policies

Completed applications (including the application form, an explanation of the applicant’s planned activities and projects, a current curriculum vitae, a law school transcript, and requisite letters of support) should be mailed to:

The Borchard Foundation Center on Law & Aging
Mary Jane Ciccarello, Assistant Director
335 4th Avenue
Salt Lake City, Utah 84103

Application deadline: Applications must be postmarked by April 15, 2009; selections will be made by June 1, 2009.

For more information: contact Mary Jane Ciccarello at 801-598-5810 or by email at: mjcr@xmission.com.

2009 National Field-Generated Training, Technical Assistance, and Demonstration Projects
The Office of Victims of Crime has released a request for proposals for “initiatives, whether related to training, technical assistance, or development of promising practices, models, and programs, must be focused on improving the capacity of victim service providers and allied practitioners in advancing rights and services for crime victims” including victims of elder abuse. For more information on the elder abuse category, see page 9 of the application packet.

• Application deadline: Tuesday, February 24, 2009
• For more information: Click Here.

Older Worker Demonstration Grants (SGA/DFA PY 08-06)
As quoted from the U.S. Department of Labor web site: “The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Employment and Training Administration (ETA) announces the availability of approximately $10 million in funds for Older Worker Demonstration Grants. These grants will be awarded though a competitive process as a part of the High Growth Job Training Initiative (HGJTI). The grants are intended to address the workforce challenges facing older individuals by developing models for talent development in regional economies that recognize older workers as a valuable labor pool and include employment and training strategies to retain and/or connect older workers to jobs in high growth, high demand industries critical to the regional economy.”

• Application deadline: Thursday, February 12, 2009
• For more information: Click Here.

Emeritus Attorney Pro Bono Indigent Guardianship Project— Revised Request for Proposals
As quoted from the announcement: “The American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging and the Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law have revised the Request for Proposals for the Emeritus Attorney Pro Bono Indigent Guardianship Project. The project will award up to five mini-grants of $5,000 each … to develop model approaches specifically to recruit emeritus pro bono attorneys to handle indigent adult guardianship cases for low-income family and other petitioners (with adequate consideration of less restrictive alternatives and of representation of the respondent)….”

• Application deadline: Friday, February 27, 2009
• For more information: Click Here.

Helping Outreach Programs to Expand Grants
Helping Outreach Programs to Expand awards grants to improve outreach to, and services for, crime victims. Grassroots, nonprofit, community-based, and faith-based victim services organizations are among those eligible to apply.

• Application deadline: Open, dependent upon available funding.
• For more information: Click Here.

• Rhode Island: Research Examines Characteristics of Domestic Violence of Older Women
  A recent study in Rhode Island, funded by a grant from the Department of Justice, has shed some light on the profiles of victims and abusers in cases of domestic violence among older and elderly women.<<Read More>>

To study this population, researchers examined the law enforcement records of all reported cases of domestic violence (DV) involving women over the age of 50 in 2002, as well as any criminal records of the suspected abusers. Statistical analysis of data rendered profiles of characteristics of the victims and alleged abusers, as well as the factors that were associated with repeated victimization and abuse. To further understand the dynamics at work, researchers interviewed law enforcement, legal, and Adult Protective Services professionals along with other service providers to gain their perspective.

The victims were divided into two groups: women between the ages of 50 and 59; and those over the age of 60. Among the results presented in the report, there appears to be a significant increase in abuse by family members and a decrease in abuse by intimate partners as women move into the 60 and over age group. In addition, researchers found that non-intimate family abusers had a greater likelihood of having criminal records than intimate abusers, which raises questions regarding the “caregiver stress” theory of elder abuse. The study also examined the impact of laws that carry increased penalties for the abuse of older individuals. Data indicated, for various reasons, that the sentences did not reflect these increased measures. Researcher Dr. Andrew Klein noted, “The criminal justice system has not followed the intent, the spirit of the law, and the abusers end up being adjudicated and punished as if they committed misdemeanors.”

When asked about the replicability of the study for other states, Dr. Klein stated that it would be “prohibitively expensive” to conduct this method of research in states without centralized police incident and DV reporting repositories, which Rhode Island has. “There are about eight or nine states where they mandate central repositories of police DV incident reports. Unfortunately, despite the law, I think Rhode Island is the only one that really has gotten it off the ground in any meaningful way, where it is computerized and accessible.”

In terms of various policy implications of the study, it was noted that repeated victimization tended to be correlated with prior criminal records and that suspected family abusers often had mental health or drug and alcohol abuse problems. These tendencies suggest that drug abuse intervention, as well as mental health counseling, could be effective prevention strategies. In addition, sentencing of abusers was described in the report summary as “tepid,” which could explain why arrest and prosecution rates were not correlated with greater protection for older and elderly women. Dr. Klein stated, “When these cases are uncovered, I think we need aggressive prosecution to deal with the perpetrators for what they are, which is chronic predators.” The report also calls for more inter-agency collaboration and a clearer delineation of duties.

To read the full report, Click Here.
For a summary of the research, Click Here.

Special thanks to David Wihry of the University of Delaware Center for Community Research and Service for contributing this article.

• Florida: Training, Prevention, and Empowerment
  NCEA recently spoke with Margaret Boeth of the Florida Attorney General's Office about the Elder Crime Practitioner Designation and several statewide initiatives that involve seniors working with other seniors to prevent elder abuse and exploitation.<<Read More>>

In 1986 when Margaret Boeth began working with the Florida Attorney General’s Office, she was able to combine her experience as a teacher with her desire to work in government.

Elder Crime Practitioner Designation Program

“I started working with the Office on a one year, grant funded position to address crime against the elderly.” Over the decades, the position has evolved tremendously. Ms. Boeth is a research and training specialist whose duties consist of coordinating the department’s educational efforts statewide, including the Elder Crime Practitioner Designation program. The five course curricula (including the new “Practitioner Elder Update”) is a unique professional development program that provides participants with an extensive, multidisciplinary background in elder issues.

Ms. Boeth recalls that the earliest efforts to educate law enforcement on elder issues demonstrated the need for multidisciplinary approaches, not only to delivering courses, but to addressing cases. Today, lessons - which rely heavily on hands-on, interactive exercises involving actual case material - frequently are delivered by teams of presenters. Guest lecturers also lend variety and expertise to the course work. Recently, Dr. G, a medical examiner featured on the Discovery Health Channel, spoke about forensic evidence in her own cases involving elderly decedents.

“Case in a Box” is another exercise that class participants rate as highly valuable. The instructor divides participants in multidisciplinary teams and each team is given several pieces of case evidence. The teams analyze the evidence while conferencing the case, and eventually must ask the instructor for the additional evidence necessary to solve the case and/or proceed with prosecution. 

“We didn’t want to just point out some dos and don’ts, we wanted people to feel that they really could make an impact, that they could get prosecutors to take these cases into the courts to help older people, and get some of these criminals put away,” explained Ms. Boeth.

Although the curricula features Florida specific information on legislation, reporting requirements, and services available, the course content includes investigative and prosecutorial techniques applicable to practitioners from all states. Thus far, fifty practitioners have earned the designation, including law enforcement, nurses, attorneys, including one who has gone on to become a judge, and others.

Seniors vs Crime

In addition to coordinating the Practitioner program, including continuous evaluation and the incorporation of feedback to improve the curricula and its delivery, Ms. Boeth has been involved in a number of statewide initiatives.

One of the earliest and most successful efforts has been Seniors vs Crime, a project that started with four volunteers in 1989 as a collaboration between the Attorney General’s Office and AARP. Under Attorney General Bob Butterworth, and in response to a statewide task force’s findings that seniors were being targeted for financial exploitation, Ms. Boeth, along with staff members Bob Doss and Jack Norris, began to enlist multidisciplinary support. Vern Thornton, a retired law enforcement expert who had participated on the task force, committed his efforts to enlisting seniors throughout five counties for their help in assessing the magnitude of the problem, and, eventually, in helping other elders to avoid becoming prey.

“I remember an early task – we had seniors save their junk mail for six weeks and then it was analyzed through the AG’s office for evidence of scams. It got ridiculous – we had about 1200 of pounds of junk mail sent to the office that had been collected by about 150 senior volunteers. This tipped us off to over a hundred potential scams,” recollected Ms. Boeth.

Known now as Senior Sleuths, the volunteer corps has grown to more than 3,000 members responsible for recovering over $5 million dollars to date. Among the many programs and services offered by volunteers, storefront “offices” are staffed throughout the state as drop-in centers for elders who want to discuss their problems and concerns. In addition to acting as the “eyes and ears” of the Attorney General’s Office  the volunteers offer a speakers bureau, outreach, and post fraud alerts and additional information on their web site. Donald Ravenna is now the executive director of the program.

“We work closely with key people in different agencies – Elder Affairs, the Florida Bar Association, protective services, and other groups,” said Ms. Boeth. “I feel so happy to have the freedom and the support from my department to go in whatever direction is needed to help protect seniors.”

For more information on Seniors vs Crime, Click Here.

Note: The “Elder Crime Practitioner” Designation program will be offered from February through May of 2009. Visit the 2009 Schedule of Florida Elder Crime Practitioner Training on-line to learn more about the program and for a description and schedule of classes to be offered.

Click Here to email Ms. Boeth with any questions concerning these initiatives.

• Wyoming: Community Collaboration Paves Way for Elder Abuse Billboard
  Collaboration is the key to executing a public awareness initiative in Wyoming. Through community teamwork and perseverance, the state of Wyoming is ready to unveil its first elder abuse awareness billboard.<<Read More>>

For some time, representatives of the state’s network of APS community teams clamored for an increase in “marketing” the issues surrounding elder and adult abuse awareness. About a year ago they began to investigate the feasibility of mounting billboards to illuminate the problem.

State APS consultant Dorothy Thomas of the Department of Family Services approached Alice Carter of the Wyoming Kinship Advocacy (WYKA), which is part of Community Action. Ms. Thomas proposed partnering on an application for federal funds to mount elder abuse awareness billboards under the National Family Caregiver Support Program (Title III-E funds of the OAA) administered by the State of Wyoming Department of Health/Aging Division. As part of its mission, WYKA provides support to grandparents and other relatives raising children. Ms. Thomas and Ms. Carter were successful in receiving funding, with the local match being provided by Casey Family Programs. Given Casey’s history and mission of providing support to children and families in the child welfare system, collaborators thought this was a natural fit.

After receiving the award, Ms. Thomas and Ms. Carter worked with outdoor media companies to locate sites for the billboard, design the message, and find an effective image. Given the nature of the collaborating organizations, the focus was to link elder abuse and grandparents. Ultimately, the following tagline was adopted: “Hurting Grandmother is Elder Abuse.”

“One of the greatest challenges was to find a photo that we had permission to use. We selected one available graphic but it was difficult to format. We consulted with Sharon Merriman-Nai of NCEA, and ultimately we opted to select another picture that was not so overwhelming in terms of the visual,” said Ms. Thomas. The image selected was provided by NextMedia Outdoor, Inc., the vendor mounting the fourteen by forty-eight foot billboard.

The partners faced additional challenges, including finding the optimum placement for their image, having to scale down their initial plan to mount three billboards. The collaborators are delighted to have obtained placement on I-25 approximately ten miles north of Cheyenne. I-25 is a major artery running north and south between Cheyenne and Caspar in the western part of the state; it is well traveled by residents and others. 

After the design was in place, the collaborators sought feedback from the state’s APS community teams, whose demands for stronger public awareness ultimately inspired the billboard project. Feedback has been very positive, and advocates throughout the network are excited about the project becoming a reality.

 Ms. Thomas stated, “These teams are our saving grace for partnering and sharing resources.” She categorizes Wyoming as a “frontier state,” posing tremendous challenges for reaching and supporting older residents who are experiencing mistreatment or who may be at risk due to geographic isolation. In 2007, Wyoming state legislation mandated that each county have a multidisciplinary, community-based team; each county now has at least one such team. According to Ms. Thomas, each team is uniquely responsive to their community’s needs. Members include: law enforcement, the Aging Division, Mental Health, Board of Nursing, Ombudsman, Wyoming Guardianship, Inc., Developmental Disabilities, Medicaid, Department of Family Services, Office of Health Licensing and Survey, Wyoming Institute for Disabilities and the Division of Social Work (University of Wyoming), and community members.

“The strength of this project, in my opinion, is the partnerships that we formed -- working with Alice Carter and the Wyoming Kinship, the National Family Caregiver Support Program, the Wyoming Department of Health/Aging Division, and the Casey Family Programs. We were able to join our voices and share our passion to make this happen.”

The billboard is due to go up in the first week of February 2009, and will remain posted for eleven months.

• California and Arizona: Dine Out Against Elder Abuse – Food for Thought
  On September 18th, 2009, ElderPEACE sponsored Dine Out Against Elder Abuse in California and parts of Arizona at participating Carrows and Coco’s restaurants. We recently spoke with organizer Lori Delagrammatikas about the event.<<Read More>>

Last September, ElderPEACE, a grassroots advocacy group based in California, sponsored its first Dine Out Against Elder Abuse. The daylong event was intended to raise awareness of elder abuse and generate revenue for direct services to victims.
 
One-hundred forty-seven restaurants in the Carrows and Coco’s chain throughout California and Arizona participated by donating ten percent of all receipts of patrons presenting Dine Out flyers that day. In all, the event generated $1,400 dollars.

“This event was really our very first outing as a community action organization so we wanted to do something that was very simple to launch,” said Lori Delagrammatikas, Program Coordinator for Project MASTER (Multi-Disciplinary Adult Services Training for Evaluation and Results, San Diego State School of Social Work), who organized the event. It is uncertain how many people “dined out,” but given the total proceeds and the average meal price point, it is estimated that over 1,500 patrons participated.

According to Ms. Delagrammatikas, Dine Out was intended to have a community-wide impact. “This type of event works better as an awareness, rather than fundraising, event unless you choose an expensive restaurant. We actually realized that we probably could have raised more money by asking the elder abuse community to go to the website and Click on a "DONATE NOW" button. However, that would not have had the same awareness and community solidarity impact.” Because Carrows and Coco’s are frequently patronized by seniors, this type of event can be extremely beneficial in reaching older individuals.

Ms. Delagrammatikas believes ElderPEACE will hold similar events in the future, and has some suggestions for others looking to replicate the process.

“I think it would make sense to pair the fundraiser with a newspaper article and some kind of presentation or event. For example, it would work to pair it with a World Elder Abuse Awareness proclamation presentation to your local government and a newspaper feature. You could also pair this with an awareness event at a local high school and then ask the students to participate.”

Other restaurants and chains have sponsored similar types of events for various causes. For example, Friendly’s, a national restaurant chain, provides opportunities for fundraising for local and national organizations. Many restaurants participate in Dine Out Against AIDS. Last June, the Clearinghouse on Abuse and Neglect of the Elderly (CANE) held a Dine Out Against Elder Abuse in conjunction with World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. The event was much smaller in scale involving only Grotto’s in Newark, Delaware, a popular pizzeria near CANE’s home base at the University of Delaware. The four hour event generated approximately $100 and allowed representatives of CANE and the Division of Aging and Adults with Physical Disabilities to distribute and display elder abuse materials to community members and to discuss the issues.

As Ms. Delagrammatikas said, Dine Outs are very simple to launch, and with no real overhead unless organizers opt to pay for advertisement or print additional handouts. For those thinking ahead to World Elder Abuse Awareness Day 2009, Dine Out Against Elder Abuse could be a recipe for success.     

For more information on how to launch a “Dine Out” in your own community, contact the NCEA.

January 2009 marked the start of the 111th Congress. Bills introduced in previous congressional sessions that did not become public law before the start of this session must be reintroduced. However, legislative history on previously introduced bills can carry over unless new Committee members object. Co-sponsors must be recruited again. The legislative bills below are new bills introduced in this Congress. For information on bills from prior legislative sessions, you may search the Library of Congress’ “Thomas” website.

The Elder Abuse Victims Act of 2009 (H.R. 448), sponsored by Representative Joe Sestak (D, PA-7) and co-sponsored by Representatives John Conyers (D, MI-14), Peter King (R, NY-3), and Robert Scott (D, VA-3), was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary on January 9, 2009. The proposed bill aims “to protect seniors in the United States from elder abuse by establishing specialized elder abuse prosecution and research programs and activities to aid victims of elder abuse, to provide training to prosecutors and other law enforcement related to elder abuse prevention and protection, to establish programs that provide for emergency crisis response teams to combat elder abuse, and for other purposes.”

H.R.448>>Click here to read the House bill.

The Elder Care Tax Credit Act of 2009 (H.R. 517) was referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means on January 14, 2009 and was sponsored by Representative Steve Israel (D, NY-2) and co-sponsored by Representatives Ciro Rodriguez (D, TX-23), Tim Ryan (D, OH-17), Anthony Weiner (D, NY-9), Melissa Bean (D, IL-8) and Carol Shea-Porter (D, NH-1). The proposed bill seeks “to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the dependent care credit to take into account expenses for care of parents and grandparents who do not live with the taxpayer.”

H.R.517>>Click here to read the House bill.

The Elder Caregiver Support and Information Enhancement Act of 2009 (H.R. 519), sponsored by Representative Steve Israel (D, NY-2) and co-sponsored by Representatives Ciro Rodriguez (D, TX-23), Tim Ryan (D, OH-17), Anthony Weiner (D, NY-9), Melissa Bean (D, IL-8), and Carol Shea-Porter (D, NH-1), was referred to both the House Committee on Education and Labor and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on January 14, 2009 to have the provisions relevant to each committee reviewed. The bill seeks to “to authorize additional appropriations for the family caregiver support program under the Older Americans Act of 1965, and for the National Clearinghouse for Long-Term Care Information, for fiscal years 2010, 2011, and 2012.”

H.R.519>>Click here to read the House bill.

The Retooling the Health Care Workforce for an Aging America Act of 2009 (S. 245), was read twice and was passed on to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on January 14, 2009. The bill is sponsored by Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) and co-sponsored by Senators Robert Casey (D-PA) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR). The bill seeks “…to expand, train, and support all sectors of the health care workforce to care for the growing population of older individuals in the United States.”

S.245>>Click here to read the Senate bill.

The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2009 (S. 54), sponsored by Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI), was read twice and passed on to the Senate Committee on Finance on January 6, 2009. The stated purpose of the bill is “to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing minimum nurse staffing ratios at certain Medicare providers, and for other purposes.”

S.54>>Click here to read the Senate bill.

Special thanks to David Wihry of the University of Delaware Center for Community Research and Service for contributing this update, and to Robert Blancato, President of Matz, Blancato, and Associates and former President of the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse for submitting additional legislative information.

• March 2009 - Elder Abuse Research and Literature
• April 2009 – State News
• May 2009 – Federal Legislative Update

March 15-19
American Society on Aging and National Council on Aging: 2009 Aging in America Conference

• Special Session March 17, 2009: Elder Abuse and Neglect: Advancing the Field

Paris and Bally’s Hotels
Las Vegas, NV
Website: Click Here

March 23 - 24, 2009
24th Annual Ohio Coalition for Adult Protective Services Conference: New Perspectives: Elder Abuse in a Changing World
Renaissance Hotel
Columbus, Ohio
Website: Click Here

April 24-25, 2009
Academy on Violence and Abuse 2009 Scientific Conference: Sowing Seeds of Academic Change, Nurturing New Paradigms
Holiday Inn Select & Suites Minneapolis International Airport-Mall of America
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Website: Click Here

Contact Us:
National Center on Elder Abuse
c/o Center for Community Research and Services
University of Delaware
297 Graham Hall
Newark, DE 19716
Website: www.ncea.aoa.gov
Email: ncea-info@aoa.hhs.gov
Telephone: 302-831-3525

• National Adult Protective Services Association
• National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse
• Clearinghouse on Abuse and Neglect of the Elderly, University of Delaware (CANE-UD)