DOJ, HHS ANNOUNCE FRAME CALL FOR TAKING A STAND AGAINST ELDER ABUSE

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 

DOJ and HHS call for action to address abuse of older Americans

Elder Justice Roadmap outlines critical path to combating problem 

Today, leaders in the fight against elder abuse announced a framework for tackling the highest priority challenges to elder abuse prevention and prosecution, and called on all Americans to take a stand against the serious societal problem of elder abuse, neglect and financial exploitation.

Research suggests that 1 in 10 Americans over the age of 60 has experienced elder abuse or neglect, and that people with dementia are at higher risk for abuse.

Supported by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Elder Justice Roadmap was developed by harnessing the expertise of hundreds of public and private stakeholders from across the country and by gathering their input. The goal of these expert summits was to identify the most critical priorities and concrete opportunities for greater public and private investment and engagement in elder abuse issues. The Elder Justice Roadmap, being published today, reflects the knowledge and perspectives of these experts in the field and will be considered by the Elder Justice Coordinating Council and others in developing their own strategic plans to prevent and combat elder abuse.

“The Roadmap Project is an important milestone for elder justice,” said Associate Attorney General Tony West. “Elder abuse is a problem that has gone on too long, but the Roadmap Report released today can change this trajectory by offering comprehensive and concrete action items for all of the stakeholders dedicated to combating the multi-faceted dimensions of elder abuse and financial exploitation,” he explained. “While we have taken some important steps in the right direction, we must do more to prevent elder abuse from occurring in the first place and face it head on when it occurs.”

“From now until 2030, every day, about 10,000 baby boomers will celebrate their 65th birthday. And the fastest-growing population is people 85 years old, or older,” says Kathy Greenlee, HHS’ assistant secretary for aging and administrator of the Administration for Community Living. “Stemming the tide of abuse will require individuals, neighbors, communities, and public and private entities to take a hard look at how each of us encounters elder abuse—and commit to combat it.”

To support the mission of elder abuse prevention and prosecution, DOJ has developed an interactive, online curriculum to teach legal aid and other civil attorneys to identify and respond to elder abuse. The first three modules of the training cover what lawyers should know about elder abuse; practical and ethical strategies to use when facing challenges in this area; and a primer on domestic violence and sexual assault. This training will expand to include six one-hour modules covering issues relevant to attorneys who may encounter elder abuse victims in the course of their practice.

HHS is supporting the mission by developing a voluntary national adult protective services (APS) data system. Collecting national data on adult mistreatment will help to identify and address many gaps about the number and characteristics of adults who are the victims of maltreatment and the nature of services that are provided by APS agencies to protect these vulnerable adults.  In addition, the data will better inform the development of improved, more targeted policy and programmatic interventions.

In addition to informing federal elder justice efforts, the Roadmap has already inspired private stakeholders to take action.  For example, as a result of the Roadmap, the Archstone Foundation has funded a project at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California to develop a national training initiative, while other funders, such as the Weinberg Foundation, have begun to consider inquiries and projects outlined in the Roadmap.  Likewise, the Brookdale Center for Healthy Aging at Hunter College, The Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Center for Elder Abuse Prevention at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, and the New York City Elder Abuse Center will be co-sponsoring a symposium in September 2014 focusing on innovations and challenges related to elder abuse multidisciplinary teams, a priority area identified in the Roadmap.

“While federal and state governments certainly have critical roles to play, the battle against elder abuse can only be won with grassroots action at the community and individual level,” said Greenlee. “Turning the tide against elder abuse requires much greater public commitment, so every American will recognize elder abuse when they see it and know what to do if they encounter it.”

Two steps local communities, families, and individuals can take are:

Learn the signs of elder abuse. The National Center on Elder Abuse, a program of the Administration on Aging at ACL, has developed a helpful Red Flags of Abuse Factsheet (PDF) that lists the signs of and risk factors for abuse and neglect.
Report suspected abuse when you see it. Contact your local adult protective services agency. Phone numbers for state or local offices can be found at the National Center for Elder Abuse website, or call 1-800-677-1116.
“We must take a stand to ensure that older Americans are safe from harm and neglect. For their contributions to our nation, to our society, and to our lives, we owe them nothing less,” said Associate Attorney General West.

THE HIDDEN CRIME OF ELDER ABUSE

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 
Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole Speaks at the White House World Elder Abuse Awareness Day EventWashington, D.C. ~ Thursday, June 14, 2012
Thank you for that kind introduction.

The Attorney General very much wanted to be here, but is headed to Canada, where he will be meeting with his foreign counterparts.   It is therefore my privilege to join my colleagues, Secretary Sebelius and Director Cordray, and all of you today to commemorate World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.

At the outset, I want to commend Secretary Sebelius for forming the Elder Justice Coordinating Council.   This critical first step firmly demonstrates this Administration’s commitment to protecting our older Americans and we look forward to working with our federal partners on the Council.

It’s worth noting that in anticipation of the Coordinating Council, the Department of Justice, with support from HHS, began working earlier this year on developing an Elder Justice Roadmap.  The Elder Justice Roadmap project has already sought input from hundreds of stakeholders from around the country in order to help identify potential policy, practice, and research priorities in the field of elder abuse, neglect and financial exploitation.  We expect the results of this Roadmap to help inform the Coordinating Council as it moves ahead in developing its strategic agenda.

I also want to thank Kathy Greenlee and her staff at the Administration on Aging for their tireless efforts to protect our older Americans and for organizing today’s event.

Elder abuse is a hidden epidemic that annually impacts the health and well-being of six million older people, as well as their families and caretakers.   It includes physical, sexual and emotional abuse; neglect; and what we’re here to talk about today -- financial exploitation.   Victims come from all ethnic, racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.   And sadly, perpetrators of financial exploitation are more likely to be family members than strangers.

This type of elder abuse depletes the resources of individuals, families, businesses, and public programs including Medicare and Medicaid, by billions each year, placing enormous burdens on our health care, financial, and judicial systems.

For me, and for today’s Department of Justice, protecting older Americans is a top priority that we advance on multiple fronts.

For example, in order to protect the financial integrity of the Medicare program, upon which so many of our older Americans rely, both the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services decided early on to make combating healthcare fraud an enforcement priority and created the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team, or HEAT.

Since HEAT began in May 2009, we’ve recovered over $8 billion dollars in cases involving fraud against the Medicare program and other federal health care programs.   We believe this has sent a strong and clear message that Medicare fraud will not be tolerated and that DOJ and HHS will act swiftly to where it does occur.          

Just as important as protecting the fiscal integrity of the Medicare program, is our commitment to ensuring that our nation’s nursing homes and other health care providers are actually providing the care and services to which our Medicare beneficiaries are entitled, rather than exploiting those beneficiaries (and the Medicare program) for their own profit.   Tony West, the Department’s Acting Associate Attorney General, has taken a particularly active role in supporting these cases and will discuss a particularly egregious example of financial exploitation this afternoon.  

Protecting older Americans from consumer scams and fraud is also a top priority of the Department.   Just this past March, the Department hosted an historic consumer protection summit that brought together federal and state law enforcement and regulators with consumer advocates to harness our collective experiences, to discuss strategies for enhancing our civil and criminal enforcement of consumer fraud crimes, and to increase public awareness about common schemes so that ordinary citizens can fight back themselves.  

Likewise, the Department’s Consumer Protection Branch has done terrific work combating fraud on the elderly as part of a broader emphasis on fraud targeting vulnerable populations.   We have had successful prosecutions of a number of fraudsters targeting the elderly through reverse mortgage fraud scams and lottery scams. And we have enhanced public awareness about these schemes through collaboration with others such as AARP.

Our health care fraud and consumer protection efforts are just some of the ways that the Department protects our nation’s older Americans from financial exploitation.   But while we have made strides to address this form of elder abuse, enforcement alone is not a complete strategy.   We can’t simply prosecute our way out of this problem.

Everyone here today knows that the way we can be most effective in protecting older Americans from financial exploitation is by combining our resources and expertise, and by collectively deploying the myriad tools at our disposal.

We need the federal agencies represented on this stage, Adult Protective Services workers, long term care ombudsmen, domestic violence advocates, geriatric specialists, the financial services industry, health care providers, advocates, state and local law enforcement and prosecutors, and – what has been a “missing link” in this area – civil legal aid lawyers.

Legal services programs have a unique opportunity to prevent and remedy elder abuse, especially the scourge of financial exploitation.   For example, they can  help prevent mortgage foreclosures resulting from a family member’s theft of a senior’s life savings; they can counsel worried older clients about legal options for responding to debt brought on by a financial scam, or better yet counsel them on how to avoid the scam in the first place; they can advise clients on how to revoke a power of attorney that is being used by someone unscrupulous to exploit them; and they can offer elders a safer future by representing abused clients in obtaining a protective order.

While this expertise can be critical to preventing or addressing abuse, legal services program staff too often don’t have the specialized training on how to identify and support older victims, and how to harness their existing expertise to respond to older victims’ special needs.

That’s why, with the essential cooperation of Legal Services Corporation President Jim Sandman, who is with us here today, I’m delighted to announce the “Missing Link Project,” a new collaborative effort by the Department’s Elder Justice Initiative, our Office for Victims of Crime, and our Access to Justice Initiative to develop such training materials for legal services providers.   President Sandman has pledged that when the training has been developed, it will be made available to all LSC programs, which together provide critically needed services to every county in this country.   We are hopeful that the trained legal aid lawyers’ efforts will be further leveraged by private lawyer pro bono volunteers, thus increasing the overall capacity to serve elderly victims.   Jim, we thank you for your commitment.   And I also want to thank Acting Assistant Attorney General Mary Lou Leary and the staff of the various offices involved for their strong support of this effort.

Too many elderly Americans are suffering alone.   Together we can change that.

We know the importance of your work on the front lines of the battle against elder abuse and financial exploitation.   What you do every day makes an extraordinary difference in ordinary lives.   I want you to know that the U.S. Department of Justice is honored to be your partner.

Thank you.