Friday, February 17, 2017

KY: Prosecutors Can Now Receive Elder Abuse Training Online

Attorney General Andy Beshear and the Prosecutors Advisory Council Thursday announced that state prosecutors can now receive their required elder abuse training through a series of webinars.

Previously, prosecutors had to wait for a training to be announced at a location around the state.

PAC is offering the free training through its Intranet to all county and commonwealth’s attorneys. The more than four-hour online training focuses on the investigation and prosecution of abuse, neglect and exploitation of the elderly.

With the online format, the four-part webinar is available to prosecutors at any time, will be readily available, and will be an excellent resource as prosecutors build and prepare to try cases, Beshear said.

“Over the last year, I have worked to find ways to better protect our most vulnerable citizens,” Beshear said in a state news release. “Joining PAC to offer our local prosecutors this vital training through their linked network is another way my office is partnering to aggressively pursue those who would target Kentucky’s vulnerable population.”

Local prosecutor are responsible for handling cases involving reports of elder abuse in each county. On a state level, Beshear’s Office of Medicaid Fraud and Abuse, Office of Senior Protection, Department of Criminal Investigations and the executive branch’s Department of Community Based Services handle elder abuse cases.

“Ensuring our local prosecutors are trained on elder abuse is critical in protecting every senior throughout the Commonwealth,” Pulaski County Attorney Martin Hatfield said in the news release. “With PAC and the AG offering this training online, each of us now has a valuable resource at our fingertips to better serve our communities in our fight to end elder abuse.”

Beshear’s Office of Medicaid Fraud and Abuse and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services developed the four-part training, and the Kentucky Bar Association approved the training for continuing legal education.

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2 comments:

Lillian said...

We need special elder abuse units in law enforcement to handle these growing cases.

Ryan said...

I agree. Every state should have a special unit. Actually every county in every state should have an elder abuse unit.