Before adjourning, the Oregon Legislature passed a law making it easier to investigate abuse among people over age 65. House Bill 4084 allows investigating agencies to look at the financial and medical records of seniors, extends the statute of limitations on certain elder abuse crimes (including theft and robbery) from two years to six years, and removes the ability to expunge these crimes from a person’s criminal record.Cosponsored by Rep. Val Hoyle (D-Eugene) and Rep. Vic Gilliam (R-Molalla, Silverton), the bill passed the Houseafter a work group looked into how the state could modernize elder abuse investigations.
“There’s a perception that the tools to tackle elder abuse are at least a decade or two behind models to tackle child abuse,” said Fred Steele, manager of the Department of Human Services.
Rep. Phil Barnhart (D-Eugene) was the only dissenting vote in the House after raising privacy concerns about requiring healthcare providers to inspect medical records of elderly patients (without their consent) in the event of an abuse investigation. It also allows the Department of Human Services to release names of victims or witnesses to law enforcement agencies.
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Legislation Aims to Protect Seniors From Financial Abuse
I think it's true that elder abuse is at least a couple of decades behind child abuse efforts. Hopefully, things are catching up!
ReplyDeleteThe State Department of Human Services in Salem. Oregon (Fred Steele is mentioned,) are part of the problem. They have had the name, Erna Boldt, on their reports, since 2004 and refuse to look into the matter. In the meantime the exploitation has turned into Fraud, and even "fraud on the courts" by officers of the court, and by a sleazy "Elder Law" attorney, Brooks F. Cooper of Portland, Oregon - the "Golden Boy of the Orepon Bar Association and the Judiciary in Multnomah and Clackamas Counties.
ReplyDeleteAgree! 'Elder Abuse' must be as common a notion as 'Child Abuse' and Federal and State departments must work together to prosecute ambitiously.
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