I'd like to suggest a sixth step is needed: mandatory reporting of elder
abuse.Colorado is one of only three states that does not have a law specifically protecting our elder population from physical, sexual, caretaker and financial harm by requiring those in a position of awareness to report suspected abuse.
Last year, our legislature created a task force to study the issue. It recommended a system of mandatory reporting for the mistreatment and exploitation of at-risk persons over 70 years of age.
Gov. John Hickenlooper has dedicated $5 million to put into place the policies and procedures needed for adult protective services to be resourced appropriately to be effective. It is now time to move from studying the issue to acting on it by passing the upcoming legislation sponsored by state Sen. Evie Hudak, D-Westminster, state Rep. Sue Schafer, D-Wheat Ridge, and Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument. Their efforts would commit the resources that Colorado's seniors need to help protect them from harm.
Full Editorial and Source:
Colorado Should Make Reporting of Elder Abuse Mandatory, Suthers Says
John Suthers is right on with his comments. The lack of mandatory reporting allows financial institutions to sidestep liability responsibilities, just as it perpetuates the continued problem of unreported elder abuse. Joe Roubicek
ReplyDeleteElder abuse reporting should be mandatgory, but in the hands of APS, too frequently the victims are thrust into guardianships or conservatorships from which they can't escape.
ReplyDeleteAnd...unlawful and abusive guardianships and conservatorships
ARE elder abuse!
NO STATE has a mandatory reporter law which prevents crimes like that which is recorded by a 3-minute video that ABC News broadcast and subsequently presents online at http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=8486577. In this case, an attorney records himself takeing advantage of an 88-year old widow’s infirmity to obtain from her a Will and Power of Attorney. A good mandatory reporting law could prevent these crimes, as discussed in a 16-page document submitted to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and made available online at http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=CFPB-2012-0018-1047 -- a document which includes a draft of proposed legislation which would establish this protection. I invite AG Suthers, Detective Roubicek and others to join a public discussion of this legislation at the April 26, 2013 OAGE Conference. For more information, e-mail tvfields@oh.rr.com
ReplyDeleteI agree, and it should also be common sense.
ReplyDeleteGood editorial and I agree with the writer.
ReplyDeleteI think having a mandatory reporting law is a critical first step.
Then the next step is to be sure it covers events as tvfields stated.
I live in Colorado. And three times I tried to report guardian abuse, to John Suthers, the author of the article, who is the Attorney General, and each time I was hung up on, and refused to be allowed to make a written complaint. No regular citizen is allowed to talk to John Suthers, and he fosters Human Services false reporting and perjury. He only is interested in his image. One of the times I was hung up on was by John Suthers Medicaid fraud person, who told me I am a liar for saying Zyprexa is a senior citizen killer drug, and in my saying Ely Lilly has paid $5 Billion in damages. The next year I saw John Suthers accepting a check for over $1 Million, as, even though Colorado did nothing, Colorado's share of a law suit over the drug was the over $1 Million.
ReplyDeleteThelma is right, Human Services is part of the problem,not part of the solution, and so is John Suthers. There are those who would like to think this is a "good start." That has been said for years in Colorado, through two state audits (2006,2011) and each time more money goes to Human Services' abuse, and then there is an expensive new audit, Colorado Judicial Branch appoints a new task force made up of Human Services and elder law abusers and then Colorado has to make a "new start," against even more power and money keeping guardian abuse expanding. Wishing John Suthers will do the right thing is exactly that, wishing. Additionally, John Suthers office states it does not take complaints on elder abuse, and anyone trying to make a complaint must call Elder Watch, part of AARP. So why does John Suthers think he has the right to speak on elder abuse? He purposely keeps himself aloof from the issue.
I believe TV Fields is referring to the location of the exploitation is in a HOSPITAL setting.
ReplyDeleteBEWARE OF HOSPITALS - there are cases involving hospitals petitioning the court for guardianship of person and estate doing so they are stripping their patients POA of fiduciary position in order to cover up wrongdoing, negligence, errors, to protect hospital employees, hospitalists, physicians, etc.
BEWARE when you or anyone you care about crosses that threshold into a health care facility - I strongly suggest getting family and everyone you know to take shifts to stand guard and shadow the patient - never leaving their side. The minute a guard leaves the patients side a parade enters the room with their own agenda; some are hospital caregivers with self serving intentions for profit they are pressuring the patient to retain them, hired by the patient to go home with him/her in addition to state Adult Protective Service representatives engaging in elder abuse to pressure the patient to turn on family - if you think this isn't happening this is 1st person account of a case. My mission is to warn and inform society we are all at risk to be a patient in a hospital where we will have a false sense of protection. More will be coming when I build my website and blog to expose who is doing what and why in a hospital setting where a patient is recovering, helpless, medicated and vulnerable to the predators with a plan unknown to the patient, to you, to the family.
BEWARE!!!