Senior$afe, which members of the Maine Council for Elder Abuse Prevention say is the first program of its kind in the country, will help bank and credit union workers identify irregular financial activity that could indicate abuse. The program also will train them how to intervene when necessary.
Elder financial abuse in Maine, which has the oldest per-capita average age in the country — with many of those older citizens living in rural areas — is as pronounced as it is anywhere. Experts estimate that there are at least 14,000 new reports of elder abuse every year, which could constitute as little as 15 percent of the actual instances of abuse.
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Main Banks, Credit Unions Launch Program to Stop Elder Financial Abuse
I hope we're talking about hi-tech here, because it's way overdue.
ReplyDeleteIt's not the first in the country. A program like this was developed and presented by APS in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia a decade ago.
ReplyDeleteIt is a very helpful initiative and one that should be repeated everywhere.
One caveat: more attention needs to be paid to what happens AFTER there is a report and APS investigates.
Is the senior better off? Or does APS stop the financial abuse or self-neglect, but substitute its own form of abuse and neglect in the guise of public guardianship?
Was the senior living in her own home, ripped off by a neighbor, friend or family member? Has that senior now been moved to a filthy, dangerous adult home like the six operated by Scott Schuett? Has her house been foreclosed on? Is her money inexplicably gone? Did her health and life insurance get cancelled? Did thirteen checks in a row bounce without a peep from the in-the-bag Commissioner of Accounts? Are her loved ones and friends uncerimoniously kicked out for making complaints about the horrific conditions?
Do the public guardians, Jewish Family Service of Tidewater or Catholic Charities of Eastern Virginia, cover up this mistreatment, abuse and neglect in the guise of "confidentiality?"
If so, welcome to the topsy turvy world of Virginia Beach Adult Protective Services, where seniors suffer abuse and neglect in order to protect them from abuse and neglect by others.
Banks need to be involved but at the same time, they are often the aggressors in guardianship abuse.
ReplyDeleteA Bank as we all know can be extremely dangerous places for Elderly and Disabled Customers, as we have seen before there own staff and managers can be the actual perpetrators themselves.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention the coming problems that many banks have with Reverse Mortgages and other Toxic Investments.
As usual things may look good on the surface, but the devil is always in the details and they should be watched very closely by NASGA.
As should the entire Financial Serves Industry, whether they be Trusts, Insurance, Investment Advisers and Brokers.