A state Supreme Court committee is examining the proposed expansion of a
rule that allows the courts to preserve testimony of victims who might
not be available to testify if a case languishes in the system.
The rule may be expanded to include victims whose age or illness, like
dementia, might make it impossible for them to have their day in court.
The committee is also weighing the value of adding a box to a
standardized arrest form that would indicate whether the victim is
elderly, which could help to expedite those cases.
Meanwhile, the state House Committee on Aging and Older Adult Services
is considering a number of proposals that would enhance the safety net
for seniors, including one that would mandate banks to report suspected
financial exploitation of the elderly.
Another would establish a registry of people against whom allegations
of elder abuse have been substantiated, to prevent known abusers from
getting jobs where they would be alone with seniors.
Amendments to the Older Adults Protective Services Act could be sent to
the House for consideration by fall, said Rep. Tim Hennessey, R-26, the
committee chairman representing Chester and Montgomery counties.
Much of the action is being driven by an advisory council that was
formed about six months ago to implement recommendations made by the
Supreme Court’s Elder Law Task Force.
Pennsylvania, with more than 2 million seniors, has the fourth largest
percentage of elderly in the country. As the population ages, they
become more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, and the court system
becomes more difficult to navigate.
“It certainly presents issues that are unique to the court system,”
said Superior Court Judge Paula Francisco Ott, who leads the advisory
council. “We need to be certain that we address those issues ... in a
manner that recognizes some of their limitations that have come with age
and that we’re sensitive to them.”
The Advisory Council on Elder Justice in the Courts, mostly composed of
judges, lawyers and senior advocates, began meeting shortly after the
task force delivered its 130 recommendations in November.
The council has been identifying the most practical suggestions that
can be implemented at little to no cost in order to make swift progress.
The group also formed a subcommittee on funding to analyze the costs of
other initiatives and to identify potential funding sources.
“All these issues always come down to a funding discussion, and we
don’t know where we are on (the state’s) overall general funds budget,
so it’s a little difficult to say we’ll have money available for
anything that the council wants to recommend,” Hennessey said.
Homeless at 90
When Karen Buck, executive director of the SeniorLAW Center in
Philadelphia, thinks of why she has contributed time to the advisory
council’s work, she remembers a 90-year-old World War II veteran in
Pennsylvania who was financially exploited.
He had been a relatively affluent and healthy man, but the turmoil left him homeless and frail.
To make matters worse, Buck said there were several delays to the trial. “The defendant was trying to live him out,” she said.
Buck said this situation is exactly why the rules on preserving
testimony need to be expanded and encouraged in court proceedings
involving seniors.
A requirement for banks to report suspected abuse or exploitation could
also save seniors before they find themselves in this veteran’s
situation.
Council members Hennessey and Ronald Costen, an attorney with Temple
University’s Institute on Protective Services, said banking industry
officials have resisted the designation as mandatory reporters because
of the potential liability if bank employees were to fail to monitor and
report.
But both men insisted that it was an important step to protect older
adults. “You need to look at the records of older adults in real time,
when the abuse or theft is occurring, so you can slow it down or stop
it,” Costen said.
Maryland passed a law in 2012 requiring banks and credit unions to
report suspicions of financial exploitation for people 65 and older. If
they fail to report it within 24 hours, the banks face penalties of up
to $5,000.
Test runs
The council is also keeping tabs on two pilot programs that could
eventually serve as models in the state and possibly the nation.
In Philadelphia County, council member President Judge Sheila
Woods-Skipper has launched a pilot elder court in recent months. She
said the court is collecting data on older victims and observing what
accessibility problems they have, such as whether they can see and hear
in the courtroom.
They are also training judges and lawyers to provide additional support
services and considering how to prioritize cases involving seniors
without violating due process for others.
“We’re discovering we do have some resources already available for
elders, but we need to coordinate them so people are aware of them and
help elders access them,” Woods-Skipper said.
A pilot guardian training program in York County has also yielded some
valuable lessons in what families and professionals need to know before
they take on the financial and personal decisions of an elderly or
disabled person who is deemed incapacitated.
“We want to make certain they understand the scope of responsibilities,
including filing reports,” Ott said. “We need to know whether they’re
not filing because they don’t understand the process or because they’re
not paying attention to the incapacitated person.”
Ott said they would like to develop a video tutorial to show to guardians.
Many of the task force suggestions focused on regulating
court-appointed guardianships. The task force said the state should
require criminal background, firearms and credit checks of guardians,
and increased monitoring of the reports guardians must file.
These matters have not yet been addressed, but the council has focused
on a life-changing moment for some seniors. When a judge determines an
elder is incapacitated, they must surrender nearly all rights to another
person.
To ensure the judge has the appropriate information to make that call,
the council has developed a standardized form for health-care providers
to fill out for the courts. For the form to be used statewide, it needs
to be approved by a Supreme Court rules committee, which is currently
reviewing it.
Raising awareness
Education and training is a priority of the council, said President Judge George Zanic of Huntingdon County, a council member.
In the coming months, he said the council will be making presentations
to judges, clerks of court, prosecutors, law enforcement and protective
services groups.
They are raising awareness about a variety of strategies to protect
seniors, like how to effectively notify elders about scams and
encouraging prosecutors to freeze assets in financial exploitation cases
to make restitution more likely.
Full Article & Source:
Protection for seniors may be on way
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