Elder abuse task force’s report will be done soon

South Dakota’s special task force on elder abuse gathers Oct. 29 to discuss its final report.

Based on the statistics, findings and recommendations that comprise the core of the draft, this promises to be a call to action across South Dakota.

Drawing on real situations in South Dakota and upon proven practices in other states, the report will lay out changes to be made.

Accomplishing the reforms identified in the report will demand a stronger focus on elderly protections from the Legislature, the state’s courts, the state’s attorney general, the governor, local law enforcement, banks, lawyers and care givers.

The take-away is South Dakota has a long way to go to in protecting older citizens.

David Gilbertson, chief justice of the South Dakota Supreme Court, called for the study during his State of the Judiciary speech to the Legislature in January.

An earlier attempt by Gilbertson to put elder abuse on the political agenda went unheeded. This time, Sen. David Novstrup, R-Aberdeen, took up the issue.

Legislation sponsored by Novstrup, R-Aberdeen, led to establishing the task force.

With the Legislature’s approval came the chief justice’s offer for the Unified Judicial System to fund and lead the work.

In his speech to the Legislature, Gilbertson used the word tsunami to describe the problem. Based on demographic trends in the draft, tsunami wasn’t too strong.

Presuming the final report is generally similar to the draft version, the task force will present a set of recommendations for achieving much stronger protection of elderly people in South Dakota.

Next will be action by the Legislature in the 2016 session that starts Jan. 12.

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Elder abuse task force’s report will be done soon