They are members of a group that no one would want to join. But they are growing in numbers and political influence.
They are
the daughters, sons, spouses and other relatives of vulnerable adults
who have been physically or emotionally abused at senior care facilities
across Minnesota.
In recent weeks this coalition, known as Elder Voice Family Advocates,
has emerged from obscurity to play a central role in early efforts by
the administration of Gov. Mark Dayton to reform Minnesota’s troubled
system for responding to violent crimes and other forms of abuse in
senior homes.
Over the past year, its
members have blanketed Minnesota legislators with letters, e-mails,
phone calls and testimonials highlighting their stories of anguish,
including incidents in which loved ones have died, been maimed or
traumatized as a result of maltreatment. Last spring, as lawmakers
considered budget increases to keep pace with escalating complaints of
maltreatment, members of Elder Voice made repeated trips to the State
Capitol to describe crimes that were going uninvestigated and
unresolved.
Their grass-roots efforts gained new urgency after the publication last month of a five-part Star Tribune series chronicling
breakdowns in the state’s handling of elder abuse investigations. The
report prompted a chorus of legislators to demand reforms, and Dayton
this week called for a special work group to quickly produce
recommendations for the 2018 Legislature. Elder Voice was chosen to help
lead the work group — a remarkable feat for a volunteer-driven
organization that still funds its activities by passing a hat at
meetings.
“We feel
the gentle hands of our loved ones pushing us forward,” said Jean
Peters, one of a half-dozen Elder Voice members who met with Dayton’s
top staff on Friday. “Our job is to channel the anger and the sadness
that many of us still feel into positive change for vulnerable seniors
across this state.”
Bright orange socks
Elder Voice’s increasingly political role has come as something of a surprise to the group’s founders.
The idea
for the group came out of a meeting nearly two years ago between Suzanne
Scheller, an attorney from Champlin, and Peters, at a forum on elder
justice. At the time, Peters had just discovered that her 85-year-old
mother had been emotionally abused and ridiculed by a nurse’s aide at an
assisted-living facility in Edina.
Over
coffee, the two discussed their shared frustration at how hard it is for
relatives to get even basic details of abuse incidents from state
investigators or the facilities where the abuse took place. They
discussed forming a group — the only one of its kind in Minnesota —
focused on providing support to family members of abuse victims and
improving quality of care at senior homes.
Within
weeks, however, Peters and Scheller found themselves entangled in a
policy debate over the use of hidden cameras in senior homes. Peters and
her sister, Kay Bromelkamp, had used a miniature camera to detect the
abuse of their mother; Scheller strongly believed that such devices
could deter abuse. When legislation was introduced in 2016 that would
enshrine the rights of Minnesota families to use electronic
surveillance, Peters and Scheller rallied other relatives to testify in
support.
As word of
Elder Voice spread, people began traveling from as far away as Bemidji
and Red Wing to attend the group’s quarterly meetings in Champlin and
Minneapolis. Others called in from Iowa, Wisconsin and even Ontario.
What began as a support group small enough to fit in Peters’ Minneapolis
living room soon had to hold its meetings in Twin Cities community
centers.
Before long, members of
the group who only recently had been strangers found themselves
traipsing to the State Capitol to testify and attend hearings together,
often in distinctive orange clothing to match the group’s
tangerine-colored logo.
As a
further show of solidarity, the group’s leaders have taken to wearing
orange socks emblazoned with the figure of a woman flexing her biceps
and the words “Give ’em hell.”
As a
result of the group’s outreach, lawmakers last spring directed the
Office of the Legislative Auditor to conduct a comprehensive evaluation
of the state Health Department’s process for investigating maltreatment
complaints. That review will be completed in January.
“The issue
resonates and it resonates very quickly,” said Scheller, the elder
abuse attorney. “Everyone knows someone in their family affected by
elder abuse and neglect.”
Left in the dark
Robin Roberts, a real estate agent who lives in New London, Minn., is among the group’s newest members.
Like many
in Elder Voice, she came to the group in a state of despair — but
determined. In late October, Roberts was called into a meeting and told
matter-of-factly that her 81-year-old mother, who suffers from
Alzheimer’s disease, had been a victim of “inappropriate sexual
touching” by a male resident at her assisted-living facility. She was
told that the incident had been reported to the Minnesota Department of
Health, which investigates abuse. However, when Roberts asked for more
information, she was told that all details would remain confidential
until the state completed its investigation.
“At first,
when you learn that something this horrific has happened to your
mother, you feel helpless and alone,” Roberts said. “You start reaching
out for anything — anything, anything that will effect change, because
the laws as they are written now are stacked against the families.”
The
group’s legislative agenda for 2018 is decidedly ambitious. It includes
changes to the criminal code that would enhance penalties against
abusers of vulnerable adults; changes to state law that would grant
victims’ families access to abuse investigation reports; the creation of
a separate licensing system for assisted-living facilities; and the
establishment of minimum staffing ratios in senior care facilities,
among other priorities.
Elder
Voice is also among a handful of consumer-oriented groups, including
Minnesota AARP and the Minnesota Elder Justice Center, that are part of
Dayton’s new elder-abuse task force. They have until late January,
before the 2018 Legislature convenes, to develop recommendations
designed to improve the health and safety of 85,000 Minnesotans who live
in senior care facilities.
Full Article & Source:
Families of elder abuse victims speak out, wield new power at Minnesota State Capitol
1 comment:
This is great. Grassroots, just like NASGA.
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