Ga. House passed bill to protect elderly abuse; 2 more in line

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF)– Two House Bills paired with one Senate Bill to protect the elderly could soon be going to Governor Nathan Deal’s desk.

House Bill 635 passed unanimously Thursday, which could more efficiently tackle elderly abuse throughout the state.

“[It] looks at the success the C.A.V.E. group has had in Augusta and suggests that it be replicated across the state,” Kathy Floyd, the Executive Director of Georgia Council on Aging, told NewsChannel 6.

The C.A.V.E task force, Crimes Against the Elderly, is comprised of people from the District Attorney’s office, Sheriff’s and Marshal’s offices and the coroner’s office.

The group was recognized last week at the state capital by the G.B.I and a House legislature.

The second bill, House Bill 803, focuses on trafficking disabled adults. Law enforcement has discovered some illegal care home owners are moving disabled adults around to avoid detection. And in some cases, they are taking residents in specifically to control their social security benefits.

“They don’t take enough to pay for their residents,” Floyd explained. “They take the entire amount.”

The last bill, out of the Senate, would tighten the process of how caregivers are hired: “This is a part of the governor’s criminal justice proposal, and it would require fingerprint background checks for all care workers in long-term care settings,” Floyd said.

This will be especially effective for Georgia cities that border other states, like Augusta touching South Carolina– to detect crimes that happened in states besides the one he or she resides in.

“One of the things we want to start looking at after this legislative session is over is at the fines and sanction of personal care homes,” Floyd told us. “They have not been updated for a number of years.”

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Ga. House passed bill to protect elderly abuse; 2 more in line