GREEN BAY - A new website is the latest tool implemented by the Wisconsin Department of Justice to protect the elderly.
The site, reportelderabusewi.org, is
the next phase of the DOJ's campaign to both raise awareness about
elder abuse and encourage people to report mistreatment of seniors.
Wisconsin
Attorney General Brad Schimel announced the website's launch Wednesday
during a news conference at the Aging and Disability Resource Center of
Brown County in downtown Green Bay.
Schimel said the site is a place where people can go
to learn what elder abuse is, who is at risk of elder abuse and how to
go about reporting elder abuse to the proper authorities.
Green
Bay police chief Andrew Smith, along with Todd Delain, chief deputy
with the Brown County Sheriff's Office, said the site will help break
down barriers that often deter the elderly and their families from
reporting abuse, and put them in contact with people who can help.
The
site gives the elderly, their families and other loved ones a voice
which, Schimel said, is invaluable when dealing with the seriousness of
abuse and exploitation.
“Elder abuse is
drastically under-reported, and it can be deadly,” Schimel said.
“Studies show that even modest abuse increases the chance of premature
death by 300 percent, and because Wisconsin’s elderly population will
increase 72 percent in the next two decades, we have to raise awareness,
increase access to support for victims, and strengthen our response to
every type of elder abuse.”
The site also lists resources for elder abuse victims such as adult protective services, The Elder Rights Project and more.
As
part of the awareness campaign, advertisements will run online in
Wisconsin counties with the greatest number of reported cases of elder
abuse as reported by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
Devon Christianson, ADRC director, said nearly 300 cases of elder abuse were reported in Brown County in 2017.
The
development of the website is funded by the Victims of Crime Act grant
through the United States Department of Justice. The site follows of
number of other steps in Attorney General’s Task Force on Elder
Abuse Schimel launched in August 2017.
In March,
Schimel announced the start of the Safe Seniors Camera Program — a pilot
program that allows residents of Brown, Fond du Lac, Outagamie and
Winnebago counties worried about potential elder abuse to use a covert
camera for 30 days to watch someone they suspect is being harmed by a
caregiver at their residence.
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Does this also pertain to guardianship abuse?
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