Elderly people in New York — and the
state as a whole — are being taken for at least $1.5 billion each year
because of financial exploitation, according to calculations from the
Office of Children and Family Services.
The
figure includes amounts that seniors lose from their accounts and what
it costs the state to cover Medicaid expenses earlier than otherwise
expected.
As a way to protect vulnerable older
adults, New York is expanding a team approach to investigating claims of
financial and other forms of abuse.
By the fall of
2020, every county will have access to an enhanced multidisciplinary
team, made up of professionals from adult protective services, agencies
that help older people, law enforcement and criminal justice, health
care and financial services. Team members will coordinate investigations
and come up with ways to stop or prevent elder abuse. Teams also will
have a forensic accountant who can follow a money trail.
New
York is calling the enhanced multidisciplinary teams initiative the
first in the nation, and it is funded by $8.4 million in federal and
state money. The initiative was announced last week by Gov. Andrew
Cuomo.
Each county will either have a team in its
jurisdiction or share one from a hub. Lifespan of Greater Rochester, the
state Office for the Aging and the New York City Elder Abuse Center are
collaborating on the initiative.
“It’s going to
get people to hopefully call in and we’ll have more cases that are
investigated, whether it goes criminal or not,” said Art Mason, director
of the Upstate Elder Abuse Center at Lifespan. “More victims are going
to be identified, and these cases will be more thoroughly investigated
because of all the people in the room.”
Monroe
County has had such a team since for the past four years. Last year, it
reviewed about 20 percent of the 150 financial exploitation cases
handled by Lifespan.
Sprinkling hints of abuse
But a number of seniors are reluctant to acknowledge the abuse.
“They’re
embarrassed; they’re afraid,” said Debra Kostiw, president of Home
Helpers of Rochester, which provides light housekeeping and other
nonmedical services to seniors.
“The person that’s
being abused is going to give subtle hints that there’s something going
on,” she said. “It’s really important that the average person, the
neighbor, the mailman, the hairdresser, the bank teller listen for these
sprinkles.”
Kostiw said she didn’t find out until
her mother died in March — a few days before her mother was slated to
come back home to Monroe County — that the woman was allegedly being
financially and physically abused by her son and daughter-in-law.
Eleanor
McGarigle had gone with her son to his home in Michigan a couple of
years ago. But the friends she’d made over a lifetime in Fairport kept
in touch. At her funeral, several of them came up Kostiw and shared
snippets of their conversations.
One recounted that McGarigle said her daughter-in-law attacked her. Did Kostiw know, the woman asked.
Another said she called only during the day, when she knew no one else was home and McGarigle was free to talk.
“
‘What do you mean, do I know?’” Kostiw said she replied. “I was like,
'Come on, this can’t be happening.' … I own a home care business and
this happened to my own mother. If I can miss it, anybody can miss it.”
McGarigle
was killed when the car driven by her son crashed, said Kostiw, who is
using her business to raise awareness among professionals and others in
the community about signs of potential abuse.
Most abuse not reported
Even
though the situation with Kostiw’s mother happened in Michigan, it’s
likely similar scenarios are playing out in Finger Lakes counties and
could be referred to the multidisciplinary teams.
According to a state-funded study published in 2011, for every reported case of abuse, 23 others were not.
“The
numbers are going up,” said Jennifer Meagher, owner of Senior Life LLC,
geriatric care management nurses. “Families are going to be more and
more responsible. We hear an awful lot of talk about let’s let elders
age in place. These are some of the situations that can happen.”
Lifespan’s
Mason said the multidisciplinary team will respond to suspected abuse
happening to an elder living in the community, not in a facility. The
success, though, depends on someone’s willingness to call their county’s
adult protective services.
Mason said that once a
call is received, a case worker will start to gather information,
including interviews with the person reporting, the victim if that’s
possible, and financial planners or other people who are relevant to the
situation. The information will be brought to the team, which will come
up with a plan for investigating the allegations.
“Some
people don’t want help,” Mason said. “They say, ‘I don’t care, it’s my
grandson, I realize I’ll lose my house and won’t have any money, but
he’s the only family I’ve got. … I don’t want your help.’ And there’s
nothing we can do about it.”
PSINGER@Gannett.com
To report elder abuse
Residents
in Monroe, Wayne, Ontario, Livingston, Genesee, Orleans, Seneca, Cayuga
and Yates counties can call Lifespan at (585) 244-8400.
Full Article & Source:
Woman who cares for elderly finds out her mother was being financially abused
1 comment:
It can happen to anyone.
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