Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Michigan among top states with best elder-abuse protections

By Gina Joseph

Late last July, the Michigan Attorney General’s Office announced charges against a 23-year-old Clinton Township woman as part of a statewide listening tour and crackdown on elder abuse.

The woman was charged with one count of 4th-degree vulnerable adult abuse for neglecting to follow the care plan for an 89-year-old resident at a Bloomfield Hills-based nursing home by not assisting her into a wheelchair, resulting in a fall and injuries.

She later pleaded no contest to the charges and was fined and placed on probation six months.

At that time, it was the ninth case of elder abuse brought by the attorney general’s office that year.

Since then, the attorney general’s office has been pushing for a package of 18 bills to strengthen Michigan laws against elder abuse.

“It’s a huge problem,” said Scott Teter, who is chief of the financial crimes division for Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and leads and state’s Elder Abuse Task Force.

Every Day Occurrence


Abuse happens every day and takes many forms but vulnerable older Americans are among the easiest targets for this kind of misconduct, especially those who are women, have disabilities and rely on others for care.

Seniors are very trusting, too.

Dennis Burgio of Macomb lost his entire savings because a close friend took advantage of their relationship.

"He was like the son I never had," Burgio said, in a news release from the state's Attorney General's Office. Last March, Burgio joined Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, several Supreme Court justices and state legislators in announcing the formation of the Michigan Elder Abuse Task Force.
"I trusted him unconditionally," Burgio said, of his friend. "We loved him."

As a result, Burgio was forced to postpone his retirement for at least five years.

"I am fortunate," he said. "By the grace of God I can continue to work to rebuild some of my savings. It is more difficult because my wife has health issues. However, our family is supportive and able to help us."

According to Nessel, more than 73,000 older adults in Michigan are victims of elder abuse annually, although that number has increased since 2019, to nearly 100,000.

"They experience physical abuse, financial exploitation, emotional abuse, or neglect. The symptoms and treatment of abuse against our most senior population are complex and demand a concerted effort by this state to tackle what is an often unrecognized and unreported social problem," Nessel said.

"That's why we have brought together dozens of different organizations to work collectively and collaboratively to tackle the challenge," she added.

Defining Elder Abuse


Elder abuse is a general term referring to several types of harm inflicted on older or vulnerable adults who are unable to protect themselves due to a mental or physical impairment or advanced age.

Perpetrators can include children, other family members, spouses, caregivers, and staff at nursing homes, assisted living, and other facilities.

Types of elder abuse include: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, confinement, passive neglect, willful deprivation and financial exploitation.

"Each year, approximately 1 in 10 Americans, age 65 and over experience some form of elder abuse. Some estimates range as high as 5 million elders who are abused each year," according to the National Council on Aging (NCA). "One study estimated that only 1 in 14 cases of abuse are reported to authorities."

A snapshot of numbers compiled by county by Adult Protective Services, a part of the Michigan Health and Human Services Department, shows those reported.

For Fiscal 2019, Adult Protective Services received 49,483 referrals across Michigan of which 9,319 cases were investigated. The agency found 739 cases of physical abuse, 680 cases of emotional abuse, 2,496 cases of neglect, and 1,301 cases of financial exploitation.

In Oakland County, Adult Protective Services counted 661 cases of abuse including 54 cases of physical abuse, 39 cases of emotional abuse, 268 cases of neglect, and 96 cases of financial exploitation.

In Macomb County, Adult Protective Services counted 519 cases of abuse of all kinds, including 54 cases of physical abuse, 33 cases of emotional abuse, 131 cases of neglect, and 72 cases of financial exploitation.

Proactive Approach


Elder abuse is a problem that is likely to grow with America's increasingly aging nation.

The United States Census Bureau expects the nation's elderly population to grow from 43.1 million to 85.7 million in 2050, much to the credit of Baby Boomers, who began turning 65 in 2011.

Most states recognize the problem but only some are reacting to it.

Fortunately, Michigan is ranked among the top five states working to strengthen elder abuse protections, both in the Legislature and through an attorney general push for enforcement when incidents are discovered.

Its ranking came from a study by WalletHub.com, which compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 16 key metrics related to elder abuse.

The data set ranged from share of elder-abuse, gross-neglect and exploitation complaints to presence of working groups and financial elder-abuse laws. Each metric was scored on a 100-point scale, with 100 representing the best protection against elder abuse. Each state's weighted average across all metrics was then used to determine an overall score and the rank-order for states.

The top states were: Massachusetts (score of 59.91), followed by Wisconsin (58.38), Rhode Island (56.15), Michigan (55.37) and Iowa (54.34).

New Jersey (28.05) was ranked among the states having the worst protection against elder abuse followed by South Carolina (29.35), California (29.92), Montana (32.46) and Nevada (35.86).

Other elder-abuse protection ranks for Michigan, one being the best and 25 being average:

• 8th - Elder-abuse, gross-neglect and exploitation complaints
• 14th - Total expenditures on elder-abuse prevention
• 18th - Nursing-homes quality
• 3rd - Total expenditures on legal-assistance development
• 1st - Financial elderly-abuse laws

Elder Laws


The rankings do not surprise attorney Patrick Simasko of Simasko Law, and professor of business law at Oakland University, and elder law at Cooley Law School.

He has spent more than 20 years helping older Michiganders plan for their future, receive the financial and medical benefits available to them and represent their interests in court.

"It's not just our laws but the whole awareness of it, and how they are educating our police departments and adult protective services," Simasko said.

Michigan's task force has more than 30 different organizations including law enforcement, state agencies, the Michigan House, Senate and Congressional delegation, and advocacy groups committed to stopping elder abuse.

Since its launch, Michigan's attorney general has filed nine elder abuse cases in several counties, including Oakland and Macomb, and created the first-ever statewide incident report for vulnerable adult abuse.

The Vulnerable Adult Incident Report will help law enforcement officers, and prosecutors identify report and prosecute instances of elder and vulnerable adult abuse.

Four members of the task force and Michigan's legislature including Republican chairs of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, Sen. Peter Lucido and Rep. Graham Filler along with Democratic legislators Paul Wojno and Rep. Brian Elder have also identified laws that need to be strengthened or introduced.

Among the laws in a package awaiting approval is House Bill 5131, which is expected to be a real game changer, in its ability to protect the financial assets of seniors and vulnerable adults. If passed, it will allow broker-dealers and investment advisors to report suspected cases of financial exploitation.

"If their client is being financially exploited, they absolutely should be allowed to report it," said Simasko, who has represented many family members who have reported exploitation of a senior, by another relative or caregiver.

FYI

Michigan residents are urged to report any signs or concerns about elder abuse to the attorney general's office, which has established an elder abuse hotline for anonymous tips: 855-444-3911 or online at mi.gov/elderabuse.

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Michigan among top states with best elder-abuse protections

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