Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel vows to protect seniors

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel following her elder abuse listening tour 
stop at the Clinton Township offices of the Macomb Intermediate School District.

When Dawn Bartolomeo’s health began to suffer as she struggled to care for her 73-year-old mother who was also in declining health, she entrusted her care to a local private pay senior facility and it’s something she quickly came to regret.

In a matter of weeks Bartolomeo, of Washington Township, said she found her mother was being isolated, her cell phone was destroyed after she called her daughter to report neglect, her medications weren’t given and there were bedbugs everywhere.

“I am her advocate and I will tell you the squeaky wheel gets hurt not heard; if they speak or squeak, they get hurt,” Bartolomeo said. “The workers were recording that she got her medication but they were taking it themselves. I took her to Beaumont and they verified through a blood test that none of her medications were in her system.”

This was just one of hundreds of stories people shared during the Michigan Elder Abuse Task Force’s recent traveling listening tour which logged more than 2,600 miles across the state this summer.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel along with Supreme Court Justices Megan Cavanagh and Richard Bernstein, embarked on the 12-stop tour to better focus and guide the efforts of the Task Force on the issues and concerns that impact Michigan seniors.

“This listening tour was about providing a voice to those who don’t often have a chance to speak up and speak out,” Nessel said, in a recent press release.

In total, nearly 1,000 seniors and advocates attended at least one tour stop and more than 10,000 residents tuned in online via Facebook Live.

Macomb County stop well attended

The tour was at the MISD in Clinton Township on July 22 and the two-hour session had nearly two dozen people sharing their concerns with the panel.

Nessel began by telling the audience that the Task Force was formed to create real solutions to the challenges the elderly population faces and very soon there will be nearly two million people in Michigan over the age of 65.

“My office has the legal authority to intervene in any case in the state and we can petition the court for what we believe to be the right course of action,” Nessel said, noting that anyone with an issue is encouraged to contact her office with the case number and relevant information.

Guardianship was a recurring topic as people stepped to the microphone to share their stories regarding probate courts taking over and awarding guardianship, many times to non-family members.

Adult licensing foster care was another hot topic. One woman told the panel it seems there aren’t any real regulations for those and even if they are closed down due to a reported incident they just reopen somewhere else.

When asked if hoarding is considered a form of elder abuse Nessel said yes, anything that affects the health, welfare and well being of a senior constitutes concern.

A woman from Macomb Township wondered who should be contacted when elder abuse is suspected and Nessel said the local police department is the first place to go.

When Bartolomeo took the floor, she provided a strong voice for her mother and many others stating she’s part of the sandwich generation, those who are dealing with grandkids and elderly parents all at once.

“I’ve lived this, I’ve lived what I hear today and it’s very painful,” Bartolomeo said.

After reporting her mother’s abuse including the theft of her medication to the senior facility and asking to see the licenses for the nursing staff Bartolomeo said they simply released her mother from the center. Currently in a rehab facility after suffering a nervous breakdown, Bartolomeo said her mother will be moving back to her house until she can find a safe place for her.

At the conclusion of the session, Judge Bernstein said the task force is “truly going to do our best to make things better,” including addressing the guardianship issues.

When contacted following the listening tour stop Bartolomeo said sharing the truth in a public forum was something she needed to do because there are no regulations on many of the senior living facilities when it comes to medication distribution and care.

“They hire people off the streets without certification; they use an LPN license to register with the state of Michigan then allow anybody to use the license without being licensed,” Bartolomeo said. “It’s a joke.”

Attorney General’s office to take action

Following appearances across the state the officials involved seemed to be both enlightened and determined to begin addressing the issues of elder abuse in Michigan.

“I appreciate the courage of each and every person who spoke and shared their stories of pain and loss,” Bernstein said. “Your strength in speaking out is the inspiration for the next step— turning words into action.”

“I sincerely believe that when we are done with these initiatives, we will have made more progress in protecting our seniors than we have in the last 30 years,” Nessel added.

Dan Olsen, spokesman for the Attorney General, said the most challenging aspect of the tour was ensuring that everyone had an opportunity to speak. When time was short with the full panel the staff stayed after to speak with all those who wanted to provide additional comments and ask questions.

“We received a lot of valuable feedback from the communities we visited during our listening tours,” Olsen said.

The three top concerns shared by seniors and advocates alike included:

• Full-time and court-appointed guardianships

• Selling the personal property of a senior who has been declared a ward of the court

• Isolation from their families

“We fully intend to incorporate these concerns as we prepare to properly address the troubling issue of elder abuse here in the state,” Olsen said.

For more information on Michigan’s Elder Abuse Task Force, visit Michigan.gov/ElderAbuse. To reach the hotline call 800-242-2873.

Signs of elder abuse:

 

• Fear of caregivers
• Left without care for long periods of time
• Misuse of funds or property
• Unexplained bruises
• Verbal abuse (threats, ridicule or cursing)

Courtesy of Michigan's Elder Abuse Task Force

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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel vows to protect seniors

Officials look to reduce 'perfect crime of 21st Century'

Red Smith

By Jameson Cook

One speaker called it the “perfect crime of the 21^st Century.”

Another speaker, Dawn Trotto, said, “It’s only going to get worse because of all the baby boomers retiring.”

They were referring to elder-adult abuse, which was the subject of a “listening tour” staged Monday by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, accompanied by two state Supreme Court justices and two lawmakers.

Nessel is conducting the statewide tour to suggest new laws to address the increasing financial, physical and emotional abuse on older people from family members, duplicitous friends or the Probate Court system. The new laws would emanate from the Michigan Elder Abuse Task Force Nessel created in March, less than three months after taking office.

Nessel promised at the fifth tour stop that when the laws are passed, “We will have made more progress in this area than we have in the past 30 years."

She pointed out a recent Macomb County case her office handled is “emblematic” of the problems within the guardianship/conservatorship system. The case involved the guardianship of a Utica couple that was given to a Clinton Township company over the family late last year. The family filed a lawsuit in circuit court and regained control in June.

“I don’t mean to speak out of turn, but in my opinion that was everything that is wrong with the system and all the reasons why we need to work so hard to fix it,” Nessel said.

Nessel was joined by Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein, concurring that guardianships and conversatorships are granted too easily, out of proportion to their impact. Someone under a guardian and conservator has less rights than a criminal prisoner, losing their ability to make medical and financial decisions, they pointed out.

“There is no more substantial way that a person really loses their rights in this country then to have a full guardianship placed over them,” Nessel said. “In many ways it’s more restrictive than for a person who is convicted of a very serious crime and placed in the Department of Corrections.

“What we were seeing is cases where you would see more thought and deliberation put into deciding whether a person violated a speeding law or traffic-citation case than you were in a hearing involving a petition for guardianship.”

The Utica case prompted Nessel’s office to investigate decisions by Macomb Probate Judge Kathryn George, and the case was transferred to another judge. Nessel after the event declined to comment on the probe into George.

During the two-hour event at the Clinton Township offices of the Macomb Intermediate School District, 22 people spoke in addition to remarks by Nessel, Bernstein and Justice Megan Cavanagh.

Speakers described various versions of abuse they either witnessed or have suffered.

Two people suggested there needs to be mediation or counseling for families who are fighting in court over issues to help prevent forcing a probate judge to award the guardianship/conservatorship to a company or lawyer over a family member.

“Why don’t the courts refer it to an objective third party for mediation between the two families?” a woman said.

Some said more regulation needs to be placed on caretakers who are hired by a guardian or guardianship company.

Multiple people talked about “isolation” and “retaliation” sometimes practiced by caretakers. When a caretaker learns about a complaint by their subject or subject's family, he or she sometimes will retaliate by limiting or eliminating contact, they said.

“The squeaky wheel gets hurt,” one woman said.

Two people suggested extending mandatory reporting for some professions from child abuse to elder abuse.

Bernstein questioned a nurse from Oakland County about how guardians charge clients for their services. She said in her frequent dealings with attorney guardians she rarely talks to the actual guardian but rather a secretary – and typically only for a couple of minutes. But the client gets charged as if the guardian was involved and the charge typically is listed as a 15-minute or 30-minute call.

Alison Hirschel, director of the Michigan Elder Justice Initiation, a nonprofit organization, said afterward the complaints are consistent with ones she has heard elsewhere.

“I think it was a powerful setting but reflective of what we’ve seen for years,” she said. “There are nuances and off-shoots to every issue. There is so much to be done."

She said a big problem that was mentioned was unlicensed care-taking facilities. Some elderly people and their families may believe a residential facility is licensed when it is not.

“We don’t even know how many unlicensed facilities there are,” Hirschel said.

At the start of the event, Nessel listed other areas the task force will look at, such as requiring public administrators, who handle cases that families don’t, to be bonded and certified and meet professional standards.

The task force is considering a mandatory evidentiary hearing for a judge to award a temporary guardian.

Also seated at the front table were legislative task force members state Sens. Paul Wojno, D-Warren, and Michael MacDonald, R-Macomb Township, who said afterward they will work on the bi-partisan effort to get a bill package passed.

Attendees included state Rep. Doug Wozniak, R-Shelby Township, an elder law attorney who said he and a Democratic representative have sponsored a bill package that includes elder law reforms.

He said he believes reforms in his bills don’t conflict with those the task force is considering.

The trio was scheduled to conduct a similar event, Monday afternoon at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor and Tuesday morning at the Farmington Community Library.

To report abuse, call 855-444-3911. To file a criminal complaint for abuse, contact your local police department.

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Officials look to reduce 'perfect crime of 21st Century'

Attorney General Brings Elder Abuse Listening Tour To SWMI

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is in the middle of a 12-stop tour around the state hearing experiences of elder abuse. She and state Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein were at the Berrien County Health Department Monday morning for the third such session.

“By going to every corner of this state, we learn as much as we possibly can so that we know that we’re doing the right thing as we move forward as we move forward in order to try to fill these initiatives and to try to provide the very best solutions we can to the problems that are facing seniors all around the state,” said Nessel.

Justice Bernstein says elder abuse, which is often either physical abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation, is a much bigger problem than many have thought.

“This is something that affects literally everyone,” said Bernstein. “Either themselves, someone in their family, or someone they know. This is one of those issues where we can make a difference for literally everybody.”

Berrien County Treasurer Bret Witkowski applauds their efforts, telling WSJM News he sees evidence of senior being abused financially almost every week. He says one issue he has, however, is the state is looking at reviewing conservators in charge of the finances of elderly residents every three years, which he says isn’t enough.

“In Michigan, the law says after three years (of not paying property taxes), your house is foreclosed on. So it needs to be followed up, I think, every year,” Witkowski said. ”

Nessel and Justice Megan Cavanagh will be in Kalamazoo on Tuesday for the fourth listening session. The Attorney General and the two justices established the Michigan Elder Abuse Task Force earlier this year.
 
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Attorney General Brings Elder Abuse Listening Tour To SWMI

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel visiting Oakland County during Elder Abuse Listening Tour

By Mark Cavitt

Attorney General Dana Nessel speaks during a press conference on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019 at the Frank Kelley Law Library in the Williams Building in Lansing, Mich. Nessel gave updates on Michigan State University, the catholic church and Flint water investigations. (Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP)

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel will join with two Michigan Supreme Court justices during her 10-city Elder Abuse Listening Tour.

The listening tour will provide a brief overview of the state's new Elder Abuse Task Force and give seniors the opportunity to provide feedback and offer comments to help the task force address the issue of elder abuse, which often goes unreported and unrecognized.

According to the Attorney General's Office, more than 73,000 older adults in Michigan are victims of elder abuse. They experience physical abuse, financial exploitation, emotional abuse, or neglect.

Nessel said the listening tour is about providing a voice to those who don’t often have a chance to speak up and speak out.

“We want to hear directly from our state’s seniors about the issues and challenges they face so we can make certain our new task force is prepared to properly address the troubling issue of elder abuse," said Nessel.

Justices Megan Cavanagh and Richard Bernstein will join Nessel is hearing from Michigan's seniors during the tour, which has a scheduled stop in Farmington on Tuesday, July 23.

Listening tour stops

• Grand Rapids - 1 p.m. Friday, June 14 at Kent County Courthouse
• Traverse City - 10:30 a.m. Friday, June 21 at Traverse Area District Library
• Benton Harbor – 10 a.m. Monday, July 8 at the Berrien County Health Department
• Kalamazoo – 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 9 at the Kalamazoo County Juvenile Home
• New Baltimore – 9 a.m. Monday, July 22 at the 42^nd District Court
• Ann Arbor – 2:30 p.m. Monday, July 22 at Washtenaw Community College
• Farmington – 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 23 at the Farmington Community Library

The Attorney General’s Elder Abuse Task Force, which was formed in March, is made up of nearly 50 different organizations including law enforcement, state agencies, the Michigan House, Senate and Congressional delegation, and advocacy groups.

The task force's initiatives, of which nine have already been created, include requiring professional guardians to become certified, developing statutory basic rights for families, reviewing the process of a guardian removing a ward from his or her home, and limiting the number of wards per guardian.

Michigan residents are being urged to report any signs or concerns about elder abuse to Nessel's office, which has established an elder abuse hotline for anonymous tips: 844-24-ABUSE (844-242-2873) or online at www.mi.gov/elderabuse.

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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel visiting Oakland County during Elder Abuse Listening Tour