DOJ Report to Congress Details Fight Against Nursing Home Neglect, Elder Abuse and Financial Fraud

Federal regulators have made significant progress combating elder abuse and financial fraud since July 2023, according to a new report.

By: Michael Adams 

In recent years, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has been working in tandem with federal, state, local and Tribal law enforcement agencies to target financial fraud and abuse involving elderly Americans, as well as their risks of nursing home neglect due to grossly inadequate care in long-term facilities.

Older individuals face an increased risk of falling prey to various financial fraud schemes, and they face particular dangers of abuse at the hands of caretakers, both at home and in nursing home facilities.

As a result of these dangers, a number of new federal programs have been started, and legacy programs have continued gaining traction, to help curb the physical and financial abuse of elderly Americans.

Last month, the DOJ released its sixth Annual Report to Congress on Activities to Prevent Elder Fraud and Abuse, which outlines programs the agency has put in place to combat elderly fraud and abuse, as well as how those programs performed from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024.

National Nursing Home Initiative Addresses Elder Neglect

The DOJ report indicates that the agency’s Elder Justice Initiative is cooperating with 94 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the country to implement the National Nursing Home Initiative, which will help identify nursing homes that do not provide adequate staffing numbers or skill to provide for resident care.

The National Nursing Home Initiative also tracks and identifies nursing home facilities that do not adhere to basic nursing standards, or provide their residents with enough food, as well as those that use inappropriate physical and chemical restraints to sedate residents.

Government officials are already enforcing actions against nursing home facilities that have committed fraud, provided unnecessary medical services, or been unable to care for residents in the manner that the law requires.

The report also indicates the DOJ’s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) awarded nearly $6 million to 12 different organizations that will support local communities over a three year period, by providing services to elderly victims of abuse and exploitation.

In addition, the agency reports that between July 2023 and March 2024, more than 9,750 individuals over the age of 60 applied for compensation through the DOJ’s Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Formula Grant Program.

VOCA addresses the emotional and financial needs of crime victims, by advocating for them and assisting with medical services, counseling, transportation, funeral and burial costs, as well as lost work. During the reporting period, VOCA awarded more than $79 million specifically to organizations that assist individuals who experience elder abuse.

The DOJ has also pursued at least 300 enforcement actions against hundreds of fraud defendants, returning more than $31 million to elderly victims of financial scams during the covered period. In fact, the report points out that the National Elder Fraud Hotline has fielded more than 139,000 calls across all 50 states, as well as 44 other countries and territories since it was launched in 2020.

“Raising public awareness is an essential part of the Department’s efforts to combat and reduce elder abuse, neglect, financial exploitation and fraud,” said Andy Mao, National Elder Justice Coordinator Deputy Director of the Civil Fraud Section. “With so much elder abuse hidden from the public eye, it is imperative that we arm our communities with the information and red flags they need to identify and recognize potential abuse when they see it.”

Nursing Home Abuse Affects All Americans

Nursing home neglect and elder abuse affect thousands of individuals. However, the damage associated with these issues is not confined to the elderly.

Recent studies have revealed that many nursing homes accused of neglect are overbilling taxpayers, with some facilities, termed “opportunistic systems,” overcharging Medicare by $4.3 billion. Since Medicare bills are covered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which is funded by U.S. tax dollars, these overcharges impact all American taxpayers.

Staffing has been another area of increasing concern for nursing home facilities, with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services publishing a report earlier this year, which indicated that less than one-third of U.S. nursing homes have enough nurses on staff.

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DOJ Report to Congress Details Fight Against Nursing Home Neglect, Elder Abuse and Financial Fraud

Local civil rights activist arrested for elder neglect; Body cam footage released

by: Katelyn Ogle

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – A well-known activist has been released from the jail he often speaks out against. He now faces charges including elder abuse, neglect and exploitation.

Michael Washington was booked into the Oklahoma County Detention Center on Monday and is now out of jail.

Wednesday, body cam footage and court documents revealed what police found at 94-year-old Katherine Burkhalter’s OKC home in July.

Police: These living conditions are deplorable

Washington: In my house?

Police: We are taking her

Washington: You ain’t taking taking a g****** thing.

Police: She’s leaving this facility

Washington: I want to see your chief, supervisor, and all that.

Washington told News 4 he’s cared for Katherine for 10 years while living with her for free.

According to court documents, Police said nurses called them when Washington wouldn’t let them inside to care for Katherine. The woman’s son was also there.

“I am the one who called the police. I was belligerent when I saw his face. I said, ‘Boy, you’re not getting in this doggone house. It’s been 11 years since you’ve seen your mother,’” said Washington.

Washington told News 4 he told hospice nurses to call the police and that’s how they could get inside.

“We need to get in there and give her some fluids,” said a police officer on the body camera footage.

Court documents showed Katherine’s “vital signs were dangerously low.” “Katherine was less than 70 pounds and was described as malnourished.” 

“When they pulled her out, it was 105 degrees in the house with a working air conditioner,” said Byron Burkhalter, Katherine’s son. “The last time we could tell that she had been changed was three days before. She was in her own fluids.”

 “[Hospice comes] in three, four times a day. And at that time for her to come in it was [the nurse’s] time to change,” said Washington.

Court documents said Washington would leave Katherine when she needed constant care.

Police: Without you being here, there has to be someone 24/7.
Washington: She already…

Police: It doesn’t matter. That’s neglect.

Police: I’m going to have an ambulance come and transport her to the hospital. If you want to come meet us at the hospital. Once the doctors decide what’s going on with her condition, then we’ll go from there.

Washington: Now we’re talkin’.

Off camera, Katherine’s son said his mother gained 17 pounds since she left the home.

“Haha! That is a joke! Haha! ‘They’re saying’ Where’s their proof at?” said Washington. “If she did, maybe they have some substances that they can give her.”

“These nurses, coming in here daily, two or three times a day for six months, didn’t feel that at that time she needed to leave. Somebody wasn’t doing their job then. It seems like, to me, they should be in jail,” said Washington.

Washington said he plans to file a lawsuit against the city, officers, and Katherine’s son.

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Local civil rights activist arrested for elder neglect; Body cam footage released

Woman who beat elderly husband with 3-hole puncher sent to prison

COBB COUNTY, Ga. - A Cobb County woman is spending the next several years in prison after pleading guilty to charges that she beat her elderly husband with a three-hole punch.

Barbara Joanne Long, 69, admitted in court last week that over a period of three days in August 2016, she used a three-hole punch, a boot, and her fists and feet to attack her husband, who was left lying on the floor in their living room with multiple facial fractures.

Long waited two days to call 911.

The couple had been married for more than two decades, and they were arguing about long-standing marital issues when the beatings took place.

William Long died in early 2017 at age 72.

Barbara Long pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated assault family violence, one count of elder neglect, and four counts of elder abuse.

“This was a tough case, with strong factors in aggravation and mitigation,” said Senior ADA Jason Marbutt, who prosecuted the case and also is chairman of the Cobb Elder Abuse Task Force. “Justice was done.”

On Friday afternoon, Cobb Superior Court Judge A. Gregory Poole sentenced Barbara Long to 10 years, with five years to serve in prison and the balance on probation. 

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Woman who beat elderly husband with 3-hole puncher sent to prison

Thompson Falls man convicted of elder abuse

SUPERIOR — A Thompson Falls man was convicted of neglecting an elderly man with dementia and illegally gaining ownership of his money and property.

After a three-day trial, a Mineral County jury found Daryl Enos Strang guilty on Jan. 15 of abusing or neglecting a victim and exploitation of an elderly person.
 

Prosecutors alleged Strang obtained power of attorney from Ben Poat and used it to take Poat’s 103-acre ranch, two Jeeps and a limited edition Harley Davidson motorcycle via quit claim deed and drain $142,000 from his bank account over the course of a year.

District Judge Ed McLean allowed Strang to remain free on a $50,000 bond until his March 9 sentencing.

One of Poat’s sisters told Mineral County authorities in September 2013 that she believed Strang was exploiting her brother. A social worker who visited Poat’s house found he had been left alone with no other food except milk and peanut butter.

In November 2013, a judge invalidated a 2012 will that left Poat’s estate to Strang, ordered the return of Poat’s personal property and revoked Strang’s power of attorney.

Attorney Lance Jasper, who was appointed as Poat’s guardian, said he was able to find someone to buy Poat’s ranch and allow him to live there until he died of cancer in August 2014 at 84. Jasper said the purchase price helped pay for Poat’s end-of-life care.

“His one wish was to die in his own house and we were able to make that happen,” Jasper said.

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Thompson Falls man convicted of elder abuse

Did Plymouth man take his dead mom into bank to make cash withdrawal?

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PLYMOUTH, Minn. (KMSP) - County social workers have investigated David Vanzo for elderly neglect and financial exploitation of his mother, and now, so are Plymouth police.

Detectives wonder if he brought his mother to the bank to make a withdrawal -- after she was already dead.

Vanzo denies the allegation.

"My mother and I had an agreement," he tells Fox 9. "I took care of my mom for years, I'm the good guy here, not the bad guy."

Caryl Vanzo died two weeks ago, just days before she turned 91.

But when Plymouth police arrived at the home, they were overwhelmed by the stench of urine and feces. They found the woman in bed, wearing a robe and fur coat, her boots covered in feces.

Police arrested David for elderly neglect.

"My mother, she wouldn't eat in the end," David says.

David did, however, take his mother to the bank that day. They rode there together in a taxi, seven hours before he reported her dead.

He took out $850 in her name. But bank employees said Caryl's feet were dragging under her wheelchair. A search warrant citing those employees says she "did not move" and employees "couldn't tell if she was breathing."

A neighbor who saw them leave in the taxi also wonders if she was dead.

"I don't know if she was unconscious, or not alive," the neighbor says.

The Plymouth police chief says Hennepin County Adult Protection Services made an in-home visit in 2012. But authorities found Caryl lucid and able-bodied, and she told them she wanted to stay with her son. The question is if the situation deteriorated between then and two weeks ago.

"If it was such a big deal why didn't they take her out of here?" David says.

But authorities investigated David for financial exploitation on at least two occasions. There was a reverse mortgage his mother couldn't explain to the tune of $118,000, cash withdrawals of $47,500, and another for $25,600.

David says the money came from a joint bank account, and that everything he did, he did for his mother.

"I love my mother very much," he says. "I gave my life to keep my mother alive. Look at my eyes."

Last year, there were 9,853 calls in Hennepin County reporting vulnerable adult maltreatment, and 4,409 of those cases involved non-licensed facilities, such as home care.

Those calls led to about 714 active field investigations.

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Did Plymouth man take his dead mom into bank to make cash withdrawal?

Former Edmonson nursing home employees arraigned

Three former employees at Genesis HealthCare’s Edmonson Center nursing home pleaded not guilty Monday to several charges stemming from allegations of residential abuse.

Jerry Snyder, Kelly Duvall and Kayla Kinser will return to Edmonson Circuit Court on Dec. 15 following their arraignments.

Snyder, 30, of Leitchfield, is charged with 14 counts each of first-degree criminal abuse, knowingly abusing or neglecting an adult and fourth-degree assault, plus two counts of second-degree wanton endangerment.

Duvall, 49, of Sweeden, and Kinser, 22, of Leitchfield, each face charges of four counts of first-degree criminal abuse, knowingly abusing or neglecting an adult and fourth-degree assault, along with two counts of second-degree wanton endangerment.

The indictments against the one-time employees accuse them of abusing two women who reside at the nursing home between August 2013 and February.

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Former Edmonson nursing home employees arraigned

Communities Combating Elder Abuse Issues In Texas

Waxahachie, TX (Law Firm Newswire) July 22, 2013 – Statewide, there were close to 60,000 victims of elder abuse, exploitation or neglect in 2012.

There are more than 2.4 million Texans age 65 and older. Investigations found that 40 percent of the individuals abusing, neglecting or financially exploiting the elderly were the victims’ adult children.

According to Ross Jackson, the regional director for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) Region 7, many of the cases included neglectful self-care, elderly individuals who were locked inside and unable to get out, and bed-ridden elders who were not properly cared for. Elder abuse and neglect runs the gamut from overt physical abuse to general neglect, said Jackson.

There were at least 3,000 suspected cases of elder neglect or abuse in Travis County last year. After investigations were completed, almost 2,000 cases were confirmed. But the number of abuse cases in Williamson County are lower than average, in large part, Jackson says, because the number of higher-income households means more elderly people can afford to pay for outside care services, and because of the concerted community efforts of law enforcement and elder advocates.

“Elder abuse is widespread throughout the state, as well as the country, but generally varies by income level,” stated John Hale, a Dallas elder law attorney. “Communities with more funds include more funds for senior support and outreach.”

In Williamson County, there were a little more than 700 suspected cases of elder neglect or abuse. More than 540 of those cases were later confirmed, said officials with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Jackson applauds the anti-elder abuse efforts of the Williamson County law enforcement and government leaders.

The assistant commissioner for Adult Protective Services at DFPS, Beth Engelking, stated that the signs of elder abuse, neglect and financial exploitation should be recognizable to everyone so that they can report them. But more commonly, Engelking added, are situations where disabled or elderly individuals are not able to adequately care for themselves and need support.

Communities successfully combating  elder abuse issues typically put the same basic systems in place, including: developing a local Adult Protective Services group; publicizing services for the elderly and disabled such as meal delivery, transportation, pet and yard care; and encouraging neighbors to get to know each other, especially cross-generational neighbors, through annual block parties and other outreach efforts.

John Hale is a Dallas elder law attorney and Dallas estate planning lawyer with The Hale Law Firm.

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Communities Combating Elder Abuse Issues In Texas

One in Ten Elders is Abused or Neglected

Source:
AmericaNowNews.com