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

New law by Crowe denies inheritance to those who abuse elderly family members

SPRINGFIELD – In an effort to further protect senior citizens, an initiative by State Senator Rachelle Crowe (D-Glen Carbon) to deny inheritance to those convicted of assaulting their elderly family members was signed into law last week.

“It’s disheartening that we need legislation such as this to prevent family members from taking advantage of their elders,” Crowe said. “Seniors are targeted every day for their estate, and I’m proud to put this legislation forward to prevent abusers from benefitting after committing this serious crime.”

Under the current Elder Abuse and Neglect Act, a person convicted of financial exploitation, abuse or neglect of an elderly person is prohibited from benefitting from the victim’s estate. Crowe’s measure expands the law to include assault, aggravated assault, battery and aggravated battery against people over 60 years old.

“Every day, we see the devastating effects of abuse of senior citizens, often by family members,” said Tom Gibbons, Madison County State’s Attorney. “I’m thankful to Senator Crowe and our legislators passing this important measure to prevent abusers from profiting from their abuse.”

Crowe has championed other protective legislation for seniors by creating the state’s Elder Abuse Task Force. She plans to be a member of the task force and to study senior mistreatment and protective services and laws, and report the findings back to officials.

House Bill 347 is effective Jan. 1, 2020.

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New law by Crowe denies inheritance to those who abuse elderly family members

Bill protecting seniors passes Assembly

Assembly member Monica Wallace recently announced that legislation she authored to help protect seniors living independently under long-term managed-care plans has passed the Assembly (A.7458).

The passage of Wallace’s bill comes after World Elder Abuse Month and World Elder Abuse Day on June 15, which brought together communities around the world to re-commit to protecting older adults from financial, physical, mental and other forms of abuse.

“Many older New Yorkers require assistance from others in daily living,” said Wallace.

“Unfortunately, that leaves them vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. This measure ensures that seniors in long-term-care plans have an advocate looking out for their interests without having to give up their independence.”

The Long-Term-Care Ombudsman Program is an important resource for residents of nursing homes and other assisted living facilities to ensure they are receiving the care they require.

In addition, the Long-Term-Care Ombudsman Program is currently authorized to advocate on behalf of seniors living at home under long-term managed-care programs as a result of legislation Wallace introduced and passed in 2017 to renew the Long-Term-Care Ombudsman Program for managed long-term-care plans for two years.

However, without legislative action, it is set to expire in December of this year. This legislation extends the authorization of the Long-Term-Care Ombudsman Program to advocate on behalf of managed long-term-care participants through December 2021. For those seeking additional information or assistance, the Long-Term-Care Ombudsman Program can be reached at 1-855-582-6769.

Last month, Wallace joined Western New York leaders in Buffalo to recognize June as World Elder Abuse Month, bringing attention to the vulnerability and abuse that older adults are subjected to. In doing so, Wallace and her colleagues in government and non-profits aim to eradicate elder abuse in Western New York.

“The ombudsman program has proven itself to be critical resource in combatting elder abuse, and I’m proud to pass legislation to build upon its record of success,” said Wallace.

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Bill protecting seniors passes Assembly

What are lawmakers going to do to protect seniors and vulnerable adults?

It’s expected to take until the end of the year for the Minnesota Department of Health to tackle the backlog of complaints of maltreatment in the state’s assisted-living facilities.

In the meantime, lawmakers are expected to use recent recommendations from an elder abuse task force as a guide to craft new rules and regulations to help keep Minnesota’s most vulnerable citizens safe.

Gov. Mark Dayton says he’ll work with his new lieutenant governor, Republican Michelle Fischbach, and leaders in the GOP-led House and Senate to implement the task force recommendations.

They include:

• Expanding the rights of seniors, vulnerable adults and their families so they are empowered to report maltreatment and don’t fear retaliation.
• Strengthening criminal and civil penalties for maltreatment so prosecutors can more easily charge perpetrators and victims can seek compensation when their rights are violated.
• Clearer standards for licensing of assisted-living facilities and for training of staff.
• Improving enforcement of existing laws through more frequent inspections and expedited investigations of abuse complaints.

Dayton has already ordered the state Department of Human Services to work with state health officials to improve the Office of Health Facility Complaints.

He also recently appointed Jan Malcolm as health commissioner to replace Dr. Ed Ehlinger, who resigned after the department’s failure to protect vulnerable adults came to light. Malcolm’s top priority is to improve the state’s oversight of assisted-living facilities.

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What are lawmakers going to do to protect seniors and vulnerable adults?

Cornyn, Klobuchar Bill to Protect Seniors from Financial Exploitation Passes Senate

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Court-Appointed Guardian Accountability and Senior Protection Act would help crack down on elder abuse by strengthening oversight and accountability for guardians and conservators

WASHINGTON – Today U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) announced that their bipartisan legislation to protect seniors from neglect and financial exploitation has passed the Senate. The Court-Appointed Guardian Accountability and Senior Protection Act would help crack down on elder abuse by strengthening oversight and accountability for guardians and conservators.

 

“This bill strengthens support for our nation’s senior citizens by ensuring they get the court-appointed care they need, while also protecting them from exploitation and fraud,” said Sen. Cornyn.  “I’m proud to join Sen. Klobuchar in standing up for enhanced oversight to ensure this critical program helps, not harms, America’s senior citizens.”

 

“While most court-appointed guardians and conservators are undoubtedly professional, caring, and law-abiding, there are some who use their position of power to exploit seniors,” Senator Klobuchar said. “This bipartisan legislation would strengthen oversight and accountability for those entrusted to with the well-being of seniors, and will protect those who are most vulnerable.” 

 

Cornyn and Klobuchar’s bipartisan legislation passed as part of the Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act. The Court-Appointed Guardian Accountability and Senior Protection Act makes courts eligible for an already existing program designed to protect seniors. Under the program, state courts would be able to apply for funding to assess the handling of proceedings relating to guardians and conservators, and then make the necessary improvements to their practices. For example, the courts could conduct background checks on potential guardians and conservators, or implement an electronic filing system in order to better monitor and audit conservatorships and guardianships.

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Cornyn, Klobuchar Bill to Protect Seniors from Financial Exploitation Passes Senate

Grassley's legislation would help seniors

The legislation that Sen. Chuck Grassley introduced would address many of the concerns expressed in the recent Register story by taking a comprehensive approach to improve prevention, awareness, investigation and prosecution of crimes targeting seniors [Could elder abuse be prosecuted more often, Oct. 2].

In 2014, my parents were victims of elderly fraud of more than $44,000 by Leading Health Source. On my own $21,000 was refunded and Iowa's attorney general sued Leading Health Source for the remainder $23,000 in Iowa civil courts.

Could more been done by involving the Iowa criminal courts? Leading Health Source was not charged with any criminal acts, which allows them to continue the abuse of elderly people.

Sen. Grassley’s bipartisan Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act, which received unanimous approval by the Senate Judiciary Committee, addresses many issues:

• Ensures that federal prosecutors in Iowa and across the country are tasked with, and equipped to, address the specific challenges of crimes against seniors. It also calls on the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission to develop agency-wide policies on elder justice in order to provide a consistent and effective response to these crimes.
• Increases criminal penalties and jail time for those who use telemarketing or email in their schemes to defraud seniors.
• Improves training for state and local governments to help communities across Iowa better prevent, investigate and prosecute these crimes, as well as helping victims to recover.
• Helps gain a better understanding of these crimes through improved documentation and information sharing so we can continue to develop the best prevention and response plans possible.

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Grassley's legislation would help seniors

PA group takes first steps to protect seniors

An advisory council moves quickly to implement initial measures to benefit seniors in the courts and financial matters.

 

Statewide reforms to improve protections and justice for older Pennsylvanians are in the works.

A state Supreme Court committee is examining the proposed expansion of a rule that allows the courts to preserve testimony of victims who might not be available to testify if a case languishes in the system.

The rule may be expanded to include victims whose age or illness, like dementia, might make it impossible for them to have their day in court.

The committee is also weighing the value of adding a box to a standardized arrest form that would indicate whether the victim is elderly, which could help to expedite those cases.

The state House Committee on Aging and Older Adult Services is considering a number of proposals that would enhance the safety net for seniors, including one that would mandate banks to report suspected financial exploitation of the elderly.

Another would establish a registry of people against whom allegations of elder abuse have been substantiated, to prevent known abusers from getting jobs where they would be alone with seniors.

Amendments to the Older Adults Protective Services Act could be sent to the House for consideration by fall, said Rep. Tim Hennessey, the Republican committee chairman representing Chester and Montgomery counties.

Much of the action is being driven by an advisory council that was formed about six months ago to implement recommendations made by the Supreme Court’s Elder Law Task Force.

Pennsylvania, with more than two million seniors, has the fourth largest percentage of elderly in the country. As the population ages, they become more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, and the court system becomes more difficult to navigate.

“It certainly presents issues that are unique to the court system,” said Superior Court Judge Paula Francisco Ott, who leads the advisory council. “We need to be certain that we address those issues ... in a manner that recognizes some of their limitations that have come with age and that we’re sensitive to them.”

The Advisory Council on Elder Justice in the Courts, mostly composed of judges, lawyers and senior advocates, began meeting shortly after the task force delivered its 130 recommendations in November.

The council has been identifying the most practical suggestions that can be implemented at little to no cost in order to make swift progress.

The group also formed a subcommittee on funding to analyze the costs of other initiatives and to identify potential funding sources.

“All these issues always come down to a funding discussion, and we don’t know where we are on [the state’s] overall general funds budget, so it’s a little difficult to say we’ll have money available for anything that the council wants to recommend,” Hennessey said.

Homeless at 90

When Karen Buck, executive director of the SeniorLAW Center in Philadelphia, thinks of why she has contributed time to the council’s work, she remembers a 90-year-old World War II veteran in Pennsylvania who was financially exploited.

He had been a relatively affluent and healthy man, but the turmoil left him homeless and frail.

To make matters worse, Buck said there were several delays to the trial. “The defendant was trying to live him out,” she said.

Buck said this situation is exactly why the rules on preserving testimony need to be expanded and encouraged in court proceedings involving seniors.

A requirement for banks to report suspected abuse or exploitation could also save seniors before they find themselves in this veteran’s situation.

Council members Hennessey and Ronald Costen, an attorney with Temple University’s Institute on Protective Services, said banking industry officials have resisted the designation as mandatory reporters because of the potential liability if bank employees were to fail to monitor and report.

But both men insisted that it was an important step to protect older adults. “You need to look at the records of older adults in real time, when the abuse or theft is occurring, so you can slow it down or stop it,” Costen said.

Maryland passed a law in 2012 requiring banks and credit unions to report suspicions of financial exploitation for people 65 and older. If they fail to report it within 24 hours, the banks face penalties of up to $5,000.

Test runs

The council is also keeping tabs on two pilot programs that could eventually serve as models in the state and possibly the nation.

In Philadelphia County, council member President Judge Sheila Woods-Skipper has launched a pilot elder court in recent months. She said the court is collecting data on older victims and observing what accessibility problems they have, such as whether they can see and hear in the courtroom.

They are also training judges and lawyers to provide additional support services and considering how to prioritize cases involving seniors without violating due process for others.

“We’re discovering we do have some resources already available for elders, but we need to coordinate them so people are aware of them and help elders access them,” Woods-Skipper said.

A pilot guardian training program in York County has also yielded some valuable lessons in what families and professionals need to know before they take on the financial and personal decisions of an elderly or disabled person who is deemed incapacitated.

“We want to make certain they understand the scope of responsibilities, including filing reports,” Ott said. “We need to know whether they’re not filing because they don’t understand the process or because they’re not paying attention to the incapacitated person.”

Ott said they would like to develop a video tutorial to show to guardians.

Many of the task force suggestions focused on regulating court-appointed guardianships. The task force said the state should require criminal background, firearms and credit checks of guardians, and increased monitoring of the reports guardians must file.

These matters have not yet been addressed, but the council has focused on a life-changing moment for some seniors. When a judge determines an elder is incapacitated, they must surrender nearly all rights to another person.

To ensure the judge has the appropriate information to make that call, the council has developed a standardized form for healthcare providers to fill out for the courts. For the form to be used statewide, it needs to be approved by a Supreme Court rules committee, which is currently reviewing it.

Raising awareness

Education and training is a priority of the council, said council member President Judge George Zanic of Huntingdon County.

In the coming months, he said the council will be making presentations to judges, clerks of court, prosecutors, law enforcement and protective services groups.

They are raising awareness about a variety of strategies to protect seniors, like how to effectively notify elders about scams and encouraging prosecutors to freeze assets in financial exploitation cases to make restitution more likely.

“We have to strike a balance between protecting our seniors and protecting their independence,” Zanic said. “This topic is not simple at all. It is overwhelming because it covers so many areas, and I don’t think any one person is an expert on all of elder justice.”

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PA group takes first steps to protect seniors