Gaps in legal system put vulnerable adults at risk

by Shelby Kruse

SHERIDAN — While Sheridan County residents have an established record of reporting suspected cases of elder abuse, according to Sheridan Police Dept. Capt. Tom Ringley, gaps in the legal system can make it difficult to find probable cause in reported cases.

Carmen Rideout, executive director of The Hub on Smith, said The Hub has contracts with the Department of Family Services to ensure vulnerable adults are connected with the resources and services they need. Still, gaps in the legal system make it possible for some to slip through the cracks, Rideout said, even when those cases of potential elder abuse are reported.

“Our [legal] definition of what a vulnerable adult is and what can be considered abuse is pretty limited. … People have the right to make decisions for themselves, and be as independent and autonomous as possible. When other people are concerned about them, there’s only so much that DFS and law enforcement can do,” Rideout said. “They’re working within their scope.”

Ringley said SPD has investigated 31 reports of elder abuse since the start of 2015. Of these 31 reports, 11 were determined to be unfounded and only one of the 31 cases was sent to the county attorney’s office for charges.

“We highly encourage reporting of [elder abuse], but it may not end up fitting the statutes,” Ringley said. “‘Unfounded’ doesn’t mean that there were no injuries or no circumstances deemed worthy of investigation, it’s just that the investigation revealed that there was no violation of the law.”

Ringley said elder abuse can come in many different forms, from the more obvious physical abuse to various forms of neglect and financial exploitation. A common theme in cases of potential elder abuse reported to SPD, Ringley said, is vulnerable adults being cared for by family members who may get overwhelmed and are financially unable to pursue assisted living as an option.

“It is very difficult to care for a vulnerable adult. Whether the care is being provided at home, in a hospital setting, by family members or in an assisted living facility, by definition, a vulnerable adult is one who cannot take care of themselves,” Ringley said. “We think Sheridan does a good job of reporting any time they think people have been exploited or neglected or abused, but we haven’t observed probable cause except in one case.”

Associate State Director of AARP Wyoming Thomas Lacock said efforts to address elder abuse across the state have increased over the past year. During the 2023 legislative session, AARP supported a bill proposed to combat financial abuse of vulnerable adults by allowing banks or credit unions to place five-day holds on transactions that may be fraudulent.

Also within the past year, the Wyoming Legislature’s Management Council has formed the Mental Health and Vulnerable Adult Task Force, made up of senators, representatives and staff from the Wyoming Departments of Health, Education and Family Services.

According to a report by DFS, efforts carried out across the state to protect vulnerable adults include improving the Adult Protective Services program website to make it more accessible and the implementation of a focused advertising campaign to educate the public on what constitutes elder abuse.

Alongside collaborating with DFS, The Hub on Smith partners with SPD to provide local seniors with education on topics like scams to help protect them against potential financial exploitation. Two key parts of addressing local elder abuse, Rideout said, are education and looking out for one another.

“Our county has a significant percentage of older adults and the best thing that can happen is if everybody just keeps their eyes open,” Rideout said. “Look out for your neighbor and your friends and your family. Make sure everybody’s doing OK.”

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Gaps in legal system put vulnerable adults at risk

Death of 66-year-old Gulfport woman highlights risks of senior citizens who choose to live alone

Kathryn Ashe

GULFPORT — The first thing officers noticed in Kathryn Ashe's apartment were the roaches, hundreds of them, scurrying on the floor, walls, and furniture.

Then they spotted her body on the living room floor. After interviewing her former roommates, Gulfport police arrested Debra Poulos and her daughter-in-law Jennifer on charges of abuse or neglect of an aged or disabled person.

But the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office recently dropped the case. Ashe died of natural causes, prosecutors concluded, and the pair had no legal responsibility to care for her.

In fact, prosecutors learned that when the Poulos women moved out, Ashe refused to go with them. She chose to live by herself, despite her ill health and abysmal living conditions.

"The older lady didn't want to leave with them," said Chief Assistant State Attorney Bruce Bartlett.

"Maybe there should be some sense of responsibility, but there's nothing to support us going (forward) criminally."

The 66-year-old woman's death raises a troubling issue for Florida's aging population: What can be done to help seniors who may be endangering themselves by living alone?

"There are situations in our local area where there are people who are extremely frail and can't manage self-care at all," said Beverly Burton of the Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas. "It's not only a question of medical treatment, it's a question if we can ensure that at least they are evaluated to see if they are eligible for some in-home support."

• • •

On June 24, Gulfport police received a call about a possible death at 5320 29th Ave S. After firefighters wedged the door open, officers ventured in and found piles of garbage and food containers on the floor, the kitchen countertops, and the sink. Mold covered the inside of the refrigerator. The A/C unit was broken. The report noted that the home was "unlivable."

"There were feces and used adult diapers on the floor," an officer wrote in a report, "and an estimate of thousands of roaches throughout the residence where hundreds of them could be seen at any given time even with the lights on."

After finding Ashe's body next to a recliner, police turned their attention to the 911 callers: Debra Poulos, 62, and Jennifer Poulos, 42.

The older Poulos told police she met Ashe in 1999. They lived together in the two-bedroom apartment with Jennifer Poulos' 4-year-old son. But after the apartment became infested with roaches and the A/C broke down, they moved out on June 10.

Debra Poulos said she tried to get Ashe to go with them, but she refused. She said Ashe made them promise they wouldn't take her to a nursing home. The women visited Ashe and brought her food.

Then on June 23, Debra Poulos said she found Ashe on the floor but didn't call for help, leaving because she didn't want to miss her bus. Debra and Jennifer Poulos returned the next day. Ashe was cold to the touch. After speaking to a pastor, they called 911.

Both women were arrested on felony charges of abuse or neglect of an aged or disabled person. Jennifer Poulos faced an additional charge of child neglect.

Police said the Department of Children and Families spoke to Ashe in 2015 and found that she was hard of hearing, a diabetic, and had a history of strokes. Ashe declined DCF services and refused to go to a nursing home.

Gulfport police Sgt. Thomas Woodman said the two women were arrested because Florida law defines a caregiver as a person "who has been entrusted with or has assumed responsibility for the care … of an elderly person or disabled adult." That can include adult household members.

"They admitted to me during the interview they were in a caregiver role," Woodman said. "They provided her all of the nutrition she needed, they had to help feed her, bathe her."

But the criminal case against the women crumbled, Bartlett said, when an autopsy showed Ashe died of natural causes: complications from diabetes and heart disease. The State Attorney's Office also determined the Poulos women were also not legally bound to care for her because they moved out and Ashe wanted to stay. Charges were dropped in November.

The child neglect charge against Jennifer was also dropped, but her son is in foster care, DCF said. Neither Poulos could be reached for comment.

• • •

Ashe's death highlights the legal challenges surrounding an elderly or sick person who refuses care. "It comes down many times to a really hard question: Is the person competent?" Burton said.

Only a court can determine if someone is legally incompetent. But if a person is competent, they can choose whether they want help or not. "Then everyone's hands are kind of tied," Burton said.

Then the only options are to call their doctor or file a self-neglect report with DCF.

"They can provide guidance on what to do and how to handle it because you can't force a person to take care of themselves without some legal mechanism," she said.

"You can cajole a person to go," Burton added, referring to Ashe's refusal to leave the apartment. "But it's very difficult unless you have some responsibility for them."

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Death of 66-year-old Gulfport woman highlights risks of senior citizens who choose to live alone

Former Three Bridges Nursing Home unit manager Karen Rooney sanctioned by Nursing and Midwifery Council after placing vulnerable residents at risk of harm

A FORMER unit manager at a Latchford care home has been sanctioned after a misconduct hearing found that she had placed vulnerable residents with dementia at risk of harm.

Karen Rooney failed to keep appropriate care records for residents while in the post of dementia unit manager at Three Bridges Nursing Home and failed to supervise an unregistered foreign nurse while she was administering medicines.

In total, eight sanctions have been imposed upon Mrs Rooney after a Nursing and Midwifery Council misconduct hearing.

An investigation at the Nook Lane home was sparked in December 2014 due to concerns, and an audit of residents’ medical notes identified that Mrs Rooney had not supervised an unregistered Romanian nurse while she was administering medication to seven patients on 46 occasions.

Further concerns saw the home’s deputy manager carry out a review of patients’ medical plans and discrepancies were found – 11 plans by Mrs Rooney lacked detail and were not updated between August and December 2014, though they should have been reviewed monthly.

Mrs Rooney, who was employed at the home from September 2012 until her resignation in February 2015, admitted a total of 19 charges and faced an NMC misconduct hearing last week which found her fitness to practice was impaired.

Four of the charges related to her previous employment at Mersey Parks Care Home in Liverpool, charges which included not ensuring adequate care was provided to a resident with a pressure sore.

An NMC report into Mrs Rooney’s misconduct said: “The registrant was the unit manager at two separate care homes and therefore responsible for the care provided to vulnerable residents who had dementia – the registrant’s actions in both care homes placed the residents at risk of harm.  (Continue Reading)

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Former Three Bridges Nursing Home unit manager Karen Rooney sanctioned by Nursing and Midwifery Council after placing vulnerable residents at risk of harm