Rob Lowe: Who Cares for the Carer?

Actor Rob Lowe, a long time advocate for caregivers, urges those in caregiving roles to take some time for themselves, too. JASON KEMPIN/GETTY IMAGES FOR PROFILE

An estimated 43.5 million Americans are taking care of aging relatives and friends, sacrificing time, money and sometimes their careers and personal health. They are doing the work of professional caregivers, who spend years training for the job. As baby boomers age, the demand for unpaid caregivers is rising. Meanwhile, thanks to smaller family sizes, higher divorce rates and increasingly demanding jobs, the number of people available to take care of their elderly loved ones is shrinking. A growing number —25 percent—are between the ages of 18 and 34. 

If there’s one thing that’s bipartisan, it’s caring for the elderly. In January 2018, President Donald Trump signed the Recognize, Assist, Include, Support and Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act, a law that directs Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar to develop and maintain a strategy to support caregivers in the next 18 months. Ten months later, implementation has been slow, to the frustration of Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, who introduced the bill in the Senate along with Republican Susan Collins of Maine. 

In September, Congress finally allocated $300,000 to establish a family caregiving advisory council, which will address potential policy solutions. Additionally, 36 states have passed the Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable (CARE) Act, which requires hospitals to identify the patients’ caregivers, keep them informed and provide basic training for medical tasks they’ll be expected to perform.

Embracing Carers, a global initiative launched in 2017 by pharmaceutical company EMD Serono, hopes to call attention to the needs of this overworked and underappreciated community. According to the initiative, nearly a quarter of the 3,516 unpaid caregivers they surveyed in 2017 said their careers had suffered because of caring for a family member. In honor of National Family Caregivers Month this November, actor Rob Lowe (St. Elmo’s Fire, Parks and Recreation) teamed up with the company to tell his story and send some encouragement to the millions struggling to care for a loved one.

I had my first experience with unpaid caregiving fairly early. My father, Charles, was diagnosed with lymphoma at age 50. I was 26. Luckily, he was financially successful and had a loving wife, my stepmother. It was challenging, but she was there for him. He got through it and went into remission.

Two years later, they divorced. I’ve always thought it had to do with the stress that resulted from my stepmother taking care of my father during his illness.

In my late 30s, my mother, Barbara Hepler, was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. That was when I was introduced to the front lines of what so many millions are experiencing. She did not have a husband or a significant other, so it fell to me and my two brothers to navigate everything from her initial diagnosis to doctor shopping, treatment options, driving her to appointments and, finally, hospice care and the end of life—which was profoundly difficult, obviously.

At the time, I was starring in and producing a network television show, The Lyon’s Den. It was fighting for its ratings life. If I took time off, the show would be canceled. I was responsible for 150 crew members, so I had to find a way to do both. My time was divided equally between trying to save the television show and trying to save my mother’s life. I don’t know what’s more stressful, having to quit your job or not being able to quit your job. (The show, by the way, was canceled.) Fortunately, I had brothers to pass the baton to. We’re also a family that has some means, and we were able to bring in people as needed. For people who don’t have that, I can’t imagine how hard it must be.

 

  Rob (left) and Chad Lowe with their mother Barbara in 2001. Lowe and his siblings cared for their mother after she was diagnosed with breast cancer until her death in 2003. Kevin Winter / Getty 

There are so many little ways a dedicated caregiver can be a game changer—someone who can dramatically increase the chances of a successful outcome for your loved one. It is critical, for example, for patients with a serious illness to have a third party with them at doctor’s appointments. When I was helping to promote an awareness campaign for a new chemotherapy drug in 2002, I came across a startling number: Patients often retain just 10 percent of the information they are being given. Ten percent!

On top of that, there is the negotiation of medical coverage, which requires phone calls, weeding through paperwork and talking to insurance companies and doctors. I remember thinking, Jesus Christ, if I were sick and had to do this on my own? I don’t think I could get out of bed in the morning.

The people we are talking about—the friends and family members who are out there doing crucial work—are unpaid. Watching a loved one go through an illness, possibly ending in death, is stressful and depressing. Add financial and scheduling burdens, and the load for caregivers is enormous. To them I say, Don’t forget about yourself. When you get on an airplane, the crew says, “Secure your own mask first before helping others.” Why? Because without you taking care of yourself, you can’t take care of anybody else.

It’s an intimidating role to step into, and there’s no set way to do it. You don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to know all the answers. You are likely to make some mistakes—and that’s fine! Just know that the care you give has the potential to be one of the most rewarding acts of your life.

Taking care of my mother was scary, unbelievably stressful and painful. It was also a time to be with her in a way that might never have happened under other circumstances. When she passed in 2003, I felt that we’d had the talks we needed to have, that we’d spent the time together we needed to spend. I have friends who’ve been through deaths of parents and they feel cheated; if only they’d been able to tell them how much they loved them, if only they’d done this or that. One of the hidden gifts of being a caregiver is that you’re with them. You’re able to do and say all of those things in its proper time.

So be present for it. There is every reason to believe that you will look back on this chapter with satisfaction. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to get help. That’s why I’ve partnered with EMD Serono and EmbracingCarers.com, where you’ll find invaluable information regarding everything you’ll be, or are, going through.

As told to Anna Menta.

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Rob Lowe: Who Cares for the Carer?

Why Is James Brown’s Estate Still Unsettled? Ask the Lawyers

A statue of James Brown in Augusta, Ga., where he grew up. Mr. Brown’s will had set aside money to distribute scholarships for children from the state.CreditMichael Holahan/Augusta Chronicle

It seems fair to say, 11 years after James Brown’s death, that his estate planning has failed in its major mission: to distribute his wealth efficiently.

Not a penny has gone to any of the beneficiaries of his will, who include underprivileged children in Georgia and South Carolina, to whom Mr. Brown sought to donate millions, perhaps tens of millions, of dollars.

But as a petri dish for cultivating legal disputes, Mr. Brown’s will may have few rivals.

More than a dozen lawsuits related to the estate have been filed since Mr. Brown died on Christmas Day in 2006, including one filed last month in federal court in California.

More than a dozen lawsuits related to Mr. Brown’s estate have been filed since he died on Christmas Day in 2006.CreditDita Alangkara/Associated Press

In that case, nine of Mr. Brown’s children and grandchildren are suing the estate’s administrator and Mr. Brown’s widow, Tommie Rae Hynie, asserting that she made “illegal back-room agreements” with the estate involving copyrights for songs Mr. Brown wrote.

Another lawsuit now in the appellate stage challenges whether Ms. Hynie actually ever was his wife. (A lower court ruled she was.)

There have also been several suits by people who contest the will; another by a person who thought she should have been appointed a trustee of the estate; still another by people who were trustees of the estate but then were removed; and still another filed by James Brown II, 16, to assert his right to be viewed as a son and heir.

The court records themselves are largely dry recitations of estate and copyright law, but the larger debate over Mr. Brown’s financial legacy has been a louder affair, one chock-full of accusations of bigamy and corruption, racism and the fraternity of the South Carolina legal and political establishment.

“This is a mini-series,” said Jay Cooper, a lawyer who handles estates and has represented Katy Perry, Jerry Seinfeld and Etta James. “You really need a map to go through this whole thing.”

Of course, Mr. Brown’s life as the Godfather of Soul was a bit messy too, marked by divorce; estrangement from some of his children; and arrests on drug, weapons and domestic violence charges. That kind of instability fed, in part, the first effort to overturn the will, in which several of his children and grandchildren said his drug problems had prevented him from making sound decisions about his estate.

The will had set aside $2 million to underwrite scholarships for the grandchildren, and it gave his costumes and other household effects to the six children he recognized, a bequest thought to be worth perhaps another $2 million. But the bulk of the estate was to be given over to the I Feel Good Trust, which he set up to distribute scholarships for children from South Carolina, where he was born, and Georgia, where he lived for much of his life.

After the will was challenged, the South Carolina attorney general, Henry McMaster, who is now the governor, proposed a settlement: Mr. Brown’s children and grandchildren would receive a quarter of the estate and Ms. Hynie would receive another quarter. But the state’s Supreme Court overturned the settlement, arguing in court papers that the reformulated asset distribution amounted to a “total dismemberment of Brown’s carefully crafted estate plan.”

Tommie Ray Hynie and James Brown II

At that point, Ms. Hynie and several of the Brown children were near-allies in their efforts to overturn the will. Now they are opposing one another, not only in the latest suit but in the ongoing effort to determine whether she was, in fact, legally married to Mr. Brown. Ms. Hynie, a singer who worked in Mr. Brown’s band, was apparently married to another man in 2001 when she wed Mr. Brown, a circumstance that led to the legal challenge of her status. Mr. Brown had filed for an annulment at one point, but a South Carolina judge ruled in 2015 that she had been the wife and was a legal heir, and that her child, James Brown II, was Mr. Brown’s son. (The paternity decision has not been appealed.)

The value of the estate itself also remains very much a matter of debate. The administrators of the estate have suggested in court papers that it could be worth less than $5 million but others have given estimates as high as $100 million. 

There is little argument that the bulk of the value comes from the song copyrights that Mr. Brown retained as the songwriter.

In addition, the portion of any copyrights that were sold to a music publisher revert to the writer, or his or her heirs, either 35 or 56 years after a song is published, depending on when it first came out. The heirs regain these so-called “termination rights” and can strike deals to license the use of the songs or to sell the copyrights.

The results can be incredibly lucrative. Mr. Brown’s songs are routinely used in commercials, including recent ads by L. L. Bean and Walmart.

In the new federal lawsuit, Mr. Brown’s children and grandchildren assert that Ms. Hynie sold her share of the termination rights to just five of Mr. Brown’s 900-some compositions to Warner/Chappell, a large song publisher, for nearly $1.9 million, a payday that would speak to the collection’s potential worth.

Typically copyright termination rights, which are not bound by the terms of a will, are split between the spouse and the children, with each receiving half. “In order to do anything, it has to be a majority — it’s got to be 51 percent to make a decision,” Mr. Cooper, the estate lawyer, said. “You can’t convey it to anybody.”

The federal suit charges that Ms. Hynie and James Brown II made deals regarding these rights without fully informing Mr. Brown’s other children and grandchildren, and thus “conspired to unlawfully deprive plaintiffs of their valuable termination interests.” It says Ms. Hynie agreed to give back 65 percent of her share of the termination rights to the estate in exchange for its dropping the challenge to her spousal status, and it questions why she would agree to turn over such a potentially large benefit.

“The Estate of James Brown has long been marred by dubious back-room dealings between the Estate and James Brown’s putative wife, Tommie Rae Hynie, as described in our lawsuit,” a lawyer for the children and grandchildren, Marc Toberoff, said in a statement.

Robert Rosen, a lawyer for Ms. Hynie, said that he had not reviewed the California lawsuit as yet. He noted that the lower court had already ruled that Ms. Hynie was Mr. Brown’s wife and said he and his client have “full confidence in the appellate courts of South Carolina to decide this issue.”

The estate’s administrator, Russell Bauknight, did not respond to a request for comment.

Daryl Brown, a son of James Brown who is not a party to the recent suit and never challenged his father’s will, said that he has lost faith in the South Carolina justice system.

“This stuff wouldn’t happen to Elvis Presley,” he said.

Alan Leeds, who once managed tours for Mr. Brown and was a consultant to the 2014 HBO documentary “Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown,” which was made with the support of the estate, said, “I just feel sorry for everybody.”

“Whatever good was going to come out of it that would benefit the community that James had originally intended — and whatever good would benefit his family, for that matter, was all jeopardized,” he continued. “There are no winners in this.”

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Why Is James Brown’s Estate Still Unsettled? Ask the Lawyers

Pennsylvania criticized for how it handles elder abuse cases

HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania state watchdog agency is criticizing how county-level agencies investigate thousands of complaints they receive about elder abuse and how the state ensures complaints are investigated adequately.

Among the shortcomings identified by the Office of State Inspector General were failures to properly investigate complaints under timelines required by state law. A six-page summary of the report says investigative practices aren’t standardized across counties and it criticizes training requirements for caseworkers who are fielding a fast-growing number of complaints. 

Complaints can involve physical abuse, self-neglect or financial exploitation. The Associated Press in 2017 reviewed hundreds of pages of Department of Aging records and found the performance of county-level agencies varied widely. 

Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration cleared out the department’s top two officials and says it’s begun addressing the report’s findings. 

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Pennsylvania criticized for how it handles elder abuse cases

Young child taken from grandparents and put into foster care because of their age

Young child taken from grandparents and put into foster care because of their age

A young child has been removed from the care of its grandparents and placed with foster carers despite protestations from the couple, the child’s school and doctors.

The child had been living with its grandmother and grandfather for more than four years but they have been told they will never be approved as foster carers.

In a letter – seen by TheJournal.ie - the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) told the couple they are too old to be the foster carers of their grandchild.

They are both in their mid-60s. The child is in primary school.

The child’s parents are not in a position to care for the child and the mother suffers with mental health difficulties.

When the situation became apparent, the grandparents were happy to take care of him for the next four years.

Formal fostering process

For mostly age reasons, he was then removed from their home and placed with a foster family in another county.

Tusla informed the husband and wife that because of the age gap between them and the child, they were not approved as foster carers.

In order to convince Tusla they were capable, the couple had obtained full medical reports and went to parenting courses. “We are fit and well,” says the grandfather.

They also collected testimonies from a number of people who declared the child was happy in their care and that they were capable of looking after the youngster.

A consultant pediatrician from a large hospital, who treated the child for enuresis (bedwetting) wrote a letter to confirm that the child’s condition had improved and that the care of the child’s grandmother had “afforded a huge degree of stability”… and that it was clear the child felt “secure with its grandmother”.

The letter urged that the child’s situation should not change:

I would therefore be strongly opposed to any attempt to move [the child] from its present placement. [The child's] interests come first and this child is clearly doing well… moving [the child] from this environment would be detrimental to [the child's] welfare.

The child’s school principal also testified to the child being “very happy”.

The child’s local GP said the child had “not seen any evidence of physical, emotional or sexual abuse” and that “[the child] has always appeared happy and well cared for”.

Despite these testimonies, the child was removed from its paternal grandparents and since then, they have sought justice through the courts.

Age gap guidelines

Tusla told TheJournal.ie there are guidelines in operation that state it is preferrable not to place a child in a home where there is a 40-year age gap or more between the carers and the foster child.

However, this is not a hard and fast rule and is usually dealt with on a case by case basis. A spokesperson said this does not always apply in case of grandparents.

The letter from Tusla to the grandparents said:

Without doubt your love of [child's name] has not and is not in question. I know that you want the best for [this child]… as [child's name] grandparents you should and will play a significant role in [the child's] life – we recognise the importance of this relationship for both you and [child's name] and that relationship should be preserved and promoted as a grandparent relationship. However, you will not be approved as foster carers for [the child].

Denied

Their lives were turned upside-down when the denial came through after a foster care committee assessment.

When the grandparents asked Tusla for the reasons behind this refusal, the agency said one of the primary reasons was their age.

Documents and correspondence from Tusla, seen by TheJournal.ie, list ‘Your Age’ as a reason, with the following explanation

Your Age especially giving consideration to [child's name] young age – Fostering Standards specified that carers should be of an age that ensures there is a reasonable expectation that they can provide adequate care for the foster child in the future. It is recommended that there be no more than a 40-year age gap between foster carers and a foster child for whom they are caring.

The letter goes on to say that this is just a guideline.

While there can be some flexibility on this to a small degree, the 60-year age gap which exists between yourself and [child's name] is very concerning especially if [child's name] is to remain in long term care (which is the social work application before the court) until [the child] is 18 years.

Distance

Following the child’s move to another county, Tusla told the grandparents in the letter that there was a “reasonable expectation” the foster carers would have both the “physical and emotional energies” to care for the child long term and through to adulthood.

The letter acknowledges the “emotional attachment” the grandparents have to their grandchild, but said:

… it is unreasonable to consider … you would have the same physical and emotional energies required to parent a teenager to the levels required of you in accordance with fostering standards. This concern would be the same for any applicants of your age.

Tusla went on to outline other concerns, such as the grandmother’s “health needs”.

She suffers from Type 2 Diabetes but is currently in gainful employment. She said she is willing to give up work if necessary to have her grandchild returned to her care.

On that matter Tusla stated: “Just to say, we are mindful of [grandmother's name] health needs and while this is being managed at present, it is important that stress and demands of fostering doesn’t affect her own health particularly as she ages.”

Other concerns listed included the fact the family owns a farm, with the agency stating its concerns about farm machinery safety, while also conceding the grandparents had “made efforts to improve the outside safety issues”.

Restricted access

It also makes reference to the poor communication between the family and the social workers involved. The grandparents say they have experienced numerous correspondence delays from social workers on occasions and “have been totally left in the dark”.

The grandfather claims on numerous occasions meetings have been cancelled at the last minute and that one family meeting was arranged with the social work team in an open air park, which he believes was unprofessional. On another occasion it was meant to be in a local community centre but the team leader was more than an hour late.

“How are we meant to work with a professional body like that when they can’t even act in a professional manner and then we are blamed?” he asked.

Despite assurances that communication would be continued between the child and relatives, access has been restricted.

“We have visitation but we want the child back and our grandchild is mad to come back to us, the child is not happy where it is,” they say.

Just before Christmas, they were looking forward to having their grandchild visit over the holidays. This was pulled at the last minute. Due to the biological mother’s mental health difficulties, it was conveyed to the grandparents there were concerns the mother would act inappropriately while the child was present.

“But sure we are aware of the situation, we would have kept the child safe, we know how to keep the child safe. This child is our pride and joy,” the grandfather told TheJournal.ie.

Despite having a court order for fortnightly visits, they claim access has been denied now.

The grandfather said this was a result of them being given no information about the child’s whereabouts or contact details. “My wife was at her wits end,” said the grandfather.

A recent meeting to try and resolve the access issue with the regional division of Tusla, the grandfather said it was “one of the worst days of my life”.

“I have never felt so humiliated. My poor wife left in floods of tears after the way they treated us. We were told, ‘sure let the courts fix it’.”

He said the child is much loved by the local community and its removal has been “devastating”. The whole matter has left the couple “utterly broken hearted”.

He said while the case is ongoing they have had many sleepless nights with worry, and feel they have left on the “scrap pile”.

“We are honest people, I’ve never been in court in my life. All we want is for our grandchild to come back to us,” he said.

We cherish and adore this child, our number one pride and joy. We just want to see our grandchild develop and grow up to be a good citizen some day. But now we have been robbed of our greatest treasure.

The grandparents also wanted to make it clear that they are not seeking any carers’ payment from the state and have paid out all their own fees in the courts.

They are now running out of money to pay their legal team.

The law will have to be changed for grandparents. I have more rights to my dog that I do to my own grandchild. Isn’t that a sad case? Something is wrong in this country.

The grandfather said he has raised the issue with a local TD who brought it to the attention of former minister James Reilly. He said he believed Taoiseach Enda Kenny has also been informed about the case but that it is now a matter of “Tusla investigating Tusla”.

“Tusla said they are investigating but they are just investigating themselves. Where is the justice in that? They have too much power.”

Asked by TheJournal.ie about the situation, Tusla which said it could not comment on individual cases.

In a statement the agency said: “… each prospective foster carer must be approved by the local Foster Care Committee.”

These committees are made up of independent individuals, for example public health nurses, care leavers, etc., and Tusla staff. Foster Care Committee guidance sets out guidance on the criteria for approving prospective carers.

In relation to age, the guidance recommends that there is no more than a forty year age gap between prospective carers and the children to be placed with them.

However, the guidance makes clear that exceptions can be made where it is in the child’s best interests, for example where there is an established attachment between the child and carer.

In making foster care placements, Tusla matches each child with a foster carer who is best suited to meet the child’s identified needs.

In some cases, this may be a relative, in others it is with a general foster carer.

Where a child is in a general foster care placement, part of the role of the general foster carer is to support the child in maintaining his/her relationship with his/her biological family.”

The grandparents say they are willing for any custody arrangement to be reviewed every six months, and they hope, one day, the child’s parents would be in a better place to care for their grandchild in the future.

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Young child taken from grandparents and put into foster care because of their age

Aretha Franklin's estate in turmoil as police investigate theft

© Provided by Gannett Co., Inc. Singer Aretha Franklin poses on the red carpet before the 38th Annual Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, DC.

The Bloomfield Township, Michigan, police department is investigating a theft from Aretha Franklin's estate, which has been embroiled in controversy both before and since the late singer's death.

Police Lt. Timothy Abbo told the Detroit Free Press late Thursday an active theft investigation is underway involving the Queen of Soul's suburban mansion, but that it started before Franklin's death. He offered no further details.

Franklin died of pancreatic cancer in August in her Detroit riverfront apartment at the age of 76. At the time of her death, she still owned her 4,148-square-foot Colonial-style home in Bloomfield Township, which has drawn scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service.

The theft investigation was first reported by The Blast, a celebrity news website that says Franklin's estate is locked in a battle with Franklin’s 61-year-old son, Edward, who was born when the singer was just 14.

Edward, The Blast reports, has been trying to get a court order to force the estate to produce monthly financial documents to Franklin’s heirs. But the estate won't turn over the information because, it claims, that could negatively impact the criminal investigation involving missing assets from the estate.

As of late Thursday, the Free Press could not reach attorney David Bennett, the estate's lawyer, for comment.

In December, the IRS filed a claim in Oakland County Probate Court alleging the Franklin estate owed millions in back taxes and penalties. An attorney for the estate told the Associated Press that at least $3 million in back taxes had been paid back to the IRS since Franklin's death.

According to TMZ, which cited court records in a December report, the late singer owed more than $6.3 million in back taxes from 2012 to 2018 and $1.5 million in penalties.

"All of her returns have been filed," attorney David Bennett told the AP. "We have disputes with the IRS regarding what they claim was income. We claim its double-dipping income because they don't understand how the business works."

According to Bennett, Franklin had a lot of expenses whenever she toured.

"She had to pay for transportation, hotel rooms, backup singers, musicians. When she did that, the IRS was questioning the returns she filed," Bennett said. "We're going through audits. Returns were filed as timely as we could get them filed."

Oakland County court documents did not mention the value of her estate, which could run into the tens of millions.

Just weeks after her death, Franklin's Bloomfield Township home, which is part of a gated community, was listed for sale for $800,000, but it has since been taken off the market, according to Realtor.com. The custom-built brick home features six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, white marble floors and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking two small ponds and a lap pool. There's also a sauna, a three-car garage and a jetted tub.

Franklin reportedly bought the home for $1.2 million in 1997, according to the Detroit News. It was built in 1990 and remodeled in 2002.

During her career, Franklin had been the target of a number of lawsuits by creditors.

In 2008, Franklin said an attorney's mistake caused her $700,000 mansion in Detroit to slip into foreclosure over $445 in taxes and late fees. In 2015, a condo association sued Franklin in Oakland County Circuit Court over $11,500 in homeowner fees on her condo.

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Aretha Franklin's estate in turmoil as police investigate theft

Paul Muschick: Pennsylvania's elderly deserve protection from abuse and neglect. Are they getting it?

The Pennsylvania inspector general questioned the timeliness and thoroughness of investigations into allegations of abuse and neglect of the elderly. (Stephane De Sakutin / AFP-Getty Images)

Society has a duty to protect its most vulnerable members. So it’s concerning to hear questions being raised about whether abuse and neglect of the elderly is being investigated promptly and thoroughly in Pennsylvania.

The state inspector general’s office said in a report Tuesday that not all victims were being interviewed quickly enough. Also, deadlines for substantiating accusations were missed by county-level area agencies on aging, which investigate complaints.

In fiscal year 2016-17, the area agencies received 18,275 complaints. They did not interview 3,724 of the alleged victims (20 percent) within three days. And they did not determine whether the abuse allegations were true in 7,859 of the cases (43 percent) within 20 days, according to the report. (It did not break down the data by county.)

The inspector general questioned whether the priority status of complaints was being categorized consistently and whether investigations were thorough. The inspector general’s office said it was told during the probe that some area agencies on aging “have little or no medical support on their cases; do not consult nurses on basic fundamentals; and do not review medical records during their investigations.”

The inspector general called on the Pennsylvania Department of Aging to more closely monitor the county agencies to ensure timely investigations. It also recommended the department hire more employees and improve training.

The Department of Aging said many of the inspector general’s recommendations have been implemented, or will be.

They include hiring a director of education and outreach to coordinate training; updating the content and improving the quality of training; and increasing the frequency of training. Policies and directives will be changed to ensure compliance with state law and a more consistent review and monitoring of area agencies on aging.

“The Department of Aging has worked with area agencies on aging where there have been instances of noncompliance,” the department said in a statement, “and the agencies have been cooperative and diligent in their efforts to improve timeliness of their investigations to meet legally required timeframes.”

While the department and the Pennsylvania Association of Area Agencies on Aging agreed that there is room for improvement, they sought to clarify some of the data cited by the inspector general.

In a written response to the inspector general, the Department of Aging said investigations of financial exploitation are not required to be completed within 20 days, as it takes time to gather documentation. It said that generally, in abuse and neglect cases, 20 days is long enough to determine and document whether there is a need for protective services. It said more time may be necessary in some cases, though, and it’s important to take that time.

“While extending the investigation beyond 20 days can needlessly prolong potential risk to the older adult reported to be in need of protective services, it is recognized that circumstances may arise that necessitates that more time is needed to conduct a thorough investigation,” the department said.

There is no requirement for alleged abuse victims to be interviewed in person within 72 hours, said Rebecca May-Cole, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Area Agencies on Aging.

She said state law says a caseworker “shall make every attempt” to visit a victim within 24 hours for complaints classified as emergency and priority levels. For nonpriority cases, the law says investigations are to begin within 72 hours, with a visit to occur “at an appropriate point in the course of the investigation,” she said.

The association and the department said more money must be spent to protect older adults, as the workload is increasing.

May-Cole said complaints of abuse have been rising while funding and staffing at area agencies on aging has remained static. She said complaints rose 57 percent between fiscal years 2013-14 and 2017-18, and substantiated reports rose 47 percent.

The state budgeted an additional $2 million last year for protective services for older adults. But another $6 million is needed, May-Cole said.

The Department of Aging said it would work to obtain additional funding and support from the state Legislature, and would allocate additional employees to further support protective services staff.

The inspector general questioned whether the priority status of some complaints was appropriately classified. In response, the Department of Aging said that as of this month, it started having state protective service specialists review all complaints that were classified as “no need” for investigation by area agencies on aging, to determine if they should be reclassified and looked into.

The changes sound like a good start. It will be important for the inspector general to continue monitoring how older adults are protected.

State lawmakers and the governor should consider the needs of the system as they develop their budget this year. Money must be spent wisely, but this is one area where inadequate funding can truly hurt vulnerable people.

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Paul Muschick: Pennsylvania's elderly deserve protection from abuse and neglect. Are they getting it?

Best practices for resolving incapacity issues, including navigating the probate court process for establishing guardianships

With an aging population that continues to expand, many hospitals are struggling to address a growing problem: how to treat patients who lack mental capacity to provide informed consent to medical care.

When a patient lacks capacity to consent to his or her own care, unless the patient has a health care power of attorney, a living will or a legal guardian, a hospital must decide whether to provide medical care without first obtaining legal consent. To help address this problem, many hospitals have adopted policies that allow family members to consent to medical care on a patient’s behalf. In cases where a family member cannot be located, hospitals are usually left with no choice but to seek the appointment of a legal guardian by initiating legal proceedings with a probate court.

Across Ohio, it has become increasingly difficult to identify guardianship applicants, and even when an applicant can be identified, it can take a month or more before a guardianship can be established. The inability to quickly locate a patient’s next of kin, and challenges with establishing court-appointed guardianships, often results in discharge delays, treatment delays and reduced bed space, all of which can increase costs and lead to poorer outcomes.

In sum, patient incapacity can be complex, and many hospitals find it beneficial to receive guidance from legal counsel when confronted with these issues.

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Best practices for resolving incapacity issues, including navigating the probate court process for establishing guardianships

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Northern District of Oklahoma

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Disbarred Tulsa Guardian Attorney Sentenced to Prison for Nearly $600,000 Fraud

A disbarred Tulsa guardianship attorney has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction for bank fraud and money laundering in a scheme that defrauded his client of $589,393, announced U.S. Attorney Trent Shores. Glenn Martin Mirando, 64 of Tulsa, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty September 4, 2018.

Today, U.S. District Judge John E. Dowdell sentenced Mirando to 33 months in prison, for both bank fraud and money laundering, to be followed by five and three years of supervised release.

The court also ordered a criminal forfeiture money judgment in the sum of $589,393, representing proceeds obtained through those crimes. All monies will go to provide restitution to the victim.

“Mirando chose to violate and abuse both his position of trust as a formerly licensed attorney and his position of trust as a court appointed guardian for the victim of this horrible fraud. Embezzling almost $600,000 from a vulnerable individual who was receiving medical treatment in order to maintain an extravagant personal lifestyle for himself and his family is inexcusable. Even more egregious, Mirando used his skills as an attorney to conceal the theft for three years by laundering the proceeds of the bank fraud scheme through the movement of cash between multiple bank accounts. The violation of such positions of trust should be severely punished as a deterrent”, said U.S. Attorney Shores.

The victim told the court at length how Mirando’s fraud harmed her financially. The victim questioned why Mirando had made no attempt to repay her in the three years that had passed since the discovery of the crime in late 2015.

Mirando was a self-employed, licensed attorney in the state of Oklahoma from 1989 until he was suspended in 2016 and then disbarred from the practice of law by the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 2018.

The bank fraud violations stem from a scheme in which Mirando used his position as an attorney and court-appointed Guardian to steal funds from his client, by causing funds to be disbursed from the victim’s IRA account at Wells Fargo in St. Louis, Missouri, without her knowledge, to an account Mirando controlled at Tulsa Teachers Credit Union (“TTCU”) where he then would withdraw the funds in cash. Mirando would then engage in financial transactions with the stolen funds for his personal benefit with the intent to conceal the proceeds of the fraud.

Beginning on January 3, 2013 and continuing through December 2015, Mirando requested distributions from the victim’s IRA account at Wells Fargo. When Wells Fargo would distribute the withdrawals to the TTCU account Mirando opened, Wells Fargo also withheld and paid Federal income tax and Oklahoma state income tax on each distribution. Mirando then would withdraw cash from the TTCU account and deposit the cash he withdrew into other accounts at TTCU in his name, his business’ name, and his wife’s name. The victim never made any cash withdrawals from the account at TTCU nor did the victim receive any cash directly from Mirando.

To further conceal the scheme, Mirando would withdraw cash from the TTCU account, wait a couple of hours or sometimes a day and then make cash deposits into other accounts at TTCU with the aggregate amount being slightly different from the total cash withdrawal.

Mirando had $782,357 under his control and custody, which was withdrawn from the victim’s IRA at Wells Fargo. From the foregoing amount, Mirando paid $121,000 directly to the victim and paid $14,074.23 to others on behalf of the victim.  The cumulative loss attributable to Mirando (inclusive of federal and state taxes that were paid by Wells Fargo on behalf of the victim), which were used for sentencing purposes, is in excess of $589,393.

Most of the stolen funds appear to have been used to support the lifestyle of Mirando and his family members. The 306 cash withdrawals Mirando made totaling $466,950 were subsequently deposited into his personal account, his business account, and his wife’s personal account and used to pay personal expenses. Coupled with the federal and state taxes paid by Wells Fargo on behalf of the victim and taken from the victim’s IRA, the total loss for sentencing purposes was in excess of $589,393.

This was a joint state/federal investigation involving the U.S. Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Tulsa Police Department, and Tulsa County District Attorney.   Assistant U.S. Attorneys Charles M. McLoughlin and Catherine J. Depew prosecuted the case.

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Disbarred Tulsa Guardian Attorney Sentenced to Prison for Nearly $600,000 Fraud

Disbarred Tulsa attorney sentenced to prison after admitting to stealing nearly $600,000 from a client

Glenn Martin Mirando

A disbarred Tulsa attorney was sentenced Wednesday to nearly three years in prison after admitting to bank fraud tied to the theft of nearly $600,000 from a client for whom he was a court-appointed guardian.

U.S. District Judge John Dowdell handed Glenn Martin Mirando a prison term of two years and nine months, saying his crimes warranted a “substantial sentence of imprisonment.”

Dowdell also ordered Mirando to make restitution totaling $589,393 and serve five years of post-custody supervision under the U.S. Probation Office.

Federal prosecutors had filed a two-count complaint in June alleging that the 64-year-old stole the $589,393 through unauthorized cash withdrawals from his client between 2013 and 2016. Mirando pleaded guilty Sept. 4.

The theft occurred after a state court judge appointed Mirando as the guardian for the 66-year-old woman and her estate in 2012.

As guardian, Mirando controlled the woman’s financial accounts, including an Individual Retirement Account with funds totaling nearly $1.3 million, plus checking accounts, court records indicate. The woman was incapacitated at the time, according to federal prosecutors.

Mirando used the stolen funds to support his lifestyle and that of his family members, prosecutors said.

“Mirando chose to violate and abuse both his position of trust as a formerly licensed attorney and his position of trust as a court appointed guardian for the victim of this horrible fraud,” U.S. Attorney Trent Shores said in a statement.

“Embezzling almost $600,000 from a vulnerable individual who was receiving medical treatment in order to maintain an extravagant personal lifestyle for himself and his family is inexcusable,” Shores said.

“Even more egregious, Mirando used his skills as an attorney to conceal the theft for three years by laundering the proceeds of the bank fraud scheme through the movement of cash between multiple bank accounts,” the prosecutor continued.

Mirando made 306 cash withdrawals from the woman’s financial accounts, depositing the money into his personal account, his business account and his wife’s personal account, and used the money to pay personal expenses, according to a court filing by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles McLoughlin said during the sentencing hearing in Tulsa federal court that Mirando’s actions were “incredibly premeditated.”

Mirando “step-by-step looted” the woman’s inheritance, he said.

A presentencing report by the U.S. Probation Office found that Mirando should receive a prison term between 41 and 51 months under federal sentencing guidelines.

However, papers filed on Mirando’s behalf asked the judge to take into account his age, “long-ago addiction issues” and past history of cancer when deciding a sentence.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office asked that Mirando be sentenced within the guideline range.

“Mirando does not need a ‘0’ month sentence with supervised release, instead he requires the strong sanction of a sentence of incarceration with the Federal Bureau of Prisons within the sentencing guideline range of 41-51 months,” a prosecutor wrote.

Dowdell, citing Mirando’s health problems, agreed to the shorter 33-month prison term.

Mirando apologized to the judge and victim for his actions.

“I take full responsibility,” he said. “Those were my actions. My actions were horrendous.”

Mirando previously had colon cancer, which has been adequately treated, according to the court filing on his behalf.

A doctor has recommended that Mirando be subject to ongoing monitoring to ensure that “the life threatening cancer does not return or get worse,” the court filing states.

“Counsel has no reason to believe that the Bureau of Prisons is in any way capable of performing these medical tests, even if they had any interest in doing so,” Mirando’s attorney, Allen Smallwood, wrote.

However, regarding Mirando’s concerns that he would not be monitored for a recurrence of cancer, McLoughlin wrote that the defendant had provided no evidence that the Bureau of Prisons was incapable of meeting his medical needs.

Mirando, who has been free on bond since the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed the two-count felony information, was ordered to report to prison by May 23. Dowdell indicated that he would recommend that federal Bureau of Prisons officials assign Mirando to a facility with a hospital, either in Springfield, Missouri, or in Fort Worth, Texas.

Mirando also faces state charges in Tulsa County District Court stemming from the same conduct. McLoughlin said it was his understanding that those charges might be dismissed depending on the outcome of the federal case.

Mirando was disbarred in 2016, McLoughlin said.

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Disbarred Tulsa attorney sentenced to prison after admitting to stealing nearly $600,000 from a client