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.

Full Article and Source:
Communities Combating Elder Abuse Issues In Texas

Judge grants prosecutors access to some of guardian's records

Federal prosecutors can obtain information on tax and criminal law classes taken by former Lackawanna County guardian ad litem Danielle Ross, but other documents related to extracurricular activities and disciplinary reports are off-limits, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

Senior U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo agreed with prosecutors that some information they sought is relevant to the prosecution of Mrs. Ross on tax-evasion charges. But he limited the information they can obtain, agreeing with Mrs. Ross that a subpoena issued to Widener University School of Law was too broad.

The decision is among several pretrial rulings Judge Caputo issued Tuesday. He also granted Mrs. Ross' request that prosecutors disclose any information they have that might impeach the credibility of their witnesses, but denied her request to learn the identity of the witnesses.

Ms. Ross, 36, served as a court-appointed advocate to represent children in parent custody disputes. A grand jury indicted her in February on charges she failed to disclose about $200,000 in parents' payments from 2009 to 2010.

Full Article and Source:
Judge grants prosecutors access to some of guardian's records

LaPlace Lawyer Indicted for Felony Theft and Forgery

A LaPlace lawyer has been indicted in connection with stealing more than $50,000 from multiple clients, one of them elderly, prosecutors said today.

Kerry D. Brown, 42, of 144 East Lakeview Drive, was indicted Monday by a St. John the Baptist Parish grand jury on one count of felony theft, one count of compounding a felony, and six counts of forgery.

An investigation by Louisiana State Police and the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel revealed that Brown, a personal injury attorney, represented clients from October 2010 to April 2011 in several automobile accidents, allegedly failing to notify clients of settlements and failing to give funds to clients who were owed money. Brown surrendered to Louisiana State Police in May 2012 after a warrant for his arrest was issued.

Full Article and Source:
LaPlace Lawyer Indicted for Felony Theft and Forgery

Bank employee arrested for elderly exploitation

FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. -- A Wells Fargo bank employee was arrested for stealing money from elderly customers in Flagler County on Friday.

Carmelo David Ortega, 37, of Palm Coast was arrested on three counts of exploitation of the elderly and one count of organized scheming to defraud.

According to the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, three customers of the bank discovered missing funds from their accounts after meeting with Ortega.

The investigation by Detective Henry Miller, which began in April, allegedly found that Ortega fraudulently withdrew around $6,000 in cash from the accounts of the victims.

The ages of the victims are 64, 84 and 86 years-old, according to SJCSO.

Full Article and Source:
Bank employee arrested for elderly exploitation

Va. guardianship case tests rights of disabled

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- A guardianship case for a Virginia woman with Down syndrome is testing the rights of adults with disabilities to choose how they live.

The Washington Post reports (http://wapo.st/12cgGZa ) that 29-year-old Margaret Jean "Jenny" Hatch has been fighting for nearly a year for the right to move in with friends who employed her at their thrift shop. Her parents want her to remain in a group home.

Hatch learned to read at the age of 6, has volunteered on Republican political campaigns and held a part-time job at the thrift shop for five years. She also has an IQ of 52 and tends to shower affection on strangers as well as friends.
    
The case, which will continue on July 29, has captured the attention of advocacy groups and Hampton Roads residents, who have turned the phrase "Justice for Jenny" into a mantra. For many, the legal fight is about not just who Hatch is but also whom she represents: anyone born with an intellectual disability or who ends up with one, through either age or mishap.

"There is a default assumption that people with intellectual disabilities and people with mental illness need people to make decisions for them, that they can't, with aid, fend for themselves. Which just isn't true," said Jennifer Mathis of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, one of several organizations that have expressed interest in the case to the court.

Hatch moved in with Kelly Morris and her fiance, Jim Talbert, after a family friend she was staying with lost her apartment. Hatch's father, Richard Hatch, lives in North Carolina and told Hatch's case manager he could not give his daughter the level of care she needed, court records show. Her mother, Julia Ross, and stepfather, Richard Ross, said in the case manager's report that Hatch had a contentious relationship with her mother and couldn't live in the home.

Both July Ross and Richard Hatch declined to be interviewed.

While living with Morris and Talbert in 2012, the couple learned Hatch had a better shot of receiving a Medicaid waiver, which would entitle her to in-home and community-based services, if she were homeless. So in May 2012, they convinced her to move into a group home where she stayed until August, when the Medicaid waiver was approved and she moved back in with the couple.

Two days later, the Rosses filed for guardianship. A Newport News judge placed Hatch under temporary guardianship and she has rotated between group homes and living with the Rosses.

The Rosses want the right to decide, among other things, she Hatch lives, whom she sees and what medical treatment she receives.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/22/3514414/va-guardianship-case-tests-rights.html#storylink=cpy

Full Article and Source:
Va. guardianship case tests rights of disabled

See Also:
'Justice for Jenny' Down syndrome guardianship case headed for trial

Kirk Kerkorian ex-wife, stepson drop move for conservatorship

Kirk Kerkorian's ex-wife and her son from another marriage have dropped their bids to be named conservators of the 96-year-old billionaire hotelier, who they maintained was in declining health, their attorney told a judge Monday.

During a brief hearing before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Levanas, lawyer Marshal Oldman said Lisa Bonder Kerkorian withdrew her petition Thursday and that 24-year-old Taylor Kreiss did the same on Monday.

Oldman declined to comment on his clients' change of position but said Bonder Kerkorian has also abandoned her attempt to have a guardian appointed on behalf of her ex-husband in a separate proceeding in family law court.

Attorney Margaret Lodise, who represents Kerkorian, argued in court papers that her client's ex-wife and Kreiss were using the conservatorship as a way of exerting pressure on the businessman to pay $500,000 a month in child support for Bonder Kerkorian's teenage daughter [information about the daughter has been removed by request].

Bonder Kerkorian filed her conservatorship documents May 10, stating that her former husband, who has assets estimated at $2.9 billion, was under the control of his financial advisers at the Tracinda Corp. and needed intervention. She and Kreiss filed an amended petition June 4, asking that they be named joint conservators over Kerkorian.

Full Article and Source:
Kirk Kerkorian ex-wife, stepson drop move for conservatorship

Deputies: Women solicited prostitution to exploit elderly man

Heather Zachman

An 86-year-old West Palm Beach man lost almost everything in his bank account to two 24-year-old women who offered themselves as prostitutes to get access to his home and money, Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputies say.

The pair — Heather M. Zachman, of Loxahatchee Groves, and Caroline P. Robinson, of Wellington — are now facing exploitation of the elderly charges. They've been locked up in the Palm Beach County Jail since being arrested Saturday, and are being held on $8,000 bond.

The elderly man's son called and asked deputies to check on his father, according to arrest reports, and on Friday, a deputy stopped by the house on Mango Drive.

During his investigation, the deputy discovered Zachman and Robinson had taken the man's card and withdrawn "large amounts of money" multiple times, nearly "depleting the entire account." The exact amount of money taken was not noted in the reports, but the two are charged with exploitation for less than $20,000.

The man told the deputy the pair threatened him repeatedly, telling him not to call law enforcement, the reports state. They hit him, intimidated him and kept him in fear for his safety, he said.

They also pawned several of his items without permission — including a widescreen TV, according to the report.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement records show Zachman and Robinson have each been arrested multiple times.

Full Article and Source:
Deputies: Women solicited prostitution to exploit elderly man

Assisted Suicide and the Affordable Care Act

The controversy over federally endorsed abortion and its hidden surcharges has been well documented in conservative media. But there hasn’t been much coverage of late about the legislation’s  support for physician-assisted suicide.

Currently, only four states in the country legally allow assisted suicide. Vermont, Washington, and Oregon have unrestricted laws, meaning that the administration of life ending drugs is up to the discretion of the patient and his doctor (also it’s covered by insurance). In Montana, assisted suicide is legal through a court order. In the other 46 states, the practice is illegal and has been for most of the last century.

Section 1553

The piece of legislation in question is Section 1553 of the Affordable Care Act, which reads as follows:

(a) In General – The Federal Government, and any State or local government or health care provider that receives Federal financial assistance under this Act (or under an amendment made by this Act) or any health plan created under this Act (or under an amendment made by this Act), may not subject an individual or institutional health care entity to discrimination on the basis that the entity does not provide any health care item or service furnished for the purpose of causing, or for the purpose of assisting in causing, the death of any individual, such as by assisted suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing.

To break it down, if a terminally ill patient requests that his doctor help him end his life, and the doctor refuses for moral reasons or whatever the case may be, that doctor is protected by federal law against discrimination. This can be a saving grace for doctors who may subsequently be targeted by insurance companies because of their refusal to help patients end their lives.

Full Article and Source:
Obamacare’s covert support of assisted suicide

Woman indicted in patients’ jewelry theft

PEORIA — A Peoria woman has been indicted by a Peoria County grand jury for allegedly stealing from people at an Alzheimer’s care center.

 

Lacey R. Simmons, 25, of 1824 N. Sheridan Road is charged with three counts each of burglary and financial exploitation of a person with a disability. She faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
Simmons is accused of taking jewelry from three patients at the Grand View Alzheimer’s Special Care Center in May.

Police said she told them she took some of the $3,000 in jewelry that was missing from the care center in late May.

Full Article and Source:
Woman indicted in patients’ jewelry theft