New Provision to Potentially Prevent Elder Financial Abuse

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Jessica Navarro

In Jefferson City, Missouri the Senate has endorsed a bill that would make it a crime to use their position of authority either by way of guardianship, power of attorney or some other management role to use that authority to take advantage of the elderly. If a person is caught stealing money or otherwise using their position of authority as a way to take advantage of an elderly individual and taking money intended for nursing home expenses, that perpetrator will be ordered to pay back any financial damages to the nursing home to which the money was intended to begin with. The bill has been approved in the first steps in the process of procedure in the Senate. There is no other information on when the bill will be making its way through the Senate in the future.

Bills like this one could easily become tremendous assets in preventing elder abuse and neglect, but the important key to making bills like this work is for elder financial abuse to be reported. If a crime of abuse goes unreported, this bill will not go very far in extending justice to the victims of such crimes. However, when this bill is effective, it will provide significant assistance to elder residents of nursing homes who are being abused financially. When a person steals money intended for an elderly person’s nursing home expenses, they could potentially take away necessary care for the victims from those nursing homes. Bills like this one will ensure that never happens and the nursing homes get paid for providing essential care to the elderly victims.

 

Nothing should ever get in the way of an elderly person’s care from a nursing home or assisted living center. Taking away important finances from an elderly person and using it for your own personal gains is not only selfish but it is a horrible act that should never be committed. If this bill is set in place, it will prevent these types of crimes from occurring in the first place and it will reduce the strength that perpetrators of elder financial abuse have over their victims. If they lose the upper hand against their victims, it will be the first step in ensuring they are brought to justice for their crimes.
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Elder Caretaker Charged after Beating Elderly Patient

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Soraya Dadras

An elderly Alzheimer’s sufferer was the victim of a beating at the hands of the man who was employed as his caretaker. Police reportedly found the caretaker after showing up at the victim’s condominium complex for two unrelated incident reports. A witness identified the caretaker for the 78-year-old victim. When police contacted the victim’s family, the elderly man was found with signs of assault and police found evidence of a struggle in the home.

The 78-year-old man suffered facial injuries and wounds to other extremities. The caretaker was arrested and charged with second-degree criminal attempt at arson, first-degree reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct, third-degree assault on an elderly person, and breach of peace.

The victim in this incident was very lucky to be rescued from the situation that he was in. The police were never made aware of the abuse that was occurring in his home; they were simply there to investigate two other unrelated incidents. If it were not for a witness identifying the elderly man’s caretaker and asking the police to check on the man, the victim may never have gotten the help that he did. The abuse may have continued on and the elderly man could have been killed or severely injured as a result of this incident.

Unfortunately, this is the case for many cases of elder abuse and neglect. Sometimes people are too afraid to report any criminal activity for fear of backlash. However, nobody should ever be too afraid to report when their quality of life is being reduced because of elder abuse or neglect. They should not stand idly by and allow the abuse or neglect to continue. Whether you are the victim of elder abuse or neglect or you know someone who is, you should always report it to the authorities and get the help you deserve. The perpetrators should be brought to justice and the victims deserve some form of assistance and compensation for pain and suffering.
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