By Kate Santich Sentinel Staff Writer
May 28, 2008
Abuse and neglect of Florida's elderly have risen a dramatic 15 percent in the past year, prompting state leaders to call for increased training of investigators and greater vigilance by neighbors and family.
Bob Butterworth, secretary of Florida's Department of Children and Families, blamed much of the increase on the struggling economy. In tough times, he said, patience thins, tempers flare and "despicable" predators seek out the elderly for financial gain.
So far this fiscal year, the department has received nearly 49,000 reports from across the state, including about 4,050 from Orange, Osceola, Brevard and Seminole counties.
Reports involve seniors in nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, psychiatric centers and private homes.
"We find too many cases where the [adult] children have basically abandoned the parents," Butterworth said. His remarks came at the outset of the first statewide training sessions for investigators, being held in Orlando.
"We have laws that require parents to take care of their children, but no law requires the grown-up children to look after their parents," Butterworth said. "We see far too many cases where the family has parked Grandma in Orlando, and they still live in their nice house up North."
Recently, investigators in Central Florida responded to a call about an elderly Winter Park couple who no longer had drivers licenses. Not knowing where to get help, the husband and wife -- both in their 70s -- simply tried to ration the food they had left. They were down to a single package of hot dogs and two cans of chicken broth.
"We got them food immediately," said Margaret Borhman, an adult protective investigator for DCF. She also arranged for Lynx transportation so the couple could go grocery shopping, and she contacted their out-of-state children.
Borhman's personal caseload has increased by a third in the past year, but as with her co-workers, she has no additional staffing to help do the job.
Butterworth acknowledged the department was simply going to have to work harder. Legislators gave DCF no additional money this year and at one point even proposed cutting positions.
"It's tough," Butterworth said. "We were able to get most of that [the proposed cuts] back, but we will have much higher caseloads for our investigators. We have to do it. There's just no other way."
SOURCE: OrlandoSentinel
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