16 JUNE 2009
By ELIZABETH BIRGE
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
People who are desperate for money to pay their bills, mortgages, or college tuition do things that in other times they'd never consider.
Like stealing from an elderly relative who is in a nursing home.
And yet, complaints of senior abuse in long-term facilities were up 9 percent in May, according to northjersey.com, partly because of charges that family members are stealing money from elderly relatives.
"Financial exploitation does seem to be on the rise," said Debra Branch, the New Jersey ombudsman for the Office of the Institutionalized Elderly in the northjersey.com report. "When times are tough economically, it is all too easy for some people to try to inappropriately access the resources of an elderly relative."
"We see it across every economic class," Branch told northjersey.com. "The more money involved, the greater the chance we'll see this exploitation."
For more information on elder abuse and on how to file a complaint contact the Department of the Public Advocate.
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