Advocates Ask Legislators for Help in Fight to Protect Seniors (USA)

Advocates ask legislators for help in fight to protect seniors

BY STEPHEN J. PYTAK

April 16, 2011

ORWIGSBURG –

State law needs more teeth to clamp down on elder abuse, representatives for the Schuylkill Elder Abuse Prevention Alliance told local legislators Friday.

"We need - and I'm begging you - we need to have some of the things in the crimes code changed to be more specific regarding power of attorney abuse. A power of attorney is not a license to steal," county Detective Dorothy "Dolly" Malec said before a crowd of more than 30 in the Schuylkill Country Club at SEAPA's legislative symposium.

SEAPA held the event to start a dialog with local lawmakers and encourage them to improve state laws to give prosecutors more tools to deal with cases of elder abuse, in particular financial abuse.

Following the two-hour presentation, state Rep. Mike Tobash, R-125, state Rep. Neal P. Goodman, D-123, and others nodded in agreement.

"Some people who are given power of attorney abuse that authority they're given. It's a huge issue we have to focus on," Tobash said.

SEAPA, a nonprofit group, started in 2005 with the help of a $10,000 state grant. More than 30 people attended Friday, including state Rep. Jerry Knowles, R-124, and state Sen. David Argall, R-29.

"Right now, in Schuylkill County, it's just too easy to be able to get the power of attorney. People in Schuylkill County have worked very hard for the money they've accumulated. They saved so they could have a secure future. But what we're seeing right now that many of them are victims, and there are far more than we have identified," said Schuylkill County Commissioners Chairwoman Mantura M. Gallagher.

Malec, a member of the Elder Abuse Unit, presented SEAPA's suggestions for upgrading the Pennsylvania Crimes Code, including a definition of "Financial Exploitation" added to the definitions in Chapter 39, and the following second-degree felony:

"A person who recklessly, knowingly or intentionally deprives an older adult of the proceeds of the older adult's benefits under the Social Security Act or other retirement program meant for the older adult's health care commits a felony of the second degree."

Abridged
SOURCE:      The Republican Herald
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Bail Hearing Put Over for Man Accused of Elder Abuse (CANADA)

Bail hearing put over for man accused of elder abuse

The Canadian Press

Apr. 14, 2011

TORONTO

The lawyer for a Toronto man accused of forcing his mother to live in a cold garage says he is hopeful his client will make bail later this month.

Kwong Yan has been in custody since his Feb. 23 arrest, after a 68-year-old woman was found unconscious and suffering from frostbite in an east-end garage. He made a brief court appearance by video link today and was remanded until April 28.

Yan's defence lawyer David Hao says he hopes his client will be released at that hearing.

Yan's wife and co-accused Qi Tan was released on bail last month.

The defence lawyer said staying in custody is preventing Yan from working and earning money to support his six-year-old daughter, and paying the mortgage.

Hao said the woman is currently in the care of the state, and is in stable condition -- though he said he is not sure where she is living.

SOURCE:     The Montreal Gazette
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Elder Abuse: Must Respect Confidentiality (CANADA)

Must respect confidentiality, and can report concerns only with client's consent

 By Lauren Tatner,

Special to the Montreal Gazette

April 14, 2011

The Gazette's panel of experts answer your questions on real estate. To ask a question, please email alampert@montrealgazette.com.

Elder abuse is a serious concern and it’s on the rise, given the growing aging population in Quebec.

According to Article 48 of the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, “Every aged person and every handicapped person has a right to protection against any form of exploitation. Such a person also has a right to the protection and security that must be provided to him by his family or the persons acting in their stead.”

Elder abuse, or the “exploitation of an aged person,” involves taking advantage of the vulnerable state or dependency of a person of advanced age and ultimately depriving this person of his or her rights. This can be in the form of physical abuse, psychological abuse, emotional abuse, abuse of rights, financial abuse, or neglect. Disturbingly, in most cases, the abuse is committed by someone in a position of trust who is well known to the individual, such as a family member or a close friend.

As a notary, I am in the privileged position of working directly with many aging clients to whom I provide important legal counsel with respect to wills, powers of attorney/mandates given in the event of incapacity and the purchase or sale of an immovable property. As a notary, I must be satisfied that my client is mentally competent and has the ability to comprehend the document or contract that he or she will ultimately sign. If I have the slightest doubt regarding the mental capacity of my client, I immediately request a current medical opinion for the protection of my client’s best interest.

In my work, I remain forever vigilant for any sign of elder abuse. Sadly, I have come across various potential abusive situations. In the scenario that follows, the names have been changed to protect professional confidentiality.

Everyone must do their part to be vigilant and watch for signs of potential or actual elder abuse to protect those who are the most vulnerable among our growing aging population. To contact the commission, call 1 800 361-6477.

Lauren Tatner is a notary/legal adviser specializing in residential real estate. She can be reached at lauren@notairetatner.com or 514-507-4405.

© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

Abridged
SOURCE:     The Montreal Gazette
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Judge Rules Trial Warranted in Elder Abuse Case (USA)

Judge Rules Trial Warranted in Elder Abuse Case

Elder abuse alleged in death of woman at Eskaton Care Center in Fair Oaks.

By Monica Unhold

April 8, 2011

A Sacramento court has decided accusations of elder abuse at a Fair Oaks care facility warrant a trial.

Dennis Lee Haney brought the civil suit against Eskaton Properties, Inc. after his mother, Dorris Hilton died after spending three months there.

Hilton, 78, died in November 2006 after suffering from a urinary tract infection. Haney claims Eskaton Care Center in Fair Oaks neglected his mother’s condition and failed to administer her prescribed medication until she became severely ill. Two days before her death Hilton was transferred to a hospital, where she died.

“She was neglected and without care or attention, without assistance in feeding or toileting, and was left without medication for a diagnosed urinary infection until she became confused and incoherent,” Haney’s complaint states. “During this time, her cries of pain and for assistance prompted no response from defendants, who had allocated knowingly inadequate resources to provide proper staffing to care for Doris Hilton.”

The complaint states that Hilton was subjected to a humiliating death due to her treatment at the facility.

“The conduct of defendants was outrageous. Doris Hilton was forced to endure great pain, mental anguish, humiliation, feelings of helplessness and desperation due to their acts and omissions of deliberate indifference.”

Eskaton Properties provided proper care to Hilton and the allegations are unfounded, said Stuart Greenbaum, a company spokesman.

“Eskaton maintains that this individual was provided the same highest level of care that each of the 3,500 people we serve each day receives,” Greenbaum said in an email. “Because the case is still being litigated, we cannot respond further on the details. Except to add that this unique allegation is incredibly disconcerting to the 1,700 dedicated and compassionate professionals who work for Eskaton.”

Eskaton Properties operates a chain of care facilities for seniors, including three in the Sacramento Area.

There have been several complaints of elder abuse filed against Eskaton’s Sacramento properties over the past few years. Neither Greenbaum or Haney’s attorney Lawrence Hensley could say whether the number of complaints is common in the long-term care industry. However, Hensley said since filing the complaint, he has received calls from people saying their family members were mistreated at the facility.

In another case, 87-year-old Viola Wiesser died at the facility in January 2010 after suffering from bedsores, pneumonia, clostridium, malnutrition and dehydration, according to a complaint. The woman’s children believe her death was caused by neglect.

According to the most recent data available through the Administration on Aging, 54,032 complaints of elder abuse were reported at residential care facilities in California in 2008. While California 

received more complaints of elder abuse at residential care facilities than any other state, it is home to 9,025 facilities and 289,891 beds – more than any other state. Despite a large number of complaints, the rate of complaints in California is no higher than other state.

However, much of the abuse may go unreported. Only one in 14 cases of elder abuse is reported to the authorities, according to the National Center on Elder Abuse.

California spends more than $11.5 million conducting inspections of residential care facilities and investigating complaints, according to the Administration on Aging.

SOURCE:        FairOaks.Patch.Com
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Help Guard Seniors from Scams (USA)

Help guard seniors from scams

Apr. 9, 2011

Mountain Home:

Crime victims also include senior citizens. Understanding scams against seniors can help prevent crime and protect future victims. April 10-16 is National Crime Victims' Rights Week, a time to honor crime victims by doing more to protect the most vulnerable. The public can demand stronger laws to criminalize and penalize such crimes. The 2010 federal Elder Justice Act, for example, establishes an Elder Justice Coordinating Council to recommend how federal, state, local and private agencies can work together to protect seniors from exploitation.

Other recently proposed federal laws would crack down on financial fraud, increase awareness of criminal activities, and tighten penalties for scammers. Judges who refuse to tolerate such crimes, like the Maryland judge who last year imposed the harshest penalty on a man who swindled $189,000 from an elderly widow, can help reduce financial exploitation of vulnerable seniors.

We urge that the media publicize these crimes. Newspapers can cover this issue more extensively, and broadcast stations can air public service announcements to alert older people about current scams and where to get help if they are victimized.

Finally, communities can coordinate efforts to protect seniors from online fraud. Community college computer education programs can teach participants about online fraud, and public libraries can teach safe Internet use. Businesses can offer creative programs.

By mobilizing to prevent fraud against seniors, we can reshape the future and honor the past during National Crime Victims' Rights Week and the years to come. Reducing online fraud against seniors helps create a safer future for all Americans.

This is from the Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime.

SOURCE:      The Baxter Bulletin
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Nuclear Families Violate Human Rights of Elderly, According to Study (INDIA)

Nuclear families violate human rights of elderly: Study

Increasing popularity of nuclear families is violating the human rights of senior citizens in India who end up living a lonely life, which in turn has a negative impact on their emotional and physical well being, says a recent study.

There is lack of awareness among older persons about their human rights and they face discrimination due to old age, adds the pan India study conducted by Delhi-based NGO Agewell Foundation, which works for the welfare of the senior citizens.

It is based on a representative sample of 50,000 senior citizens (29000 from rural areas and 21000 from urban areas) spread across 300 districts covering 25 states and Union Territories. "In today's fast paced life, even basic needs and rights of many of the senior citizens are not addressed. Social marginalisation, loneliness, isolation and even negligence in old age lead to violation of their human rights. Our study aims to assess the ground situation and find ways to address it," says Himanshu Rath, founder, Agewell Foundation.

SOURCE:     The Indian Express
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Son of Alleged Elder Abuse Victim NOT Granted Bail (CANADA)

By SAM PAZZANO, COURTS BUREAU

A Scarborough man accused of an horrific act of elder abuse against his own mother was detained Friday — a week after his co-accused wife was released on bail.

Justice Al O’Marra detained Kwong Yan, 43, who allegedly forced his 68-year-old mother to live in an uninsulated garage because of her incontinence.

A week earlier, Justice Ian Nordheimer freed Yan’s wife Qiyun Tan, 28, on $100,000 bail with strict conditions that bar her from freely communicating with her co-accused husband.

Yan’s mother was found unconscious by paramedics in the couple’s garage, with frostbitten toes and bruises on her body at the end of February.

O’Marra said Yan’s release would bring the administration of justice into disrepute because he is facing a strong circumstantial case on a serious charge involving a vulnerable person.

“We’re obviously disappointed with the decision and if new circumstances arise, we’ll bring another bail application,” said Yan’s lawyer David Hao outside court.

“It’s always been our position that Mr. Yan was in exactly the same position as Ms. Tan.”

Both husband and wife have no criminal record, he noted.

Crown attorney Brock Jones said the Crown opposed Yan’s release because he “was the victim’s son and the head of the household and in more control of the conditions that his mother was living in.

“In a case like this, with extreme allegations of elder abuse, it would shock the conscience of any reasonable member of society, that he would be released. To maintain confidence in the justice system, he must be detained,” Jones said.

SOURCE:    The Toronto Sun
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Pensioners 'Prisioners in their Own Homes' (UK)

LOUGHTON: Pensioners 'prisoners in their own homes'

11th April 2011

·         By Tom Porter 

COMMUTERS occupying all of the parking spaces on a street have left elderly residents feeling like 'prisoners in their own homes.'

Residents of Torrington Drive in Loughton claim that carers and paramedics have no way of quickly accessing the block’s vulnerable pensioners and are forced to park nearby and race to the block on foot.

The council has told residents nothing will be done until the long deferred parking review next year, but they are preparing to petition the council to act sooner.

Since last parking review five years ago the problem has become so bad that residents have been unable to take their vehicles out in the morning for fear that their spaces will be taken on their return and an ambulance recently had to park in the middle of the road while medics treated a pensioner.

Barry Johnstone, 63, has lived on the street for five years and is preparing a petition from residents for the council to reserve spaces for them.

He said: "Residents feel like prisoners in their own homes. They have to be given some priority."

“What do we have to do? We have been told that there is not enough money to take any action now and it will have to wait until the parking review next year.

“I am a former fireman and can see the difficulties emergency vehicles have accessing the area.

“If we have to go out shopping first thing we have no chance of getting back in. My daughter has to pay and park right round the corner when she comes to see me. Residents are just being pushed out.

“It has become dangerous. An ambulance had to park in the middle of the road. Carers have nowhere to park and have to walk ages to come to and see people.

Resident Jenny Figgins, 62, said: “The grass verge opposite the block is often completely churned up by vehicles. It is just such a mess. There are huge welts in the ground.

“It has to be commuters as all of the spaces on the verge are taken before 7 in the morning.

“There is a street on the other side of Debden that has the same problem and the council have put up a fence blocking off the grassy area. Why can’t they do the same thing here?”

SOURCE:    This is Local London






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Court Date for Carer Accused of Theft from Elderly Woman (UK)

11 April 2011 20:15

A CARER accused of stealing from an elderly woman has been given a date for her appearance at crown court.

Julie Foggon, from Keats Walk, South Shields, is accused of stealing £3,980 from an 80-year-old resident of Blenkinsop Court sheltered accommodation in the town’s Galsworthy Road, while working as a carer at the home.

The theft is said to happened between February and August last year.

Foggon, 31, appeared at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, where she was told her case will be heard at Newcastle Crown Court on May 6.

She has not entered a plea to the charge and was granted unconditional bail.

A BID to open an historic South Tyneside hotel to non-residents would cause “unacceptable disturbance” to and cause “significant harm to the living conditions” of people living nearby, a Government inspector has concluded.

The owners of the Sir William Fox Hotel in Westoe Village, South Shields, appealed against the council’s planning committee’s refusal to grant permission for the venue to be used for pre-booked meetings and functions between 10am and 6pm.

Inspector Malcolm Rivett rejected the appeal, members of the council’s planning committee were to be told today.

SOURCE:      The Shields Gazette
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Man Sentenced to 2½ Years for Assault on Grandmother (USA)

By Judy Harrison, BDN Staff

April 07, 2011

A Millinocket man was sentenced Tuesday at the Penobscot Judicial Center to 2½ years in prison for assaulting and threatening his grandmother in a case Penobscot County District Attorney R. Christopher Almy described as elder abuse.

Derrick J. Sirois, 29, had been held at the Penobscot County Jail unable to make $10,000 cash bail from the time of his arrest on Dec. 11 until his sentencing Tuesday. That time is expected to be credited toward his sentence.

After his sentencing, Sirois was moved to the Maine State Prison in Warren, according to jail personnel.

Sirois was drunk last year when he went with his 66-year-old grandmother to her Millinocket apartment, Almy said Thursday. Sirois demanded pills and money from the woman, as he has in the past.

When she did not comply, Sirois struck her in the chest, stomped on her foot and threatened her with a burning cigarette, according to the district attorney, who prosecuted the case. In addition, Sirois threatened to kill his grandmother if she did not give him what he wanted.

The grandson also pulled out a knife and threatened to use it if she or a witness called the police, Almy said. The grandmother tried to flee, but the defendant caught her and continued to assault her until the witness was able to call Millinocket police.

When officers arrived, Sirois was arrested and taken to jail. The grandmother was taken to a local hospital for treatment and released, according to court documents.

Between Jan. 1 and 5, 2011, Sirois called his grandmother, with whom he was forbidden to have contact, from jail, threatened her and tried to bribe her into not coming to court to testify against him, Almy said.

Just before his sentencing by District Court Judge Patrick Ende, Sirois pleaded guilty to domestic violence assault and domestic violence criminal threatening, both Class C crimes, for the December attack. He also pleaded guilty to Class B tampering with a victim and Class C violation of bail.

Sirois faced up to 10 years in prison on the Class B crime and up to five years on the Class C convictions. In addition, he faced fines of up to $10,000 and $5,000, respectively.

Almy praised the work of Millinocket police Officer Martin Legassey and Sgt. Aaron Brooker.

“They investigated the case properly and thoroughly and enabled us to get the sentence on Sirois that he deserved,” Almy said Thursday.

SOURCE:     Bangor Daily News
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