Police, Movers Refuse to Evict 103-Year-Old Woman (USA)

Nov 30, 2011 

Tuesday was one of the dreariest days that Atlanta has had this year. Temperatures plunged to 35 degrees, almost 20 degrees cooler than over the weekend. Yet it was the day that 103-year-old Vinia Hall and her 83-year-old daughter were scheduled to be evicted from the modest home that Hall had lived in for over 53 years.

“I love it. It’s a mansion,” Hall told ABC affiliate WSB-TV.

For the sheriff’s deputies and movers commissioned by JP Morgan Chase, who  issued the foreclosure on behalf of Deutsche Bank,  to evict the family would have been near-heartless.

“It was a cold, nasty day,” said Tracy Flanagan of the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office. “When the deputies got there, all they had were names on a paper. You have to use sensitivity and take a second look at it.”

Flanagan said that the family’s age contributed to the decision not to evict but also that the date of the eviction notice was  a driving factor. The foreclosure notice was issued in 2008 after Lee’s grandson, Ali Muhammad, who legally owns the house, failed to make regular payments. He took the case to court where the trial court ruled in favor of the bank. Chase issued an eviction notice in 2010 and scheduled the eviction for Tuesday, Nov. 29.

Hall said that she knew about the forthcoming eviction but pleaded for  the bank to leave her in peace.

“Please don’t come in and disturb me no more. When I’m gone, you all can come back and do whatever they want to,” Hall told ABC affiliate WSB-TV.

Now, Chase has heeded Hall’s request and is working to make a way that the family can stay in their house.

“We will work out a resolution to keep them in the home,” said Chase spokesman Tom Kelly.  He said that Chase did not initially know who the occupants were because the deed is in Muhammad’s name.

Hall’s case brought together a host of community members determined to keep her from being forced out. In addition to the sheriff’s office, community activists and even a Georgia state senator, Vincent Fort, were seeking solutions.

Fort said that he is outraged that Chase would consider kicking out an elderly woman and her daughter. The daughter had to be rushed to the hospital following the attempted eviction after she had difficulty breathing. According to Fort, she is back at home now.

“You can get a bailout for big banks for no bailout for Big Momma?” he asked.

For Hall, who is just weeks shy of her 104 birthday, her prayers for benevolence seemed to have worked.

“No, I knew that they know what they were doing. God don’t let them do wrong,” she said.

SOURCE:        ABC NEWS
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Maine Joins National Program to Prevent Financial Exploitation of Elderly

12/01/2011 Reported By: Tom Porter

State officials today announced an initiative to combat financial abuse of Maine's elderly and vulnerable population. Maine is joining a national scheme called the Elder Investment Fraud and Financial Exploitation prevention program. The move is in part prompted by new medical research showing THAT more than a third of Americans over 71 have a mild form of Alzheimers, making them especially vulnerable to financial scams. "There really is no end to the creativity of a scam artist," says Judith Shaw, administrator of the Maine Office of Securities, which is overseeing the program. She says the the problem is particularly germane to the Pine Tree state, which Census figures show has the oldest population in the nation. "We are seeing more and more elderly citizens throughout the country who have mild cognitive impairment, not necessarily full-blown Alzheimers, who are finding themselves getting scammed by people who are looking to take away their treasured retirement savings," Shaw says. The collective retirement savings of America's elderly represent a tidy sum: According to a recent national study, 34 percent of America's net worth -- that's more than $15 trillion -- is held by citizens 65 and older. And one in five of those seniors have been financially ripped off at some point, according to the same study. Judith Shaw says her office handles, on average, about 200 fraud complaints across Maine every year, most of them involving elderly people who've been duped in a variety of ways. "From calling elderly citizens on the phone and convincing them to invest in gold or silver commodities, to encouraging them to purchase a business opportunity--for example, obtaining a credit card number from a senior investor, and them billing thousands and thousands of dollars for a non-existent opportunity to make money based on a web-based product," Shaw says. The program, she says, is all about education, and it starts with the state's medical professionals, which include social workers, nurse practitioners, physicians and physicians' assistants. About 200 of them will attend training sessions, where they'll be given guidelines on how to spot the warning signs of mild cognitive impairment. To achieve this, the state is teaming up with experts from the University of New England's Geriatric Education Center, where Judith Metcalf is director. "By educating health professionals to identify and screen for vulnerability with referral routes, health professionals will become much more atttuned, and will be able to recognize this financial vulnerability much more quickly." Metcalf says the health professsionals will be given a list of red flag questions to ask their patients. These questions must be asked tactfully, she says, but they may help indicate whether or not a patient is suffering from some sort of cognitive impairment which would make them easy prey for scam artists. Questions such as: "Who manages your money day-to-day? And 'How's it going?'" Metcalf says. "Another might be, 'Do you run out of money at the end of the month?' A third might be 'Do you regret or worry about financial decisions you've recently made?' A fourth might be, 'Have you given power of attorney to another person?'" If red flags are raised, the healthcare professional will be told exactly where to refer to the person for help. The cost of establishing the program in Maine is about $30,000. But Judith Shaw of the Office of Securities says this won't cost the state penny. "The money for the program is being funded by grants administered by the Investor Protection Trust." The Investor Protection Trust, she explains, is a non-profit created to administer the proceeds of a multi-state settlement of enforcement actions brought against a number of large investment firms in 2003.    SOURCE:    Maine Public Broadcasting Network

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EU Action Needed to Fight Elder Abuse and Ensure Dignity in Old Age (EU)

EU action needed to fight elder abuse and ensure dignity in old age

PRESS RELEASE
Brussels, 29 November 2011

EU conference "Ageing in Dignity: Designing effective strategies
for tackling elder abuse"

EU action needed to fight elder abuse and ensure
dignity in old age

"Elder abuse and neglect can no longer be tolerated. Time has come for the EU to empower Member States and stakeholders to work together to address this chronic failure of our social protection systems which can only deteriorate further in today's context of crisis if nothing is done to protect the growing number of frail and dependent older people" said Anne-Sophie Parent, Secretary General of AGE Platform Europe at EU conference "Ageing in Dignity: Designing effective strategies for tackling elder abuse" held in Brussels on 28 November.

The conference organized by the European Commission aimed to take stock of the achievement of the various EU initiatives that have been taken so far to fight elder abuse across EU Member States and discuss what needs and could be done at national and European level to protect the dignity and well-being of older people.

Welcoming the dense and multi-level discussions, Marjan Sedmak, President of AGE, stressed that "the outcomes of the EU projects that were presented at the conference are very useful to support national and local action to promote the wellbeing and dignity of older people".

In today’s context of demographic change and economic crisis major reforms are introduced in the field of long-term care (LTC). Public authorities outsource more and more LTC services and older people are asked to cover an increasing part of the cost of their LTC. “Both public authorities and service users want to be sure that the money they spend on LTC will deliver quality and “safe” elder care as well as an adequate support to their informal carers”, concluded Anne-Sophie Parent.

To support this, AGE asked the European Commission to foster the development of aEuropean quality framework for long-term care which would set a series of key principles or standards for LTC, and to start working on a EU recognition of care assistant’s qualification, an EU carer’s leave directive to support informal carers; and to support the work the UN open-ended working group on the rights of older people.

The fight against elder abuse is a key priority for AGE members. After developing aEuropean Charter of the rights and responsibilities of older people in need of long-term care and assistance and its accompanying guide as part of the EU funded EUSTACEA project, AGE is now coordinating the two-year running project “WeDO: A European Partnership for the Wellbeing and Dignity of Older people”, which gathers 18 partners coming from 12 different member states who are committed to work together to learn from each other and improve the quality of their LTC services.

The WeDO partners are developing a European Quality framework for LTC based on the key principles that were adopted by the EPSCO Council for social services of general interest. More than 100 good practices have been gathered to illustrate how these key principles can be implemented in practice. The WeDO partners have set up national coalitions who are developing national strategies for the wellbeing and dignity of older people.

SOURCE:     Age Platform, EU


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Elder Abuse and Mistreatment (USA)

Vulnerable older adults face high risks of financial, physical, and psychological abuse. Too often, these abuses go undetected or are disregarded after they are discovered. Frequently family members or caregivers are the perpetators; thus the abuse can mistakenly be seen as a private, family matter.

Elder abuse includes intentional actions by a caregiver or other trusted individual that causes harm to an older adult. Elder abuse can also include the failure of a caregiver or other responsible party to provide for the basic needs of an elder. The comprehensive definition of elder abuse includes financial exploitation of older people, as well as physical abuse, neglect, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse.

Background

Elder abuse and neglect is an understudied problem in the United States. Historically viewed as a social rather than a criminal problem, most states did not establish adult protective services units to address elder abuse until the mid-1980s. The extent of elder abuse is unknown, in part because of the lack of definitive and comprehensive research in the area.

Elder abuse is frequently perpetrated by a spouse, relative, or acquaintance, which increases the likelihood that crimes are being underreported. Low household income, unemployment or retirement, poor health, prior traumatic events, and low levels of social support all can indicate a higher likelihood that older people may experience mistreatment.

This problem is compounded by the fact that the medical and criminal justice communities lack comprehensive forensic guidelines for identifying elder abuse and mistreatment. Financial exploitation of older adults has also not been thoroughly studied because of problems with detection, conflicting definitions of the crime, and underreporting.

Resources

• Elder Abuse Information and Resources
• NIJ Journal 255: Elder Abuse in the United States
• National Elder Mistreatment Study
• Elder Mistreatment: Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation in an Aging America
• Elder Abuse Resource Center
• National Center on Elder Abuse
• The National Organization for Victim Assistance

SOURCE:     US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
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Large Donation Will Bring Greater Awareness on Elder Abuse (CANADA)

Dec 1, 2011

 By Doreen Barnes

EMC News - Brother and sister Paul and Jane Daily have donated $10,000 to the Local Elder Abuse Prevention (LEAP) Network of Lanark, Leeds and Grenville, in loving memory of their late father, Tom Dailey.

"We hope that this donation will bring a greater awareness to the problem (elder abuse), as we didn't know this sorta thing went on," said Paul Dailey. "Because a person of 70 is not the same person at 90 as they do not have the resilience to stand up to somebody. They don't have a quick mind and people can take advantage of a situation like that."

Unfortunately Jane had car issues on the 401 travelling to Brockville and was not able to attend the cheque presentation at the Wedgewood Retirement Resort on Tuesday, Nov. 22.

By telephone, Jane indicated that she had had several conversations with her friends which had brought this issue to the forefront for her.

"In talking to girlfriends, we are more aware of elder abuse," she said. "You know it is something that is out there and it's not a North American problem. It's all over the place, in the world, in Europe and I know that people are proposing different things to help alleviate the problem for the elderly, but it is a very difficult thing to do. So Paul and I were discussing what we might do and it seemed to make perfect sense."

The pair felt that the donation to the local community would be more beneficial than donating to a large organization

With a hint of laughter, Jane said she and Paul decided on $10,000 because it is a nice round number.

When the decision was made by this pair to donate to the prevention of elder abuse, they went searching on the internet to find a local chapter. By chance they had landed in the Ontario Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, www.onpea.org, clicked on the Regional Resources and found East Community Networks with Lanark, Leeds and Grenville listed.

So if anyone would like to host an event, or to talk with Debora Steele, she can be reached            613-345-1461      , extension 1713 or steeled@providencecare.ca.

Should groups or organizations like to have a presentation or an educational session on elder abuse they can contact Manon Thompson through ONPEA by calling             613-789-3577       or email east@onpea.org. 


Abridged
SOURCE:      EMCSTLAWRENCE, CA
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Follow U.S. Lead on Dealing withElder Abuse

Follow U.S. lead on elder abuse

Dec 01 2011

By David Sinclair, Montreal

Re: Ontario task force to tackle abuse in nursing homes, Nov. 18

Kudos to the Star for its excellent coverage of the routine abuse of some of society’s most vulnerable. As a former criminal prosecutor in the U.S., I suggest that the task force examine two aspects of California law that have proved to be particularly helpful in protecting the elderly: a comprehensive nursing facility Residents’ Bill of Rights, and California Penal Code s. 368, specifically criminalizing and punishing elder abuse.

I know that Canadians take a dim view of certain aspects of American sentencing law. But in my humble opinion, Canadian sentencing provisions do not adequately deter those who victimize the elderly population.

The Star’s reporting on this issue should outrage not only our senior citizens, but anyone who cares about social justice. It is high time that Ontario examine this issue — and high time that our ostensibly tough-on-crime federal government looks at it, as well.

David Sinclair, Montreal

SOURCE:       The Star
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Senior Citizens Warned of Common Scams and Reminded to Report Elder Abuse

This time of the year, many seniors are particularly vulnerable to “Elder Abuse” and scam artists who prey on our senior citizens.  Citizens are encouraged to report Elder Abuse immediately. 

If you or someone you know has been the victim of Elder Abuse please call the San Diego Police Department at             619-531-2000      . If you suspectthat you or someone you know has been the victim of Elder Abuse please call Aging and Independent Services for the County of San Diego at      800-510-2020    (Free Call) 

The following examples from the San Diego Police Department highlight scams regularly perpetrated against Senior Citizens.  You are encouraged to share examples with all the senior citizens you know.

The Grand Parent Scam

There are several versions of the “Grand Parent” scam.  In the most common version the victim will receive a call from an unknown person who will immediately say “Grandma” or “Grandpa” after the victim answers the phone. The victim will reply, “Johnny” or Janie” (the name of their grandson or granddaughter).  The caller will reply, “Yes it’s your Grandson Johnny.”  The caller will explain they are in trouble while visiting another country.  The most common countries are Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, and Spain.  The caller will claim to have been arrested and/or in jail, involved in a vehicle accident or experiencing a medical emergency and they need money wired to them urgently.  The caller will ask the victim not to contact other family members because they are embarrassed.  The caller will ask for the money to be wired in the name of an unknown third-party.  The amount to be wired can vary from $500.00 to $50,000.00.  The largest amount wired from San Diego to China was $130,000.00.  The caller said he needed emergency surgery. The hospital would not perform the procedure without a “bond” to cover the expense since the imposter did not have medical insurance in China.

What can I do?

The victims in these scams have all sworn the caller sounded just like their loved one.  The first thing you should do after receiving such a call is make a telephone call to a “good” phone number you have for your grandson or granddaughter.  If you cannot reach them call your grandson or granddaughter’s parents to confirm they are indeed out of the country before you wire any money.  Because;

Once the money has been wired and received, the money is gone!

The “International Lottery” Scam

Another common telephone scam is the “International Lottery” scam.  The caller will inform the victim they have won a substantial amount of money from the lottery of Jamaica or Canada.  The victim will be instructed to wire money to cover the “taxes” associated with the prize.  The amount can range from $1,500.00 to $15,000.00. Usually the prize is worth anywhere from one to four million dollars.  If money is sent, the victim will begin receiving multiple calls asking for more money to be sent to cover additional taxes, fees, and/or insurance.  In reality, the victim has not won any prize and will never see any of their “winnings”.  And just as the “grandparent” scam; 

Once the money is wired and received, it’s gone!

What can I do?

Before you send any money remember this, “If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.”  Also, did you know it is against federal law to participate in an international lottery?  The reason, the Federal Trade Commission says most foreign lotteries are likely to be scams and U.S. citizens send an estimated $120 million a year to foreign countries on the prospect of obtaining instant wealth.  Scammers have turned to the telephone because federal law enforcement officials intercept and destroy millions of foreign lottery mailings every year.

If you or someone you know has been the victim of Elder Abuse please call the San Diego Police Department:             619-531-2000      .

If you suspect that you or someone you know has been the victim of Elder Abuse please call Aging and Independent Services for the County of San Diego:                    

            800-510-2020  

(Please go to SOURCE for more information)

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Neglect and Abuse of Older People is Widespread (EU)

EUROPEAN ALLIANCE FOR FAMILIES

I am happy that there is now a website that Europeans, who are concern about Aged Care, Elder Abuse and Family Issues; can now get more information from that site.  You can also subscribe to their enewsletter. An example:

Improving older people's access to care counselling (Austria, Lithuania, Poland)

Care counselling The Austrian Red Cross is coordinating a two-year project to identify and test a range of access methods to different care services in three countries (Austria, Lithuania and Poland) to increase the opportunities for older people to use support services. The project is called 'Improving access to community services for older people living at home' and is being carried out by seven partners in the three participating countries.  (from the latest enewsletter)

Elder abuse:

Older people in Europe are vulnerable to poor treatment, neglect and abuse, according to a survey presented by the European Commission today. Almost half (47%) of people across the EU consider the phenomenon to be widespread in their country – and the challenge is only likely to increase as Europeans get older. A high-level EU conference in Brussels will today offer policy makers and experts an opportunity to discuss the quality of care for frail elderly people and pool ideas on preventing elder abuse.

"Each of us faces the possibility of becoming dependent on the help of others when we get older, and currently we cannot be sure that we will be treated with dignity," said Vladimír Špidla, EU Social Affairs Commissioner. "Member States are starting to support the carers and relatives better through training and guidance, they have started to protect the elderly by creating support groups and telephone hotlines and are creating transparent and patient-oriented monitoring systems for the quality of long-term care. I welcome this and at the same time much more needs to be done all across Europe! "

As Europeans live longer, the share of the EU population aged over 80 is due to increase three- or four-fold to 12% by 2050. More and more people will depend on the care of relatives or professional carers and be vulnerable to neglect or even abuse. But while abuse can take many different forms – ranging from physical to psychological – it is more often the result of an inability to cope on the part of stressed and overburdened carers than intent to exploit or harm vulnerable older people.

Although the perceived risk of elder abuse varies among EU countries, protecting the dignity and fundamental rights of the frail elderly is becoming a major challenge for societies across Europe.

Today's conference aims to raise awareness of the need to tackle elder abuse and to trigger an open debate at European level on the best ways of dealing with the problem. It will present information on the prevalence of elder abuse, look at the causes and risk factors related to it and examine possible strategies for tackling it through prevention.

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/452&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

Further information:
Special Eurobarometer survey on health and long-term care in the EU

http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_283_en.pdf
Conference: Protecting the dignity of older persons – the prevention of elder abuse and neglect (including Discussion paper: What can the European Union do to promote dignity in old age and to prevent elder abuse?)

http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/spsi/elder_abuse_en.htm
Video News Release: Protecting the dignity of older people

http://www.tvlink.org

................ Andrew
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Commission Finds 'Systematic' Failure in Elderly People's Care (UK)

Commission finds ‘systematic’ failure in elderly people’s care

23 November 2011 

Elderly people who receive home care are seeing their human rights breached by care workers, a new report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission has found.

There is evidence of “systematic failure” in the provision of care and shocking cases of treatment which breached human rights, including the theft of money, “unfounded” health and safety concerns and a chronic disregard for older people’s privacy and dignity, the report has claimed.

Examples include a woman left stuck on the toilet in her bathroom because the care worker was too busy completing a checklist of tasks to help her, elderly people with dementia going hungry because they could not find meals “hidden” by their carer in the fridge, and a starving lady who had to beg for her own food money to be spent.

It questions commissioning practices that are too dependent on a rigid checklist of tasks rather than asking what the client actually needs, and says some old people are reluctant to complain because they fear repercussions.

Only half of the 1,250 older people, friends and family members surveyed expressed satisfaction with home care provision, which is set to be cut back in many regions because of budget constraints.

One in three local authorities have already cut back on home care spending and another one in five plan to do so over the next year.

It demands the government close the human rights loopholes to ensure elderly people are protected from mistreatment.

The Commissioner for the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Baroness Sally Greengross, said: “The emphasis is on saving pennies rather than providing a service which will meet the very real needs of our grandparents, our parents, and eventually all of us.

“Most of us will want to carry on living in our own homes in later life, even if we need help to do so. When implemented, the recommendations from this inquiry will provide secure foundations for a home care system that will let us do so safely, with dignity and independence.” 

Labour leapt on the findings of the report, saying the Government was “out of touch”.

The Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, Liz Kendall, said: “This important report shines a light on the too often invisible experiences of older people receiving care at home.

“It reveals a service stretched to the limit and older people denied the dignity and respect they deserve.

“Despite all the evidence of the growing crisis in care, the Government is cutting funding for older people’s social care by £1.3bn in real terms this Parliament.

“They are clearly out of touch with what’s really happening on the ground.”

The General Secretary of the National Pensioners Convention, Dot Gibson, called for urgent reform to improve the pay, training and qualifications of care staff.

“Older people need greater legal protection from abuse and neglect otherwise the horror stories in this latest report will simply continue,” she said.

Charities agreed with another recommendation of the report, that local authorities and the government needed to more effectively monitor home care practice.

“There needs to be greater public scrutiny over a service delivered behind closed doors to some of the most vulnerable older people in our society,” said Age UK director Michelle Mitchell.

SOURCE:      The Yorkshire Post
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Lack of Respect for the Old is the Real Problem (UK)

Lack of respect for the old is the real problem

Underlying lack of funding is ageism: old people are mistreated because they are loathed

By GERALDINE BEDELL

24 NOVEMBER 2011

You're in hospital and your oxygen tank leaks, soaking your pyjamas and the bed. No one comes to help until your daughter arrives, when one of the nurses says: "Oh, no! What's he done now?" You visit your mother in a care home and find that she's in nappies, even though she's not incontinent. She tells you that she complained to the staff but they accused her of making trouble and – she believes – punished her by leaving her on her own in a wheelchair in a side room.

Yesterday's report claiming that the elderly are routinely abused in their own homes should come as no surprise, because they are routinely abused in public. Both of the examples above are among hundreds of similar stories that have been posted on Gransnet since we launched in May this year; our members are of the generation that is caring for elderly parents and they are often subject to ageism themselves. One member, helped up the ward by a physio following an operation, was asked: "Do you use a stick at home, dear?" To which she replied, through gritted teeth: "No, at home I use a bicycle."

The Equality and Human Rights Commission report follows similar revelations highlighting widespread mistreatment of the elderly in hospitals; plus a series of alarming bulletins from the Care Quality Commission on abuse in hospitals and care homes. This all adds up to an epidemic of casual cruelty. If children were being physically hurt, emotionally taunted, stolen from and starved by adults who were supposed to be looking after them, there would be outrage. As it is, we mutter about carers being overworked and underpaid and shrug over budget cuts and the state of the economy. It's as if, deep down, we accept that abuse of the elderly is always with us.

Of course, the money matters. If care workers had more than 15 minutes to spend on a visit, they could undoubtedly do their jobs better. Following £1.3bn of cuts, their schedules are stretched to tearing point (and, let's face it, their time was never valued highly in the first place). Cuts are manifestly making neglect more likely.

But it's not all about money. A teacher who manhandled and pushed a child or humiliated him about his failings would never get away with blaming a heavy workload. Underlying lack of funding is a deeply ingrained ageism: old people are mistreated because old people are loathed in our culture and caring for them is seen as something faintly degrading. Ageism is widespread and almost invisible, and its most casual, innocent forms lay the ground for pernicious cruelty. Everyone who makes a casual ageist remark, despises someone for not being young, or fears growing old (which is not the same thing as dying) is a little bit culpable of these acts of violence and disdain.

SOURCE:     Independent.co.uk

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