DA Rolls Out Hotline to Report Elder Abuse at Assisted Living Facilities

[nadinbrzezinski]

ay 6, 2015 (San Diego) The hotline where San Diegans can report suspected elder abuse to a special unit within the District Attorney’s office is 619-531-3342. Dial that number when you suspect elder abuse. These reports will be screened for potential follow up.

According to Deputy DA Paul Greenwood, who leads the special unit, elder abuse cases are not restricted to neglect, they also involve “people taking advantage of elders financially, physically and emotionally, and it is a widespread crime.”

Supervisors Greg Cox and Dianne Jacob created this unit in 2014. It is not just meant to protect seniors, but also to raise awareness of the issues involved with both abuse and neglect in what is considered a vulnerable population.

“We trust facilities to care for our elderly loved ones in their twilight years and this unit is helping to ensure that individuals are held accountable when their failure to live up to that responsibility becomes criminal,” DA Bonnie Dumanis said. “We’re working to help even more victims of elder abuse and to stop those who prey on them.”

This initiative created a new protocol in the County, in which Community Care Licensing, part of the Department of Public Heath, sends reports of possible abuse to the DA special unit for follow up. Once a report is received, it is pre-screened for whether the incident merits further investigation and eventually charges.

In full, consider this a PSA

[Buzz Clik]

1. Better call Saul...

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. I hope this is of help to you

[procon]

2. This is going to become an even bigger problem as the Boomer

generation ages. The US isn't prepared for the sheer numbers of elderly folks that will require some sort of care in the next few years. Unlike other cultures, our society generally does not revere and care for our elderly relatives at home. We demand that they stay independent, and if they can't care for themselves we cart them off to an institutional facility where strangers will be paid to do the things we can't fit into our busy schedules.

Even if there was a national willingness to change, it takes decades to influence a shift in cultural norms. That leaves a gap that businesses will fill, for a tidy profit, and more vulnerable seniors will become victims of abuse and neglect. Ombudsmen and citizen advocacy groups programs are critically important. Government agencies that must get ahead of this and make sure strong regulations are in place to protect the aging population. New and innovative public/private partnerships are needed to provide assistance programs to seniors who can still live at home but need a little extra help. Tax and financial incentives would be useful in encouraging families to get more involved with the care of their own elderly parents.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. My county is trying hard to get ahead of it

I cannot say that for everywhere though. And I am not sure they will be able to get ahead of the elder tsunami, Supervisor Jacob uses those words regularly, and they are on point.

[bananas]

3. Scary stuff.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/may/04/district-attorney-fighting-elder-abuse/

Elder-care home investigations ramp up
113 cases have been opened since new unit created in March 2014
By Joshua Stewart 6:55 p.m. May 4, 2015 Updated 11:52 a.m. May 5, 2015

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis provides an update in assisted living facilities investigations at a news conference Monday with, from left, District Attorney's Investigator Gary Helson, Deputy District Attorney Valerie Summers, San Diego County supervisors Greg Cox and Dianne Jacob, Mark Sellers from county Aging & Independence Services and Kimberly Lyon from county Community Care Licensing. — Courtesy: District Attorney's Office

SAN DIEGO — Ever since launching a special unit to investigate and prosecute abuse at elder care facilities, San Diego District Attorney’s Office has opened at least new two cases every week.

Since its creation in March, the new team of prosecutors, investigators, and paralegals has looked into 113 cases of possible abuse at long-term senior living facilities, the DA’s office said.

<snip>

This rate that the DA is receiving these types of cases is unprecedented, said Paul Greenwood, the prosecutor who handles the office’s elder abuse cases.

“I can tell you that before the unit began we rarely prosecuted any facility crimes because we rarely heard about them,” he said.

<snip>

At a press conference on Wednesday, Dumanis and county officials announced the launch of a new hotline for reporting abuse at long-term care facilities. The number is 619-531-3342, and more information about elder abuse can be found at SafeSeniorsSanDiego.com.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Yes it is damn scary

and it is one of Jacob's pet projects, that and Alzheimers. Not that I can blame her for that.

[daredtowork]

5. The political excuse that is used to stall such programs is

"cases will come out of the woodwork".

Well, what is happening to PEOPLE while these cases are IN the woodwork?

So glad to see the ball is rolling on elder care abuse in facilities. We all need to envision that this is where WE could be spending the last days of our lives.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. One theory I have as to why my local Supervisors are ahead of the curve

is the average age in that board. I am going from memory but the kid in that club is in his 50s, the rest are actually in their 70ss