Elderly Abuse Laws
The Senate Special Committee on Aging concluded that as many as five million elderly Americans suffer some form of abuse every year. They also think that 84% of elder abuse goes unreported. Addressing it must involve legislative, social service, and economic experts. Currently, while the federal government is taking a strong leadership role in addressing the problem of elder abuse, there are no federal laws in place.
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Identification
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Elderly Americans can suffer physical, emotional and sexual abuse. They can also be the victims of neglect, exploitation, and abandonment. Usually the perpetrators are their adult children. Prosecuting abusers of the elderly is accomplished by laws which have been passed in each of the 50 United States.
Features
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These state laws are known as Adult Protective Services Laws. They establish what procedures have to be followed when an elder abuse report is made. Then if the investigation verifies the abuse, the laws explain what social service interventions can happen. They define who is eligible for protection. Usually eligibility is based on age but it can also be based on the circumstances and disabilities of the victim. The Adult Protective Services Laws determine which types of abuse will be prosecuted as a civil or criminal infraction. Finally these laws say whether or not it is mandatory to report elder abuse.
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Function
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The Federal government has passed the Federal Older Americans Act. Not a law that sets standards for behavior and consequences for disobedience, this act defines what constitutes elder abuse. It also makes federal funding available to the states to use to pay for programs that coordinate services for victims of elder abuse. The funds can also be used to pay for states to do public education awareness programs about elderly abuse.
Considerations
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The Federal Older Americans Act also requires every state to run a Long Term Care Ombudsman Program in order to qualify for funding. This program recognizes a difference between "domestic" elder abuse which happens in private homes in a community and "institutional" elder abuse which happens in a nursing home or senior residence. Ombudsmen act as advocates for elderly people who live in institutions and may be victims of abuse or neglect which happens in the institution. Different legal standards and penalties apply for institutional and domestic abuse.
Prevention/Solution
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Federal, state and local laws regarding crimes like rape, assault, murder, robbery, or fraud still apply when the victim is elderly. In fact, the penalties for these crimes may be worse if they are done against a senior citizen. The problem of elder abuse is serious and may become even more pronounced as the baby boomers swell the elder population in the next two decades. If you need to get help for a senior citizen who may be being abused, the National Center on Elder Abuse can refer you to an agency near year. Call them at (800) 677-1116. The phones are answered weekdays from 9 AM to 8 PM.
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Comments
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my father is in a nursing home and had to be sent to a behavior hospital, he has allsismers or however you spell it, anyway he doesd't know anything, and he was gone for almost 2 weeks when he came back he could not talk, could not walk, was scared to death of all people and said don't put me in the black hole and had lost over 20 pounds, had so much food and trash in his beard they had to shave it off, looked like a dead man, just shaking real bad, and some other things I will not say yet.
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My grandson's girlfriend; she is almost 20 and he just turned 18, abuses me mentally every time I am around her. SHE YELLS and screams. For instance, yesterday, grandson asked me to bring home soda and I reminded him that I had bought 30 cans in the past week. She screamed at me "Just forget it". They have a one year old son and she threatens that we won't get to see him. She left a nasty note on my computer last night. If she don't like it, why don't she just go away? My grandson is really under her thumb and by the way, neither of them are working; they expect their grandparents to support them but we will not anymore. And, furthermore, I will hire a lawyer and tell them she is not a fit mother, like letting the baby wear poopy diapers for extended period of times.
