NCEA | Newsfeed Collection

Newsfeed – Tuesday, January 08, 2013

The newsfeed includes articles and stories related to abuse of elders and adults with disabilities.  Articles related to elders appear in the top half of the newsfeed.  Articles related to abuse of adults with disabilities appear towards the bottom.  To subscribe to the NCEA listserv, please send an email with your name, occupation, your organization/agency name, city and state, and a statement about your professional interest or expertise in elder abuse to NCEA@UCI.edu.  Like us on Facebook!

Learn what the Administration on Aging is planning for the Year of Elder Abuse Prevention!

http://www.aoa.gov/AoARoot/AoA_Programs/Elder_Rights/YEAP/index.aspx

Calendar of upcoming elder abuse and neglect events can be found at the bottom of the newsfeed.

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ELDER ABUSE NEWSFEED

1.         CALIFORNIA (El Dorado County), Sacramento Bee, January 7, 2013
Q&A: El Dorado adds investigator to handle rising elder abuse cases
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/01/07/5095820/qa-el-dorado-adds-investigator.html
Concerned that its cases of elder abuse are on the rise – up by 9 percent in the past year – the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office recently added an investigator specifically assigned to look into cases of physical and financial abuse among the county's 28,000 residents age 65 and older.

2.         CALIFORNIA (Orange County), Orange County Register, January 3, 2013
Local voices praise new health laws
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/law-382380-abuse-elder.html
A new California law requires nursing homes to quickly report elder abuse to police. AB40 resolves a longstanding conflict between state and federal laws related to elder-abuse reports, according to the office of Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, the Northern California Democrat who authored the bill. The law took effect Jan. 1.

3.         CALIFORNIA (Santa Cruz), Santa Cruz Sentinel, January 5, 2013
Chuck Molnar, Senior Corner: Reaching out to isolated seniors
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_22317796/chuck-molnar-senior-corner-reaching-out-isolated-seniors?source=email
On Jan. 1, a new law SB1047, first proposed by a member of the California Senior Legislature, went into effect. Entitled "Silver Alert," this law would require that if a person is reported missing to a law enforcement agency, and that agency determines that certain requirements are met, including, among others, that the missing person is 65 years of age or older, the law enforcement agency shall request the California Highway Patrol to activate an electronic sign Silver Alert similar to the Amber Alert

4.         GEORGIA (DeKalb County), Crossroads News, January 4, 2013
Trial to start in elder abuse case
http://www.crossroadsnews.com/view/full_story/21314103/article-Trial-to-start-in-elder-abuse-case?instance=lead_story_left_column
A former middle school secretary was indicted by a DeKalb County grand jury on June 28, 2012, on a range of charges that include aggravated assault, forgery, abuse of disabled adults, identity fraud, and exploitation of an elderly person. Her trial is scheduled to begin this week.

6.         VERMONT (Montpelier), Vermont Digger, January 6, 2013
Legislative preview: Human services committees will look at elder abuse reporting, children and family services
http://vtdigger.org/2013/01/06/legislative-preview-human-services-committee-will-look-at-elder-abuse-reporting-children-and-family-services/
Leaders from both the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare and the House Committee on Human Services say they’ll work to pass a bill similar to one that Governor Peter Shumlin vetoed last session. The bill would have required that the APS division report to the Legislature on elder abuse on a monthly rather than annual basis. It was introduced in response ot a backlog in investigations of elder abuse that had bogged down the APS division and prompted a lawsuit filed by Vermont Legal Aid.

7.         WEST VIRGINIA (Wyoming County), WVNSTV, January 4, 2013
A case of elder abuse lands one man behind bars
http://www.wvnstv.com/story/20504110/a-case-of-elder-abuse-lands-one-man-behind-bars
A 33-year-old man is accused of beating his grandparents. Deputies arrested the suspect on a list of charges, including malicious wounding, three counts of kidnapping, grand larceny and two counts of violent crimes against the elderly. Deputies said more charges could follow.

8.         INTERNATIONAL (Plymouth, United Kingdom), BBC, January 7, 2013
‘Callous’ arson attack on disabled Plymouth woman’s car
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-20937088
A 68-year-old woman’s leased Ford Fiesta was covered with gasoline and set on fire in the early hours of Sunday. The car was completely destroyed, leaving the owner devastated. Det. Con Jason Bryant says the motability company is reluctant to provide another care because of the risk and this car was the woman’s lifeline. Anyone with information about this crime is asked to contact authorities.

ABUSE OF ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES

1.         FLORIDA (Escambia County), Pensacola News Journal, January 7, 2013
6 arrested in disturbance involving mentally disabled adult
http://www.pnj.com/article/20130107/NEWS11/130107012/6-arrested-in-disturbance-involving-mentally-disabled-adult
Six people were arrested today after a morning melee in which a mentally handicapped adult was chased down by two people and a pit bull and beaten with a cup and a belt. Deputies responded to the disturbance at about and learned that the victim had been abused by household members reportedly as punishment for stealing a cell phone, according to a news release from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. The victim was forced to run up and down the street and had also been hit in the face with a coffee cup, beaten on the back with a belt and pushed to the ground, the release states.

2.         MINNESOTA (Woodbury), Woodbury Patch, January 7, 2013
Woodbury Guardian Allegedly Allowed Disabled Teen to Engage in Prostitution
http://woodbury.patch.com/articles/woodbury-guardian-allegedly-allowed-disabled-teen-to-engage-in-prostitution
The guardian of a developmentally disabled woman has been charged with criminal neglect after she allegedly allowed the 19-year-old to engage in prostitution. The 19-year-old is now pregnant.

3.         MINNESOTA (Woodbury), Star Tribune, January 4, 2013
Guardian charged after disabled Woodbury teen allegedly sold for sex
http://www.startribune.com/local/east/185725392.html?refer=y
A Woodbury woman has been charged with neglecting a vulnerable adult after she allegedly dropped off a profoundly disabled 19-year-old woman -- who was in the suspect's care -- at locations where she was forced to have sex with numerous men last summer, court documents say.

4.         NEBRASKA (Lincoln), Journal Star, January 3, 2013
Man gets jail time for assaulting disabled woman
http://journalstar.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/man-gets-jail-time-for-assaulting-disabled-woman/article_d7624fa4-c234-58e9-89e0-4f8254515c09.html?comment_form=true
A judge sent a 54-year-old Lincoln man to jail Thursday for assaulting a developmentally disabled woman a year ago. The perpetrator, who was the 64-year-old woman’s caretaker, slapped her and shoved her underwear in her face after she told him she had an accident at work and soiled herself.

5.         UTAH (Kearns), Salt Lake Tribune, January 4, 2013
Utah woman gets prison term in death of disabled adult
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/55568322-78/harms-beckering-prison-abuse.html.csp
A Kearns woman was sentenced Friday to five years to life in prison for ignoring abuse that eventually killed a mentally disabled woman living in her home. The 22-year-old victim was found dead on the floor of the family’s home. She had bruises on her body, bandages wrapped tightly around her arms and fingers, and a pepper seed stuck under one eyelid. An autopsy found that the victim was severely dehydrated and had potentially fatal levels of Benadryl or a similar drug in her system.

6.         UTAH (Kearns), Cache Valley Daily, January 5, 2013
Kearns woman sentenced for death of disabled woman
http://www.cachevalleydaily.com/news/state/article_a1133f67-e641-5ca4-b76d-32520bbd3225.html
A Kearns woman has been sentenced to five years to life in prison for the death of a disabled woman who lived in her home. The sentenced was imposed Friday on the 51-year-old perpetrator, who earlier was convicted of felony aggravated abuse in the 2011 death of a 22-year-old with fetal alcohol syndrome in her care.

6.         INTERNATIONAL (St. John’s, Canada), CBC, January 4, 2013
Teen convicted of beating disabled man awaits sentence
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2013/01/04/nl-disabled-beating-sentencing-hearing-104.html
A Crown lawyer is calling for a sentence of more than a year for a young woman convicted of brutally beating and robbing a disabled man near St. John's last September. The suspect pleaded guilty of conspiring to lure a disabled man away from a crowd to take part in savagely beating and robbing him in a nearby wooded area. She was one of a group of five teenagers charged after the incident in September.

7.         INTERNATIONAL (Harare, Zimbabwe), Sowetan Live, January 7, 2013
The disabled and sexual abuse
http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/no2rape/2013/01/07/the-disabled-and-sexual-abuse
A 25-year-old wheelchair-bound woman was raped by a pastor in September last year. The pastor disappeared and is still on the run. The plight of disabled women who are sexually abused has been exacerbated by a lack of support structures and of information on how they can protect themselves.

RELATED ISSUES

1.         CALIFORNIA (Pasadena), CBS Local, January 5, 2013
Missing Elderly Woman Found Safe and Sound
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/01/05/woman-with-alzheimers-disease-dementia-goes-missing-in-pasadena/
Pasadena police say a 70-year-old woman with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and diabetes went missing on January 5 around 9am and was found later that day in Sierra Madre.

2.         CALIFORNIA (San Diego), CBS 8, January 5, 2013
Missing elderly man with dementia found safe
http://www.cbs8.com/story/20511309/missing-elderly-man-with-dementia-found-safe
An 85-year-old man with dementia who was missing overnight was located Saturday, receiving treatment at a hospital under an incorrect name, San Diego police said.

3.         NEW JERSEY (West Windsor), NBC Philadelphia, January 6, 2013
Missing Elderly Man With Dementia Found Safe: Cops
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Elderly-Man-With-Dementia-Goes-Missing-After-Leaving-Casino-185759312.html
Police say a missing elderly man, who suffers from dementia, has been found safe and in good health. The man was found driving on the New Jersey Turnpike Saturday night after a Silver Alert was issued. He had gone missing from the Parx Casino shortly before 5a.m. Saturday morning.

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Funding Opportunities:

• February 15, 2013/May 1, 2013
  • The American Bar Association has announced a further round of grants to be made in 2013 that will promote and support innovation in the delivery of civil legal aid.  These grants will go the state Access to Justice Commissions.  The grants will fund projects in seven critical areas of innovation: expanding limited scope representation and other models for affordable services; improving language access and eliminating implicit cultural bias; employing public libraries as point of access for legal aid; enhancing fundraising outside the legal community; creating partnerships with health care and social services providers, government agencies and other new partners; preserving access for low-income people as courts implement e-filing; and increasing web-based delivery of pro bono services for self-represented litigants.  Eligible entities are state Access to Justice Commissions, which are formal entities that bring together the highest level of the state's courts, organized bar, and other stakeholders to support the expansion of access to civil justice for low income and disadvantaged people.  Applications for Grants to Promote the Creation of new Access to Justice Commissions are due by February 15, 2013; applications for Innovation Grants are due on May 1, 2013.
  • Information: www.ATJsupport.org under “grants.” For additional information contact Bob Echols, State Support Consultant, ABA Resource Center for Access to Justice Initiatives, Robert.Echols@comcast.net

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Upcoming Elder Abuse Conferences/Training Events (in chronological order):

·       The Alzheimer’s Association is accepting proposals for their international conferences until February 4, 2013.  Submit proposals here: http://www.alz.org/aaic/care/dementia-care-posters.asp. The conference, titled “Dementia Care @AAIC: Translating Research to Practice” will be in Boston, Massachusetts from July 13-18, 2013. Learn more here: http://www.alz.org/aaic/

·       The National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners (NCCDP) released their famous 2012 Tool Kit on dementia education on November 1, 2012. http://www.nccdp.org/staff-education-week.htm For the fifth year, they will host Alzheimer’s and Dementia Staff Education Week February 14-21, 2013

·       The 6^th Annual Forensic Investigations Conference to be held from May 15-17, 2013 at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Seminars will focus on a broad array of emerging forensic practices, in sexual assault, interpersonal violence, child and elder abuse in both an urban and rural environment. For more information https://www.saintlukeshealthsystem.org/event/forensic-conference-1

An archived collection of previous newsfeeds is available here:
http://nceagov.posterous.com/

National Center on Elder Abuse

Center of Excellence on Elder Abuse & Neglect

University of California, Irvine

Program in Geriatrics

101 The City Drive South

Orange, CA 92868

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