Newsfeed –Friday, January 24, 2014
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 and follow us on Twitter! An archived collection of previous newsfeeds is available here: http://ncea.posthaven.com/
A calendar of upcoming elder abuse and neglect events and funding opportunities can be found at the bottom of the newsfeed.
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ELDER ABUSE NEWSFEED
CALIFORNIA, Digital Journal, January 24, 2014
“Granny cams” latest solution to tackling rise in nursing home abuse
http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1699254
Several instances of death or injury were discovered at various nursing homes in San Diego that, unfortunately, were found attributed to medical errors due to lack of medical training of personnel. Many state authorities are taking action to reduce these medical errors from occurring to nursing home residents. Some have turned to using electronic surveillance--a method that is growing in popularity.
CALIFORNIA (Atwater), The Sacramento Bee, January 23, 2014
Police: Atwater man arrested after threating 80-year-old mom, standoff
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/01/23/6097467/atwater-man-arrested-after-police.html
A 50-year-old Atwater man who allegedly threatened to kill his mother and to beat police officers with a sledgehammer was arrested Thursday after a 30-minute standoff, the Atwater Police Department reported. “He told her he would kill her and make it look like an accident, like she fell down,” Sgt. Dick Wisdom said. “She was clearly very terrified.”
CALIFORNIA (Petaluma), Petaluma 360, January 23, 2014
Series of scams have targeted Petaluma seniors
A spate of scams targeting senior citizens has Petaluma police warning residents to stay vigilant and keep an eye out for suspicious behavior. Three seniors were victimized in financial swindles in recent months. Police pinpointed the suspect’s address in Canada, and continue to investigate the case.
CALIFORNIA (Sacramento), My Desert, January 23, 2014
Officials, advocates at odds over how California should handle caregiver abuse cases
Officials from the California Department of Public Health and long-term care advocates clashed Tuesday at an Assembly oversight hearing over regulators’ ability to process complaints of abuse against nursing assistants. Evon Lenerd, a state health department official whose branch oversees investigations into caregiver abuse, said the state has a backlog of about 700 complaints that are more than a year old.
CALIFORNIA (San Jose), San Jose Mercury News, January 16, 2014
Scam artist uses Christian dating site to woo San Jose victim
http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_24920897/scam-artist-uses-christian-dating-site-woo-san
A Nigerian scam artist contacted the 66-year-old woman via the legitimate site. Wooing her with phone calls, text messages and flowers, the ersatz suitor eventually persuaded her to invest more than half a million dollars in his fictitious oil rig, Santa Clara County prosecutor Cherie Bourlard said Wednesday.
CALIFORNIA (Sacramento), Sacramento Bee, January 13, 2014
Area ‘safe house’ for abused and neglected seniors to be closed
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/01/13/6069963/area-safe-house-for-abused-and.html
Their stories are heartbreaking: senior citizens who have been physically neglected, or financially exploited, or left homeless by fires and other disasters. In Sacramento County in recent years, nearly 250 of them have been rescued by Senior Safe House, one of the nation’s first homelike emergency shelters for abused and neglected elderly people.
GEORGIA (Jackson County), Online Athens, January 20, 2014
Jackson County Alzheimer’s care center abuse case soon headed to grand jury
A case of alleged widespread abuse of Alzheimer’s patients at a Jackson County assisted-living facility appears headed toward a grand jury after nine months of investigation. Authorities raided Alzheimer’s Care of Commerce in July following allegations that staff there assaulted, restrained and over-medicated patients. The center, which employed convicted felons, is also under investigation for the possibility that some deaths were homicides.
MINNESOTA, Star Tribune, January 20, 2014
In Minnesota, abuse lawsuits die with the victims
http://www.startribune.com/local/241031031.html
The sexual and physical assaults of 15 residents in an Albert Lea nursing home in 2008 outraged Minnesotans, led to the criminal convictions of two nurse aides and prompted a change in state law. Victims and their family members sought justice by filing lawsuits against the nursing assistants, the home and its owner, the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society. Yet by October 2011, all of the civil cases in Minnesota had been dismissed due to the victims passing away. State lawmakers soon may consider changing what’s known as Minnesota’s Survival Law, which requires that a personal injury case be dropped if the victim dies of unrelated causes.
MINNESOTA (Austin), Post Bulletin, January 22, 2014
Woman accused of exploiting ill family friend in Mower County
An Idaho woman is expected to make her first appearance in a Minnesota courtroom on Thursday after being accused of stealing more than $60,000 from a woman she was hired to help. Kathy Marie Schafer, 41, of Blackfoot, Idaho, has been charged in Mower County District Court with two counts of felony financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult.
MINNESOTA (Waseca), Waseca County News, January 16, 2014
Waseca woman charged with exploiting $10,250 from elderly woman
Police say a Waseca woman is responsible for stealing $10,250 and then attempting to take another $13,000 from an elderly woman she'd befriended. Michelle Rae Joslyn, 47, was charged with four counts of felony financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult after withdrawing sums of cash from the victim’s checking and savings accounts on four different occasions, totaling $10,250.
MISSISSIPPI (Jackson), WDAM, January 15, 2014
Jackson resident arrested for felony exploitation of a vulnerable person
A Jackson resident has been arrested on a multi-count indictment for felony exploitation of a vulnerable person, announced Attorney General Jim Hood today. The 53-year-old man is accused of exploiting over $150,000.00 from a non-family member.
MISSOURI (Perryville), KSDK, January 15, 2014
Perry County coroner charged with exploitation, theft
Perry County Coroner Herbert Miller is facing felony charges after he allegedly spent the money of a 94-year-old woman for his own use. Miller, of Perryville, was charged Monday with financial exploitation of the elderly and theft after an investigation by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Service.
NEW YORK (Albany), Saratogian, January 15, 2014
CNA pleads guilty to abusing elderly woman at Albany facility
A Troy woman has pleaded guilty to abusing a nursing home resident in August 2013, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced Tuesday. Sarina Francis, 36, admitted that on Aug. 17 she physically abused an elderly resident of Hudson Park Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. While taking the resident to her room, Francis grabbed her by the wrist and twisted the resident’s arm behind her head, resulting in the victim suffering a fracture.
UTAH (Fork), The Salt Lake Tribune, January 22, 2014
Bank of American Fork honored for work with seniors
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/money/57368406-79/seniors-bank-american-fork.html.csp
The Bank of American Fork recently received a first-ever award from the Utah Division of Aging and Adult Services for creating a culture, products and services that protect seniors. "The products the bank has designed for seniors help prevent financial exploitation and create an environment where they can come and receive top-notch customer service.
INTERNATIONAL (Ireland), Belfast Telegraph, January 21, 2014
‘Up to 10,000 older abuse victims’
Up to 10,000 older people in Northern Ireland may have been abuse victims, it was revealed. A fragmented range of laws and policies help prevent abuse of the elderly but there is nothing specifically designed to protect vulnerable adults, the Older People’s Commissioner Ms. Keatinge added.
ABUSE OF ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES
INDIANA (Indianapolis), RTV 6, January 23, 2014
Deputy arrested on charge of exploitation of adult dependent
A deputy with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office was arrested on an exploitation charge Thursday afternoon. "The warrant was issued for acts or omissions allegedly occurring between 2005 and 2007, and involved an alleged endangered adult," a spokeswoman with the Marion County Sheriff’s.
PENNSYLVANIA (Philadelphia), Philly.com, January 22, 2014
Perfect prey: elderly, sick easy targets for abusive caregivers
http://articles.philly.com/2014-01-22/news/46416571_1_physical-abuse-mcnamee-cases
In Philadelphia alone, there are more than 73,000 residents with disabilities so severe that they require someone else to manage their annual Social Security benefits. The benefits are supposed to pay for food, shelter and personal necessities. But for those who prey on the helpless, it is a lucrative enterprise that holds little chance of getting caught the author states.
INTERNATIONAL (Hartlepool, United Kingdom), Hartlepool Mail, January 22, 2014
Hartlepool carer filmed vulnerable adults in toilet for ‘funny’ phone videos
A carer filmed vulnerable adults with severe learning disabilities using the toilet as part of a degrading prank which he then showed off to a workmate. Four men who used the Warren Road Day Care center, in Hartlepool, were humiliated in the footage, which had embarrassing computer-generated explosions and rockets added to it via a phone application. Yesterday the 68-year-old, who has been a carer for around 20 years, was found guilty of ill-treating four vulnerable adults after a crown court trial.
RELATED ISSUES
ILLINOIS (Glencoe), CBS Chicago, January 24, 2014
Search continues for missing elderly man with dementia
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/01/24/search-continues-for-missing-elderly-man-with-dementia/
An 82-year-old Glencoe man, who’s suffering from dementia, is still missing despite a second concerted day of searching by police and volunteers. Deputy Police Chief Alan Kebby said that a Cook County Sheriff’s Police helicopter, equipped with infrared equipment found nothing.
MAINE, Kennebec Journal, January 19, 2014
Dexter nursing home death highlights bigger issues
http://www.kjonline.com/news/Dexter_nursing_home_death_highlights_bigger_issues_.html
When the heart and lungs of Resident 11 stopped working, no one at the nursing home Dexter Health Care attempted revival with CPR. State and federal regulations, however, say CPR should have been attempted. The death led to the largest state fine against a nursing home in Maine in 2013. Across the nation, there have been dozens of cases recently documented in which nursing home staff failed to give CPR to those who needed and wanted it.
INTERNATIONAL (United Kingdom), Manchester Evening News, January 16, 2014
Firm’s hi-tech tracker for parents
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/innovation/firms-hi-tech-tracker-for-parents-6510462
Parent and carers will be able to track the whereabouts of children and vulnerable adults thanks to a special wristband developed in Greater Manchester. It enables the wearer to call one of five predefined carers using a one-click call button. Etchells’ professional experience working with vulnerable adults prompted him to identify a gap in the market for a wearable emergency contact device to promote safety and wellbeing.
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Upcoming Elder Abuse Conferences/Training Events (in chronological order):
· IOM Forum on Global Violence Prevention will host a public workshop on February 26-27, 2014. This workshop will explore a model for thinking about mental health, violence, and prevention with the goal of arriving at a better understanding of the relationships between mental illness and risks of violence perpetration and victimization as well as the mental health consequences of exposure to violence. The workshop will be held at the Keck Center in Washington, DC, and is free and open to the public. However, space is limited. More information found here: http://www.iom.edu/Activities/Global/ViolenceForum/2014-FEB-26.aspx?utm_medium=etmail&utm_source=Institute%20of%20Medicine&utm_campaign=12.18.13+Forum+and+Roundtable+News&utm_content=&utm_term=
· The 7th Annual Forensic Investigations on Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, and Child and Elder Abuse. This conference will be held in the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri from May 14-16th, 2014. For more information click here: https://www.saintlukeshealthsystem.org/events?kw=forensic&location=All&adesc= or contact saintlukesconcierge@saint-lukes.org
· The 3rd World Congress on Adult Guardianship will be convened on May 28-30th , 2014 in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area. It is sponsored by the National Guardianship Network in affiliation with the International Guardianship Network. The theme of the conference is, “Promising Practices to Ensure Excellence in Guardianship Around the World.” Proposals for presentations are due July 31. See http://worldcongressguardianship.org
Funding Opportunities:
Deadline: Feb. 1. Retirement Research Foundation supports projects that improve the availability and quality of community-based and long-term support and services for older adults. Learn more at www.rrf.org
An archived collection of previous newsfeeds is available here: http://ncea.posthaven.com/
National Center on Elder Abuse
Center of Excellence on Elder Abuse & Neglect
University of California, Irvine
Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology
101 The City Drive South
Orange, CA 92868
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