NCEA Newsfeed 2-19-13

NCEA Newsfeed – Tuesday, February 19, 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 and funding opportunities can be found at the bottom of the newsfeed.

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ELDER ABUSE NEWSFEED

 

1.         CALIFORNIA (Chico), Chico ER, February 16, 2013
Elder abuse is conference topic
http://www.chicoer.com/lifestyle/ci_22604648/elder-abuse-is-conference-topic
"Maximizing Resources to Combat Elder Abuse in Rural Communities" will be the subject of a conference planned Feb. 28 at Enloe Conference Center, 1528 The Esplanade. It will be 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Keynote speaker will be Paul Greenwood, San Diego County Deputy District Attorney, a national expert on prosecution of elder abuse cases.

 

2.         CALIFORNIA (Murrieta), Mercury News, February 12, 2013
Son ordered to trial for elder abuse of mom
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_22572486/son-ordered-trial-elder-abuse-mom
A Southern California man is facing trial for duct taping his elderly mother to a chair and cutting her oxygen tube. Murrieta police found the 73-year-old woman bleeding and struggling to breathe with six broken ribs. Her son was charged with attempted murder, elder abuse, false imprisonment and torture.

 

3.         CALIFORNIA (Sacramento), Sacramento Bee, February 12, 2013
Sacramento elder-care facility operator faces manslaughter charge
http://blogs.sacbee.com/crime/archives/2013/02/sacramento-elder-care-facility-operator-faces-manslaughter-charges.html
The operator of a Sacramento elder-care facility is facing felony charges, including manslaughter, in the gruesome death last year of an 88-year-old resident. The resident, who suffered from dementia and lived at Super Home Care since 2007, died last June after suffering massive, foul-smelling bedsores at the home. The sores on her buttocks resulted in sepsis, a life-threatening condition that occurs when the body develops a severe, toxic response to bacteria or other germs.

 

4.         CALIFORNIA (Sacramento), Sacramento Bee, February 17, 2013
Judge rejects mistrial claim in Sacramento elder abuse trial
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/02/16/5194796/judge-rejects-mistrial-claim-in.html
The judge rejected an effort Friday by lawyers for Emeritus Corp. to call off the Sacramento civil trial where the survivors of an Alzheimer's resident are suing the assisted living giant for elder abuse and wrongful death.

 

5.         CALIFORNIA (Sonoma County), Press Democrat, February 16, 2013
$400K in federal grant to combat elder abuse in Sonoma County
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20130216/ARTICLES/130219647?tc=ar
Sonoma County law enforcement officials are planning to ramp up their efforts to combat elder abuse after receiving a $400,000 federal grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. The grant will be used for training law enforcement officers, judges, prosecutors and others about the proper investigation and prosecution of elder abuse.

 

6.         CALIFORNIA (Stanislaus), Modesto Bee, February 16, 2013
Stanislaus elder group holding seminar to fight abuse
http://www.modbee.com/2013/02/16/2582275/stanislaus-elder-group-holding.html
Volunteers with the Stanislaus Elder Abuse Prevention Alliance are accepting reservations for the 10th annual SAFE Seminar, to be held March 15 in Modesto. The SAFE (Seniors Against Financial Exploitation) Seminar will include presentations that teach strategies to prevent elder and dependent adult abuse, with an emphasis on financial abuse. Special Agent Scott Schofield with the FBI in Sacramento will be the keynote speaker.

 

7.         FLORIDA (Lady Lake), WFTV, February 14, 2013
Police: Health care worker admits to stealing from dementia patient
http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/health-care-worker-admits-stealing-dementia-patien/nWPwq/
A home health nurse has admitted to stealing $1,000 cash out of an elderly dementia patient’s safe. She also admits she pawned the man’s jewelry and used his credit cards to buy clothes online. Police believe there could be additional victims.

 

8.         GEORGIA (Duluth), WSBTV, February 7, 2013
Family speaks out after mother becomes victim of elder abuse
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/family-speaks-out-after-mother-becomes-victim-elde/nWJg4/
A local family is speaking out after their elderly mother lost her home and all her money, but died before the case ever went to trial. The woman's son has been in the Gwinnett County Jail for nearly two years, accused of stealing nearly $400,000.

 

9.         MISSOURI (Joplin), Joplin Globe, February 7, 2013
Joplin woman faces trial on seven counts, including elder abuse
http://www.joplinglobe.com/crime_and_courts/x2056608853/Joplin-woman-faces-trial-on-seven-counts-including-elder-abuse
A Joplin woman waived preliminary hearings this week on seven felony counts she is facing, including one alleging elder abuse, and was ordered bound over for trial.

 

10.       MONTANA (Helena), Helen Independent Record, February 17, 2013 (Opinion)
Assisted suicide leads to elder abuse
http://helenair.com/news/opinion/readers_alley/assisted-suicide-leads-to-elder-abuse/article_9b078248-77d2-11e2-941f-001a4bcf887a.html
This legislative session, suicide proponents have again proposed a bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide. The bill, Senate Bill 220, is nearly identical to a bill defeated last session. More importantly, it’s once again, a recipe for elder abuse.

 

11.       NEW YORK (Buffalo), The Buffalo News, February 11, 2013 (Opinion)
More effort needed to protect elderly from financial abuse
http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130211/OPINION/130219955/1074
Both New York State and the federal government need to strengthen legislation to protect our senior citizens from financial exploitation. If not, then it won’t just be the victims who pay the price.

 

12.       NEW YORK (Bronx), Long Island News 12, February 15, 2013
BX nursing aide arrested for elder abuse
http://longisland.news12.com/news/bx-nursing-aide-arrested-for-elder-abuse-1.4657594
A Bronx woman is facing jail time after she was allegedly caught on video abusing an elderly patient who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. The granddaughter of the alleged victim says the recordings show the suspect slamming her grandmother into the bed and against the railings. The suspect faces up to one year in jail if she is found guilty.

 

13.       OHIO (Cleveland), News Net 5, February 16, 2013
Good Samaritans tackled a suspect trying to rob an elderly disabled woman on Cleveland’s east side
http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/oh_cuyahoga/Good-samaritans-tackled-a-suspect-trying-to-rob-an-elderly-disabled-woman-on-Clevelands-east-side
A 58-year-old suspect may be wishing he didn't rob a 67-year-old disabled woman. Not only did that woman fight back, but a few good Samaritans came to her aid, tackling the suspect.

 

14.       PENNSYLVANIA (Philadelphia), Philly.com, February 19, 2013
Rise in senior-abuse cases prompts D.A. to step up to protect elderly
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20130219_Rise_in_senior-abuse_cases_prompts_D_A__to_step_up_to_protect_elderly.html
In response to the growing and hidden problem of elder abuse, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office has revamped its elder-abuse efforts into the Elder Justice Project to better prosecute perpetrators and better serve victims.

 

15.       TENNESSEE (Midtown), WREG.com, February 18, 2013
Caregiver Accused of Abusing the Elderly
http://wreg.com/2013/02/18/caregiver-accused-of-abusing-the-elderly/
A caregiver of an elderly woman is fighting charges of theft, abuse, neglect and exploitation after she was accused of stealing checks and writing them to herself. Police say she stole more than $5,000 from the 87-year-old woman in her care.

 

16.       WISCONSIN (Madison), Green Bay Press Gazette, February 18, 2013
State law conceals nursing home abuse, neglect records
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20130218/GPG0101/302180195/
A Wisconsin tort reform law passed two years ago made state inspection reports of nursing homes and other health care facilities inadmissible as evidence in civil and criminal cases. Proponents of the law say it lets providers discuss problems more openly, but critics argue it puts the elderly and vulnerable at risk.

 

17.       INTERNATIONAL (Teesside, United Kingdom), Daily Mail, February 15, 2013
Burglars who ‘bled’ their dementia patients of their last penny jailed after conning victims to hand over £80,000
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2279057/Burglars-bled-dementia-patients-penny-jailed-conning-victims-hand-80-000.html
Two conmen who swindled vulnerable elderly people out of thousands of pounds by posing as workmen have been jailed for 'bleeding' their victims of every penny they had. Both victims were forced to go into care homes after their savings were stolen.

 

 

ABUSE OF ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES

 

1.         ILLINOIS (Momence), Daily-Journal, February 14, 2013
Momence: Whistle-blowers convince jury of abuse by nursing home
http://daily-journal.com/archives/dj/display.php?id=503426
Two former employees of the Momence Meadows Nursing Center, who turned whistleblowers against their employer in 2004, helped convince a jury in federal court last week that the nursing home abused its residents and filed phony Medicare and Medicaid claims — prompting a $28 million verdict against the former owner. Following a two-week trial in Urbana, a jury found that Jacob Graff oversaw a home that "provided worthless services to the residents," and hit him with the stiffest civil penalty it could.

 

2.         KENTUCKY (Powell County), Kentucky.com, February 19, 2013
Powell County woman charged with abusing a disabled adult turns herself in
http://www.kentucky.com/2013/02/19/2522393/woman-charged-in-powell-co-adult.html
A Powell County woman who was being sought for neglect and abuse of a disabled adult was in jail Tuesday after turning herself in to authorities. Earlier this month, she was indicted by a Powell grand jury on felony counts of knowingly exploiting and abusing or neglecting an adult. She also was charged with wanton endangerment.

 

3.         MARYLAND (Frederick County), NBC Washington, February 15, 2013
Disabled Man’s Death in Custody Ruled Homicide
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Disabled-mans-death-in-custody-ruled-homicide--191499911.html
The death of a mentally disabled man in police custody has been ruled a homicide, the Frederick County Sheriff's Office said Friday. The Maryland state medical examiner determined that 26-year-old Robert Saylor of New Market, who had Down syndrome, died of asphyxia last month. A police spokesperson said Saylor died after resisting arrest by three deputies at a the Regal Cinemas Westview Stadium 16 in Frederick. An employee had called police because Saylor wouldn't leave his seat after a movie shortly after 11 p.m. on Jan. 12.

 

4.         NEW YORK (East Harlem), New York Post, February 15, 2013
Driver, matron plead guilty in death of disabled man abandoned in passenger van
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/driver_matron_plead_guilty_in_death_RoR58bM2jLd33dqFLdqLlO
A van driver and a matron pleaded guilty today in the pitiful, hyperthermia death of a mentally disabled man they had carelessly abandoned in a sweltering passenger van in East Harlem in 2011.

 

5.         PENNSYLVANIA (Berks County), NBC Philadelphia, February 15, 2013
Man Arrested in Repeated Rape of Mentally Disabled Woman: DA
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Man-Arrested-in-Rape-of-Mentally-Disabled-Woman-DA-191468321.html
A Berks county man is arrested, after authorities say he repeatedly raped a mentally disabled woman over the span of two years. The man owned a transportation business and drove the woman to Special Olympics events

 

RELATED ISSUES

 

1.         COLORADO (Platteville), 9 News, February 17, 2013
Police need help locating man with life-threatening conditions
http://www.9news.com/news/article/317619/222/Police-need-help-locating-72-year-old-with-Dementia
Platteville police need the public's help to find a missing 72-year-old with Alzheimer's and dementia. Nestor Trujillo, 72, is a Hispanic man with brown eyes and graying hair. Police say he is about 5'10" and weighs 130 pounds. Police say he may be with his daughter, Mitzi Denovellis. They say she drives a white 2000 Chevrolet Camaro with Colorado license plate number 680-YPJ.

 

2.         NEW JERSEY (Cherry Hill), CBS Local, February 9, 2013
Police Find Missing 77-Year-Old NJ Man With Dementia
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/02/09/police-find-missing-77-year-old-nj-man-with-dementia/
Cherry Hill police say they located an elderly man with dementia who went missing Saturday evening. He was last seen leaving the Alaris Healthcare Center Friday night, and was found the next morning at the home of a family member.

 

3.         PENNYSLVANIA (Philadelphia), CBS Local, February 16, 2013
Philadelphia Police Find Missing Man With Dementia
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/02/16/philadelphia-police-find-missing-man-with-dementia/
Philadelphia Police say they have found the 62-year-old man who went missing Saturday while on a trip to the Franklin Mills Mall. Police say the man broke away from his caregiver and was found Sunday morning.

 

 

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Funding Opportunities:

  • February 28, 2013
    • The Office on Violence Against Women invited eligible parties to apply for a series of grants offered by their agency. The Enhanced Training and Services to End Violence Against and Abuse of Women Later in Life Program provides or enhances training and services to address elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, including sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking, involving victims who are 50 years of age or older.
    • For more information: http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=215034
  • 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 to 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 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 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is hosting an Elder Maltreatment Symposium on March 8, 2013 online and at their headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. Register and find more information here: http://www.usqualitymeasures.org/Home.aspx

·      Registration is now open for the 2013 Aging in America Conference, presented by the American Society on Aging. The conference will take place from March 12-16, 2013 in Chicago, IL. For more information: http://www.asaging.org/aia

·      The Ohio Coalition for Adult Protective Services will hold their annual conference on March 15, 2013 at The Columbus State Conference Center. The theme this year is “The Evolving Aspects of Elder Abuse.” For more information: http://www.formstack.com/forms/?1362455-HWZmxQRixk

·      The deadline to submit abstracts for the 2013 Annual Conference of The Gerontological Society of America is March 15, 2013.  
To learn more about submitting abstracts: http://www.geron.org/meeting2013/GSA2013CFA.pdf
To learn more about the upcoming conference November 20-24, 2013, titled “Optimal Aging Through Research,” please visit
http://www.geron.org/annual-meeting/future-meetings

·       The 13th Annual International Family Justice Center Conference will be held in Ft. Worth, Texas from April 16-18, 2013 at the Worthington Renaissance Forth Worth Hotel. For more information: http://www.familyjusticecenter.org/training-main/annual-conference.html  

·       Elder Abuse and its Prevention – A Workshop will be hosted by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies April 17-18, 2013 at the Keck Center on Washington, D.C. For more information: http://www.iom.edu/Activities/Global/ViolenceForum/2013-APR-17.aspx

·       Registration is now open for Teaming Up Against Elder Financial Exploitation, a course offered in the Orlando area, April 17 – 19, 2013. This course is presented by The Florida Attorney General’s Office (FCPTI) and The Florida Bar Elder Law Section’s Committee on Elder Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation. For more information: http://www.fcpti.com/fcpti.nsf/forms/CF4576CAD96E849C85257A830057911A

·       The Academy on Violence and Abuse (AVA) 2013 Scientific Conference will be called “Addressing Violence and Abuse in the Changing Healthcare Environment,” and will take place on April 18-20 in Minneapolis, MN at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and Suites. For more information: http://avahealth.nonprofitoffice.com/vertical/sites/%7B75FA0828-D713-4580-A29D-257F315BB94F%7D/uploads/avabrochure_P20.pdf  

·       The 6th 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

·       The Alzheimer’s Association annual conference, titled “Dementia Care @AAIC: Translating Research to Practice” will be held in Boston, Massachusetts from July 13-18, 2013. Learn more here: http://www.alz.org/aaic/

·       Changing Aging, The Florida Conference on Aging will be held on August 12-14, 2013 and will be themed, “Aging: New Game – New Rules”
For more information: http://www.fcoa.org/conference.html

·       The 18th International Conference & Summit on Violence, Abuse & Trauma will be held in San Diego, California on September 8-11, 2013. For more information: http://www.ivatcenters.org/  

·       The 2nd Annual National Elder Abuse Symposium will be held at the Hyatt Regency Orange County in Anaheim, California on December 3-6, 2013. Stay tuned for more information.

 

 

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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