Close to Home: Good news about elder abuse

Recent news coverage highlighted the rise in elder abuse reports in Sonoma County. Awareness is the first step to prevention. We applaud the growing concern about this, since it has long been a topic no one wanted to talk about.

The good news in Sonoma County is that efforts to prevent harm to seniors are increasing. Government, law enforcement, community agencies and other partners have focused on how to prevent abuse and help victims of self-neglect, neglect by caregivers, financial abuse and physical and emotional abuse.

At the community level, an educational collaborative, the Elder Protection Work Group, was formed in 2013. Its members include dedicated professionals from private, nonprofit and government agencies, working to educate the community on how to keep seniors safe from abuse.

The group offers free informational sessions to local groups and organizations. Participants learn how to recognize abuse, report concerns about possible abuse and, most important, protect themselves and loved ones against abuse.

Awareness and education efforts are also part of the work of the Sonoma County Family Justice Center, which received a $400,000 grant from the Office on Violence Against Women and Abuse in Later Life, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice. The Family Justice Center is a one-stop, multi-agency service provider with services available to elder abuse victims. The grant paid for training of law enforcement officers, judges, prosecutors and victim service providers regarding the proper investigation and prosecution of elder abuse cases. More than 200 law enforcement officers attended the trainings taught by an interdisciplinary panel of professionals in the elder justice field.

More specialized training for mandated reporters is offered by Sonoma County Human Services Department’s Adult Protective Services, which investigates suspected incidents of elder and dependent adult abuse, neglect or exploitation. Mandated reporters include medical personnel, employees of financial institutions and clergy, many of whom may not realize they are required by law to report any incident of alleged or suspected abuse.

Additional collaborations for elder justice include:

The Sonoma County District Attorney’s office has a specialized elder protection unit that handles cases of abuse of an elder or dependent adult. The unit works closely with other law enforcement agencies and social service agencies, such as Adult Protection Services and the Long Term Care Ombudsman, to ensure that abusers are held accountable.

A Sonoma County Elder Justice Coalition grew out of the collaboration established by the Abuse in Later Life grant program and is now an alliance of organizations unified in the common goal of elder justice.

The Sonoma County Area Agency on Aging has sponsored awareness efforts for many years and is the primary sponsor of the annual World Elder Abuse Awareness Day campaign.

A multidisciplinary team of professionals from diverse disciplines meets regularly to provide comprehensive assessment and consultation, especially on difficult or complex cases. The team promotes coordination between agencies and identifies service gaps and breakdowns in coordination or communication between agencies or individuals.

Each one of these efforts moves us toward becoming a county where everyone can age with dignity, security and freedom from harm. You can do your part to help stop elder abuse by learning more about how to care for yourself, your family and your community. Your efforts, too, can make a difference.

Jane Eckels and Gloria Eurotas are co-chairs of the Elder Protection Work Group. Eckels is a community senior advocate and Eurotas heads the district attorney’s victim services division. To schedule a free elder abuse prevention presentation for your club or organization, email epwgsonoma@gmail.com, or call 565-8255.