Abuse of elderly hearing is Tuesday as
lawmakers consider tougher approach
Tomorrow (Feb. 21) in Lansing, advocates of senior citizens can be heard. The state House Families, Children and Seniors committee is taking up a package of bills aimed at protecting seniors from financial exploitation and physical abuse.
You can submit written testimony or attend and testify. The Area Agency on Aging 1-B is organizing efforts to provide input through one of its staff members, Ann Langford.
As the agency says: “We need advocates to speak out and stand up for Michigan’s vulnerable adults!”
The state Senate passed the package in November with nearly 100 percent support. Now it’s the House’s turn, and your voice could help make the members’ decision just as swift.
One bill in the package allows harsher penalties for forged signatures and severe financial abuse. Another requires banks to offer employee training on how to detect suspected financial exploitation. Another coordinates missing-person notifications using a “senior alert” similar to the Amber Alert.
We have all heard the horror stories of an elderly person being swindled out of a life’s savings, often by someone they know and trust.
Now we can do something about it.
Michigan has been dealing with elder abuse for a long time, but as the problem grows – and it is growing – governmental officials are responding. In 2005, when then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm created a task force to study and recommend solutions to the issue, an estimated 73,000 Michigan residents were suffering from elder abuse.
Today, an estimated 80,000 elderly Michigan residents are victims of some sort of abuse, neglect or exploitation. Nationwide, the number is at 2 million. These bills aim to strengthen the state’s ability to not only prevent abuse, but to intervene more quickly and to punish more harshly.
Fraud is illegal. Abuse is illegal. Then why is the number of victims growing? One senior advocate suggests that the current laws don’t have enough “teeth.”
Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker (R-Lawton) introduced the bills last summer and has been working tirelessly for passage. She takes a hard stand against those who mistreat the elderly.
“For too long the system has failed our most vulnerable adults as nearly 80,000 seniors have suffered, often in silence, from the torment of physical and financial abuses,” said Schuitmaker. “This senior protection legislation aims to put a spotlight on these criminal acts and bring their perpetrators to justice.”
The package of bills increases penalties for people who embezzle funds from vulnerable adults and creates reporting requirements for suspected abuse and neglect or knowledge of abuse and neglect in nursing homes. It also creates a “Silver Alert” for seniors with dementia who wander from their homes.
The elder abuse bills "will make a huge difference for the safety and integrity of older adults' ability to remain safe and secure," said Vicki Martin, associate director of Senior Services Inc. in Kalamazoo.
"No one should ever have to live this way, and these bills go a long way in making sure people don't ever have to," said Kari Sederburg, director of the OSA.
There are 18 bills in the package and summaries of each can be found here.
Anne Marie Gattari is owner of BrightStar of Grosse Pointe / Macomb. Contact her via email.
