Kansas county organizes team to investigate elder abuse

As people find themselves struggling financially, the elderly become easy prey for not only seasoned criminals but trusted family members as well.

“It’s a lot like domestic violence: It’s a dirty little secret in a lot of families,” Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe said. “One of the things that national studies have said is that elderly abuse is probably as great if not greater than domestic violence as far as not being reported.”

That is just one of the reasons Howe and Vanessa Riebli, section chief of the county’s economic crime unit, formed FAST – the Financial Abuse Specialist Team – organized in coordination with the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services and local law enforcement agencies.

FAST is comprised of medical volunteers, DA investigators, area police officers, sheriff’s deputies, social workers from SRS, assistant district attorneys and attorneys from SRS. The team’s mission is to investigate and prosecute elder abuse, particularly the financial exploitation of elderly victims.

“This type of policy has worked in other jurisdictions,” Howe said. “We felt Johnson County was an appropriate jurisdiction based on resources and our willingness to work with other agencies. We’ve done that in the past, but this allows us to formalize some of the things we have done in the past.”

Riebli said the system not only allows better communication among agencies but also increases the ability of investigators and prosecutors to gather information and determine the proper course of action.

“A big problem we have in these cases is obtaining the medical information we need and then interpreting it,” she said. “Now we have nurses on board who can go through the doctor’s notes and help us determine if this elderly person shows signs of dementia, at what point was their physical abuse, things like that; that is a huge deal.”

She said elder abuse cases are growing in Johnson County, particularly financial abuse.

Howe likened the FAST Team to an early triage unit.

“When you have everybody communicate with each other…you consolidate all the data and are able to make early determinations on whether or not you have an abuse situation,” he said. “And what I mean by early triage is that not only are you protecting the victim by giving them the ability to have SRS come in and maybe get them into a different residential location but also allowing law enforcement to work with these other agencies to prevent further bleeding in these financial crimes.

“If you can lock down and seize the assets to prevent the perpetrator from liquidating all the assets you can protect that individual and their assets.”

There are signs to look for if elder abuse is suspected: isolation and sudden lifestyle changes, a sudden transfer of assets, assets signed into joint tenancy, a power of attorney appointment.

“Another warning sign is that there is a new person in their life, a new ‘friend’ who all of a sudden that person becomes the central part of that individual’s life and everybody else is by the wayside,” Howe said. “A change in spending habits is a real big factor. Most senior citizens I know are pretty conservative in spending their money.”

Riebli said she has a case pending in which an elderly man’s son bought a $300,000 house in Shawnee with his dad’s money.

“We have another case where the son was taking care of the mother and stealing her money,” she said. “We got her out of the situation. Her daughter is taking care of her. She’s gaining weight and her dementia, while it’s not going away, she has a clearer mind.”

Howe cautions people to have safeguards in place when granting anyone power of attorney.

“While a power of attorney is great, at the same time it also is very dangerous in that you give absolute authority to that individual to do whatever they want, whether it’s medical power of attorney or financial power of attorney,” he said. “We caution people to make sure they know who they are giving it to because many times what we see in abuse situations is that they have obtained power of attorney when the person doesn’t have the mental faculties to (approve the) transfer.”

Providers of home health care in Kansas do not need a license, said Howe.

“That needs to be addressed,” he said. “You can get anywhere from an LPN (giving care) to someone who has absolutely no background whatsoever. We’ve seen career criminals being caregivers and then taking advantage of the elderly.”

Riebli warns people to thoroughly check out people before hiring them as a care giver.

“If they hire somebody out of a temporary agency, they should not assume (the agency) has done a background check,” she said. “People need to do their own background checks and not necessarily believe them when they say they have no prior convictions or arrests.”

Johnson County’s Web site shows pending or previous court cases and the Kansas Department of Health and Human Services Web site offers a link to see if a nurse’s aid license has been revoked.

A key for FAST is to educate people in the signs of elder abuse, especially medical providers, law enforcement officials, and financial institutions, Howe said.

“We’re going out to assisted living facilities and talking to folks; we’re going to financial institutions because they also are a key component as a mandatory reporter for abuse,” he said. “It’s not only our job to investigate but also to educate the mandatory reporters like the health care professionals, the financial institutions and to let them know these are the warning signs and if you see something call the DA’s office or call your local police department.”

Howe said any organization or facility wanting a representative of his office to visit and talk about elder abuse or to report suspected elder abuse can call 715-3140.

Trackback(0)

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Write comment