Elder abuse is on the rise in Santa Clara County, and officials
who deal with this problem want the public to know that the nature
of the abuse is changing.
Morgan Hill – Elder abuse is on the rise in Santa Clara County, and officials who deal with this problem want the public to know that the nature of the abuse is changing.
Jamie Buckmaster, manager of Adult Protective Services for the county and member of the Financial Abuse Specialist Team (FAST), said elder abuse can include physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, abandonment, abduction and isolation.
Perhaps the fastest growing type of elder abuse is financial exploitation, which comprises an estimated one third of all elder abuse reports taken statewide. Buckmaster calls it the “crime of the 21st century.”
“What our officers encounter is typically financial issues, the lottery scam, among others,” Morgan Hill police Cmdr. David Swing said. “We haven’t had the problem with the physical abuse like we have the financial.”
Buckmaster said there are several different categories of financial abuse.
“Financial abuse perpetrated by family members makes up anywhere from 60 to 90 percent, with scams and cons pretty much other side of coin,” she said. “We see everything, from the Nigerian e-mail scam to the Canadian lottery. We actually had a client go to Africa to pick up his winnings, and while he was on his way over on the plane, his bank account was cleaned out. He ended up in a homeless encampment in Ghana for three months before he was brought back. Financial abuse is huge.”
This type of abuse is also the most common statewide, making up approximately one-third of all elder abuse cases reported, she added. From calendar year 2005-06, financial abuse reports rose 10 percent countywide, while from 2004-05, it rose 22 percent.
Effective Jan. 1, financial institutions became mandated elder abuse reporters, “just like police officers, doctors, therapists and code enforcement officers,” said Buckmaster. “We know what we’re dealing with is just the tip of the iceberg, and this new provision should be valuable in stopping the financial drain on the elderly.”
The “sandwich generation” phenomenon – adults taking in or taking care of aging parents as well as their own children – has changed the complexion of elder financial abuse somewhat, Buckmaster said.
“We now have grandkids ripping people off, even great-grandkids,” she said. “We’ve added more categories to a certain extent … Some of them seem to feel, not why rip off their parents, that they are entitled to rip off their parents. What you are talking about is folks who are in their late 80s and 90s, essentially the last trusting generation, who believe in goodness of people, that a handshake is a person’s word. But that may change, because our young elders, those in their 50s and 60s, they’re not so trusting. It will be interesting to see how that plays out.”
Buckmaster stays in touch with how elder abuse is manifested in the community.
“I provide training to all law enforcement agencies in the county, and I appreciate the opportunity to get out there and talk to them, find out what they’re running into,” Buckmaster said. “We know what we’re dealing with now is just the tip of the iceberg. Estimates are that one in 14 reported incidents of elder abuse is actually reported.”
Her training sessions, she said, are usually more extended discussions rather than formally-structured classes.
“Police officers are very enthusiastic about talking about elder abuse, they’re a good audience,” she said. “They know what they’re seeing out there in the community, and it makes for a really good dialogue. They want to talk about what’s happening and want to know what they can do about it.”
Buckmaster, who has been the co-chair of the state Adult Protective Services Department for five years, will visit the Morgan Hill Police Department in February, with supervisors and command staff participating in the training, Swing said. They will then offer the training to other members of the department.
“We take all reports of possible elder abuse very seriously,” Swing said. “It’s both ends of the spectrum, the elderly and the children, they are vulnerable members of society. They need our protection.”
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at md****@*************es.com.
