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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 2019)
Wednesday, July 17, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Commentary... Be alert to elder abuse — Part III By Betsy Leighty-Johnson Guest Columnist This is Part 3 of a multi- part series on Elder Abuse Awareness, intended to raise community awareness and to provide resources for individuals who are them- selves vulnerable or are caregivers, family or friends of vulnerable people. The Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) has Adult Protective Service (APS) offices statewide to coordinate and conduct abuse investigations and provide services to reports of neglect and abuse of vul- nerable adults, including: adults over the age of 65, adults with physical and/or developmental disabilities, adults with mental illness, and children receiving resi- dential treatment services. Financial abuse (exploi- tation) is the leading type of elder abuse in Oregon, rep- resenting 32 percent of all substantiated cases in 2017. In Oregon, the average loss to financial abuse is approx- imately $25,000. Neglect of care and verbal/emotional abuse often co-exist in financial abuse cases. DHS9 web page provides definitions and warning signs for the abuse of vul- nerable adults. They define financial exploitation as: " Wrongfully taking, by means including but not limited to deceit, trick- ery, subterfuge, coercion, harassment, duress, fraud, or undue influence, the assets, funds, property, or medications belonging to or intended for the use of an adult. " Alarming an adult by conveying a threat to wrongfully take or appro- priate money or property of the adult if the adult would reasonably believe that the threat conveyed would be carried out. " Misappropriating or misusing any money from any account held jointly or singly by an adult. " Failing to use income or assets of an adult for the benefit, support, and main- tenance of the adult. DHS also gives the fol- lowing warning signs of financial exploitation: " Unusual or inappro- priate activity surrounding investment properties or in bank accounts, includ- ing the use of ATM cards, to make large or repeated withdrawals. " Signatures on checks, etc. that do not resemble the person9s signature, or signa- tures when the person can- not write. " Power of attorney given, or recent changes in or creation of a will or trust, when the person is incapable of making such decisions. " Unpaid bills, overdue rent, utility shut-off notices. " Excessive spending by a caregiver on himself for new clothing, jewelry, automobiles. " Lack of spending on the care of the person, including personal grooming items. " Missing personal belongings, such as art, sil- verware or jewelry. " Recent sale of assets and properties. A vulnerable person may have been generous and giving all of their lives and wants to give some- one property or money. If you have a confidential or fiduciary relationship with someone, you may have a legal obligation to say <no.= This relationship includes being listed on a joint bank account, being an agent on a power of attorney, or hav- ing some kind of influence on their financial decisions. Financial elder abuse means wrongfully taking property or money from a vulnerable person. It may be easy to understand wrong- ful in the terms of theft, extortion, embezzlement, or withholding some - one9s money from them. However, it also includes the use of <undue influ- ence,= whereby a person uses a <confidential rela- tionship= with an elder to get money transferred to themselves. The advice from Orrin R. Onken, an elder law attorney out of Fairview, Oregon, is <don9t accept gifts from elderly relatives or other disabled people unless the gift is wrapped in Christmas wrap and fits beneath a tree,= and you open it in front of others. Failure to do so could end up with you being sued for three times the amount you received and required to pay the attorney fees incurred in suing you. If you become aware of signs that a person over 65 (or a person with disabilities of any age) is being abused, report it and let the authori- ties investigate. Protect any evidence you may have and call the toll-free abuse hot- line at 800-503-SAFE or by calling local law enforce- ment in the county where the abuse occurred. If you report elder abuse in good faith, the law will protect you from being sued by the alleged abuser if you are mistaken. D r. B e t s y L e i g h t y - Johnson has a PhD in Human Services with a specialization in Social and Community Services. In September 2014, the author and her husband discov- ered his (then) 96-year-old mother had been the victim of financial elder abuse. They were very involved in the collection of evi- dence assisting in the felony prosecution of the victim9s daughter for the crime. Since that time, the author has become an elder abuse advocate, currently assist- ing the Deschutes County District Attorney9s office with elder abuse cases. 7 Sisters salutes… Sisters author Dr. Larry Len Peterson has been hon- ored with the Board of Trustees Heritage Guardian Award from the Montana Historical Society. Peterson is a native Montanan, now liv- ing in Sisters. The citation notes that <& Dr. Larry Len Peterson9s out- standing efforts to preserve and promote Montana9s his- tory and culture by writing beautiful, engaging books about Montana9s historic artists is a model for future generations to follow& To add to Peterson9s impressive record of advancing Montana history, he has gifted the pro- ceeds of his efforts to various Montana Historical Society causes. 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