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-- Programs and Services -- Contact Information "Protective Services: Safety net for elders"
By Claire Cox
Elder Services of Berkshire County maintains a countywide safety net that provides protection for some of the county’s most frail and vulnerable elders.
Every day complaints come in to Elder Services about physical, emotional, sexual, and financial abuse and self-neglect. There are also reports that elders are neglected, exploited, ill, homeless or abandoned.
Susan Geary, supervisor of the agency’s Protective Services Department, oversees a staff prepared to respond to calls that may come from anyone – a relative, a friend, a neighbor, a doctor, a police officer, a fireman, a banker, a visiting nurse, an emergency technician, a hospital emergency room, or even from an elder who feels there is no other place to turn for help.
Whatever problem or situation is presented, Lisa Lungo, Director of Client Services, emphasizes that Elder Services puts the concerns and wishes of the elder client first.
“Protective services is a safety net,” Lungo said. “Our goal is to work with the elder. What does the elder want?”
A Massachusetts law enacted in 1982 provides for social, health and legal services to abused and neglected elders aged 60 or older. The services are available without regard to income. Services alleviating abuse are provided only with the consent of a competent elder whenever possible, and with the least disruption of and intrusion into the elder’s life. It provides that an elder remains in charge of decision-making unless a court delegates this responsibility to another person or an agency, and it respects an elder’s right to choose “to live in harm or even self-destructively without harming others or committing a crime.”
“We are seeing more elders at risk than ever before,” Geary said. “The reason of course is that people are living longer. There have been omprovements in the population’s health and living conditions. We are running into elders later in life who may have lost a significant other or a spouse or have left a relationship and are on their own. A lot of times that’s when mental-health problems begin to spiral out of control.
“We have the ability to take reports 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So when the agency isn’t open, there is a hotline that anybody can call. The number is 1-800-922-2275.”
Geary, who had extensive experience in mental-health case management before joining Elder Services in Pittsfield, has been Protective Services supervisor for five years.
She oversees a staff that investigates abuse reports from all parts of the county, many of them complaints about financial exploitation. There is also an Elder at Risk Program for investigating self-neglect by elders who may not be eating or properly taking their medication, or who may be homeless.
In cases of physical abuse, Geary begins with an assessment of whether the elder is in at-risk situation. She explained: “First of all we talk to the client about what’s going on and try to establish rapport. As we are talking to them we also are assessing their mental
capacity. Are they confused or disoriented? Are they clear in decision-making? A lot of times we run into situations where a family member is a caregiver to the elder and is stressed out.
“When we come in, we’re not only representing Elder Services, but all the services in the community that can help to support them. What we strive to do is wrap services around elders and their caregivers to keep them home.”
Sometimes home-care aides are recommended. Elder Services can arrange for Meals on Wheels delivery for elders who are not eating properly. Community mental-health agencies are consulted, and if a doctor or psychiatrist finds an elder is no longer able to make personal decisions, a probate judge is asked to put a guardian in place.
In cases of financial exploitation of elders, sometimes money is being taken without an elder’s permission, but often someone is included on an elder’s bank account. Banks and credit card companies alert Elder Services to indications of exploitation that may involve sums from $300 to $600,000. The matter is then reported to the District Attorney’s office for investigation.
“We do a lot of community collaboration,” Geary said, “so in some abuse situations we may go in with the police. We work with court systems. If someone is at risk and feels in threat of physical harm, we can get a restraining order. Our goal is not to keep someone from a family member, but we want to keep elders safe.”