Are Elder Abuse Cases Mishandled in Pennsylvania? Senior citizens are one of our most vulnerable populations, so it is not surprising that abuse of the elderly is increasing in Pennsylvania. Elder abuse occurs when someone harms, neglects or exploits an older or care-dependent person. According to the Department of Aging, caseworkers handled nearly 32,000 calls about potential elder abuse in the 2017-18 fiscal year, up from 18,500 five years earlier. And now, the Office of State Inspector General, an internal Pennsylvania state government watchdog agency, is criticizing how county-level agencies investigate thousands of complaints they receive about elder abuse. The report highlights failures by some county-level agencies to properly investigate complaints under timelines required by state law and inadequate staffing of the state office that monitors those agencies. It also says investigative practices aren’t standardized across counties and criticizes training requirements for caseworkers as far too weak. While Governor Tom Wolf’s administration claims it has begun to address the report’s findings, the chances of an elderly person's being abused or taken advantage of are still real. Abuse complaints often involve physical abuse, neglect or financial exploitation. If you or an…
Nursing Home Abuse
July 23rd, 2019 by Rieders Travis in Nursing Home Abuse