Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Department of Aging asks legislators to update Older Adults Protective Services Act
With the ongoing rise of financial exploitation and other forms of elder abuse, the Pennsylvania Department of Aging (PDA) is urging the General Assembly to prioritize and enact critical updates to the Older Adults Protective Services Act (OAPSA) in its new 2021-22 legislative session.
Enacted in 1987, OAPSA has served as Pennsylvania’s system for protecting the health, safety and welfare of older adults who are at imminent risk of these serious offenses. The department, along with many stakeholders and the courts, agree on the critical importance of protecting older Pennsylvanians and have called on these muchneeded changes to the law for more than a decade.
“As the department responsible for advocacy and protection of Pennsylvania’s older adults, updating OAPSA would help to adequately address changes in the direct care workforce and the facilities that serve older adults,” said Secretary of Aging Robert Torres. “It would also help to respond to the rise of financial exploitation as a form of elder abuse.
“Unfortunately, we were unable to get these updates across the finish line before the end of the last session. I am pleased to see that Sen. (Bob) Mensch has issued a co-sponsorship memo and hope we can see these legislative changes quickly proposed and passed during the new legislative session.”
The department is seeking the following critical updates to OAPSA:
• Strengthening background checks for all employees, both new and current, who work with older adults in a long-term care setting
• Identifying individuals who should never have an opportunity to work as a caregiver to older adults
• Expanding the list of mandatory reporters of abuse and facilities whose employees are required to report abuse
• Providing a clear process for reporting financial exploitation and related training for financial institutions
In September, the department released the findings of its Financial Exploitation Study of older adults. Gov. Tom Wolf directed the study to be done in his 2019 Executive Order issued to protect vulnerable populations in the commonwealth.
“The study issued five recommendations,” Torres said. “Two of the recommendations related to passage of updates to OAPSA to help further protect vulnerable seniors from financial exploitation. Another recommendation to create a financial exploitation task force, comprised of public and private sector representatives, has been initiated by the department and the task force is working to develop comprehensive and collaborative approaches to help tackle financial exploitation in a meaningful way. However, amending OAPSA is critical to strengthen protections for older adults and help prevent them from becoming victims.”
Torres noted the volume, type and scope of abuse has increased dramatically in the more than 30 years since OAPSA became PDA’s legal guide to protecting older Pennsylvanians. According to the department’s 2019-2020 Older Adults Protective Services Annual Report, cases of suspected elder abuse has increased 80% over the previous five years.
The department’s Protective Services Office investigates and supports older adults who become victims of abuse. Anyone suspecting elder abuse should call the statewide reporting hotline at 1-800490-8505, which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Have you ever taken a corner just a bit too fast? That sometimes has disastrous consequences. My workplace has many corners, many long hallways that lead to … more hallways! There are hubs where multiple hallways come together, there are turns that lead to a plethora of destinations. In some areas, there are rounded mirrors built into the ceiling so that you can literally see what is coming around the corner. In those areas, there are few issues.
However, that is not always the case at every intersection. There are many times I encountered near misses because I failed to approach slowly and look both ways. I have since learned to look before I leap. I no longer just plow through, whether walking or driving a car. Doing so could be disastrous. Throwing caution to the wind is not a wise approach — and in fact, these days, it is downright dangerous.
Our lives are filled with corners, filled with twists and turns and paths yet untrod. Just when you think your life is a straight shot, you know exactly where you’re going and what you’re doing, then bam, a corner appears, and you have to face it.
In 2020, we all had the same massive corner pop up seemingly out of nowhere. We were stopped in our tracks and told not to even attempt to peer around that deadly corner. But now, with the advances made and the vaccines being administered, we are cautiously approaching a corner of hope. Though there are many ways to approach the unknown of a corner, intelligence is still the best plan. We can now slowly begin to emerge from the trials of our COVID era with some optimism.
When approaching the unknown, it pays to be cautious and patient, because we never know what may come our way. We likely slow down, perhaps even come to a complete stop, peering around that corner to make sure the coast is clear. But then, we start up again, and we regain our momentum. Sometimes, what’s around the corner is something amazing, something hopeful, something liberating. We keep our hope on what’s around that corner.
So, what will be around your corner? I would certainly love to enjoy the company of my large family, and the freedom to feel safe going out socially again.
I don’t know about you, but I have a year’s worth of birthdays, anniversaries and special occasions to make up! COVID may have postponed these things, but it cannot steal them! Because soon, we will round that corner to the finish line of this dreadful pandemic. Soon, it will be behind us and, though we will take abundant care and be cautious, we will once again view the coveted normal, which we left behind a year ago.
So, take heart. Good things can lie just around the corner if we follow safety guidelines. Make sure that you take the time to congratulate yourself for getting through a very difficult year. Once it’s safe, celebrate your toughness and your perseverance. It was no easy task but soon you’ll be around that corner. And we hope and pray that the coast is clear.