County takes on elder abuse
EL CENTRO — District Attorney Gilbert Otero sounded a bit frustrated during his part of a press conference Friday morning discussing the problem of elder abuse in Imperial County.
Noting as had the speakers who before him the growing problem of elder abuse in Imperial County and statewide, Otero shared his opinion the root cause of that and similar crimes is the moral breakdown of the family.
“We have parents who don’t take care of their children, and we have children who don’t take care of their parents, and that’s where the problem is,” he said.
Otero was one of four speakers on the program, which was held at the Board of Supervisors Chambers in the Imperial County Administration Center.
The other speakers were Board of Supervisors Chairman Ray Castillo, Public Administrator Rosie Blankenship and County Department of Social Services Program Manager Rosyo Ramirez.
The presentation was held to commemorate World Elder Abuse Awareness Day and to highlight a recent Board of Supervisors proclamation declaring June Elder and Dependent Abuse Awareness Month in Imperial County.
The Department of Social Services’ Ramirez noted that claims of elder abuse have risen 58 percent in Imperial County over the past five years. She said County Adult Protective Services opened 619 new investigations of elder abuse in 2017 alone. Meanwhile, 230 complaints were received by the county’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. Of those, 87 resulted in an investigation.
Statewide, Ramirez said, Adult Protective Services receives more than 15,000 reports of elder abuse per month. And the news gets worse: “This is a significantly under reported issue,” she said.
Specifically, for every case known to programs and agencies, 24 are unknown. When the abuse is financial in nature, only one in 44 cases gets reported.
“Those numbers are alarming, and we should be concerned,” said Blankenship, whose roles include director of the County Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, “because most of the abuse comes from their caregivers, a lot of times from family members, those that they consider to be their loved ones.”
The statistics apply to men and women 65 years old and older, a threshold approximately 10,000 persons nationwide are reaching every day.
The abuse takes various forms:
• Neglect and self-neglect: This can include lack of adequate food and water, dirty clothing and changes in personal hygiene, an unusually messy home, and lack of medical aids or medication.
• Financial abuse: This is evidenced by basic needs not being met, bills not being paid, new credit cards and increased cash withdrawals, and unusual purchases by the caregiver. • Physical abuse: Look for bruises, black eyes and welts; broken bones, cuts and sprains; a sudden change in behavior, and refusal from the caregiver to leave the elder or dependent alone.
• Mental abuse: This can include threatening significant physical harm; derogatory or inappropriate names, insults, profanity or ridicule; and harassment, coercion, intimidation and humiliation. • Sexual abuse: Tell-tale signs include unusual bruising on the thighs and chest, unexplained sexually transmitted diseases, unusual stains on clothing or sheets, and withdrawal from social interactions or panic attacks.
While Friday’s press conference was intended to raise awareness about the abuse, neglect and exploitation of elders, raised awareness is not enough, the speakers agreed.
“We can ask the press to put everything out in the world to make it known, but unless we get involved and start reporting these types of things, what good does it do?” Otero asked. “You can put billboards all over Imperial County, but if you choose not to get involved, if you choose not to report someone because they might be your brother or your relative or someone you like, then you’re as bad as the perpetrator.”
Persons who suspect an elder is being exploited are abused are asked to call Adult Protective Services at (760) 337-7878 or the Long-Term Care Ombudsman at (800) 231-4024.