Campaign aiming to help protect elders
Erika Manes works on the front lines in shielding seniors from fraud and scams.
An Adult Protective Services home specialist III, Manes visits elder residents of Bexar County to reduce their vulnerability and help them understand the risks that exist in today's world.
During her visits, she's seen seniors grapple with debilitating maladies. She's helped them come to grips with mismanagement of funds by people they trusted. And she's consoled them, offering tips to help them detect things that aren't quite as they seem.
“This pandemic has caused our vulnerable population to become even more vulnerable because there are less people checking on them,” Manes said. “This pandemic has allowed perpetrators to think of more creative ways to take advantage of our elderly population. Our mission is to protect these individuals by providing for services necessary to alleviate and prevent further maltreatment.”
Manes is part of an ongoing campaign by her state agency and the Bexar County Elder Abuse and Exploitation Task Force to educate Texans about their responsibility to report abuse of older adults and to share strategies to protect the community's elders.
Judge Veronica Vasquez of Bexar County Probate Court 2 said her court is seeing an increase in cases and temporary filings concerning senior abuse and exploitation.
“Often these are the worst of the worst,” said Vasquez, co-founder of the task force, which was created last year to improve the process of protecting elders.
Attention on the problem has been growing: A recent webinar on ways to tackle the problem of elder abuse and exploitation attracted 50 attendees from across Texas, including attorneys, judges and financial professionals.
Vasquez said during the webinar that a lot of nonreporting of abuse is a matter of the observers not understanding what options are available. She said many people aren't aware of a guardianship process that can involve the probate court if a person is incapacitated and can't care for themselves or their finances.
If someone sees an elder withdrawing large sums of money, they can alert Adult Protective Services or the San Antonio Police Department, which can start looking into the matter to see whether there might be a problem.
Anyone in Texas who suspects elder abuse is required to report it.
“We're a mandatory reporting state,” Vasquez said. “If you hear about it, you're obligated to report it.”
According to the U.S. Justice Department, it's estimated that more than 10 percent of those 65 and older experience some type of abuse in a given year.
In fiscal year 2019, the highest number of reports in Bexar County involved allegations of physical neglect, including self-neglect. Of 6,846 cases investigated, Adult Protective Services validated 3,997.
The agency's staff also validated 127 of 1,555 exploitation cases reported in Bexar County. Out of 1,096 emotional/verbal abuse reports, 89 were validated.
San Antonio police Lt. Marcus Booth said wire fraud, lottery fraud, romance scams and contractor fraud are among the many ways con artists target seniors.
He said that to help prevent abuse and exploitation, relatives and caregivers of older adults should monitor financial transactions; control communication, such as mail, phone calls and emails; have the elder call regularly about mail, computer problems and phone calls; and freeze credit to prevent opening of new accounts.
Other potential solutions include more resources for investigations, advocates say.
To that end, state Sen. José Menéndez, co-founder of the task force, said he would like to have dedicated funding for a designated elder abuse investigator in district attorney offices in every county.
“We're just trying to come up with a solution,” said Menéndez, D-San Antonio. “This problem is not going away.”
Vasquez agreed. She said Tarrant County, which has numbers similar to those of Bexar County, once had a person dedicated to reviewing senior fraud cases. The task force is also looking at other counties' approaches to the problem. Dallas County has a one-stop center for seniors, complete with a district attorney's office and probate court, where residents can file complaints concerning elder financial abuse.
Ann Cortez, district director of Texas Adult Protective Services, said the agency is focusing on seniors isolated in the community, which can make them easier targets. With COVID-19, she said, isolation has become even more prevalent. She said things to look out for are changes in behavior and spending patterns and the inability to pay bills.
Sandra Sullivan, senior vice president of fraud management for Frost Bank, said she's worked for 30 years to educate people and get help for elders. She said financial institutions have filed elder exploitation cases with Adult Protective Services and the courts.
Sullivan warned that there's a tsunami coming and not one industry is prepared to care for the number of elders getting ready to roll into that group.
“In your golden years, it shouldn't be hurtful to grow older,” Sullivan said. “They need somebody there to help them out.”
To make a report, call the Texas Adult Protective Services and Elder Abuse Hotline at 800-2525400, or call 911. To report nonemergency concerns, go online to txabusehotline.org.