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Senators are told of abuse of elders Breaux bill seeks to fight the
problem
In Louisiana, about 4,000 cases of abuse of people 65 or older are reported each year, according to the National Association of Adult Protective Service Administrators, which says that the numbers only hint at the true scope of the problem. The organization estimated that 84 percent of cases go unreported. Sen. John Breaux, D-La.,
highlighted those figures Monday at a hearing of the Senate Special
Committee on Aging at which victims, advocates and prosecutors recounted
graphic tales of seniors beaten by their spouses or left unattended in
filthy conditions by their children. Former Shreveport resident
Leanna Watts, 66, testified that her son and daughter-in-law lured her to
their home in Ohio, drugged her and persuaded her to sign over her $10,000
in savings. A police officer from Wisconsin
told of how authorities three years ago found the body of 88-year-old Mary
Graichen slumped in a chair of her home, her dentures and some fast-food
wrappers on her chest. Debris was piled 3 to 5 feet high in every room of
the house, and the stench of urine, feces and rotting skin forced
emergency workers to wear masks. Her son, Edward Graichen, a
former nursing home worker who had taken responsibility for her care, was
charged with homicide by neglect. He was given probation. The committee hearing was the
most recent in a series intended to build momentum for Breaux's elder
justice legislation, which he said is intended to elevate the
victimization of the elderly to the national prominence given to abuse of
children and women. The bill would pull together
under a new federal umbrella, the existing patchwork of elder services,
establish a permanent financing stream and set up "safe havens"
to shelter victims temporarily. It also would require better reporting of
abuse at nursing homes, beef up nursing home staffing and require criminal
background checks of long-term care workers. Despite having 32 co-sponsors
in the Senate and 63 in the House, the bill has been stalled for weeks.
Breaux on Monday pointed to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Chairman of the
Senate Finance Committee, who hasn't scheduled a hearing for it. "This bill may not be
perfect, but it's at least representative of the concept of moving
collectively to address this huge national problem," Breaux said.
"This problem is huge." A spokeswoman for Grassley said
that he and others on the 21-member finance panel are concerned that the
measure would cost too much. Breaux's office said it's unclear exactly
what the price would be but estimated $500 million per year. "It's not that Senator
Grassley doesn't feel (the bill) is taking on some very worthwhile
concerns," said spokeswoman Jill Gerber. "As written, we have
members who won't want to spend any more money on this issue." Advocates for the elderly say
that a lack of money is an ongoing problem. Joseph Snyder of the National
Association for Adult Protective Services Administrators said that a
survey of states last year found that the number of elderly abuse
complaints had risen 14 percent between 1999 and 2001 and that financing
for staff plunged 30 percent this year. Snyder called Breaux's bill
"the most important piece of federal legislation in the history of
the adult protective services movement." One advocate testified that
half of local adult protective service agencies don't have money budgeted
for training and that most don't have the resources to supply cellular
telephones to case workers. The bulk of money for elderly protection services comes through federal block grants, which currently call for $1.7 billion in spending, more than $1 billion less than 1996 levels. Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
