IONIA – State Representative Mary Valentine (D-Norton Shores) today unveiled legislation to combat the reprehensible practice of elder abuse in Michigan by strengthening consumer protections for seniors and increasing penalties for those who financially exploit them. The legislation is part of an ongoing effort by Valentine to strengthen Michigan's faltering consumer protection laws.
"Elder abuse is unacceptable," said Valentine, a sponsor of one of the bills in the package. "The elderly victims of these crimes are our friends, neighbors and family members. No one should be able to profit from the abuse of our seniors."
Elder abuse can include abandonment and neglect, financial exploitation, and emotional, physical or sexual abuse. According to the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), the crime is vastly underreported. The House plan seeks to address elder abuse by:
- Increasing penalties for cheating or defrauding seniors, including establishing felony charges and banning abusers from inheriting the estate of their victim.
- Empowering concerned citizens to file criminal complaints to stop and prevent abuse cases in nursing homes and elsewhere.
- Strengthening consumer protections by requiring financial institutions to do more to disclose the rights of seniors and create new safeguards against fraud.
- Creating the "Mozelle Alert" – an alert mechanism to notify the public in cases of missing endangered seniors, similar to the Amber Alert. The alert is named in honor of Estella Mozelle Pierce, a senior who died after wandering from her Southwest Detroit home.
Reports of elder abuse have increased 40 percent since 1998, according to the Michigan Department of Human Services. Michigan's Adult Protective Services received more than 16,300 reports of adult mistreatment in 2008. Based on estimates of how often abuse goes unreported, this suggests that more than 73,000 of Michigan's adults are abused every year, according to the NCEA.
A 2006 study conducted by the NCEA found that women are more likely than men to suffer from elder abuse or neglect, with two out of three elder abuse victims being women. The study also found that 54 percent of elder abuse cases involve members of the victim's family and that one out of every four cases involves financial exploitation.
An Ottawa County tragedy demonstrates the need for stronger laws against elder abuse. Carol Maneke was recently sentenced to just four months in jail for leaving her 87-year-old father, Max Canfield, in squalid living conditions in a Tallmadge Township duplex. Maneke lived in the adjacent half of the duplex and was her father's legal guardian.
After Canfield's granddaughter became concerned about his welfare in 2006, police and social workers found the decorated World War II veteran lying on a soiled mattress and surrounded by adult diapers, trash and animal feces. They had to tape and seal their pant legs before entering the roach-infested duplex. Canfield died in a hospital from malnutrition a week after being rescued from the home.
Under the Elder Abuse Protection Plan, Maneke could have been subject to a much longer sentence than the one she received.
"This legislation is vital because not all types of abuse are physical," Valentine said. "Financial institutions must be given the tools they need to report any suspected financial exploitation of our seniors. The penalties for all forms of elder abuse will serve as a strong deterrent to keep people from committing these acts of cruelty."
To report a suspected case of elder abuse, residents can contact the state's 24-hour hotline by calling (800) 99NOABUSE (996-6228).