22nd National Triad Conference
held in conjunction with the 15th Annual Illinois Triad Conference
October 3 - 5, 2011
Tinley Park Convention Center
18451 Convention Center Drive
Tinley Park, IL 60477
www.nationaltriad.org
Please nominate your “Triad Volunteer of the Year” by sending a (no more than) 1,500 word letter to: ehutchison@sheriffs.org by COB 08/31/2011
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
Indeed, it falls on the 15th of June each year with different symposiums, WEAAD targeted events, and conferences highlighting this often hidden form of abuse. To learn more about setting up your own event, visit the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) on how to get started, and materials to facilitate your event. The NCEA can be located at: http://www.ncea.aoa.gov/NCEAroot/Main_Site/Index.aspx.
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day initiatives focus public attention on elder mistreatment, but also on many valuable aging services. Therefore, organizations that participate in World Day events have a golden opportunity to generate public support and recruit new volunteers, and volunteerism is the lifeblood of many of these programs. Here are some ideas for World Day activities: - Organize a candlelight vigil or a march down Main Street in recognition of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
- Host a rally on World Elder Abuse Awareness Day and invite seniors, advocates, spokespersons, and government officials to talk about the issues and the ways that citizens can become involved in prevention. Don’t forget to invite the local press!
- Distribute elder abuse public awareness materials at a local sporting event, concert, or fair.
- Ask local banks or utility companies to include small elder abuse awareness inserts (that your organization supplies) with the May or June statements. You can find fact sheets on the NCEA website to use or modify for the inserts, and don’t forget to mention any other “Join Us” activities your community is holding.
- Purple is the color designated for elder abuse awareness. Distribute purple ribbons to your staff, nursing home professionals, Adult Protective Service staff, law enforcement, and other community organizations and members in recognition of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
- Partner with a local nursing home for a World Elder Abuse Awareness Day barbeque or picnic. Include activities and food for residents and their families, staff, and the community. Ask volunteers to bring food and games to play and coordinate the activities with nursing home staff. Invite the press for added exposure and increased elder abuse awareness.
- Start an elder abuse awareness group on a social networking site, such as “Facebook,” and encourage “friends” to join the group. Start a campaign to get “X” number of “friends” to join by World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
- Hold a community yard sale at a central location such as a senior center or church/synagogue with proceeds going to an elder abuse support group or community outreach efforts to help elderly in crisis.
- Organize a “Letter to the Editor” writing campaign to raise awareness not only of elder abuse but of the local resources that are available through APS, area agency on aging offices, and other organizations. Be sure to include contact information and hotline/helpline phone numbers as well as web addresses for relevant organizations.
911 Cell Phone Bank
We are pleased to announce our new Drop Off Location website. This new site, with the easy to remember URL (DonateMyPhone.com ), can help you get more businesses in the community collecting cell phones on your behalf. Contact me at dwilkerson@911cellphonebank.org or call 866-290-7864 x1312 for more information.
Get Radio PSA's For Your Community
We recently recorded several 15 and 30 second public service announcements for our participants to air on local radio stations. Each PSA directs listeners to visit DonateMyPhone.com to find a drop off location near them. This is another way to get local businesses to collect cell phones for you and support your agency. Contact me at dwilkerson@911cellphonebank.org or call 866-290-7864 x1312 for more information.
TRIAD initiative, ‘File of Life,’ is matter of life or death
By MIRANDA HENDERSON
GateHouse News Service
CANTON — As a senior citizen or a family member of a senior citizen, medical concerns are usually top of the list.
Often, when emergency personnel respond to a medical emergency the victim is unable to communicate and many times it is necessary to know the medical condition of the victim and know which medications that they receive daily.
Fulton County TRIAD's "File of Life" initiative can answer all those questions in one easy process.
The "File of Life" card (which patients keep in a red plastic pocket labeled "File of Life") lists the participant's name, emergency medical contacts, hospital of preference, medications, dosages, allergies, recent surgeries, doctor's name and insurance information.
The entire packet is held with a magnet to the outside of the refrigerator. A compact version is also available to carry in a purse or wallet.
"There are several locations where "File of Life" cards can be picked up. Those include Courtyard Estates, Sunset Nursing Home, and the Canton Police Department," explains Ken Miars, Marketing Director for Heartland Healthcare of Canton.
Miars also mentions that if there are any issues locating a place to pick them up, questions can be directed to the Canton Police Department.
Fulton County TRIAD can provide more than the "File of Life" for local seniors.
"I worked in Peoria and was very involved with the Tazewell County TRIAD. I enjoyed the help they offered to seniors and when I moved to Fulton County I decided to help start a TRIAD for them," says Miars.
TRIAD is a national program that began in 1988 when the National Sheriff's Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the AARP signed a cooperative agreement to work together to reduce both criminal victimization and unwarranted fear of crime affecting older persons.
Since the beginning of TRIAD more than 775 counties have adopted the model as an effective method to lessen senior crime.
The Illinois State TRIAD was formed in 1990 in recognition of the need to guide a statewide response to the critical issue of crime against seniors.
With the help of Miars, the Fulton County TRIAD was formed in April of 2009 when Sgt. Brad Ward of the Fulton County Sheriff's office and Canton Chief of Police Dan Taylor signed the TRIAD agreement. Since then it has grown to several members from Fulton County organizations and businesses as well as retired persons.
The TRIAD is a partnership of three organizations including law enforcement, senior citizens and community groups whose sole purpose is to promote senior safety and to reduce unwarranted fear of crime that seniors often experience.
Elderly Service Officer Brett Butler of the Canton Police Department as well as Elderly Service Officer Ryan Maricle of the Fulton County Sheriff's Department team up with other organizations and individuals to provide information on current local crimes involving seniors to help decrease the number of seniors that fall victim to these types of crimes every year.
"TRIAD is all about education. The best way we can help seniors against fraud and scam is to educate," says Miars. "TRIAD also promotes a feeling of trust and safety with law enforcement by exposing scams that are out there and trying to prevent them from even happening," explains Miars.
On the third Wednesday of every month Fulton County TRIAD holds a meeting at 1:30 p.m at Graham Hospital.
Presentations are offered by request at senior citizens centers, assisted living facilities, and supported living facilities. Most often these presentations are given by one or both of the Elderly Service Officers.
These meetings and presentations give seniors the opportunity to share their needs and concerns in the areas of crime and safety with the community and makes them active participants in finding solutions with other members of their community.
TRIAD's goals are to increase awareness of crimes against senior citizens; improve communication and understanding of the differing roles of the criminal justice system, elder abuse agencies and other appropriate organizations; emphasize that the abuse, neglect and exploitation of seniors are crimes; sponsor programs for seniors to increase awareness of crimes against senior citizens and reduce the fear of crime; and to educate older citizens about prevention measures they can take to protect themselves in any type of emergency.
For more information about Fulton County TRIAD the office can be reached at 309-712-3191, the Fulton County Sheriff's Office at 309-547-2277, or the City of Canton Police Department at 309-647-5131.
To request presentations contact Ken Miars at 309-712-3191 or fultoncountytriad@yahoo.com.
Copyright 2011 Canton Daily Ledger. Some rights reserved
Fairlawn Police Blotter: Elderly Man Missing $50,000 from Bank Box
Money vanished while man was ill.
By Kymberli Hagelberg
The Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department is seeking information on recent larceny and vandalism complaints in the Dexter area. - A Fairlawn man is reportedly out $50,000 in cash that he entrusted to a family member for safekeeping. According to a police report, Elmer Shaffer asked his daughter to hold $30,00 in cash and $20,000 in rare collectible coins that disappeared from a safety deposit box.
The report indicated that Shaffer's daughter, Melissa Herrick, and her boyfriend, Keith A. Seaver, decided that the money should be kept in the bank while Shaffer had surgery. On April 27, Seaver and his daughter, Tara Seaver, 20, of Akron, signed for the box jointly at Charter One Bank, 2270 W. Market St.
According to the report, Seaver’s daughter co-signed for the box in case her father was unavailable. She returned sometime between April 27 and May 3 and asked a bank employee to open the box because her father -- who had the key -- was on vacation.
A bank employee not named in the report allegedly drilled through the safety deposit box to open it for Tara Seaver. Police were told the woman left with the contents of the box and has not been seen since.
Herrick and the elder Seaver made the report to police on May 3. No charges have been filed against anyone in connection with the incident.
Man Sentenced In Elderly Woman’s Death; Neighborhood Still Recovering
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The man charged with stabbing and killing a 92-year-old woman inside her own home will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Gordan McMullen pleaded guilty Thursday to first-degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, first-degree kidnapping and felony breaking and entering in the death of Mildred P. Clontz.
Neighbors told Eyewitness News that crime forever changed the neighborhood, and they've altered their daily routines as a result.
There are many elderly residents along Knickerbocker Drive in Southeast Charlotte. Many of them said they were inspired by Clontz's energy and independence. In fact, the 92-year-old had renewed her license shortly before her murder.
Helen Ussery lived next door to Clontz. She said she thinks’ about the crime every day.
"I don't walk the neighborhood anymore, but the neighborhood is still nice. But it's just the thought of it. I can't get it of of my mind," Ussery said.
Gordon McMullen admitted to following Clontz home from church one Sunday night in April 2008. He then entered her home, stabbed her several times, and stole her purse. Clontz managed to call 911, but died the next day. The horrific crime is still felt in the neighborhood.
"It has changed me a lot. Because of me being disabled now, it hurts sometime just to go outside, because I'm afraid," Ussery said.
Prosecutors Friday accepted a plea deal that will put McMullen away for life, but will spare him the death penalty. Neighbors said they're satisfied justice has been served.
"I think the death penalty is justified for some people, but in this case, what he did to Ms. Clotz was heinous, and for him to be in jail, to keep reliving what he done, that's more than enough justice for him," said next door neighbor Anthony Reel.
McMullen finished serving a 20-year prison sentence a year before he murdered Clontz.
In fact, he has spent most of his adult life behind bars. When he was 20, he was convicted of credit card theft. He's also been put away for larceny and counterfeiting, and received a 20-year-sentence for armed robbery in 1987.
Even though McMullen is in jail, Helen Ussery said she's afraid to walk around her own block alone.
"As you get older, I think, people do prey on older people, and people that are disabled," she said.
It took detectives four days to arrest McMullen after the murder. Police said say they were led to him because he used Clontz's credit cards and cell phone.
EAAA to host Senior Expo on Friday in Bangor
Senior Expo on May 20 – the date has passed, but what an excellent Triad IDEA!
More than 70 exhibitors will take part in Senior Expo at 9 a.m. Friday, May 20 at Spectacular Event Center, Griffin Road. There will be health screenings — vision tests, blood pressure checks, cholesterol and glucose tests and fall-risk assessments. These assessments, performed by the physical therapy department at Husson University and trained EAAA staff, will give those attending the opportunity to have their risk of falling examined.
Representatives of Eastern Area Agency on Aging’s State Health Insurance Assistance Program will chat with participants about benefits and, if necessary, make an appointment to meet at EAAA offices. Also on hand will be the Triad Drug Drop-Off box where attendees can deposit expired no-longer-needed medications.
Overflow parking will be behind the Airport Mall off Griffin Road. Free shuttle buses from EAAA, Sunbury Village and Winterberry Heights Assisted Living and Memory Care will chauffer participants to the Senior Expo. The sponsor is Martin’s Point Health Care.
Phone service to check on elderly in Rockledge
Written by REBECCA BASU FLORIDA TODAY
"R U OK?"
That's the name of an automated telephone service that will check on older residents in Rockledge.
It will be free and complements the "lock box," an existing program that allows police officers access to home keys in the event of an emergency.
"It's just an extra way to keep our residents safe, especially those who don't have relatives that live close by," said Steve Wilson, the city's community advocate.
During its annual program on resources for seniors Wednesday, Rockledge officially will announce the new telephone reassurance program.
A computerized phone system will make two pre-arranged calls to participants at the time of day or night they choose. If there's no answer, an officer is dispatched to check on the residence. A lock box at the home has a pass code for officers to get a key and enter, if needed.
The city received a $600 donation and a $3,400 grant from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to cover program startup costs. Wilson said the cost to the city to run the program is minimal.
In addition to information about the new phone program, the Wednesday event, "Communities for a Lifetime," features guest speakers and information on disaster preparedness, home safety and other community services.
Florida Department of Elder Affairs Bureau Chief Larry Baxter and U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, also will speak.
Contact Basu at 321-242-3618 or rbasu@floridatoday.com.
Scams target old Seniors warned on risk behavior
NEW YORK, May 25, (RTRS): Millions of older Americans are defrauded by con artists and many do not report the crime, but avoiding key activities and taking certain precautions can safeguard against scams, new research shows.
A study by the AARP Foundation, the charity of the powerful lobbying group for older Americans, showed that only about a quarter of fraud victims over 50 years old reported the crime. And the older the victims are, the less likely they were to admit being duped.
The study also identified activities — opening and reading all junk mail, attending free lunch seminars, entering draws to win a free prize and inviting salespeople into the home — that raise the risks of being a victim of investment cons, lottery scams, loan schemes and bogus business deals.
“Our research has shown that avoiding some of these common sales situations and taking a few simple preventative actions can go a long way in protecting our pocketbooks.” said Doug Shadel, a co-author of the AARP study.
About 30 million Americans, or 13.2 percent of the adult population, are victims of fraud, according to data released in 2007 by the US Federal Trade Commission.
In the year-long AARP study of 2,232 people, which was conducted by Woelfel Research Inc. and included 723 victims of fraud, 65 percent of those who had been conned had participated in at least two of the activities. Older fraud victims were twice as likely as other older Americans to have engaged in all four of the activities.
People who are defrauded also fit certain profiles, according to the research. Married, well-educated, high earning older men were more likely to be victims of investment fraud, while single older men and women with lower incomes and education levels tended to fall prey to lottery scams.
Victims of drug scams and identity thefts were more likely to be single, lower earning, less-educated women.
Shadel said the amount of the fraud can be considerable, depending on the type of scam. In investment fraud cases victims can lose thousands of dollars.
People fail to report the fraud for a variety of reasons.
“A lot of times the answer is embarrassment,” said Shadel. “Sometimes they say they did not know who to report it to. Sometimes they say they didn’t think it would make any difference.”
Shadel and his team advise people to be proactive to avoid scams. They suggested people check references and wait 24 hours before making a decision to buy something. For tricky or difficult situations a refusal script could be useful against the persuasive tactics of a con artist.
They also recommend signing up for the Do Not Call List at www.donotcall.gov, to prevent telemarketing.
“Every con man I have interviewed said his central goal is to get people into a heightened emotional state so they make a bad decision. We say never make a buying decision at the time of the sales pitch. Always wait at least 24 hours to cool down,” Shadel added.
Key behaviors raise fraud risks
By Patricia Reaney, Reuters
NEW YORK, - Millions of older Americans are defrauded by con artists and many do not report the crime, but avoiding key activities and taking certain precautions can safeguard against scams, new research shows.
A study by the AARP Foundation, the charity of the powerful lobbying group for older Americans, showed that only about a quarter of fraud victims over 50 years old reported the crime. And the older the victims are, the less likely they were to admit being duped.
The study also identified activities - opening and reading all junk mail, attending free lunch seminars, entering draws to win a free prize and inviting salespeople into the home - that raise the risks of being a victim of investment cons, lottery scams, loan schemes and bogus business deals.
"Our research has shown that avoiding some of these common sales situations and taking a few simple preventative actions can go a long way in protecting our pocketbooks." said Doug Shadel, a co-author of the AARP study.
About 30 million Americans, or 13.2 per cent of the adult population, are victims of fraud, according to data released in 2007 by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
In the year-long AARP study of 2,232 people, which was conducted by Woelfel Research Inc. and included 723 victims of fraud, 65 per cent of those who had been conned had participated in at least two of the activities. Older fraud victims were twice as likely as other older Americans to have engaged in all four of the activities.
People who are defrauded also fit certain profiles, according to the research. Married, well-educated, high earning older men were more likely to be victims of investment fraud, while single older men and women with lower incomes and education levels tended to fall prey to lottery scams.
People age 40 and up buck tradition, commit more crime while felony juvenile arrests drop
By C.J. Lin, Staff Writer
Researchers studying the effects of California's three-strikes law have found a puzzling trend: older adults are being arrested for felonies in droves, while felony arrests of juveniles are dropping.
The trend can be attributed to an "enormous increase in drug abuse" by an aging population, according to Mike Males of the San Francisco-based Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, during a three-strikes symposium at the University of Southern California earlier this month.
"We now see a dramatic reversal in the aging of the crime population," Males said. "It baffles me."
Males' finding was part of a report he released in April titled "Striking Out: California's `Three Strikes and You're Out' Law Has Not Reduced Violent Crime." The report fuels the debate over California's three-strikes law, which passed in 1994 and requires life sentences for third-strike felony convictions.
Law enforcement officials differ on the effectiveness of the law, and acknowledge that at times it results in life imprisonments for relatively minor offenses, while costing the government enormous sums of money at a time of budget deficits.
About 8,700 prisoners are currently serving life sentences under the law. Keeping the current third-strike population behind bars would cost taxpayers at least $10 billion in the next 25 years, according to Males.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley supports modifying the law and attempted unsuccessfully to do so in 2006.
"Twenty-five to life is the sentence we reserve for first-degree murderers, the most serious offense in our books," Cooley said during the symposium.
"And some guy who steals some videos, some socks, a dress for his wife on her birthday, writes a two-bit check, has a rock in his sock? Twenty-five to life? Give me a break."
Prosecutors do have some discretion in pursuing a three-strikes sentence, which has resulted in inconsistent sentencing policies across different counties, officials said.
In Los Angeles, prosecutors take a more moderate approach, seeking the life sentence only if the third strike is a violent crime. They are required to write a memo and make a case if they want to use three-strikes sentencing for an offender who may not have committed a violent final strike, but may have a particularly troublesome criminal history.
In Ventura County, District Attorney Greg Totten favors maintaining the state law as is.
"It's beyond anything you can calculate in raw terms, things that most of us take for granted like going to sleep at night," said Totten, who favors pursuing the third strike if it's applicable.
"When a career criminal has an established history or crime, there is a high probability that he's going to offend again," Totten said. "How do I tell a murder victim ... the surviving families of murder victims, that the killer had already been convicted?"
Ventura County, which has relatively low crime rates, has seen a 48 percent decrease in violent crime rates from 1993 to 2009, according to the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The law, which was enacted in 1994 following the kidnapping and murder of a 12-year-old girl by a career criminal, has been credited with bringing down crime rates based on the idea that violent crime would be reduced by keeping repeat violent offenders behind bars.
But maintaining three-strikes in its current form is likely to cost the state dearly, according to Males' analysis.
One inmate costs an average of $46,700 a year and $1.1 million for a 25-year sentence, according to the state Legislative Analyst's Office. A lifer, who is incarcerated at an average age of 43 and dies at 82 - usually incurring heavy medical bills along the way - would cost the state $1.8 million.
The Supreme Court this week ordered the state to reduce its prison population by more than 30,000 inmates to fix sometimes deadly problems in medical care. California prisons averaged nearly a death a week in 2009 that might have been prevented or delayed with better medical care.
Males' report recommends that the law be amended to require that the final strike be a violent crime and found that while it was projected to cost taxpayers billions of dollars, had negligible effects on violent crime levels.
At the same time, the age of offenders arrested for felonies has been steadily rising. The number of people over age 40 going to prison has more than quadrupled over the last three decades, according to the study. In 1980, about 24,200 felony arrests were made of the 40-plus age group, with that number growing to 110,700 in 2009.
Meanwhile, the number of arrests of juveniles - a demographic that experiences the least strike sentencing - has been on the decline, from 97,000 to 58,600 in the same period.
The average age of a third-striker is 43 and an older population is increasingly being incarcerated, Males said.
The development is a peculiar one, according to researchers.
"In criminology, we assume that people slow down and commit fewer crimes," said Barry Krisberg, Research and Policy Director at UC Berkeley's Earl Warren Institute on Law. "We may need to revisit that and look at that again."
Juveniles tend to commit violent crimes at a higher rate than the older population, noted Harvey Sherman, deputy public defender of the L.A. County Public Defender's Office.
With the nation's overall rate of violent crime at a 50-year low, fewer juveniles are going to jail, Sherman said. At the same time, he expects to see the aging felons trend continue.
"They came back from Vietnam after being shot and they used morphine and heroin," Sherman said. "Part of the addiction and the length of the addiction that some of these people have on these really nasty drugs means we're going to have some older people who just can't get off the dope."
The aging inmate population combined with the three-strikes law is foreboding for a cash-strapped state.
Helpful Websites
USA.gov
The official U.S. gateway to all government information.
http://www.usa.gov
USA.gov for Seniors
USA.gov for Seniors site helps users access all government sites that provide services for senior citizens.
http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Seniors.shtml
Disability.gov
Disability.gov is a comprehensive Federal website of disability-related government resources.
http://www.disability.gov
GovBenefits.gov
Site is the official government benefits website. It is a free, confidential tool that helps individuals find government benefits they may be eligible to receive.
http://www.GovBenefits.gov
Meals on Wheels Association of America (MOWAA)
The Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA) is the oldest and largest organization in the United States representing those who provide meal services to people in need. MOWAA works toward the social, physical, nutritional, and economic betterment of vulnerable Americans. As a national organization, MOWAA focuses on those issues that can best assist its member programs in achieving their individual missions of providing quality meals and nutrition services to as many vulnerable people as possible in the most efficient and effective manner, all "so no senior goes hungry”®.
http://www.mowaa.org
National Association of State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs
The National Association of State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs was formed in 1985. The non-profit organization is composed of state long-term care ombudsmen representing their state programs.
www.nasop.org
More Senior Safety related articles are located at www.nationaltriad.org; e-news section. |
