Elder Abuse and Neglect Program Annual Report FY 2006

              conference also gave recognition to an outstanding elder
abuse caseworker. The award recognized an individual
who demonstrated integrity, compassion and commit-ment
to vulnerable older adults in the community.
Break the Silence: As a result of Governor Blagojevich
proclaiming July as Elder Abuse Awareness Month,
Department staff continued public awareness efforts with
the “Break the Silence” campaign. Elder Abuse Provider
Agencies and the Regional Administrative Agencies were
provided with funding and updated toolkits to assist in
outreach efforts.
and separated to discuss training, funding protocols,
legislation, data collection, and inter-disciplinary
teams.
The Department's goal was for the Summit to serve
as a springboard for action in addressing self-neglect
within Illinois.
Self-Neglect Survey:
As a result of the Self-Neglect Summit, a data collec-tion
sub-committee was formed and began meeting
in January 2006. In order to begin the process of col-lecting
data, the sub-committee's focus was to devel-op
a survey on how many self-neglect cases elder
abuse provider agencies and case coordination units
came into contact with during the month of June
2006. The surveys were completed on-line and sub-mitted
to the Department. The Department contract-ed
with Leonard Schanfield Research Institute with
the Council for Jewish Elderly.
A total sample of 1,225 cases were analyzed. One
goal of the survey was to generate a profile of self-neglect
clients in Illinois. The results of the survey
were also used to assist the Department in developing
a Vulnerable Older Adults Reporting Form, to be
implemented January 1, 2007.
B*SAFE (Bankers and Seniors Against Financial
Exploitation)
Training continued to be conducted by elder abuse
caseworkers to bank personnel and senior groups
throughout the state on how to identify financial
exploitation, scams and other types of abuse. The
training included how to follow simple guidelines for
reporting suspicious circumstances to the Depart-ment’s
Elder Abuse and Neglect Program and to law
enforcement.
19th Annual Elder Rights Conference
The Department sponsored its 19th annual Elder
Rights Conference July 19-21, 2005. Nationally
known speakers presented on elder abuse, ombuds-man,
and legal issues to over 300 participants. The
State of Illinois
Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor
Illinois Department on Aging
Charles D. Johnson, Director
The Illinois Department on Aging does not discriminate in
admission to programs or treatment of employment in
compliance with appropriate State and Federal Statutes. If
you feel you have been discriminated against, call the Senior
HelpLine at, 1-800-252-8966,
1-888-206-1327 (TTY)
Printed by Authority of
the State of Illinois
IL-402-1080 (Rev. 1/08) 4M
IISG08-579
421 East Capitol Avenue, #100
Springfield, Illinois 62701-1789
Illinois Department on Aging
Elder Abuse Hotline
1-866-800-1409
1-888-206-1327 (TTY)
How Many Reports of Elder Abuse Were Received?
During the period of July 1, 2005, through June 30,
2006, there were 9,191 (includes case transfers) reports
of elder abuse received by the program. The city of
Chicago received the largest number of reports, 1,424,
followed by Suburban Cook County with 1,372. The
number of reports received per 1,000 older adults is
highest for elder abuse reports in the southern tip of
Illinois around Carbondale and the southeastern area
around Mt. Carmel, where 777 and 232 reports were
received respectively.
What is Elder Abuse?
Elder abuse refers to the following types of mistreat-ment
of any Illinois resident 60 years of age or older
who lives in the community and is abused by another
person.
Physical Abuse: causing the infliction of physical pain
or injury to an older adult.
Sexual Abuse: touching, fondling, or any other sexual
activity with an older adult when the older adult is
unable to understand, unwilling to consent, threatened,
or physically forced.
Emotional Abuse: verbal assaults, threats of abuse,
harassment or intimidation so as to compel the older
adult to engage in conduct from which he or she has a
right to abstain or to refrain from conduct that the older
adult has a right to engage.
Confinement: restraining or isolating an older adult
for other than medical reasons.
Passive Neglect: the failure by a caregiver to provide
an older adult with the necessities of life including, but
not limited to, food, clothing, shelter, or medical care,
because of failure to understand the older adult’s
needs, lack of awareness of services to help meet
needs, or lack of capacity to care for the older adult.
Willful Deprivation: willfully denying assistance to an
older adult who requires medication, medical care, shel-ter,
food, therapeutic device, or other physical assis-tance,
thereby exposing that person to the risk of harm.
Financial Exploitation: the misuse or withholding of
an older adult’s resources to the disadvantage of the
older adult and/or the profit or advantage of another
person.
Illinois Law
The Illinois Department on Aging administers the
statewide Elder Abuse and Neglect Program (EANP),
under the authority of the Elder Abuse and Neglect Act
(320ILCS 20/1 et seq.) to respond to reports of alleged
mistreatment of any Illinois citizen 60 years of age or
older who lives in the community.
The Elder Abuse and Neglect Program is locally coordi-nated
through 44 provider agencies, which are designat-ed
by the Regional Administrative Agencies (RAAs) and
the Department on Aging. All Elder Abuse Caseworkers
are trained and certified by the Department, which
promulgates the Programs’ policies and procedures and
oversees the monitoring of services through the RAAs.
Depending on the nature and seriousness of the allega-tions,
a trained caseworker will make a face-to-face con-tact
with the alleged victim within the following time
frames: 24 hours for life threatening situations, 72 hours
for most neglect and non-life threatening physical abuse
reports, and 7 calendar days for most financial exploita-tion
and emotional abuse reports.
The caseworker has 30 days to do a comprehensive
assessment, both to determine if the client has been mis-treated
and to determine his/her need for services and
interventions. If the abuse is substantiated, the case-worker
involves the older adult in the development of a
case plan to alleviate the situation. The caseworker
always attempts to utilize the least restrictive alterna-tives
that will allow the older adult to remain independ-ent
to the degree possible.
Limited Mandatory Reporting: applies to persons
delivering professional services to older adults in the
following fields: social services, adult day care, law
enforcement, education, medicine, state service to sen-iors,
and social work. The requirements for limited
mandatory reporting apply when the reporter believes
that the older adult is not capable of reporting the abuse
himself/herself. The law also encourages any person to
report voluntarily for an older adult, and provides
immunity from liability and professional disciplinary
action for anyone making such an elder abuse report
in good faith.
How Does a Person Make an Elder Abuse Report?
Anyone who suspects that an older adult is being mis-treated
by another should call:
• The Department on Aging’s 24-hour Elder Abuse
Hotline at 1-866-800-1409, 1-888-206-1327 (TTY).
• ALL CALLS ARE CONFIDENTIAL
Fiscal Year 2006 Accomplishments
Self-Neglect Summit:
In anticipation of the proposed legislation to add self-neglect
cases to the Elder Abuse and Neglect Act, the
Department on Aging hosted a Summit on Self-Neglect
December 1-2, 2005, in Chicago. Approximately 90
participants, from a variety of disciplines, attended.
Dr. Holly Ramsey-Klawsnik, a consultant with the
Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs, was
the keynote speaker. Joanne Otto, Executive Director
of the National Adult Protective Services Association,
served as the facilitator. Workgroups were preassigned
Fiscal Year 2006 Annual Report
Elder
Abuse
and Neglect Program