Many of our readers may not know that Orange County is home to the first-in–the-nation Elder Abuse Forensic Center. As printed in today’s New York Times, "Some 6,000 cases of elder abuse are reported annually in Orange County. In California, 100,000 reports were filed in 2003, accounting for 20 percent of the 500,000 reports nationwide. But there is widespread agreement among professionals that those numbers may be low. In a 1996 study, only one in 14 cases of physical abuse and neglect were reported and one in 100 of financial exploitation."

The Orange County Sheriff's Department is one of several participating agencies working in a collaborative environment to investigate, combat and prevent elder abuse. Dr. Lisa Gibbs, an Elder Abuse Forensic Center team member recently participated in a conference near Seattle, Washington. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports:

"The warning signs of elder abuse and neglect aren't always so graphic or obvious. But they must be learned as the senior citizen population swells, experts said Wednesday at 'Making the Case for Justice,' a conference sponsored by the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office and other groups.

'Elder abuse is where child abuse was 30 years ago,' entering the consciousness of a society that often does not consider the mistreatment of vulnerable adults, said Dr. Lisa Gibbs, an assistant clinical professor of geriatrics at the University of California-Irvine.

She spoke to about 300 legal, law enforcement, social and health workers in the opening session of a two-day conference at the Meydenbauer Center.

Those with undiagnosed dementia are 'particularly vulnerable to abuse, even if they're a charming, wonderful person who goes along with everything you say. That is a clue in itself,' said Gibbs, who is on the team at the Elder Abuse Forensic Center in Orange County, Calif."

More on the center:

Purpose

• Prevent and combat the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of at-risk older and disabled adults in our local community through the collaboration of professionals in law, medicine, and social services.
• Educate professionals who deal with the crime of elder abuse including law enforcement, the medical community, social services, the legal community, government officials and investigative agencies, academic institutions, as well as older adults and their families regarding effective prevention and prosecution.
• Advance the awareness of elder abuse through research on abuse and neglect of at-risk older and disabled adults.
• Create a new standard for interventions that are effective in combating and preventing mistreatment of older adults.

Overview

Approximately 2 million American seniors are abused, neglected, or exploited each year. In Orange County, Adult Protective Services receives 500 reports of abuse each month. For every report of abuse, five go unreported, indicating that more than 30,000 of our County's most vulnerable adults endure elder abuse each year.

Launched in May 2003, the Elder Abuse Forensic Center changes the way elder abuse cases are prosecuted through an unprecedented collaborative process. The Center is staffed by professionals from legal, medical, social services, and law enforcement agencies who conduct case reviews; in-home medical and mental status, and evidentiary investigation; taped victim interviews; education; consultation; and research. The collaboration brings these experts together to better understand, identify and treat elder abuse, determine more efficient ways to successfully prosecute elder abuse cases and support the prevention of elder abuse through greater awareness and education among those professionals who work with older and disabled adults.

The Center represents an important step forward in our nation's ability to combat and prevent elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation through its groundbreaking collaboration in service, education, and research.