IONIA – State Representatives Mike "Huck" Huckleberry (D-Greenville) and Robert Dean (D-Grand Rapids) 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 effort by the lawmakers to strengthen Michigan's faltering consumer protection laws.
"These crimes against seniors are unconscionable, and we should not be tolerating them," said Huckleberry, who introduced House Bill 4618 as part of the plan. "Unfortunately, criminals who take advantage of our seniors here in Michigan receive little more than a slap on the wrist. By enacting stricter penalties, we are giving prosecutors the tools they need to help stop elder abuse."
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 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.
"I cannot imagine why an individual would feel the need to take advantage of a person they supposed to be caring for," said Dean, sponsor of HB 4625. "Unfortunately, elder abuse is a sad reality that we must deal with, as thousands of seniors suffer some form of abuse each year at the hands of family members or caregivers they thought they could trust. Our plan will bring a largely hidden problem out of the shadows and tackle it head-on."
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.
"It's a sad fact, but if Michigan continues to allow financial predators to abuse older adults and eventually profit from their estate, the state is creating an incentive to these reprehensible acts," Huckleberry said. "We need to act now to close this legal loophole. By enacting tougher penalties and banning criminals from inheriting from their victims' estates, we will make caregivers think twice before they take advantage of our residents."
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.
"Adding a joint accountholder can be a great help to our older residents when managing their finances, but it's important that they know their rights," Dean said. "My plan will add an important consumer protection to the books by requiring banks to provide this information in writing. By disclosing the risks of joint accountholders to seniors, we can help ensure financial helpers do not create financial horror stories."
To report a suspected case of elder abuse, residents can contact the state's 24-hour hotline by calling (800) 99NOABUSE (996-6228).