Elder abuse cases rising, but funding to help hasn't

By Michele R. MarcucciMediaNews

Rising caseloads and no recent funding increases have counties across the state struggling to investigate abuse of the elderly.

Cases like these:

A frail, 87-year-old woman whose daughter has put her house up for sale and who has reportedly told neighbors she is placing her mom in a nursing home.

Kretz and others hope that a proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to increase the state's adult protective services funding by $20 million - or about 40 percent - becomes reality this year.

"Our seniors, especially those with dementia or in poor health, are vulnerable to elder abuse at the hands of unscrupulous caregivers or con artists," Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager said in a news release. "We have to prevent this kind of victimization of our seniors, and abusers need to know that their crimes won't go unpunished."

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