Jeff Rense: “Hitler wasn’t such a bad guy”

Concerns are swirling around the conspiracy circuit as to who Jeff Rense really is and what his real agenda might be. Allegations of neo Nazi affiliations have followed Rense since he first began to host a radio show, back in the nineties. These are the facts:

When approached to run a story on the guardianship crisis, which has been likened to the T-4 program in Hitler’s Germany, Rense responded with an apologia for the Nazis: “It would have moderated after awhile.” When the retort was that it would have “moderated” when Hitler murdered all the people he wanted to, Rense responded in defense of Adolph Hitler. “He wasn’t such a bad guy,” volunteered Rense.

The guardianship crisis has cut a deep slash into the civil rights of an entire generation. Given the brutal disregard evinced for the wards ,it has become a given in the guardianship reform movement that the guardians are actually killing many of their wards, through medical neglect and worse. Assets have been plundered and a subsequent generation, who might stand to inherit, has been impoverished through the actions of unscrupulous guardians.

But Jeff Rense thinks this is a “Jewish conspiracy.” Forget the fact that a disproportionately large number of the victims are Jewish. Forget the fact that a large number of the perpetrators are not. Rense sees a Jew behind every issue and damn the facts!! Full speed ahead…

Radio talk show host and journalist Marti Oakley was recently invited by Rense to come onto the show. Oakley had picked up on the guardianship story and had been running interviews and articles concerning this issue. Rense, however, “forbade” Oakley from discussing this on his show. When it appeared that Oakley would then not appear, he relented and told her she could discuss this in the second half.

According to Oakley, when the commercial break came he asked her if she could continue on with the other issues she was discussing and come back on at a later date to discuss guardianship. She agreed but Rense never got back to her as he had promised.

Nice trick. Oakley was fuming after the show.

Up close and personal, Rense attracts a large audience, hungry for the truth . But in typical counterintelligence fashion, he slides in the poison and those feasting on his anti-government rhetoric may not even notice that they are being fed hate speech. The fact is that the U.S. government is now engaged in killing off its own citizens in a multitude of ways, guardianship being one of the most “unmentionable.”

This reporter contacted Rense a few years back, attempting to get him to cover guardianship. “Be careful, Janet, “ he warned, inexplicably.

Careful? People are being killed in these guardianships. When did “careful” ever have anything to do with saving lives?

For a short period of time, while Rense was opining to get Oakley on his show, his website,http://www.rense.com/, carried a few stories about guardianship. He subsequently removed all the links to these stories.


Janet Phelan is an investigative journalist whose articles have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The San Bernardino County Sentinel, The Santa Monica Daily Press, The Long Beach Press Telegram, Oui Magazine and other regional and national publications. Janet addresses the heated subject of adult conservatorship, revealing shocking information about the relationships between courts and shady financial consultants. She also covers issues relating to international nuclear weapon treaties. Her poetry has been published in Gambit, Libera, Applezaba Review, Nausea One and other magazines. Her first book, The Hitler Poems, was published in 2005. She currently resides abroad.

You may browse through her articles (and poetry) at janetphelan.com

Janet Phelan is a regular columnist for Veracity Voice

Seniors for Sale: Hiding harm: the human toll

Another 'How could this go on in America?' Story

"Under Colorado law, the courts are supposed to follow a hierarchical list when choosing a guardian: Spouses, adult children and family friends all rank higher on that list than professional guardians. . . . Stewart followed none of these procedures . . . . 'It's criminal what they've done to me and my son,' Letty said. 'How could this go on in America? All my rights have been taken away. . . . They've taken my money and keep me from seeing my son when he's done nothing wrong.'"

Read it all here =>>BlondJustice.0rg

Reports of elder abuse result in Restraining Orders...But Not How You´d Think...

Illustration by Dees

by Janet Phelan as originally reported on Salem News

In an unparalleled action in an ex parte hearing on April 1, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Reva Goetz issued a Restraining Order against a local physician, Dr. Laura Moire, blocking her from taking further action or making more reports in regards to conservatee Jean Tanaka.

Dr. Moire, who is considered an expert in elder abuse, is a founder of the Geriatric Division of the American College of Emergency Medicine, a founding member of the American College of Forensic Medicine as well as a member of the White House Conference on Aging, among numerous other honors and affiliations. Dr. Moire took a sole action of calling both Adult Protective Services and the police on the evening of March 30, 2011, in an attempt to alert these agencies as to her concerns of abuse being inflicted upon Mrs. Tanaka through the auspices of conservator Linda Cotterman.

In an interview last week Dr. Moire stated that she had testified during the conservatorship trial of Tanaka on March 3 and was concerned to learn that no action had been taken to address her concerns as to Mrs. Tanaka's care.

Moire's testimony dealt with a number of specific areas wherein she stated that Tanaka's health was impacted by the type of care being delivered by Cotterman. These included concerns that Mrs. Tanaka was forcibly removed from her spacious Westwood home and subsequently confined in a small basement apartment, as well as the discontinuation of physician prescribed supplements which had previously stabilized Mrs. Tanaka's blood pressure, normalized her cholesterol levels, built bone density, and strengthened her immune system and cognitive functioning. This discontinuance has been followed by 5 back -to- back urinary infections,4 collapses and several hospitalizations where she was transported unconscious by ambulances none of which were brought to the attention of a cardiologist. She has reportedly suffered weight loss, lack of basic dental care, isolation and restrictive monitoring of highly limited visits with her daughter, Jeannie.

Of specific concern to Dr. Moire was the placement of Mrs. Tanaka on “comfort care” in the absence of any terminal condition or diagnosis, which has resulted in not only the continued withdrawal of care (such as supplements) which were deemed beneficial to the ninety-five year old woman but the denial of care for her now painfully swollen hands, extreme fatigue, and what has been reported as sudden inability to stand up on her own and walk, brainfog and erratic blood pressure.

The Salem News has obtained a copy of the ex parte notice, written by attorney Margaret Lodise, in which she advises that “we will be making an ex parte application tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. In Room 258 (Dept. 9) seeking an order restraining either Jeannie or Dr. Moire or either of their agents from making any calls to the police, the paramedics or any similar agency reporting elder abuse regarding Mrs. Tanaka until further order of the court.” Lodise's office has declined to comment on this matter .

At the April 1st hearing, Judge Goetz chose to also restrain Jeannie from any further contact with her mother. According to witnesses, Jeannie showed up at her mother's dwelling that evening after Dr. Moire had made the phone calls to APS and police and was not involved in Dr. Moire's actions. Goetz subsequently reversed this decision on April 13th, allowing Jeannie a total of three hours per week of paid monitored visitation with her mother.

Dr. Moire states she was not served with a notice of hearing and calls the efforts to restrain her “ludicrous and illegal.” She has previously typified the efforts to separate mother and daughter as follows: “The isolation from daughter Jeanie is sorrowfully self expressed by Mrs. Tanaka and deprivation from the company of her daughter Jeanie is cruel and abusive to them both.” Jeannie Tanaka has been ordered to pay hundreds of dolllars per visit to a monitoring company.

The use of Restraining Orders to restrict family members from their ability to oversee the care of conservatees has become epidemic. In a case involving conservatorships and the rich and famous, Goetz also approved a temporary restraining order against singer Courtney Love that bars her from seeing or contacting her daughter, Frances Bean Cobain. Love had protested that her daughter, who is under a guardianship, had been molested by Jamie Spears, who is the father (and conservator) of another famous conservatee, singer Britney Spears. In a less publicized case, retired peace officer Willliam Horspool was restrained from his father, conservatee Raymond Horspool, after taking photographs which allegedly demonstrated the poor care being received by his father. San Bernardino Court Judge Michael Welch said he “didn't believe” the photos, which apparently showed the elder Horspool lying in soiled bedclothes, and ordered the photos destroyed. William Horspool was subsequently restrained from his father without a hearing, a violation of the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution.

The use of a restraining order to block a physician, who is a mandated reporter of elder abuse, from reporting elder abuse may be groundbreaking. According to Jeannie Tanaka's attorney Robert Canny, the decision by Judge Goetz effectively overturns the First Amendment to the US Constitution and Article 1, Section 2 of the California Constitution.

Last June, conservator Linda Cotterman called the police and told them that Jeannie had violated a Restraining Order by visiting her mother. Jeannie Tanaka, who is an attorney with the State of California, was hauled away in handcuffs in full view of her mother. She was released from custody prior to booking when the police discovered there was no Restraining Order in place. Jeannie Tanaka has filed a complaint with the Los Angeles police, stating that Cotterman knowingly made a false police report. The State of California deems false police reports to be a misdemeanour punishable by jail. At the time of going to press, Cotterman has not been taken into custody.

Both Mrs. and Jeannie Tanaka, who are Japanese American, are survivors of the World War II detention camps. President Roosevelt had ordered all Japanese Americans to be rounded up and herded into detention facilities, as potential enemies of the State.

Massachusetts Is Witnessing Quite An Epidemic Of Elder Abuse

Massachusetts is witnessing quite an epidemic of elder abuse, and that was made clear by many, including state officials and Elder Services' staff members. It is a very significant increase, and more alarming was the shocking number of unreported cases. For example, for every one abuse case that is reported, another 25 go without being reported. The financial support for the Protective Services in Merrimack Valley is needed more than ever. In the last five years, there has been an increase of 31 percent in the number of reports that need to be investigated while funding for Protective Services has increased only 1.8 percent in that time period.

On average, Elder Services receives 120 reports a month that need to be investigated and resolved. Funding requests would include funding to increase the staffing capacity for this critical program, help pay for guardianship or legal services that may be required and support a 24-hour crisis hot line that accepts reports of elder abuse to name a few. "The amount of cases continues growing, and I see no sign of the inflow to slow down," said Alison Theberge, Elder Services clinical director.

Source=>>Newburyportnews.com

The Protective Services Forum included Gerry Leone, Middlesex district attorney; Marian Ryan, MDAO general counsel; and Elderly and Disabled unit chief Dan O'Leary, executive director of Mystic Valley Elder Services as speakers.

Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley was established as a nonprofit by a group of citizens and advocates in 1974. We help older adults, caregivers and their families navigate a complex system of services and programs to address long-term care needs. Elder Services serves 23 cities and towns in the Merrimack Valley, including the Greater Newburyport, Haverhill, Lawrence and Lowell communities.

GAO Report Featured inToday's US Senate Hearing is Now Available Online:

Elder Justice: Stronger Federal Leadership Could Enhance National Response to Elder Abuse. GAO-11-208, March 2.

Complete report: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-208

Highlights: http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11208high.pdf

Related Product:

Elder Justice: Survey of Adult Protective Services Program Administrators (E-supplement to GAO-11-208). GAO-11-129SP, March 2.

http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-129SP

Tougher Penalties Needed For Elder Abuse

By TERRY DAVIDSON, Toronto Sun A seniors' advocacy group is calling for elder abuse to be recognized as a crime under the Criminal Code.Susan Eng, CARP’s vice-president of advocacy, said many elder-abuse cases that make it to court don’t necessarily lead to a just outcome because of the “complex” relationships of those involved — parent and child, and in some cases, dependant and guardian.

Prosecutors have difficulty getting either the conviction on one hand, or a serious sentence on the other,”

Source=>>Toronto Sun
---------------------------------
You know Terry I thought about this a lot and I think you hit a nerve there, treating Elder Abuse as a crime is an idea whose time has come and actually making people serve time for elder abuse crimes even if it entails punishing a few guardians and their attorneys who wealth is predicated on the Exploitation of vulnerable elder adults is a great idea,now if we could only get some in the USA to think like you this is an idea a lot of us could stand behind....

Little Jail Time With Elder Abuse Convictions

FLINT, Mich. — Only three people have received prison time in 19 high-profile cases investigated by Genesee County's Elder Abuse Exploitation task force.

The Flint Journal reports that 12 of those cases were pleaded down from felonies to misdemeanors. The remaining four are working through the court system.

Task force executive director Diane Nims tells the newspaper for a Sunday story that her office obtained 377 felony warrants since its 2007 inception. None went to trial. County Sheriff Robert Pickell says it's unclear how many involved prison time.

Source=>>Chicago Tribune

Elder Abuse is far more Rampant than Evidenced : For Every Case of Financial Exploitation Reported, 44 Cases go Unreported

By By Sen. Katherine Clark and Rep. Paul Brodeur

Stoneham —Boston

In recent months, a Fall River family was arrested for criminal neglect of their grandmother who was admitted to the hospital with bedsores so deep they exposed muscle and tendon. A Topsfield man pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter of his mother after an abusive episode of yelling and striking his mother with a telephone resulted in fatal injuries. A Hyannis stockbroker awaits trial for swindling elderly clients out of hundreds of thousands of dollars of their hard-earned savings. Elderly abuse is often hidden because it is frequently perpetrated by family members, close acquaintances, and caregivers, but it occurs in every community in the Commonwealth.

For nearly three decades, Massachusetts has had laws in place to protect elders from abuse. But statistics now show that abuse within one of our most vulnerable populations is increasing at an alarming rate. When Massachusetts established the elder protective services program in 1984, 1,500 reports were filed, but this year that number jumped to 19,500 reports – that equals 54 new cases each day. Nationally, a recent Cornell University study found that elder abuse is far more rampant than evidenced by reported cases. For every case of financial exploitation reported, 44 cases go unreported. For every case of neglect, 57 cases go unreported.

Elder abuse is not just physical and sexual violence; it also includes emotional abuse, self-neglect, and financial exploitation. Stealing from seniors and other forms of financial exploitation adds up to more than $2.6 billion a year nationally according to a report by Metlife’s Mature Market Institute. In this economy, personal savings, home equity and other “nest eggs” make seniors particularly vulnerable targets. Since family and caregivers are the perpetrators in 55 percent of the cases of financial fraud against seniors, these crimes often go undetected, and it is often difficult for well-intentioned family members or friends to strike a balance between a senior’s right to make independent decisions and intervening to protect them.

Elder protective services are funded through the state and, like many essential services, are suffering in a difficult budget. These appropriations not only cover the costs of investigators statewide, but also an elder abuse hotline, legal expenses, guardianship appointments, and a money management program for elders struggling with daily finances.

Since FY 2009, funding has decreased by $800,000 resulting in many cases being only partially investigated. While the governor’s FY 2012 budget level funds protective services, abuse reports have risen by nearly 29 percent. To address this crisis for our seniors, we have filed legislation that calls call for a comprehensive approach to elder abuse by establishing a commission of experts to analyze the problem in Massachusetts and make recommendations for coordination of services and changes in law if necessary. This special commission will investigate ways to improve our elder protection system by developing prevention methodologies, pro bono resources to assist elders and protective services agencies, and multidisciplinary case review teams.

Senior abuse creates financial, emotional and physical burdens for its elder victims and their loved ones. The more seniors injured, the more government will pay to care for them, and the more difficult it becomes to keep at-risk seniors in the community. By raising public awareness of this growing problem and giving our protective service agencies the resources they need, we can improve the quality of life for seniors in the Commonwealth. Prevention and detection of elder abuse is everyone’s business. Watch out for the seniors you know and report suspected abuse.

Ref=>>here

If you suspect or witness elder abuse, call the confidential Massachusetts Elder Abuse Hotline at 1-800-922-2275. The Elder Abuse Hotline is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

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Blogmaster's note:

Perhaps some of us ought to write the good Senator and explain to him how when the elder financial abuse is reported as in the case of my mother, Clara G.Fernandez and thousands of others documented here http://nasga-stopguardianabuse.blogspot.com/,
http://www.estateofdenial.com/category/news/,
http://elder-abuse-cyberray.blogspot.com/, http://angr.us/,
http://www.lvaallc.com/, www.4fate.org,
http://www.ca-la.org/html/contact_us.html, http://www.fa-ir.org/,
http://www.fightbacklegalabuse.com/, and www.njcdlp.org. that's when the real abuse starts, the isolation,the drugging, the fleecing, and the eventually euthanasia of the loved ones when the money runs out! Perhaps you can fool the unsuspecting victims into delivering your loved ones into the arms of the wolves who answer to no one and have infinite power to do as they wish, but senator until you fix the underlying cause this type of news can only be expected to get worst...

Mickey Rooney Says He Doesn't Want Real Life Role as a Elder Abuse Victim

CBS) Mickey Rooney says he has a new role - but not one he wants: Elder abuse victim.

The veteran actor, 90, claims his stepson is withholding food and medicine and interfering with his finances, the New York Daily News reported. On Monday, a judge granted him a temporary restraining order against his stepson, Chris Alber. He's the son of Rooney's eighth wife, January.

"Chris is verbally abusive toward Mickey," court papers allege. "He yells and screams at Mickey. He threatens, intimidates, bullies, and harasses Mickey. Mickey is effectively a prisoner in his own home."

If Rooney is a victim of elder abuse, he's got lots of company. Every year, an estimated 2.1 million older Americans fall victim to physical, psychological, sexual, financial, or other forms of abuse and neglect, according to the American Psychological Association. And for every case reported to authorities, experts estimate there may be as many as five cases that were not reported.

Elder abuse and neglect are particularly common when the older person is mentally impaired, the association says.That seems not to be the case with Rooney, whose film career spans eight decades and includes multiple Oscar nominations. Rooney is described in the News as being sharp-witted.

"All I want to do is live a peaceful life, to regain my life and be happy," Rooney wrote in a statement quoted by the paper. "I pray to God each day to protect us, help us endure, and guide those other senior citizens who are also suffering."

Source=>>CBS News

The Controversy Rages: Is Elder Abuse Really Just a Family Matter?

Reporter: Tina Stein

WINNEBAGO COUNTY (WIFR) -- The difficult economy and an aging population have created a breeding ground for crimes against the elderly. It has become such a problem in our area, these cases are now getting more attention in court. Tonight a Rockford family shares their horrible experience so we learn how to prevent becoming a victim of financial exploitation.

"I never thought she could do that. It was very disappointing to me," says Rosa Reinhardt.

A postal box is where Rosa Reinhardt uncovered her daughter's lies.

"It was a wonderful situation, I thought. But I had no idea what was actually going on behind closed doors," says Rosa's daughter, Lorri Houde.

The 79-year-old Rosa lived with her daughter Diana Youmans for several years. Since so much of our mail is now online, Rosa didn't really question why it stopped getting delivered. That is until no birthday wishes showed up in July 2009. Her friend insisted he sent a card with cash.

Turns out, Diana opened a mailbox under Rosa's name. That's not all. Court documents show with Diana's power of attorney she wiped out her mom's bank accounts, used her savings to pay off a car and spent mortgage money on herself.

"The devastation is unrecoupable. We cannot recoup any of those losses," says Houde.

The damage, $68,000. And this type of financial exploitation is happening in Rockford everyday. The Visiting Nurses Association gets more than 400 cases of elder abuse reported in Winnebago and Boone Counties each year. They range from robbery, to mental and physical abuse and neglect.

"Individuals are willing to commit crimes against the elderly because they perceive the elderly to be weak and feeble and capable of being susceptible to crimes," says Winnebago County State's Attorney Joe Bruscato.

Bruscato says the elderly make excellent witnesses. But getting them comfortable to testify is difficult.

"We found sometimes those who are the victims of crimes don't even recognize what is happening to them is criminal," he says.

That's why he launched an Elder Abuse division to better track these cases and make sure the punishments are stiff. There are now 33 cases classified as "elder abuse" pending in court.

"The times are gone now where we say that's just a family matter," says Bruscato.

"I couldn't believe my own daughter would do something like this," says Reinhardt.

Rosa was hesitant turning Diana over to the police. But after being left with nothing, she had no choice.

"This is money my father worked all of his life to provide for my mother so she'd never be in the position she's in now, she's not supposed to worry about financial responsibilities now at all and that's all she does worry about," says Houde.

Rosa's daughter Lorri Houde has taken on that financial responsibility. She pays for Rosa's nursing home, which costs more than most of our mortgages.

Diana was convicted last January. She's now paying back Rosa's $68,000, fifty dollars a month at a time. And if she stops, she'll be sentenced to six months in jail. 23 News communicated with Diana via email, but she declined to comment for our report.

Here are a few warning signs of elder abuse in regards to financial exploitation:

-Caregiver refuses to allow contact with the elder
-Sudden change in finances
-Unexplained changes in wills or beneficiaries
-Unnecessary service, goods or subscriptions

If you believe someone is a victim of elder abuse, you can report it anonymously to the Visiting Nurses Association at (815)971-3748.

Source=>>here

Elder abuse, often unnoticed, growing at alarming rate

By Elizabeth Aguilera

The golden years for many seniors slip away under a dark shadow of financial and physical abuse, most often caused by the hands they trust most to care for them.

It usually happens behind closed doors. It usually goes unreported.

Law enforcement and elder advocates said the rate of elder abuse is growing at an alarming speed as people live longer, baby boomers reach retirement age and the economy remains shaky.

On Tuesday near El Cajon, sheriff’s deputies discovered 93-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor Arnold V. “Max” Bauer in his squalid house clutching a photo of his war-era ship. They saw rat feces, rotting food, a sink filled with unwashed dishes and trash strewed about. Bauer’s live-in caretaker, who is now in custody, allegedly bilked him for thousands of dollars.

Bauer would hardly be a rare victim.

Experts estimate that only one in 13 elder-abuse cases are reported nationwide, based on various surveys and studies.

“We are only getting the tip of the iceberg,” said San Diego County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mark Varnau, who oversees financial- and elder-abuse crime units for his agency. “It’s a dirty little secret and Mr. Bauer’s case is a very clear example of how someone is isolated and forgotten about.”

In San Diego County, the District Attorney’s Office has seen the number of elder-abuse prosecutions rise in the past five years — from 183 cases in 2006 to 238 last year. The county’s elder-abuse hotline receives nearly 10,000 calls a year; about 40 percent of them directly involve financial abuse.

Many cases have both financial and physical abuse, said Paul Greenwood, deputy district attorney and head of the office’s Elder Abuse Prosecution Unit.

“People are getting more desperate,” he said. “They look around and they see who has the money and they target them.”

While some agencies have worked to educate the public, cooperate with mandatory reporters such as banks and set up hot lines and other reporting systems, elder-abuse experts and law-enforcement officials remain concerned about a lack of resources.

“We are not able to provide the infrastructure to deal with the avalanche of referrals that are going to be coming in the next five years,” Greenwood said.

An addendum to the national Healthcare Reform Act, which Congress approved last year, would provide money for combating elder abuse. But there has been no funding allocation so far.

Nearly 95 percent of seniors live at home and almost all elder abuse occurs there, the majority perpetrated by family members, said Kathleen Quinn, executive director of the Illinois-based National Adult Protective Services Association. “Trusted others” — such as home health-care workers, neighbors and friends — make up the next largest group of abusers.

“It’s absolutely an enormous problem,” Quinn said.

Other cases include abuse in nursing homes, home-improvement scammers preying on seniors, financial planners who fleece older clients, and home-care workers who get paid but do nothing and even steal from their clients.

Seniors may be well enough to hire a home health worker or share their financial records with an adult child or a new friend, but there is no system for ensuring they are safe as they become vulnerable due to frailty or illness, said Greenwood and Varnau.

Amy Waszak sees these situations every day in her job. She is one of 43 investigators for the San Diego County Office of Aging & Independence Services.

Each month, she looks into about 20 reports of possible abuse within her assigned area of Oceanside, including allegations of financial, emotional and sexual abuse, along with incidents of self-neglect.

“Sometimes we walk into some awful situations,” Waszak said. “We’ve been to hoarders’ homes. We’ve been to rodent-infested homes. … We’ve been to homes where there is human waste, like urine soaked into the carpet.”

She makes unannounced visits and if it appears there’s a serious problem, she often refers the matter to law enforcement officials. Waszak’s agency helps victims obtain restraining orders against their abusers and will assist them in tapping into a range of services, including medical care and programs like Meals on Wheels.

“These crimes occur because families are separated by distance and a new “friend” comes into the lives of these elders,” Greenwood said. “They don’t rob elders with guns and knives, they extract the assets through charm and flowers and boxes of chocolates.”

Reporting senior abuse can be difficult for those who may notice something is off: a garden that’s usually lovingly tended becomes overgrown, a once-tidy house falls into disarray, a sociable senior no longer answers the phone or chats over a fence line, an elderly person is confused about the household finances, a caretaker sounds overly defensive.

It is a complex line for neighbors and friends to tread between individual freedoms and pushing for answers about a senior’s treatment. Seniors themselves often don’t speak out because they’re embarrassed by their failings, Varnau said.

The sheriff’s department processes 70 to 150 cases of elder abuse a year. Many of those cases involve home health workers, who are hired by the individual with private or county funds.

Home-care workers, who provide nonmedical assistance such as cleaning, bathing and feeding, aren’t required to undergo a background check unless they are paid through a government program. Health care companies and agencies, which provide nurses or other licensed personnel, operate under different regulations.

Elder-care advocates and law enforcement authorities said the home-care-worker system needs more oversight.

Home-care workers who are paid through San Diego County’s In-Home Supportive Services program do undergo a background check that looks for evidence of child abuse, elder abuse and fraud against a government agency, said Ellen Schmeding, assistant deputy director for the county’s office of Aging & Independence Services.

Starting Feb. 1, the check also will encompass felony and violent convictions. But seniors can still choose to hire individuals with a criminal past, because the law recognizes them as the final employer.

This worries law enforcement officials, who want more safeguards in place to monitor seniors as they age.

“It’s not a question of if they are going to fail,” Varnau said. “It’s a matter of when. People slip away and become completely vulnerable to being victimized.”

Source=>>Here

Fueled by aging baby boomers, a growing number of elderly residents are falling victim to physical abuse, neglect and financial exploitation

Investigations of such cases have nearly doubled in the past five years — jumping from about 5,200 in 2005 to nearly 10,000 last year — as the state heads towards a “silver tsunami” by 2030, when 1.2 million people 60 and older are projected to make up nearly one-fourth of the population.

Yet as the number of reports rose, the state's rate of substantiating abuse or neglect fell, dropping last year to about 17 percent — well below the national average of almost 50 percent.

Advocates say this is just one example of how Kentucky is doing too little to address its urgent need to find ways to better serve seniors.

Others problems found by The Courier-Journal in a six-month review:
Because of budget problems, the state has about 500 fewer “front-line” social workers than it did a decade ago — down from about 2,000 to about 1,500. This has increased demands on workers.
In Adult Protective Services, the lead state agency that investigates suspected mistreatment of elderly and vulnerable adults, workers carry nearly twice the number of cases recommended under national standards.
About $6 million has been cut from the state Department for Aging and Independent Living, eroding programs meant to keep older adults healthy and safe in their communities. Those programs include Meals on Wheels and housekeeping help.

All this is putting the state's seniors at enormous risk, advocates say.
“These are the most vulnerable people in the state,” Deborah Anderson, the aging department's commissioner, told a panel of lawmakers earlier this year. “What this bottom line means is that we will not be able to meet their needs.”
In Louisville, a few hours of weekly personal care assistance means Bessie Cronin, 99, can live safely in her own apartment at a senior complex and enjoy the independence she prizes.

But a growing number of seniors remain on waiting lists for such help because of limited state resources, said Nancy Gordon, who supervises the care Cronin receives through the local Area Agency on Aging. And that means more elders may be living at home but unable to care for themselves or have anyone from outside checking in and providing assistance, Gordon said.

Read it all here=>>Courier Journal.Com

At The Crossroads Once More! What Will You Do?

The year was 1959 and Fidel Castro said " I am not communist" never the less many saw the writing on the wall and gathered whatever they could, and left the country.
Many Cubans such as my father Dr. A.J. Fernandez M.D. prospered in the new land and built a sizeable estate to benefit future Fernandez's generations until the State Sanctioned white collar looters took it all away......Never the less Dr. Fernandez and his wife Clara Fernandez enjoyed many years of prosperity until they got old and became easy prey with No one willing to help or protect them but rather pile on the piñata, and grab all they could in their drunken greed stupor to get it all before someone else does......

Others Cubans who viewed my father's comments as alarmist and chose to stay in Cuba are not so lucky today and are dying in Cuban prisons as political prisoners forgotten by all but a few.... Babalu.Com

Again the year was 1939 and many saw the writing the wall and many Jews left Germany and went on to build prosperous lives in Brazil,Argentina, Israel,America and countless other places.... many dismissed this warnings as alarmists and stayed behind in Germany, these did not do so well....

Again history places us at a crossroads in our destiny and the writing is on the wall, the war on the elderly has been declared, with no punches pulled as the number of elderly under guardianship languishing in human warehouses is kept secret, the number of property confiscations are on the rise, the loss/lack of human rights for an entire segment of the population is astonishing......

Will you be the one who waits until you are too old to water your lawn and be hauled off kicking and screaming to a nursing home, of if you live in the northern climate will you wait until you are unable to come out after every storm to shovel snow off the sidewalks and likewise be declared 'incapacitated' in a closed non parte hearing in which you or your loved ones have NO say and have all your property confiscated, your social security income diverted to pay for guardian fees, and your property sold to satisfy legal fees for the cost of having you declared incompetent?

Will you be one of the ones who sees the writing on the wall in time or will you be one of the ones dragged off kicking and screaming into the nursing facility?

If you think you are immune and this only happens to other people, think again! The year was 2000 , the place was New York City

The Honorable Judge John L. Phillips, known to all as the Kung-Fu Judge. Upon learning of his candidacy in 2001, Brooklyn D.A. Joe Hynes filed an ex-parte (secret action) to seal up all of Judge Phillips' assets. Twelve apartment buildings and two movie Theatres were part of the millionaire judges' empire. The Court then appointed Hynes former Chief of Staff, Harvey Greenberg, as Judge Phillips' "Guardian."

The transcript of the probate court proceeding is chilling. Anyone can file a motion to declare a person incompetent. The county government, ithen steps in to appoint a guardian.What happens after that is best exemplied in Judge Phiilips's case.
Sometime between November and December of 2000, Greenberg was appointed "temporary guardian" of the "mentally incapacitated" Phillips.
The following winter, Phillips' heat was cut off, and neighbors found him living in squalor and poor health, wearing an overcoat and hat. As one acquaintance of Phillips' put it, "They wanted him to die."

All of Judge Phillips' properties were sold for pennies-on-the-dollar. Then the judges' home mysteriously burned to the ground, obfuscating any records he had been keeping. The guardians neglected to pay the insurance. Six years later, the once museum-like four story brownstone at 155 Herkimer Street still sits in the heart of Bed-Stuy as a boarded up shell. A monument to the tragic end of the Kung-Fu Judge.

Now, the undisputed facts, according to the IRS, are that between the years of 2000 and 2007, four separate guardians sold $10 million dollars of Judge Phillips' property and failed to pay or file any taxes. The undisputed facts of the case: Judge John L. Phillips, died homeless and broke. He owned 12 apartment buildings and 2 movie theatres.

Blog sites such as ElderAbuseHelp.Org, EstateOfDenial.Com and others are gathering evidence that this is not an isolated incident but a rapidly spreading racket that threatens every elderly citizen who manages to retire with any monies saved up for their old age...In fact this practice is become the norm more than the exception in a single day the same judge that declared Phillip's incapacitated , Judge Pesce handed 17 guardianships in a single day to a 38-year-old attorney named Dagmar Plaza! In 0ne single day!

If this can happen to a sitting Judge, you think it won't happen to you? Or are you feeding the sharks hoping they eat you last?

Will you be like Silvia Bush who at 78 years old, you can’t get up fast enough Your house is broken into; you are pulled off your chair as you are cleaning you coffee pot peacefully at your own kitchen table.· You are grabbed by your shoulder pulled off your chair onto the linoleum of your kitchen, hurting your shoulder.· On the floor, you are handcuffed.· Taken out of your house.· Loaded into an ambulance.· In the ambulance, your are forcibly constrained , taken to St. Anthony’s psychiatric, ward with no attempt to contact your family

You have time to make a call and leave a message asking for your son on Frank Sampson’s answering machine while they are breaking in. This tape recording is proof you are not delusional, gravely disabled, or a danger to yourself or others.

Reporters such as Maria Bartiromo who initiated a series on this racket had soon to change networks and report on financial matters instead, another Investigative Journalist whose family legacy has also been wiped out in the probate racket named Janet Phelan who initiated a series of articles titled "The Probate Murders" has been subject to un relenting and vile personal attacks being forced to leave the country in order to continue her investigations. This writer when writing about the atrocities committed against our elders became a target for retribution, and after spending the family legacy in legal fees, opted to leave the country in order to continue to speak against elder abuse in the hope that others will open their eyes before it's too late and take concrete actions to protect themselves and their families.

False Complaints and the Florida Dept of Children and Families

On this Editorial for ElderAbuseHelp.Org I will quote an article By news-press.com Originally posted on February 09, 2007

"Floridians worried that a child or older adult is being abused can now report it online.
To report suspected abuse or neglect, go to the Web site of The Florida Department of Children and Families, www.dcf.state.fl.us/abuse/report.

Last year, there were about 348,000 abuse claims reported across the state.
In Lee County, there were 5,400 hot line calls.

The Web and phone system can be used to report concerns of abuse or neglect unless a child, elder, or person with disabilities is in immediate danger. In that case, call 911.A fax number, 800-914-0004, and a TDD number, 800-453-5145, for the deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired are available to report abuse ".

We applaud any step in the right direction to make Elder Abuse reporting more accessible to complainants .

The DCF of Florida needs to have the ability to quickly differentiate between the perpetrators and the victims as time is of the essense with these cases. This is not always easy as Elder Abusers are shrewd and "the testator, misled by fraud, will often do so with pleasure and satisfaction.." - Dr. Irwin Perry M.D. J.D.

"An example of fraud is the situation where one influences a testator that another relative has stirred up trouble." - Irwin Perry M.D. J.D.

Florida Statutes 415.102 states :

(9) "False report" means a report of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a vulnerable adult to the central abuse hot line which is not true and is maliciously made for the purpose of:

(a) Harassing, embarrassing, or harming another person;
(b) Personal financial gain for the reporting person;
(c) Acquiring custody of a vulnerable adult; or
(d) Personal benefit for the reporting person in any other private dispute involving a vulnerable adult.

The Division of Children and Families , and the Department of Elder affairs needs to have the resolve to have the provisions of Chapter 415.102 enforced and to develop a zero tolerance on Elder Abuse, this with the ability to move quickly to sort out the perpetrator from the victims will go a long ways in protecting our elders in the future.

Please email the DCF of Florida and express your own opinions and suggestions.
Their Communication contact list- The DCF Office of Communications contact list

By Ray Fernandez

To Whomever is Inclined to Help:

Please see if you can look into this sad and tragic matter facing this 82 years old loving couple.

Evelyn, former principal and Jay, former electrical engineer, close friends, were dating weekly for 17 years in Columbia, Md.

On June 19, 2009, Evelyn’s daughter and granddaughter did secretly without any disclosure, obtain guardianship of Evelyn, against her will and under false pretenses.

Upon learning this, Evelyn stated that her family “stabbed her in the back”. The guardians misled two doctors, who disagreed on Evelyn’s condition to do this. Nine months later Evelyn is still perfectly lucid with no lapses in comprehension. She is only forgetful.

To prevent disclosure of their sinister motives, the guardians prohibit Evelyn from attending any of her own hearings, even when she pleaded to. To shut me up, the guardians obtained a restraining order against me using all false charges. I was not permitted to testify or defend myself.

The guardian family uses 3 inactive law degrees to maliciously abuse the law with false and perjurous charges without basis. They then filed false criminal charges against me. For the first time on March 10, 2010, the judge allowed me to defend myself. I was found NOT GUILTY of all charges with permission to visit my lady friend. Twenty year old granddaughter guardian irrationally and illegally violates grandmother’s civil and constitutional rights by stopping these visits at the Morningside assisted living facility.

Respectfully, Jay Engleman

11520 E. Maple Ave
Beltsville, MD 20705
301-937-2896

Granny Snatching Promising to Be One Of The Most Lucrative Activities for 2011

Story By Ron Winter title by E.A.

Granny Snatching. What is it? It’s an ugly phrase and an uglier practice and it is increasingly affecting more and more American families.

Granny Snatching occurs when younger family members take custody of an elder relative under false pretenses, convince a judge to declare the elder person incompetent, allowing them to then force their aged relative into a nursing home or similar institution, and strip them of their assets. In the coming decades trillions of dollars will be at stake as America’s population ages, and we must prepare now to defend ourselves and our finances in the future.

We hear about these incidents when they involve rich or famous people with lots of money at stake, but not the day-to-day incidents involving regular folks with modest incomes or nest eggs. Yet according to advocates for the elderly, incidents of Granny Snatching are growing exponentially across the US and in Canada. With the first Baby Boomers turning 65 in March 2011, Granny Snatching is expected to quickly become one of the prime forms of elder abuse.

This is my first weekly column on Granny Snatching and related issues involving the elderly, including legal, nutritional, and financial and how these issues affect us all. My regular column will run Wednesdays.

Until exactly two years ago, I had no knowledge of these issues, but today marks the 2nd anniversary of my then 91-year-old mother’s move to my home in Connecticut. This created a nearly vertical learning curve on Granny Snatching and other matters affecting the elderly. I will do my best to pass on through these columns all that I have learned since Mom’s move to Connecticut.

Within 20 years nearly 80 million Americans will be aged 65 or over and they will have disposable incomes conservatively estimated to be in excess of $1 trillion annually. As a result elder Americans will have unprecedented opportunities, and unprecedented challenges, including keeping their freedom and their assets.

Until a couple of years ago I had no idea that Granny Snatching existed. But on December 14, 2008 I received a call from my older brother informing me that our mother had been hospitalized in Albany, New York suffering from disorientation and confusion. He said my mother, who had lived alone in the apartment she had shared with my father until he died 10 years earlier, should be placed in a nursing home. A family meeting would be held in a couple of weeks, he said, to determine her fate.

But my wife and I immediately agreed that my mother could move in with us to avoid the isolation and cost of nursing home care. We decided to go to the family meeting and make that offer, but three days later I received a phone message, from my brother-in-law this time, alerting me that my sister was at that moment finalizing the procedures to commit my mother to a nursing home that very day. If I wanted any input on the situation I must call before 3:30 p.m. – giving me roughly three hours to change the course of my mother’s future.

I called back and made the offer, which after some discussion was accepted. Five days later my mother was transported to my home in Connecticut by my sister and her family, along with a carload of her belongings. We had dismantled my home office and turned it back into a bedroom for my mother’s use and the transition seemed smooth. Mom had been told – at my insistence – exactly what was going on, and she agreed that living with us was a far better alternative than life in a nursing home.

A week later my brother arrived with another carload of my mother’s belongings minus one major item – her checkbook. Mom had discovered on Christmas Day that my sister, who had Power of Attorney, had kept Mom’s checkbook, and had no intention of giving it back. They argued several times during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day with no resolution.

Meanwhile, we had made another important discovery – that virtually all of my mother’s maladies were caused by poor nutrition and sleep deprivation. Mom’s discharge form from the hospital said she suffered from Hypokalemia – potassium deficiency, and dehydration. Both can cause confusion, disorientation, memory loss and other symptoms that can be confused for dementia or Alzheimer’s. She also suffered from hypothyroidism – an underactive thyroid often caused by a lack of iodine in the diet.

We cut her intake of caffeine, which can cause dehydration, substituting herbal tea or decaffeinated coffer for her afternoon and evening drinks, created a daily menu that included a balance of nutrients, and gave her a daily multi-vitamin/mineral tablet.

Within a week Mom’s entire demeanor dramatically changed for the better. But the impasse with my sister continued and on New Year’s Day 2009 my mother rescinded the Power of Attorney status she had awarded to my sister and then things went from bad to worse. Within three weeks my sister filed a lawsuit in Supreme Court in New York, claiming my mother suffered from and had been treated for Alzheimer’s and dementia. She said Mom was incapable of even the most rudimentary of daily functions, much less handling her own finances. She claimed Mom shouldn’t come to court to defend herself because Mom’s mind was so terribly deteriorated that she wouldn’t be able to understand the proceedings. There wasn’t a truthful allegation in the entire lawsuit.

Mom ended up enduring a grueling day in court, and won her freedom, proving that my siblings and their children who also ganged up on her were wrong. But that didn’t end the abuse. My siblings and their children immediately began making false claims to the State of Connection Department of Social Services that Mom was being abused and in physical danger by living in my home.

Each complaint, coming sometimes on a monthly basis, resulted in new investigations, in which we were cleared of all charges each time, along with new stresses and issues for my family. Mom is still with us, has fought off each of these challenges successfully, and her case is now triggering a review of Connecticut’s elder law. She will turn 94 in January, and hopefully before next summer her persistence will have created a much better legal environment for Connecticut’s elderly.

I’ll keep you posted.

Study Finds That Elder Abuse Is More Prevalent Than Previously Thought

As published in ElderLawAnswers.Com

A new study has found alarming rates of undetected elder abuse, neglect and exploitation. Although limited to New York State, the study suggests that elder abuse is far more prevalent than was previously known. For example, the study found that for all types of elder abuse, there are 23.5 unreported cases to every one reported to any agency.

Researchers conducted random telephone surveys of 4,000 New York residents 60 years and older, and compared the occurrence of elder abuse uncovered by the surveys to the numbers of cases reported to adult protective services, law enforcement and other officials or providers. In the case of financial exploitation, the study found 43.9 self-reported cases to every one reported to an agency. The ratio of neglect cases was even higher, with 57.2 cases going unreported for every one that comes to the attention of any services system. A previous study reported by ElderLawAnswers found that for each case of abuse reported, there are at least four that go unreported.

The National Adult Protective Services Association, which is publicizing the study's results, said that the actual prevalence of elder abuse in the total older population may be even higher because the study did not include older persons unable to participate in a telephone survey.

Interestingly, while emotional abuse is the most common form of elder abuse reported to agencies, followed by physical abuse, the self-reported study found financial exploitation to be the most prevalent form of elder mistreatment.

The Association, which represents Adult Protective Services professionals, said that the findings "underscore the urgent need for Congress to appropriate funding for the Elder Justice Act, the first and only comprehensive federal law addressing elder abuse. The Act authorizes up to $100 million in funding per year for state and local Adult Protective Services (APS) Programs, which could provide an estimated 1,700 protective services investigators throughout the country. As the number of seniors, and in particular the number of cases of financial exploitation, rises exponentially, APS Programs throughout the country are being slashed because of faltering state budgets, severely compromising their ability to investigate elder abuse and to take measures to protect frail, often extremely vulnerable older victims."

The Association notes that older persons, as well as younger adults with disabilities, who are victimized by violence, neglect and exploitation are the only category of crime victims who receive no dedicated help from the federal government. The Elder Justice Act was enacted as part of the health reform legislation, but Congress has not funded it.

The New York State Elder Abuse Prevalence Study is the second-largest study ever conducted on the prevalence of elder abuse and the first statewide study to compare self-reported data to reported case data over the same time period. The study's contents are not yet available, pending release by New York State Office of Children and Family Services. The study's authors presented their results at a recent conference on aging.

Attention All California Residents: Bee Story to Examine Abuse of Seniors

Have you or a loved one been the victim of elder abuse — financial scams or otherwise? The Bee is looking for elder abuse victims and their families who are willing to tell their stories for possible use in a story about these crimes and what can be done to minimize the risks of becoming a victim.

If you would like to share your experiences, please contact staff writer Erin Tracy at 578-2366 or etracy@modbee.com.

Read more: http://www.modbee.com/2010/11/10/1424181/bee-story-to-examine-elder-abuse.html#ixzz14yOZ6XuX

Studies Confirm Financial Exploitation Is One Of The Fastest Growing Forms of Elder Abuse

By John North, Better Business 
Bureau Saturday, October 30, 2010

A bank called Montgomery County Adult Protective Services concerning unusual activity in a 92-year-old man’s bank account. It was discovered he was writing checks totaling $2,000 a day to neighbors. He had signed the checks, but the neighbors were writing out the rest of them. More than $700,000 was lost. Stories like this happen in our community daily.

Financial exploitation is one of the fastest growing forms of elder abuse. A study estimates there is $2.6 billion in senior financial fraud annually. An Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services report estimated more than 2,500 reports of senior exploitation in Ohio and APS reported more than 210 local cases in 2009.

Exploitation is the unlawful or improper act of obtaining or using a vulnerable adult’s funds, credit, assets or other property with intent to deprive them for the benefit of someone other than the vulnerable adult. Signs of exploitation include:

• Sudden changes in bank accounts or banking practices, including unexplained withdrawals by people accompanying seniors.

• Suspicious activity on credit cards.

• Abrupt changes in wills or financial documents.

• Forged signatures for financial transactions.

Seniors are targeted because they account for 70 percent of U.S. households’ net worth. They’re polite, trusting, fear losing their freedom and physical harm. Many are ashamed of being scammed or don’t know they’ve been scammed.

The best defense is knowledge. The Better Business Bureau advises seniors to:

• Get advice from trusted family members, friends, lawyers or bankers.

• Never give out personal information to unfamiliar people or companies.

• Get everything in writing.

• Be sure blanks are completed and review and understand contracts before signing.

• Use direct deposit for checks to prevent interception.

• Beware of unsolicited notifications with phony checks claiming you’ve won.

• Avoid high-pressure or scare tactics.

• Review bank, insurance, credit card and medical bill statements regularly.

Locally, the BBB is represented on the Collaboration Against Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation, a multi-disciplinary team formed to prevent and eliminate elder abuse, neglect and the exploitation of older and vulnerable adults through education, advocacy, intervention and services. Contact the BBB for more information on elderly fraud. Visit http://www.bbb.org/ or call (937) 222-5825 (937) 222-5825 or (800) 776-5301

John North is president and CEO of the Dayton Better Business Bureau.