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I am a senior citizen who lives in Rhode Island is a victim of power-based abuse. My daughter attacked me a fee weeks ago and was arrested. I am trying to flee but I haven't any income. I am living in an apartment without heat and sleeping on the floor. The abusers are her father's celebrant family. I need help.

As a retiree of an agency that investigated abuse and neglect of person's with disabilities, the multitude of stories regarding elders and the disabled populations are endless. It is amazing how many people know about abuses, but not how to report or proceed with assisting. Since retiring a year ago and returning part-time to the agency, I work in a role that involves program monitoring. Doing listening sessions throughout the state revealed that an unusually high number of people don't know that an agency exist to help elders and disabled going through such situations. Allegations consist of physical abuse, sexual abuse, exploitation, extortion, and neglect.

Although people like to be shielded from hearing the reality of the hurt and pain that our revered, who deserves our deepest respect, are enduring - it might benefit society to be more open in that there might be more assistance provided to protect, prevent, and help in the recovery of abuses. So many victims suffer in silence as the heartbreaking fact of the matter is that the abuses are, many times, committed by close family members. Societal and cultural beliefs can often determine a person's position on letting another family member - let alone law enforcement and the like - know about what is occurring. As in the issue of Child Protective Services programs, the victim may be further abuse by threats from the perpetrator should the victim report. Children feel further abused by being removed from their home; leaving their school; leaving the family pet(s); being ostracized by family; feeling sneered at by others who might know the situation; etc. The same applies to the adult population. Also, sad as it might be, it is not guaranteed that those who receive certain reports will handle the matter correctly and not make the situation worse. The hard truth of the matter is that there needs to be an offer of resources to the victim that will create positive permanency that just might not exist. Whereas, the victim may be left in the physical care of the accused. Advocacy of the highest level is a must.

I wish that people understood that it does not take a scholar to determine that someone's needs are not being met and that this include medical, nutrition, shelter, emotional, financial, etc. Knowing when and whom to report is key. Turning a blind eye does not make the situation better. Some - including me - may find empathizing and placing themselves in the same situation. To effectuate a change can often be as simple as determining how would you want yourself or a loved-one to be treated? Would you appreciate someone walking away if it was your mother? Would you be happy to hear that the alleged victim died due to something that you could have reported? You do not have to have a "Holier than though" attitude to submit to decency and love for your fellow brethren.

Ultimately, it is not being realistic that we will live in a utopia of euphoria. However, I'm hopeful that we will put more effort into taking care of our less fortunate devoid race, religion, aesthetics, financial status, etc. This would involved city, county, state, federal participation. If we could revisit yesteryear when it took a village to make this thing called life work, I believe that it would make our existence so much better.

As I work in an agency whose policies involve designated employees to speak to media, I cannot talk to such groups. With agency permission, I can advocate for the agency by being a part of a panel, presentation, and the like.

My elderly mother had already made her Will out as she had a son and daughter disabled one by auto accident another by COPD and she wanted to make sure the two other adult children (I was one) that were guardians of the two disabled would make sure if anything happened to her would have the means to take care of the disabled ones. I was also POA/Patient Advocate for mother if she ever became incapacitated and other sibling POA for finances for our mother. To make a very long stiry shorter a greedy sister decided to become mothers chore person through DHS and started on a plan to put our mother under guardianship when she did not need one and had 2 sons living with her attending to some things. This sister did not get along with one of the brothers and started making false accusations of almost everybody whom she knew helped mom for many years as she was hardly ever around. We started confronting her about taking money, jewelry etc. snd she petitioned probate with slandering lies about the supportive siblings and ones mother put in charge in her end of life plans. She kidnapped mother out of her home took her to her home and isolated her away from even the disabled adult children. She recorded phone calls and monitored everything on a baby monitor in mothers room. When the court date came she had a good attorney with mothers estate and mother had court appointed attorney she did not bring mother to court as she started her on a antidepressant and started her plan to make her seem dementia wad going on. Mother had reported her to Social Security that she changed her address and bank with them without permission and mother was looking forward to tell het story to the judge. Well thst is when we realized the judge was corrupt snd along with sisters attorney in judges chamber already planned the outcome. The judge would not allow myself and other sister in charge of mothers plans. No due process was given we were not allowed to tell her mother had plans in place and did not need a guardian &/or Conservator. Whatever lies or not we do not know only that we were not able to have out day in court to speak the truth or show evidence bank records, end of life plans or anything and were treated like criminals slandered by the actually criminal petitioning the court in the first place. The worst part is our beautiful, trusting, vulnerable elderly mother was put under the racket of hospice and if you could see the picture I took of her when on rare occasion was able to pick her up to through a party for after bring with me for 2 weeks when the criminal went on vacation for het birthday the nurse could not believe she was the same person as I was not drugging her. My mother told the nurse the criminal was stealing her money, her purse and she did not even have a dollar or an ID. The nurse spoke to the criminal a year later mother was dead 58 pounds she had no heart or lung problems. Died from natural causes my ass she died from hospice cocktail caused by a greedy daughter. What I would like to see changed is no guardian petition should ever be accepted by any probate court without mediation first as that gives time fir the truth/evidence snd would have given my mother a voice or myself as Patient advocate/POA speak for her, also a judge should have to ask for these documents and put in writing why she will not honor this and lawyers should have to tell the people that a judge can void them at their own biases and there is nothing you can do about it. Put your plans on video that you do not want a professional guardian if you do not and who you want and where to find your documents or register them.

Pass Bills already written to this affect and make the judges follow the law.

It is mostly all about the money. They will still everything you worked for all your life and leave even your disabled adult children homeless.

For all these corrupt judges, lawyers, doctors, police, nurses, nursing home staff, social workers, professional or sibling guardians etc. get exposed and justice served. You could never believe or imagine the devastation it causes until it happens to you or a loved one. There is nobody immune even all the ones listed above can and do end up in this nightmare.

Save the vulnerable elderly and disabled from this abuse, because thes elder abuse tasks forces can not even pass the Bills.

I am reaching out to bring awareness to the heartbreaking story of my grandmother Margaret Jennings, a beloved mother who was betrayed by three of her own children over money and property. Despite winning her legal battle in Jennings v. Jennings, No.
B327268 (Cal. Ct. App. Dec. 28, 2023), justice remains incomplete. Her children were found guilty of fraud and financial elder abuse, yet they refused to pay what they owed, instead choosing to wait for her to pass.

Margaret spent the last years of her life grieving the loss of her children-not through death, but through their own abandonment. They never sought forgiveness, never attempted to make things right. And now, after ignoring her for over five years, they want control over her funeral arrangements which is being held March 4th, 2025.

Even in death, her fight for justice continues. Margaret's attorneys have been unable to locate one of the defendants to serve her, delaying the accountability she deserved. Elder abuse is a silent epidemic, and Margaret's story is proof of how the legal system often fails to fully protect victims.

This is not just about Margaret-it is about every vulnerable elder who is financially exploited by those they trust most. We need to shed light on her story to prevent this from happening to others. I would love to discuss this further and provide any necessary documentation, including court records and personal testimonies.
Please help us bring justice to Margaret Jennings and raise awareness about elder financial abuse. Let's make sure her story is heard.
Thank you for your time and consideration.

My grandmother died with a broken heart a day before her birthday

02/14/26-2/13/2025

It typically done by trusted love ones.

There should be something in place where elders no matter their financial status can have resources and help

I am a 77-year-old retired geriatrician. I moved into a Continuing Care Retirement Community four years ago. I am enrolled in traditional fee-for-service Medicare. I am in relatively good health, although I have had an inguinal hernia repair and a total right hip replacement in the past two years. I am concerned about future healthcare.
I have become aware that private corporations are taking over Medicare (they plan to complete this by 2030) using an innovative program started by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. It is currently called ACO REACH. This program will replace my traditional Medicare with an inferior privatized Medicare type of insurance.
As an academic internist with boards in internal medicine, geriatrics, and palliative medicine (when I retired in 2009), I helped a medical school set up a geriatrics training program, and we certainly taught and worked to confront elder abuse, neglect, and fraud.
There is a need to collect stories of how privatized care harms seniors and educate the public about this program.

ACO REACH was started by Trump associates (a dormmate of Jerome Kirshner) expressly to place all of Medicare under private corporations. The initial program was called Direct Contracting. The details were worked out so that physicians would switch seniors' billings (invoices) from the government to private companies without the permission of seniors. Physicians were offered benefits, and they proved willing to switch. After all, physicians are underpaid by Medicare and feel no great allegiance to the program. This will have a devastating effect on the sickest of seniors. They will no longer have insurance. The program was renamed ACO REACH (under Biden) essentially to confuse both the public and physicians about the nature of the program. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) supports this program. Only the Secretary of Health and Human Services can cancel it (according to legislation written to protect innovations). Wall Street stands to make billions of dollars (estimates are that they could keep 35% of government dollars). Politicians are being aggressively lobbied and given large donations. The public is in the dark.

ACO REACH looks to be a significant future perpetrator of elder abuse, neglect, and fraud. It needs to be publicized, confronted and stopped. Most seniors learn of the program when they receive a letter from their physician practice telling them they are now under this new program. Their only recourse is to seek new providers. CMS uses a policy of "auto-aligning" patients to ACO REACH if one physician who has provided care is in the program and their billing exceeds 10%. Currently, seniors who find privatization under Medicare Advantage unacceptable can switch to traditional Medicare (although with problems obtaining Medicap coverage). This will go away. There will be no more traditional Medicare to switch to. CMS has announced plans to convert all of Medicare to ACO REACH by 2030. There is a difference between health insurance permitting physicians to order and prescribe what is needed and having a private company that decides what will be paid for.

What is my hope? That the Senior Lobby would rise and make this an issue of national importance. Private companies use limited panels of providers, denials of service requests, and payment refusals to accomplish their goal - to profit from the government's funds. Medicare Advantage has cost the government more and cornered the mostly healthy seniors. If all of Medicare becomes privatized, seniors will either face denials of service or pay for service out-of-pocket. This is different from what most of us planned for in retirement. This is not how Medicare was set up to provide services. It will take a significant effort on the part of organizations like yours to stop this program. You will face major corporations with deep pockets, politicians indoctrinated in the advantages of private companies providing better care than the government, and a public unaware of what is happening. CMS argues that private companies will provide better care more economically than the government. The facts do not bear this out.

My role is to draw attention to the developing problem. I am not a politician and need help to understand the process of using local or national media. My submission of an article to our local paper was denied publication. AARP is primarily funded by United Healthcare which stands to profit from ACO REACH, so they cannot speak honestly. Most politicians remain unaware of the looming problem and are content to entertain lobbyists and collect donations. Most media outlets seem reluctant to publicize such a controversial confrontation.

When I first moved to Hampton Lane my life was pain-free. I could walk my property on my own without any problem. Walk out to my chickens to feed and water them three (3) times a day. Walk out to my mailbox at the street without any problem whatsoever. I was a healthy 62-year-old disabled woman. I traveled to the state of Michigan to assist my mother with her legal battle against other family members that wanted to take control over her personal affairs and her life.

On 08/03/2015, people living in the location of my home trespassed onto my land and slapped listening devices all over my windows. These people installed an electronic device on the roof of my home. This device generated a field of energy that bombarded a 3-5-mile radius of land surrounding my house. This electronic device appeared to have three (3) abusive settings. One setting felt like raw energy that consumed everything in its path. This created a very abusive environment that consumed my floors, furniture, etc. One setting felt like my whole body was being pelted with pins and needles. Some of the pins and needles hit my eyes. One setting seemed to be able to generate so much pressure that it caused disorientation. I could not move about my home without holding onto a solid fixture.

Virtual Reality software and/or technology took masturbation to new levels of sexual gratification. What the public does not know is that the same Virtual Reality software can do serious bodily injury in the hands of someone with a criminal mind. An intelligent criminal mind intent on murder and destruction. People, intelligent people, dismantled the underbelly of my home in order to install a variety of torturous electronic devices. Electronic devices with the intent to cause the house to break apart into pieces. Electronic devices intent on physical abuse to the point of crippling a person's body. People with the intent to murder the homeowner to confiscate the property. People that were supposedly neighbors.

I am currently 70-years old and do not have much hope for a future. My future looks very bleak due to the negligence and/or ignorance of law enforcement personnel. People in criminal justice classes have been taught to use Virtual Reality to recreate crime scenes for the purpose of analytic evaluation. However, in the real world, law enforcement personnel do not seem to connect Virtual Reality software enhancements that are utilized to commit crimes. My only hope is to expose the fact that the criminal justice training is being used as an excuse for blaming a victim and/or labeling them as an incompetent. I want Congress and the Administration to know that law enforcement personnel do not give the impression that they have any criminal justice education and/or training whatsoever. Law enforcement personnel are not effective with crimes that are being committed with computerized technology.

This brutality from my so-called neighbors has been allowed to abuse every person that lives in a 20-30-mile radius surrounding my home. I cannot be the only person suffering with the loss of mobility. I cannot be the only victim of physical pain caused by my environment. I know that this abusive power source could end my life. I know that my fingers appear to be suffering with what looks like burn trauma, i.e., skin melting to the sides of my fingertips, etc. I know that my eyesight is being taken away without a legitimate medical reason. I know that my hands look like they have been cut to pieces with laser precision.

My parents were turning 84 and had many health issues. My parents owned a small manufacturing company that they owned for 50 years with the property. My mom had COPD and cardiac issues, and she required oxygen 24/7. My dad had his health issues, but he had been an avid golfer most of his life until he began to develop cognitive issues. Dad had heart and cancer issues, and we started to see signs of forgetfulness. My parents did not live large and always put money away for their retirement. My mom would pay the home bills weekly and always gave to 5-8 charities weekly as well as she believed this was very important to her. They had paid all their liabilities on time and had an 800-credit score as their financial reward for their good fiscal lifestyle.
I would still pick up my dad every day and drive him to the office and back home. My mom was a housewife and maintained the house. My dad's cognitive issues started to get worse as things were leading into a severe case of dementia.

An old friend of my late brother came back into our lives and within 9 months he used his trusted position as a good friend of the family and as a financial advisor to frighten them to make a financial choice to protect against the estate tax that could liquidate their estate if they both passed to pay the estate tax. (As we now come to understand, their estate wasn't large enough to have high estate tax ramification. This was the ploy to scare all of the seniors to purchase large life insurance policies.) He suggested they were "underinsured "and he proposed a large life insurance policy as a solution and told them that there would be no out of pocket expense. They were told this can be done using something called "Life Settlement" and that one of the 2 policies would be sold within 3-6 months on the secondary market. The sale would then pay for the 2nd policy in its entirety. Funding for all of this would be procured through a separate source. What we have come to know is that a few years before all this, the friend and advisor had committed 2 insurance felonies that he received a conviction for and only received a 3-month suspension of his insurance license and have is securities license revoked. The state never put this on the state's insurance portal to warn citizens of the state with the fact of these felonies, so as to make the choice to use the advisor for important financial decisions. Here the state is culpable for failure to protect seniors from financial fraud. As in the states own words after he paid a $10,000 fine, "he was not rehabilitated, but we will allow him to reinstate his insurance license. " The advisor cleared the path to write and get approved 2 -$2million life insurance policies. My parents had two $100,000+ policies that he advised them to stop paying and allow them to lapse. So when they passed there was no life insurance for their final expenses.
What my parents were not told is the key to the scheme. The unsuspected direction of this sinister plot was that this was a "STOLI", a financial vehicle strongly opposed by life insurance companies and illegal in our state, and yet with all their knowledge in this illegal concept, the insurance company would continue to underwrite and eventually approve the policies. This was pure negligence on behalf of the insurance company, and the insurance company's own lead attorney, after the fact, stated that all of this should have been looked at, reviewed and the underwriting stopped, so no policies should have been issued. Insurance companies are part of the first line of defense through their compliance with regards to protecting their clients when red flags rise up. They failed in this endeavor.
Also, part of this type of scheme included a large loan that was disguised as premium financing and was never explained to the elderly couples that this was how the life insurance was to be funded, and they were not advised that they were responsible for these loans. Unbeknownst to the elderly couples, once these policies are placed and the loans complete, hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions are paid out and distributed to the insurance agent, bankers, attorneys and other individuals involved. Transparency was removed from these transactions as paperwork was shuffled in front of the seniors with signatures requested with no explanation on blank pages and just told "trust me, I will fill the paperwork for you". All communication was between the bank, the advisor, the attorneys and the phony CPA "Only" on all matters of contracts, loans and other financial information.

We are told that a bank is the first line of defense in protecting its elderly (All) clients from financial malfeasance. Unbeknownst to them a new startup bank with minimal assets received their financial/credit information from the phony CPA who was introduced to my parents by their advisor. The bank that was supposed to protect the seniors, to not be part of any fraud, but instead concealed all pertinent communication from them sharing with others and when the situation became delicate to financial abuse the bank committed identity theft, forgery and willful blindness instead. The insurance broker passed on all their financial information to a phony CPA, this new bank,45 miles away from my parents( they never used another bank in their 55 years of marriage till this event), an attorney who they never met, who was disciplined a few years earlier for using his personal IOLTA as his personal piggy bank and not paying premiums for life insurance policies where he was the trustee. This was reported to the ARDC (attorney registration and discipline commission) by a major law firm he worked with. He was suspended for under 6 months. My parents were not aware of his past history, but were told they needed to use him because of his expertise in these kinds of trusts. The attorney who drew up a Special Trust and Family Trust on my dad and my mom, who he had never met, spoken with or at any time communicated with them and yet was able to get the two trusts notarized without meeting with my parents. We have recently found out how my parents were defrauded by all the thieves. The documents were brought to a notary who worked with the phony CPA. Under a deposition, the notary admitted she never met either of my parents and many times she would notarize documents for coworkers without following guidelines set by the state for notaries. Her attorney and my attorney were sitting there with their mouths open as she admitted she never saw the documents for my parents that she signed off on and notarized.
2 attorneys, who were partners, one who had been suspended for financial malfeasance and the other was a catholic priest who was laicized for child molestation, a case that went all the way up to the Vatican (noted in state documents about priest who committed child sexual abuse as priests), is somehow still practicing law.

White collar criminals, especially those who willfully abuse the elderly and other vulnerable human beings, should be fully prosecuted. White collar is the least prosecuted because who would believe a bank(owner,president and vice president) would willfully commit senior financial fraud. The CFPB found the fraud, reported it to the Federal Reserve who did nothing because the loans were secured by the home and business property. The fraudulent action of the 2 attorneys, the bank, the phony CPA and the advisor should all have been prosecuted and sent off to do time for their crimes against humanity. Instead, seniors who worked hard all their lives, saved for easy and financially successful retirement, were sacrificial lambs who struggled to put food on their table, pay their bills and afford their necessary medical needs died penniless and without the dignity they deserved. Talking about elder care is not sexy. It does not draw the same attention as talking about some other major issues impacting our country right now or the death of loved ones, the break-ups, whatever it might be. But it's important and it's essential. My parents were one of many thousands who are manipulated, defrauded and are exploited for about $8 Billion each year..This group of individuals alone defrauded my parents and at least 19 other seniors. I want to ensure that this doesn't happen to other families.
My mom's dying words were " I am the charity case, and this is not where I was supposed to die."

What we have come to realize this year with all the failures of many banks sheds light on the sheer negligence of our banking institutions, the failure of the law to protect senior citizens at every level, and an abundance of fraudulent activity that this story begins to expose. There were forged signatures, inflated financial statements, negligence on behalf of the insurance company, banking fraud and numerous other failures within the financial system. I am constantly reminded that the law, both federal, local and state, failed my family in very catastrophic ways. No one should have their name ruined or die penniless because they were defrauded when all they did was work hard all their life so they could retire comfortably without government, family or any other intervention. Everyone deserves to live their life in a dignified fashion, especially in their retirement years.

I am a 62 yo disabled woman in Kingston, Ok. I own 2 1/2 acres with my house and mine and Mom's old house. My mother was my sole caregiver most of my life. Until she was beaten to death in Madill, Ok. nursing home In 2017. After that my family was torn apart leaving me alone. But I was fine until October of 2021 when strangers come to my property and just moved in to my old home without my permission. I told them on day one they were trespassing and to get off of my private property but they stayed and and immediately began stealing my electric and water. I called the sheriff and APS and they came right out and he told me he knew them and they cook meth but he lost track of them! I told him to please make them leave! But I never heard from them again! There were 4 men, a woman and 2 children. The woman's name is Tiffany Broadhead and I wasn't afraid of the men so much but she truly is a psychopath and on researching I found her name was even on a gov watchlist. And her sister is a now an under sheriff in my my county! As time went on they would punish me every time I made them mad like move my trash can and/or use it so I couldn't. They got my OGE acct that I've had for 40 years and opened me a new one and I had no idea, it took me months to figure it out and it's still not fixed! I had to pay a 1000.00 oge bill one month! I can't afford all this! They rigged the electric box stealing mine first and that caused damage to my home so half the electric in my home has been off ever since. I couldn't get oge to understand and I've been locked out of my acct. to this day! Some months later I got a new bill with a new acct and had to pay that thousand dollar bill. I did find out her sister was a jailer! Everything just got worse from there because my brain shut down and I had a water leak and didn't know it so my home is now destroyed so I have to move because of mold and my rare lung disease and heart failure. There's so much more and one man was still here till a couple weeks ago. But not one person in DHS or APS would help me and it's been over a year and I don't understand! I have 3 notebooks of notes and would only converse with them by texts and took pics of everything! Tiffany was jailed a few months back for assult! Her sister was also just bumped up to undersheriff. And because of how I've been treated something smells there too! I went to college in aeronautical engineering so I'm not stupid! Just old and disabled and now severely abused and mad as hell! Please consider helping me. All the stress has made my heart failure so much worse and I know it can't be fixed. Thank you for your time! I'm scared to death to leave my home but I must because my pharmacy just will not deliver my meds anymore and post traumatic stress makes it impossible for me to go outside. I no longer believe that I'm in my USA because I can't fathom what in the world I'm supposed to do because these people felt entitled and my home is destroyed and no one will HELP ME!!!!!!!
Thank you!
Jackie Oliver
580-564-7555
9746 Rattler Ridge, Kingston, OK. 73439

That I'm on SSI and I own my that's paid for but now has to be demolished because of mold! And I just do not understand why my government has allowed it because I've been screaming at the top of my lungs for help for over a year! And now I'll have to find a place to live and the government will have to help me when I owned my own home! They were trespassers and should have been removed from my property the day I call the sheriff! I'm not even sure this world is worth kiving in anymore if people are allowed to do this to me here! I'm not safe anywhere!

That it's devastating to my life and my health and my home!

That the people who done this to me goes to prison!!!!!

I know I do not have much more time on this earth solely because of the severe psychological and financial abuse I endured for over a year while no one would help me! So not only did they steal my land and property, they stold my life! Just like my mother and my sole caretaker who was murdered in the Madill Oklahoma nusing home in 2017 and the same sheriff that wouldn't help me also refused to investigate her death, her murder! Something is seriously wrong here and you couldn't prove to me that I am living in the USA if you tried!!!

I am a 75 year-old Army vetern, retired w/SCD. I am physically compromised by age, a mental weakness that allows me to trust those that are kind to me, and the loss of a couple of digits. Michael George and Traci Hynes are middle-aged, healthy people with children who, along with Traci's parents are living in two homes that are on his 14-acre hemp farm that adjoins my property.

At the time of my problems with my neighbors, Michael G. and Traci Hynes, I was living alone on my 4.38 acre property, attempting to repair and restore two homes in order to sell. I was overwhelmed by the enormity of my tasks, and compromesed by my diminished physical ability for construction labor, nd hampered by my inability to hire local workers to help me due to the COCID-19 epidemic. Michael convinced me to lend him a $90,000.00 business/personal loan for the purpose of freeing him of his $96,000.00 credit debt. He promised me that, once he payed off his debt, he would no longer have to work odd jobs in order to pay the monthly interest of these debts. Then he could spend more of his time helping me repair and restore my property. After I gave him the money, Michael tricked me into signing a "loan agreement" that enabled him and his wife to keep the $90,000.00 business/personal loan, allowing them to repaying the loan over 15 years, and paying me back with no intrest.

Dispite the state and federsl laws forbiding, or, at least, discouraging financial exploitation of the elderly, I have been unsucessful over the past two years in finding legal help, or a lawyer who is willing to help me. The Sheriff's Department (who has juristiction over Gloucester, NC) is that I signed a contract, and no crime has been committed that justifies their investigation. The Buncombe County magistrate's position is that she "wouldn't give money to my own children," and that I "am free to enter into a bad deal." The Carteret and Craven County District Attorny's position is that "everyone is free to embark on a bad deal," and that I need to get a lawyer. The Department of Social Services's position is that I "need a lawyer." The State Attorney's Elder Abuse division's position is that I need a lawyer.
I am reciving an army pension and SSI payments. I am not indigent, but, because I am $90,000.00 short, and have a sick spouse I support, and a home for which I pay and average of $3000.00 a month in utilities every month, I can not afford to hire a lawyer. I am not the only elderly person - suseptible to trusting perceived friends - who is juggling these sorts of expenses. How is anyone surprised that the increase in elder financial abuse is "on the rise?"

I hope that , in the future, all the entities that are "committed to abolishing elder financial abuse and holding their abusers accountable" actually start doing things to reach their state goal.

If anything positive comes from the time and effort I have spent filling out this form, I will probably keel over with a massive stroke.

Once an adult; twice a child.
My name is Jeanine Thomas Castle, and I have 3 separate stories in 3 separate counties in California.
1st story - Compton, Los Angeles County approximately over a 10-year period (1990's - early 2000) My Uncle, John Thomas "Papa" a widower. No children. He owned his home outright and his small pension and social security supported his simple lifestyle. Then others began to remove items from his home. When he died. Someone else owned his home. Another person told the funeral home she was his daughter. The death certificated stated this. I was named in his Will and couldn't do anything being informed after his death. I was informed of his funeral. He died by a fall in a hole at a neighbor's home. Despite several broken bones, no food in his home and his house being refinanced multiple times Adult Protective Services couldn't and didn't protect him.

2nd Story - Fresno, Fresno County 2020 - 2023. My childhood neighbor, Filiberto 'Gilbert' Olivarez began being neglected - isolation, pandemic, no longer driving in his 90's. I documented little to no food in the home. No AC in the Fresno area triple degree summer. The District's Attorney's office did agree to an investigation. By that time, he had dementia and was residing in a residential care home. Despite having given Power of Attorney to one daughter for years another was able to convince him to sign one giving her full authority over his finances and sell his home far below market value to cousins of her children's father. The investigator NEVER spoke with Filiberto's brother who lived next door or other blood relatives.

3rd Story - Richmond, Contra Costa County 2024. My 97-year-old Aunt Margaret Horsley had been living in her home for 70 years. Her 63-year-old, alcoholic son resided with her. She is a strong woman of faith had hoped he would stop the drinking and smoking. At one point in the last 10 years, she was awarded a restraining order because he hit her. She agreed to allow him to stay for a few days after the order expired and those days turned into years. Frustrated she reached out to myself and a nephew. Contra Costa APS came out met with both and weren't able to do anything. There was no working landline phone. No hot water. They heated food on an inverted heater. The front door had a damaged frame that didn't allow the door to open and close easily or lock. On 8/30/24 there was a fire and fortunately no deaths, but the home has been declared "unoccupiable" by the fire department and boarded up.

Sometimes our elderly MUST have someone just like a child does to say, NO MORE. WE are removing you for your safety and best interests - Once an adult and twice a child. I believe every person in these three stories would have been relieved to have someone, anyone but themselves step in for them. THERE was/is an element of fear in all of these stories.

I'm retired. Aside from being one of three caregivers to my 93-year-old Mom. I want to do my part to make a difference in the lives of others.

I want them to KNOW that Adult Protective Services IS able to make a difference. That something will be done just like a child has protection.

Change in the power of APS and legislation to protect the elderly.

As a social worker, counselor and caregiver I know how important it is to advocate for others when they are struggling. I also know how hard and challenging it can be to on the other side of the situation and not have power to do something.

My mother was 83 years old and was diagnosed with moderate to severe Alzheimer and dementia. My brother Greg and his wife Debbie kept this diagnosis from the rest of the family. Then Greg and Debbie started taking mom to her attorney (changed POA to himself) had her resign a new will, changed beneficiaries on bank accounts, revoked the trust, terminated my oral farm contract. They isolated mom from family. They would write checks for cash that Debbie wrote out and mom signed. As her acting POA Greg did not have moms house rebuilt (totalled from straight line winds) and settled with insurance for 40,0000 . less than what was due to mom. That house was to be inherited b another brother who has since passed away. The bank notified me that things did not seem right. I took mom to her attorney and mom wanted everything put back in original form according to her estate plan. When Greg and Debbie found out about the accounts being reinstated they took mom to her a At one point Debbbie handed a not to mom at the bank telling the teller to take myself and a brother off of accounts. At one point Greg as moms acting POA closed out some bank accounts and moved them out of state so we have no access to records. These points are the main problems.

Elder abuse, undue influence and financial exploitation is rampant and usually committed by family members. The articles that you can read about it states it is hard to prove in court giving the perpetrators confidence that they can get away with the abuse.

Do not trust that your family members will do the right thing. Be prepared. Document everything. Diligently watch what is going on. Try to keep communication open. We never thought we would be in this court nightmare.

Laws need to be passed. An elderly person (anyone over the age of 60) that suddenly wants to change most of their estate plan needs to go through the court system to assess the physical and mental condition of the elder. It seems to be so easy for an unscrupulous family member to convince an elder with a diagnosed condition to sign documents that they have no idea what they have signed and the consequences of those changes. It seems extremely difficult to get through the court system in a timely manner to get any results to reversing all the changes made to the estate plan. We have been in court for 6 years. It takes a toll on our health and we see the anxiety that it has caused in our grown children.

There seems to be no respect for an elderly person's estate plan. The attorneys are part of the problem with stalling for court dates. There needs to be higher held consequences for the abusers and the attorneys that are letting this abuse happen.

My mother was admitted to an LTAC (Long Term Acute Care Hospital) in early June 2015 from complications that occurred after her bypass surgery on May 18th, 2015. She was on a ventilator and had wounds on both of her legs, her stomach, and her chest. She was also on dialysis for acute renal failure which can happen after bypass surgery. The wounds on her legs were from the leg compression devices used during surgery which left water blisters on her legs. She had a wound vac on her stomach after having to have part of her colon removed after it perforated after her bypass surgery. It left her with a colostomy.
Mom had health issues before the bypass surgery including diabetes, COPD, and peripheral artery disease. All of these played a role in the post-surgical complications that mom endured. None of these are what caused her death.

During mom's stay at the LTAC, she was denied food, fluids, therapies, and proper care. All my brother and I heard from the nurses, doctors and even administrators was to put mom in hospice. That isn't what mom wanted. When we made complaints, they tried to tell us that we were crazy or that we couldn't accept what was happening with our mother. Mom was transferred to the LTAC from the post-surgical unit of the hospital where she had her surgery. She was doing well while in the post-surgical unit despite her complications. They had given her a trach so she could eat and drink after passing her swallow test. They had her sitting up in the patient chair and she was even doing her crosswords, word finds, and signing her own paperwork. I have pictures of her two days before her transfer to the LTAC. After her transfer, we had to sign her transfer papers. For some reason, they wouldn't let her sign them. She had been there for two days before we could visit and they had continued the care she received before her transfer. My brother signed them and then went to her room to see her. He wasn't in there but maybe five minutes before a nurse came in and took mom's tray (while she was eating) and put NPO on the door. That was June 12, 2015. Mom wouldn't get her tray of food back until July 4th, 2015. That's how long it took my brother and me to figure out what to do. Neither one of us had ever dealt with anything like this before. I had already called every attorney I could find with no help. I even called the state attorney's office, the hospital abuse hotline, the health department, etc., and could not get any assistance from anyone. Calling to report elder abuse to social services never even occurred to me and no one that I called even mentioned it to me.
Here is a list of things they did to mom during her stay there:
They restrained her wrists to the bed using straps. They would leave her like that for an unknown amount of time. Every time we went to visit we would remove the restraints. There was no one in the room with her while she was restrained and there was no reason for her to be restrained. They would always tell us it was for her own good.
They clipped mom's fingernails down to the quick. She always had beautiful normal length nails. Again no explanation for them cutting her nails that short.
The RN's lied to us when we called to check in on her. We lived hours away from where she was hospitalized. One RN told us that mom had opened her stomach wound (which was on wound vac). Mom didn't and wouldn't do that.
They told us that mom was incoherent but she had numerous conversations with us either writing things to us or whispering to us. Mom had a trach so her voice was gone. She always complained she was hungry and thirsty. We begged the hospital (even the CEO) to give her food tray back. She was on a liquid diet and there was no reason to take it away. They tried to tell us she had stomach issues when she didn't.
They had her as DNR when she wasn't.
Eventually, I fired the doctor that was on her case originally. He didn't even know that she was female and kept referring to her as him. He had lied to us numerous times and during the time I was staying there with mom, he never once came into her room to assess her or anything.
July 3, 2015 a new doctor came on. He assessed mom and the first words out of his mouth were that she was very malnourished and dehydrated. Her wounds, all of them were infected. She had a pressure sore on her back that was also infected.
There is so much that happened that I can't tell everything here. After the new doctor came on, mom was off the ventilator within a week. He had to put a feeding tube down her nose for a few days until she passed another swallow test and eventually made it to eating mechanical food. Within a month she was off dialysis and her kidneys were functioning again. She eventually was transferred to the regular hospital. Her wounds were slowly getting better except for her legs and feet. Her feet were black from blood flow loss and her legs eventually turned gangrene and had to be amputated. If she had received proper care during her entire stay at the LTAC her story might have turned out differently. They had weakened her body with starvation/dehydration. Three days after her double amputation surgery she went into respiratory distress and had to be put back on the ventilator. She was in the ICU again. When she finally became stable she gave up. She was tired of fighting.
She had fought sepsis three times and had numerous other infections during her stay at LTAC. With the malnourishment, she had another small heart attack after having triple bypass surgery weeks before. She almost died several times during their care and they weakened her to the point that she gave up.

I wish I had known more about it then. I always heard about elder abuse/neglect in nursing homes but never expected it from a hospital setting. When my brother first told me he suspected they were starving our mother I didn't believe him. I told him that they couldn't or wouldn't do that. I didn't even know who to call to get help and those I did call never told me who to call to get help. This LTAC has done what it did to my mother and too many other patients. I couldn't even get an attorney to talk to my mother while she was alive. I now have PTSD from the whole experience. I stayed a month in the hospital with my mom 24/7. I now distrust hospitals, doctors, and nurses which have interfered with my own health.

I want people to realize that abuse/neglect can happen to their loved ones even in the hospital. Stay vigilant in your loved ones' care. It shouldn't be allowed to happen and most of those who have done it, are protected.

I've tried reaching out to the media in regard to what happened to my mother. She isn't the only victim of an LTAC. No one listens to her story. I have written blogs about it, even when it occurred. It's sad that so many in the medical field get away with abusing and neglecting those they're supposed to care for. Things need to change. This LTAC also deletes negative reviews (there have been quite a few) from their FB page and other sites. I want others to know my mom's story. She was important and her story is important. It could help save others.

In 2013 my elderly father, living in his house was experiencing progressive worsening symptoms of Dementia. My younger son was living with him at the time and trying to help as best he could. Son alerted me that my father was on a decline, leaving stove on, doors unlocked, etc. There were neighbors/former co-workers, a girlfriend going out to eat, bank, etc. with him. My son questioned the relationship with these folks and warned me about this. I contacted his doctors' and they both wrote notes to me stating my father may need assistance, as his health was declining and my presence would be helpful if I could be stationed nearer to him. The military was kind enough to issue me orders, shortening my tour, and allowing me to transfer to a unit very close to his home.

After several months in my father's home, cleaning, cooking, doing everything I could to help him while focusing on my full time military career, the situation became stressful. My father insisted he needed no one's help, and that he was fine. He also made the same statements after we visited his primary care doctor, and his attorney. He suddenly became resentful, hostile, and told me and spouse to move out, ASAP. I had some medical issues at the time, and had no place to go with my household goods in storage. My spouse and I ended up in an Extended Stay, in a nearby town. Then, a couple of months later my son was locked out of the house and had access a window upstairs to gather his belongings and leave as well.

As we left his house on less than favorable terms, and I told my father I would only return if there was some emergency and would soon retire to another state. These friends, neighbors, former Federal Co-workers and his girlfriend kept coming to my father's home. They were all given keys to everything and my father seemed to trust all these people, and was always showing them into the house and showing them around. He was missing my mother, who died in 2010 and liked to show off her fine silver, china, and things she had inherited from back 3 generations in her family. She still had jewelry, antique mahogany furniture, and everything she had kept from her families treasured items. There was inherited money in the bank, and my father had a cache of weapons in the house and garage for safety reasons.
I sent a few cards, tried to call him over the years, and no answer. In early 2000, there was a call from a longtime friend of the family (a nurse) who said she had received disturbing late night calls from my father recently. She wanted to know if I was aware of his situation, and I did not being that I had not heard from him since we left. The family friend stated that when COVID hit, she found him alone, dirty, and that almost everything in his house, packed garage was gone! I wanted to talk to him and see him, but knew this was not the right time to travel as the virus was keeping everyone at home. After 4 months, I got another call from an older son who told me the rest of his garage was being emptied of all of his machinery, tools, tanks, massive saws, milling machine, drill presses, years of mechanical and technical books he saved. Weapons were also taken, and values stashed in the garage.

Once I was able to travel to Virginia in early May of 2020, I was able to talk to my father, who told me, "You stole money from my banking/savings account". I asked him for details, he wasn't sure, except to say that the bank was presented with a note and other documents by someone who said they were me and my husband, and my mother's only next of kin, and withdrew all the money in the account. After hearing this I called the bank fraud line and reported my concerns, then visited the bank branch where this happened, and tried to report identity theft, and Elderly Financial Fraud. I also reported everything to local police, state police, Dept of State for my mother's missing passport, Social Services, and began making a list of all that was gone from his home as best as I could remember. Not one agency, seemed interested in helping me because I wasn't the victim! I was only his daughter, so this was hearsay, and not really considered a valid claim. After visiting his attorney's office, I found out that he knew what had happened, but also did not seem to care about the Elder Fraud and Abuse, not reporting any of this to the authorities! At one point in a follow up phone call to the attorney, he stated he was "working on it". I never received followup, nor any help from anyone in the system. This seems as if, at least in the State of Virginia, that if the victim doesn't report these crimes, then it never happened. Please understand that I do not wish revenge for the perpetrators, only justice be served on these folks who committed horrible acts of crime towards my vulnerable, elderly father. The things taken, nearly everything were family heirlooms, precious things that were to be passed down to our small, existing family, me and my sons!

If persons like these so called, friends, neighbors, a girlfriend, even Federally retired co-workers, are not stopped, they will continue to target the elderly and I believe they will continue to profit and not be held accountable until they meet their judgement day when they die. Social Services was not even aware of an online course that can be taken in the event of elderly crimes, I took the training, then asked the agency if they had taken the Online Reporting Criteria course for Elderly Fraud & Abuse, and the Supervisor at this Social Services said no!

Laws must be strengthened to protect, report, and hold anyone accountable of known Elder Fraud, by family, especially next of kin!
Reporting: If everyone is held accountable, Attorneys (especially Elder Attorneys), Health Care workers, Bystanders who suspect a crime, business vendors, banks and their officials, we might get this type of criminal activity under control one day!