"California’s Ludicrous New Elder Abuse Reporting Law"

California law has changed dramatically for mandated reporters of suspected elder or dependent adult abuse. The good news: The changes only impact some instances of abuse. The bad news: The law is a needlessly complex mess.

California’s requirements for mandated reporting of elder and dependent adult abuse have changed significantly. These changes have already taken effect, because one of the bills putting the changes into place was marked as emergency legislation. The new law replaces what had been a single standard for when and to whom reports are sent with five different standards based on the specifics of the situation — specifics that, under the law, mandated reporters are not required to investigate.

As of today (because SB1051 was marked emergency legislation, it took effect September 27, 2012, immediately upon the Governor’s signature), mandated telephone reports of suspected elder or dependent adult abuse in California must be made “immediately or as soon as practicably possible” in some cases, “immediately, and no later than within two hours” in others, and within 24 hours in others. Written reports must be sent to various combinations of law enforcement, adult protective services, county ombudspersons, and facilities’ licensing agencies — requiring triplicate reporting in some instances. Filing reports via Internet appears to be allowed in some instances and not others. And the acceptable time frames for written reports will now vary as well, from 2 hours to two working days. These combinations are based on:

•Whether the abuse took place in a long-term care facility •Whether the abuse was physical abuse •Whether the abuse resulted in serious bodily injury •Whether the abuse was caused by a resident with a physician’s diagnosis of dementia For the problems that existed with the old standard, at least mandated reporters could be reasonably expected to know who they needed to report to, and when. The new standards are simply too complex to be held in memory, and will likely result in many reports being sent to the wrong places at the wrong times.

It’s bad law.

Full Article and Source:
California’s Ludicrois New Elder Abuse Reporting Law

Michael Lohan Wants Lindsay Lohan Conserved!

Michael is reportedly hoping to get a conservatorship for Lindsay, TMZ reports. He told his attorney that Lindsay is “in the danger zone,” taking drugs and hanging out with a bad crowd.

Michael does not want to be Lindsay’s conservator or run her finances, according to TMZ. He wants a judge-appointed conservator to help convince his daughter to go to rehab and get his ex-wife Dina to take the family to therapy.

Source: Michael Lohan Wants Lindsay Under Conservatorship

The Forgotten Ones: Compassion for the Elderly

You make a difference in the dash. ~ by DJ Cronin

Life is short. In the scheme of things this often quoted saying must be true. Our planet has been here for millions of years – our universe billions.

On our headstones will be the etching of when we were born and the date when we died. For example 1960 – 2050.

What matters to me are not the two years mentioned. It is the dash. That little dash. That’s our life. That represents to me the short time we have, here, to make a difference, or not.

And making a difference means so many different things to so many people.

But for you, the volunteer, what you do during that dash is most significant.

You can give me money for my cause. Sure. But I may pay that back to you. Say you give a dollar a month. It is appreciated without doubt. It is your dollar. However you may pick it up elsewhere. Something extra you do. Some other way of earning that buck. But how do we give back time?

As a volunteer you give time. Time. The most precious resource in our lives.

Look at the dash. How many hours are in there? It’s not billions. It’s not infinite. Money can be printed. Time cannot.

*Please volunteer to visit our lonely and forgotten elderly. Call today. ♥

Once you give an hour of your time it is lost forever. That hour you just gave volunteering will never be replicated.
Your time volunteering must be valued but we can never put a value on that time. How can you value something that is priceless?

As a volunteer you bring much. Skills, advice, experience, friendship, vision, leadership, inspiration etc. That you bring. But time you give. In our time poor world you bear the gift of time. You choose to donate the most precious commodity in the known universe.

We may count your time in numbers. We may attempt to count your time in cash value. Though such methods have their reasons we will all be poorer if we don’t realize that the giving of your time is simply and utterly magnificent.

Source: The Forgotten Ones: Compassion for the Elderly

Attention California Advocates: Public Hearing on Conservatorship Fees

Assemblyman Jim Beall and Sarah Triano, executive director of the Silicon Valley Independent Living Center, will hold a public hearing Wednesday in San Jose on proposed rules [on conservatorship fees] now before the Superior Court.

The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday October 24, 11 a.m. at the Alquist State Building, 100 Paseo de San Antonio.

Source:
California lawmaker calls on the public to help protect incapacitated adults from excessive fees in probate court

Cool Justice: Unfit To Serve: The Farce Known As Probate Court

Going to certain probate courts is still like watching a crooked card game where there is no sheriff in town. Question a fixed hand and they’ll plug you full of lead.

Silly me, I thought the great state of Connecticut reformed the probate system in the 1980s after a relatively young state representative named Chris Shays put a laser beam on one of the most grotesque corruption cases in our history.

Shays was outraged by the actions of a Hartford probate judge who oversaw the looting of a $35 million estate by lawyers acting as conservators. Ethel Donaghue, ill and in her 80s, was conserved – losing all control of her finances, health care and mansion across from the governor’s residence – without her knowledge. Two lawyers ran up fees of more than $100,000 a year each “managing” her estate while also hosting private parties and concerts in which guests said Donaghue seemed oblivious.

When no serious action was taken – other than by investigative reporters – Shays pursued complaints before a Superior Court judge, calling reprimands against the lawyers “ridiculously” lenient. Shays argued that both lawyers and the judge should have been disbarred. He refused to stop speaking when ordered to do so, was found in contempt and sentenced to jail.

Full Article and Source:
Cool Justice: Unfit To Serve: The Farce Known As Probate Court

High court suspends lawyer after thefts reported

An attorney who leads Laurel’s school board has been temporarily barred from practicing law after he acknowledged keeping fees paid by clients hidden from other partners in his law firm, the state’s highest court says.

Patrick E. Vanderslice, 44, of Laurel, was suspended from the bar for a year by the Delaware Supreme Court, a more severe level of discipline than the public reprimand and probation the state’s Board on Professional Responsibility had advised was the proper punishment. The decision came after Vanderslice admitted to his partners at the Georgetown firm Moore & Rutt, P.A., he had stolen $1,780 in client fees from December 2010 to September 2011.

“Because Vanderslice committed theft (an offense involving dishonesty and a breach of trust,) we conclude that he should be ‘professionally answerable’ for his conduct,” the Supreme Court wrote in an Oct. 12 opinion. “A public reprimand, usually reserved for inexperienced lawyers… would be unduly lenient.

Full Article and Source:
High court suspends lawyer after thefts reported

Scientists: Creativity Part of ‘Mental Illness’

If you like to express yourself through painting, writing, or any other form of artistic action, scientists now say that you must be suffering from a mental illness of some kind. In a new display of how truly insane the mainstream medical health paradigm has become, mainstream media outlets are now regurgitating the words of ‘experts’ who say that those who are creative are actually, more often than not, mentally ill.

After all, more than 50% of the United States is, by definition of the psychiatrists of the nation, mentally ill. Even questioning the government is considered a mental disorder. It should come as no surprise to know that upwards of 70% of the psychiatrists who write the conditions are — of course — on the payroll of those who produce the drugs to ‘treat’ the conditions. It should also therefore come as no surprise to note that the DSM (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is the foundation of the entire diagnosis system) now contains over 900 pages of bogus disorders.

Full Article and Source:
Scientists: Creativity Part of ‘Mental Illness’

T.S. Radio Tonite: Convenient Incompetency

Illinois resident Delores Bedin has inoperable pancreatic cancer. The hospital wants to send her home. They also want her to have a guardian even though her daughter is putting an addition on her home to accomodate her mother. Her daughter also has power of attorney.

Incompetent: Delores was described as incompetent in Winnebago County Court by employees of Northwestern Memmorial Hospital. They claimed Delores should be discharged under the control of a public guardian. Hospital records indicate that Delores was NOT incompetent.

“The most terrible, terrible things could happen to you under guardianship court. Your elderly parent could be removed from their home and put into a nursing home where they don’t want to be, they could be drugged in that nursing home, sometimes unnecessarily. Their property could be seized,” says Annie McKenna, Spokeswoman for the National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse.

Listen tonight at 7:00 p.m. Central Time:
Guardianship Abuse: Convenient Incompetency