>KY: Two Bills to Protect Elderly Pass General Assembly

>Two measures aimed at protecting elderly and vulnerable adults won final approval Friday from the General Assembly.

But with only three days left in the current legislative session, a bill to create a registry of people who abuse adults — a priority for advocates for the elderly and disabled — remains stalled in the Senate.

House Bill 101, to create a registry similar to the one the state maintains for child abusers, is still before the Senate Judiciary Committee. And Sen. Tom Jensen, the London Republican who is chairman of the committee, said he isn’t sure whether it will pass this session.

He said Senate leaders are still trying to determine which bills to pass in the remaining time available.

Advocates argue that an adult registry would better protect those who, because of age or disability, are especially vulnerable to abuse and exploitation by caregivers. Even though the session is nearly over, they are still working on behalf of HB 101.

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Two Bills to Prevent Elderly Abuse Get Final OK

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KY: Bills to Curb Nursing Home Abuse Faltering

>KY: Bills to Curb Nursing Home Abuse Faltering

>Two proposals aimed at preventing and investigating abuse of nursing home patients appear to be dead or stalled in the ongoing state legislative session, according to their sponsors.

In Kentucky, nursing home deaths from neglect and abuse often aren’t criminally prosecuted because the coroner isn’t called to investigate. But a bill that would require Kentucky nursing homes to report all deaths to the local coroner will not go forward this session because of opposition, its sponsor said.

Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville, said he won’t call House Bill 69 for a vote in his House Health and Welfare Committee, citing opposition from the nursing home industry and budget concerns from the state’s chief medical examiner, Tracey Corey.

Corey has said she would need to hire three medical examiners and support staff to handle the additional death investigations that could result from calling coroners after each nursing home death.

Burch said he tried to compromise with nursing home industry leaders with no success.

Senate Bill 44 is stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where sponsor Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, says he and committee chairman Tom Jensen, R-London, are “waiting on the go-ahead from the leadership office to move the bill.”

In an interview Thursday, Jensen said he has spent much time on a bill dealing with state prisons and has not reviewed with Senate leaders SB 44 and several other bills before his committee.

Jensen said he thinks SB 44 has merit but it may be getting late in the session to consider it.

Full Article and Source:
Proposals to Curb Nursing Home Abuse Faltering in Frankfort

>Concerns Raised About Cost of Calling Coroners for Nursing Home Deaths

>Kentucky prosecutors, law enforcement officers, coroners and officials have said they think it would be helpful if coroners were called whenever someone dies in a nursing home. Evidence could be gathered and, if abuse or neglect had occurred, cases could be prosecuted.

But a bill that would require Kentucky nursing homes to report all deaths to the local coroner is in trouble in the General Assembly.

Tracey Corey, the state’s chief medical examiner, estimates that if even 10 percent of the additional cases generated by the proposed law are turned over to her office for further evaluation, she would need three more doctors, more support staff and additional equipment for the required investigations, said Jennifer Brislin, a spokeswoman for the Justice Cabinet.

Despite concerns about costs, Corey supports the intent of House Bill 69, Brislin said. The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville, would require a specific staff member at a long-term care facility and hospice to report all deaths to the county coroner within 24 hours.

Source:
Concerns Raised About Cost of Calling Coroners for Nursing Home Deaths

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Coroners Help Facility Death Investigations

>Couple Indicted for Bilking Grandmother Out of Over 200K

>A grand jury has indicted a couple for bilking a relative out of more than $203,000.

34-year-old Benjamin Rush and 36-year-old Anne Rush were each indicted on one count of exploitation of an adult.

Investigators say the couple moved into Anne Rush’s grandmother’s home to take care of her, and during that time used her money for their personal use. They say the couple continued spending the money after the grandmother was placed in a nursing home.

“We are starting to see quite a bit more of these cases, unfortunately as the economy continue to suffer. I think people are doing this kind of thing and it is a shame that these elderly individuals are often victims,” says Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Lynn Coleman.

Benjamin Rush was arrested Tuesday. He was released on bond from the Boyle County Detention Center on Thursday. Investigators say they’re still looking for Anne Rush.

Full Article, Video, and Source:
Couple Accused of Bilking More Than $200,000 From Grandmother

>KY: HB 52 Introduced to Bar Financial Gain from Elder Abuse

>A bill to prevent someone who abuses an elderly person from inheriting his or her assets passed a House committee unanimously Thursday and appears headed for easy approval by the full House.

The quick committee action drew praise from advocates for the elderly, including those with Alzheimer’s disease.

“It gives people some dignity, even in death,” said Ellen Kershaw, a spokeswoman for the Alzheimer’s Association in Kentucky and Southern Indiana. “People with Alzheimer’s are especially vulnerable.”

The bill’s goal is to close a loophole in current law, Rep. Joni Jenkins, the Shively Democrat who is sponsoring House Bill 52, told the House Health and Welfare Committee.

A law known as the “slayer statute” already bars a person convicted of killing someone from inheriting from the victim. But as things stand now, people convicted of abusing, neglecting or financially exploiting an elderly person still can benefit financially after the victim’s death.

“There have been some really tragic cases,” Jenkins said. “This bill would remedy that.”

Under HB 52, if no other heirs can be located, the estate would go into a trust fund for elder protection.

Full Article and Source:
Panel Backs Bill to Bar Financial Gain from Elder Abuse

>Coroners Help Facility Death Investigations

>The coroner in Morgan County, Ill., notified nursing home investigators last year when he determined that a nursing home resident had died after choking on a piece of ham.

Coroner Jeff Lair, who asks that nursing homes in his county report all deaths to him, said investigators then cited the facility because the resident was supposed to be on a special diet and be supervised while eating but was not.

The coroner in Effingham County, Ill., also contacts state officials about nursing home deaths.

“We have to speak for these people,” said Leigh Hammer, Effingham’s coroner. “We have to give them a voice. Just because they are elderly doesn’t mean that they were meant to die.”

Kentucky does not require nursing homes to report most deaths to coroners, who are rarely called even when abuse or neglect are suspected. However, that might change if a bill proposed by Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville, passes.

Burch is meeting Wednesday with state officials and nursing home representatives to discuss a law that would require the facilities to notify coroners about all deaths.

The state medical examiner’s office is working with Burch to see that “suspicious deaths and elder abuse are investigated to the fullest extent possible,” said Jennifer Brislin, a spokeswoman for the office.

The Kentucky bill requires a specific staff member at long-term care facilities and hospices to report all deaths to the county coroner within 24 hours. It also requires coroners to involve police or prosecutors if they suspect abuse or neglect.

The bill is intended to give coroners discretion in choosing which deaths need to be reviewed by other officials, Burch said.

Full Article and Source:
States Say Coroners Help in Nursing Home Deaths

>KY: Preying on Seniors

>Kentucky needs to create an independent panel to review deaths of elderly or vulnerable adults that may be slipping through the cracks, advocates argue.

They point to a case last year in which Richard Tardy, 61, died at a group home in Somerset, shortly after being moved more than 100 miles from his former home at the Bingham Center in Louisville.

While no one knows of any wrongdoing, those who knew Tardy, who was blind and profoundly disabled, questioned the state’s decision to move him some months earlier, said Carol Mueller, president of the family association at Bingham, a state-run facility for disabled adults.

They were surprised he died so soon afterward and wondered if the move was a factor, Mueller said.

Tardy is the type of individual whose death should get an outside review, said April DuVal, executive director of the Council on Developmental Disabilities in Louisville. With no immediate family to care for him, he had a state guardian. Medicaid paid for his care at the small, private group home where he was placed by the state.

Full Article and Source:
Preying on Seniors: Outside Panel Sought to Review Deaths

See Other Articles in the Series:
Elder Abuse and Exploitation Day 1

Graphics: Incidents of Elder Abuse

Graphic: Relationship to Victims of Alleged Abusers

Seniors Increasingly Face Physical Abuse, Financial Crimes

Resources Limited to Investigate Crimes

Relatives Often Responsible for Physical Abuse, Neglect

Broader Domestic Violence Laws Urged

How to Recognize Abuse

How to Stay Safe

Help Lines

A Trust Betrayed – Elderly Victimized by Family, Friends

CrimeCollege Helps Seniors Identify Scams

Grant Power of Attorney With Care

Relatives Abuse, but Still Inherit

>Preying on Seniors: Some Urge Training for Legal Guardians

>Becoming a legal guardian — agreeing to manage someone’s personal and financial affairs — is a big responsibility, say those who work in the field.

For that reason, they think there should be a level of basic training for the friends, relatives or others who agree to assist someone impaired by age or disability.

“In many states, when people are appointed as guardians they are required to get training,” said Becky Smith, director of fiduciary services for GuardiaCare, a private, nonprofit agency that provides guardianship and other services in the Louisville area.

But not in Kentucky.

Before appointing a state guardian, judges generally seek a friend or relative as the first choice — and that may mean appointing someone with good intentions but not necessarily familiar with all the duties, Smith said.

The training doesn’t need to be extensive, she said, but ought to include basic information about a guardian’s responsibilities, how to keep records and how to prepare an annual report that the guardian is supposed to file in court.

GuardiaCare has offered to provide the training on a voluntary basis to people appointed as guardians in Jefferson District Court.

Full Article and Source:
Preying on Seniors: Some Urge Training for Legal Guardians

See Also:
Tougher Rules are Sought for Personal Care

Registry Sought for Abusers of Adults

>KY: New Legislation to Prevent Elder Abusers From Benefiting From Victims’ Death

>Seeking to fill what she called “a hole” in Kentucky law, state Rep. Joni Jenkins announced that she has filed legislation aimed at preventing people who abuse or neglect vulnerable or elderly adults from benefiting from their deaths.

Too often, Jenkins said at a Louisville news conference, an adult child or other relative may be convicted of mistreating an elderly adult but still inherits the estate when that person dies.

“Every year, the judicial, social and law enforcement communities across Kentucky work together to stop these terrible acts of adult abuse and neglect, then have to stand by and watch as these convicted abusers reap financial gain from those they have injured,” Jenkins, D-Shively, said.

Kentucky law already bars killers from receiving an inheritance from their victims. Jenkins’ bill would expand that to include people convicted of abuse, neglect or financial exploitation.

Full Article and Source:
Bill to Protect Elderly, Vulnerable From Abuse Filed

Grandson and Pastor Accused of Bilking Elderly Woman

Last February, Viola Hunt’s family made the decision to put the 81-year-old in a place where she would get extra attention.

“Mom was happy, making friends. She was doing good,” Frederick Hunt said of moving his mother to Medco.

But after just a few months there, the family found out her bills were not being paid. McCracken County sheriff’s deputies made two arrests in the case.

Hunt’s pastor, Charles Dunbar, and her grandson, Josh Hunt, were accused of using their power of attorney over Viola Hunt to steal her money.

Her son and Josh’s uncle, Frederick Hunt said his stomach turned at the news.

Full Article and Source:
Grandson and Pastor Allegedly Bilk Elderly Woman