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Elder Abuse Aided and Abetted by Parasitic Bureaucracies

Posted By CotoBlogzz June 26, 2011

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA – If you want to get back at your elder parents for your own shortcoming, this is your day. According to Kathleen Wilber, USC's. Mary Pickford Professor of Gerontology, recent studies suggest that more than one in seven older adults is victimized each year. Unfortunately, such studies rarely take into account what we refer to as the parasitic bureaucracy effect – this is where a bureaucracy either to cover up its own incompetence and or to increase its sphere of influence, delays, denies and ore ignores reporters requests for transparency, as described in some of the pieces summarized below.

This parasitic effect is the main reason why we are encouraging Orange County Supervisor Candidates Chuck DeVore and Todd Spitzer to agree to request the state to conduct an independent audit on the county in general and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) specifically. Take for instance, after our Public Records Act (PRA) filed with Darlene Bloom regarding clarification on the recent OCSD audit was ignored, we pressed and finally got a disingenuous response from Howard Sutter, Orange County, CEO Community/Media Relations, to which we said:

“While the argument that the new OSCD leadership has changed the dynamics and the newly instituted processed have a positive impact is compelling, it fails to recognize that the major component in culture change in the department is the union's leadership. That is, we posit the culture will not change unless the union agrees to change. The auditor's conclusion can be misleading: "we changed management, therefore the culture has now changed" is disingenuous.

As you know, SOX legislation was passed in an attempt to prevent Enron-like debacles. The concept has three tenets: 1) Have management sign financial reports to certify reports are accurate. 2) Certify the report are accurate and a process is in place to make sure they are. We advocate something similar for OCSD management for any use of resources.”

Our response to Mr. Howar Sutter's disinigenous response

The point is that elder abuse viewed from the researchers’ lens such as Professor

Mary Pickford’s is of concern. The reality is that it is a literal Death Trap.

Documented Elder Abuse, including examples of the parasitic effect.

“Elderly Abuse: Parolees discovered living in nursing homes, residents not told of sex offenders, ex-cons” Chris Fuscon and Lori Rackl describe how they investigated the high numbers of sex offenders and parolees living in Illinois’ nursing homes – Investigative Reporters and and Editors (IRE) September/October 2005

“Poor Regulation,” The Oregonian. Brent Walth writes about and investigation that he and fellow reporter Erin Hoover Barnett did on the sudden collapse of the Oregon-based Assisted Living Concepts. The company, which at some point acquired a new assisted-living center every week., “slashed budget, paid measly wages and hired inexperienced staff.” The article points to some of the differences in regulations in assisted-living and nursing homes - – Investigative Reporters and and Editors (IRE) November/December 2002

“Agencies in New Mexico impeded fraud and elder care investigation,” The New Mexico Independent. The series explored allegations that state agencies interfered with fraud and elder abuse investigations. The Medical Fraud Division stated that the Human Services Department and the Health Department had withheld, filtered and sanitized information and documents requested by investigators – Government Health, February 23, 2011

“Edler Abuse investigations mishandled at state veteran homes.” The Dallas Morning News, James Drew of the Dallas Morning News found that a criminal investigation into alleged abuse by two workers at a state veteran’s home in West Texas languished for more than two years because of confusion who should investigate and conflicts among police, state officials and veteran’s home investigators – Justice, April 7, 2011

Helping California Crack Down on Elder Abuse

Elder abuse is a devastating but often overlooked problem that can cause emotional as well as physical pain and suffering, shattered trust, financial ruin and even an increased risk of dying. The tragedy of elder abuse was recently brought home by 90-year-old screen legend Mickey Rooney in his dramatic Congressional testimony describing his own experiences.

“Recent studies suggest that more than one in seven older adults is victimized each year,” said the USC Davis School of Gerontology’s Kathleen Wilber, who is the Mary Pickford Professor of Gerontology. “Sadly, a recent summary of elder abuse interventions found that there is little evidence that efforts to prevent or address abuse work.” – June 2011

“The Price of Living” series, The Post Courier, Chareslton, S.C. The newspaper spent months going through individual case files at the Charleston County Probate Court to learn what was happening to the savings of the elderly incapacitated persons. Reporter Doug Pardue discovered a court that was set up to protect vulnerable elderly persons but often helped drain their estates though court-approved fees to lawyers, guardians and conservators. Health, Justice, Dec. 2010