I am writing about elder and dependent adult abuse more, and more often. Elder and dependent adult abuse already was and has been an epidemic. The topic, however, is in the news more often, and governmental units are increasing their discussions about elder and dependent adult abuse, but those discussions cannot treat or remedy the abuse – there simply are not sufficient time and experienced people resources to treat and remedy the problem. I encourage the increased efforts, but people need to understand that those resources still are entirely insufficient. It takes a lot of time, and expertise to prosecute these cases in court. A couple of cases can almost entirely occupy an attorney’s time. Long ago the California Legislature enacted the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act to encourage private attorneys to take on these cases. Well . . . private attorneys cannot take on these cases if they aren’t contacted to do so, and in most instances governmental entities work in silos, and also will not refer to private attorneys. The ridiculousness of this situation is extremely frustrating.

I am attaching links to two new elder abuse articles. One of the articles HERE is by Forbes, discussing banks and what they are doing about elder abuse. Although identifying elder abuse and freezing an account might be helpful in certain cases, bank investigations and referral to adult protective services don’t provide the resources to prosecute and remedy the abuse. The other article HERE discusses a Dallas County effort to prosecute and remedy the abuse – I cannot determine from the article whether private attorneys are utilized – hopefully they are and that would be a step forward – but it is clear that without private attorneys the necessary resources absolutely do not exist and people should not talk as if they are truly prosecuting and remedying the abuse..

Dave Tate, Esq. (San Mateo County, the Bay Area, and California)