Working on elder financial exploitation cases requires mobilization from separate entities. APS, law enforcement, financial institutions – these are just some of the sectors that must collaborate to trace the problem, the victims, the methods, and the perpetrators. This course aims to help establish multi-disciplinary networks and augment existing ones to better address the issue of elder financial exploitation.

This webinar’s instructors are Jenefer Duane and Talitha Guinn-Shaver. Jenefer is the Senior Program Analyst in the Office of Financial Protection for Older Americans at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She leads the bureau’s efforts to educate older adults on their finances and the potential of financial exploitation. Meanwhile, Talitha is the Elder Abuse Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) Technical Assistant for the Elder Justice Initiative at the US Department of Justice. She also has extensive experience working with MDTs handling elder abuse cases.

Specifics Jenefer and Talitha included in this session are:

• A brief overview of the severity of elder financial exploitation in the US.
• The role of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in elder financial exploitation particularly by fostering shareholder networks that collaborate to address the issue.
• Defining what a network is, its purpose, focus, and efforts – particularly those working to tackle elder abuse and financial exploitation cases.
• The recommendation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s 2016 Study which underlined the importance of multi-disciplinary collaboration to deal with elder abuse.
• The Resource Guide for Elder Fraud Prevention & Response Networks (EFPRN) which provides steps, guidelines, and best practices to better address the issue.
• Retreats facilitated and the Network Development Guide created to help agencies build more effective elder fraud prevention and response networks.
• A look into the Department of Justice’s Elder Justice Initiative, the services, support, and resources they provide to elder abuse stakeholder networks.
• A glimpse into some of the most common types of networks and those that exist in communities that intersect with elder justice issues.
• Principles to help us adapt to the changing environment.
• How teams are responding and the apparent changes in the workplace and the field brought about by COVID-19.
• How to effectively work in changing environments due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Observing social distancing when interacting with elder adult clients as well as colleagues and other teams.
  • Doing remote work that ensures the confidentiality and security of our communications and transactions.
  • Training people on the use of collaborative tools and resources and educating them on teleconferencing etiquette.
  • Considering telehealth as a means to have a continuous interface with elder clients for non-emergency concerns.
  • Tips on how to effectively facilitate virtual meetings across teams.

Questions raised by the audience were about:

• The intersection of substance abuse problems to the elder population.
• Definition of terms.
• The time it takes before an abuse case is brought to the attention of team members.
• Conducting virtual retreats for MDTs.
• Reporting and dealing with charities that target the elderly with their call for donations.

This is one of two webinars about Financial Elder Abuse and Fraud.

• June 9: Elder Fraud Prevention Networks (This Webinar)
• June 23: Suspicious Activity Reports: Taking Your Financial Abuse Investigations to the Next Level

Resources and Handouts

• Office for Older Americans Resource Page

Audience Comments

• “Useful resources were provided that staff can continue to use throughout our work.” — Alexis
• “Everything especially the principles of Adapting to Our Changing Environment during these critical times.” — Beverley
• “Thank you for this presentation. There are many valuable resources that were highlighted today.” — Bruce
• “I’m new to world of elder care so this was all really great information.” — Cassie
• “The speakers were very knowledgeable and spoke at a pace that the listener could grasp the concept. With the new age of everything on webinars, it is important that the speaker does not talk too fast or too slow. I understand this is a difficult balance. However, the speakers today were perfect!!!!” — Kathleen