County Executive Falk Releases Report on Elder Abuse in Dane County

May 03, 2006
David W Carlson, Public Relations Manager, Dane County Human Services, (608) 242-6424
Badger Prairie

County Executive Kathleen Falk today released new numbers on the incidents of elder abuse in Dane County and praised workers at the Area Agency on Aging (AAA) of Dane County for their work in keeping older adults in the community safe and independent. The report, prepared by the Area Agency on Aging, cited 435 overall cases of elder abuse in Dane County in 2005. Of these cases, 105 involved the dynamics of domestic abuse, 82 involved an element of emotional abuse and 39 were referred as a direct result of physical violence. Falk added $52,000 in the 2006 budget to support an additional elder abuse investigator, bringing the total number of full time investigators to three in addition to a full time elder victims advocate/support position. “These workers are charged with protecting some of our most vulnerable citizens from physical violence as well as emotional and financial abuse,” said Falk who noted that 66% of elder abuse victims in Dane County are women and the perpetrator is most typically an adult male child of the victim. “By increasing resources to aggressively pursue reports of elder abuse and offering other services to older adults to help them live safely in their homes, we are promoting independence for seniors,” said Falk. Often times the abuser uses violence or threats of violence to coerce assets such as money, a home or vehicle from the abused or uses emotional abuse to discourage the older adult from spending money on healthcare needs in hopes of preserving the estate for themselves. Today the Area Agency on Aging of Dane County, operated by the Dane County Department of Human Services, celebrated the grand opening of its new office, at 2322 South Park Street (Villager Mall.) AAA can be reached at 608-261-9930. ###