Local Effort to Prevent Elder Abuse Receives National Recognition
August 13, 2008

FAIRFIELD – The Center for Elder Abuse Prevention (The Center), a crisis shelter for older adults operated by The Jewish Home for the Elderly, is receiving national recognition for its innovative approach to reach out to victims of elder abuse in the Greater Bridgeport community. The Center was established through the help of local funders and multiple community partners. Recently, The Jewish Home was awarded a four-year matching grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and a two-year grant from another national funder, The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, to support The Center’s efforts to serve older abuse victims in crisis.

Since The Center opened on September 17, 2007, approximately 27 seniors have received help and five, specifically, have been sheltered with nearly 300 total shelter days. These numbers far exceed expectations for the first few months of The Center’s operations. In addition to arranging for safe alternatives to abusive living situations, The Center collaborates with several community agencies to provide comprehensive medical, psychological and social assessments, legal services, court advocacy and case management.

“In 2004, Connecticut had the highest number of elder abuse cases reported to Protective Services in the country,” says Alice Deak, Special Projects Director of The Southwestern Connecticut Agency on Aging. “We are proud to partner with The Jewish Home to support this program, to care for our seniors and to work toward preventing abuse.”

Matching funds for the RWJF grant have been generously donated by The Jewish Home’s community partners, including The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, The Southwestern Connecticut Agency on Aging, Fairfield County Community Foundation (formerly, Greater Bridgeport Area Foundation), The Inner-City Foundation for Charity & Education, Near & Far Aid Association, the Town of Fairfield, Connecticut, The George A. & Grace L. Long Foundation, The Daphne Seybolt Culpeper Memorial Foundation and many private donors.

The RWJF grant was received through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Local Funding Partnerships (LFP), which is one of their most competitive annual grantmaking programs. Using rigorous criteria, the LFP program supports community-based projects that develop new, collaborative, creative solutions to improve health and health care for society’s most vulnerable people. The Home was selected as one of 12 finalists out of a pool of 138 very strong applications for the 2009 LFP awards.

Collaboration between community organizations has been an essential component of The Center’s initial success. The Jewish Home will continue to work together with local agencies to provide necessary services and bring attention to the problem of elder abuse in Connecticut. In particular, Connecticut Legal Services, The Center for Women and Families of Eastern Fairfield County (CWF), Protective Services for Elders, The Southwestern Connecticut Area Agency on Aging, and local and state police departments have devoted attention to this important issue. A community Coalition for the Advocacy, Prevention, and Elimination of Abuse in Older Adults (CAPE) was also created to unify different parties working with older adults.

“The problem of elder abuse is more common than one would like to think," says Debra Greenwood, President and CEO of CWF. According to the National Center on Elder Abuse, between one and two million Americans age 65 or older have been injured, exploited or otherwise mistreated by someone on whom they depended for care or protection. Last fiscal year, CWF helped 105 clients, age 60 and older, who were victims of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. Greenwood adds, “Like many other victims of abuse, seniors frequently believe they have no alternative to an abusive relationship. This new partnership with The Center will help us bring our expertise to those who need it most."

Elder abuse can take many forms, including physical, sexual, and financial, as well as neglect. The abuser could be a family member or close friend on whom the elder is dependent for care. Sometimes an abusive situation arises with no thought of malice but because an individual becomes incapable of caring for his or her spouse.

The seniors referred to The Center since opening reflect the multiple ways abuse can occur. Some cases involved unwanted diversion of seniors’ social security checks and other funds to family members or other unauthorized parties. Other times, referrals involved caregivers, who either were negligent in caring for their family member or unintentionally neglected the senior due to being overburdened. Often, in unintentional abuse cases, caregivers are reluctant to acknowledge their own incapacity or diminished personal health, which prevents them from safely caring for a loved one. The Center also received cases of physical abuse and psychological duress. In these situations, The Center’s key services—finding a safe haven and providing a team experienced with the needs of the geriatric population—were crucial to helping the victims.

The Jewish Home’s President, Andrew Banoff believes that “seniors deserve to live in a safe environment, free from abuse. Yet, they often need care that a traditional domestic violence shelter cannot provide. We can offer our expertise to provide the best care to seniors in our community and these grants enable us to do so.”

The Center staff has already begun to educate police, health care providers, senior centers, hospitals and other key groups to recognize and report more cases of elder abuse. Over 1,000 people have attended training sessions. The goal, however, is to reach an even larger audience. According to Laura Snow, Coordinator of The Center, “We are so pleased to be the first to reproduce and adapt what was begun at The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Center for Elder Abuse Prevention at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale in New York. The hope is that The Center will become a successful model that can be replicated to help seniors across the country.”

For more information on elder abuse and The Center for Elder Abuse Prevention contact Laura Snow at 203-396-1097 or lsnow@jhe.org

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