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Purpose
- Prevent and combat the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of at-risk
older and disabled adults in our local community through the collaboration
of professionals in law, medicine, and social services.
- Educate professionals who deal with the crime of elder abuse including
law enforcement, the medical community, social services, the legal community,
government officials and investigative agencies, academic institutions, as
well as older adults and their families regarding effective prevention and
prosecution.
- Advance the awareness of elder abuse through research on abuse and neglect
of at-risk older and disabled adults.
- Create a new standard for interventions that are effective in combating
and preventing mistreatment of older adults.
Overview
Approximately 2 million American seniors are abused, neglected, or exploited
each year. In Orange County, Adult Protective Services receives 500 reports of
abuse each month. For every report of abuse, five go unreported, indicating that
more than 30,000 of our County's most vulnerable adults endure elder abuse each
year.
Launched in May 2003, the Elder Abuse Forensic Center changes the way elder
abuse cases are prosecuted through an unprecedented collaborative process. The
Center is staffed by professionals from legal, medical, social services, and law
enforcement agencies who conduct case reviews; in-home medical and mental status,
and evidentiary investigation; taped victim interviews; education; consultation;
and research. The collaboration brings these experts together to better understand,
identify and treat elder abuse, determine more efficient ways to successfully
prosecute elder abuse cases and support the prevention of elder abuse through greater
awareness and education among those professionals who work with older and disabled
adults.
The Center represents an important step forward in our nation's ability to combat
and prevent elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation through its groundbreaking
collaboration in service, education, and research.
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