NCJ Number
107474
Date Published
1987
Length
31 pages
Annotation
In 1984, the Illinois Department of Aging was given overall responsibility to design, develop, and manage the State's elder abuse demonstration program.
Abstract
Under the program, the department identified abused elderly in each project area, identified basic core and emergency services, developed program models, identified available services and service gaps, and made cost estimates for a statewide program. Grants to area agencies on aging were made for the development of programs based on one of three intervention models: the child abuse model, characterized by mandatory reporting of elder abuse; the legal intervention model, based on a domestic violence approach that uses police and courts to intervene; and the advocacy model (used in two areas), which uses an advocate to protect the victim's rights and to manage community service alternatives. Third year data from the projects indicate that the typical victim was a 77-year-old widow with at least one mental or physical impairment. Abusers usually were relatives. Financial exploitation was the most common form of abuse, followed by verbal, psychological, and physical abuse. Recommendations for future funding and programming are provided. Appendixes include data tables and additional program information.