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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | June 13, 2014 10:38 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Jerry Knowles |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Elder Abuse Task Force Study |
| Elder Abuse is on the rise, both in Pennsylvania and nationally. The Commonwealth’s Older Adults Protective Services Act (OAPSA) is administered through the PA Department of Aging, and locally, through a statewide network of 52 local area agencies on aging. As the volume of abuse cases continues to increase, so does the demand placed upon our local AAAs to ensure that elder abuse victims not only receive protective services to cope with the harm that has been done to them, but they also need to have the ability to seek restitution and justice. Currently, there exist 33 multidisciplinary elder abuse task forces, created in cooperation with the local AAAs, that bring together professionals from many different genres to work together to combat elder abuse. The various participants on the task forces include experts from fields of social services, law enforcement, and financial institutions. In Schuylkill County, we are extremely proud of our Schuylkill Elder Abuse Prevention Alliance, Inc., (SEAPA, Inc.). SEAPA began as the Schuylkill County Elder Abuse Task Force and has evolved into a 501(c) 3 non-profit corporate entity that is recognized Statewide, and nationally, for the work they do to promote awareness of elder abuse, teaching the public and elder service providers about elder abuse and ensuring that crimes against the elderly are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I am introducing a resolution that will direct the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to conduct a study of the existing network of elder abuse task forces, to develop a profile of the existing task forces, to identify funding mechanisms utilized for operation of the task forces, as well as barriers that were overcome in achieving their establishment, and, to investigate the feasibility of establishing task forces in areas that do not have them. Please considering cosponsoring this resolution. |
Introduced as HR929