I
attended a legal seminar the other day on representing the victims of
elder abuse. The seminar was about the civil and criminal proceedings
designed to stem the rising tide of elder abuse. It was attended by the
usual suspects: Oregon elder law lawyers, professional fiduciaries, and
government employees.
At the conference, Marie Cervantes, gave a presentation on the Office of Adult Abuse Prevention and Investigation
(OAAPI). The office was created in 2012 and represents an attempt to
coordinate the work of the various government agencies that deal with
elder abuse. The OAAPI does not replace your local Adult Protective
Services office, but instead attempts to standardize practices across
geographic and bureaucratic lines. It also collects statistics that will
permit local offices and district attorney's to better know what abuse
looks like in the local community.
In
addition I learned that Amanda Sue Nadell of the Multnomah County
District Attorney's office is taking over the job for prosecuting elder
abuse from Chuck Mickley. Chuck will be missed.
