Executive Summary Page 1

Contents

Executive Summary Page 1

Project Development Page 2

Findings Page 4

Recommendations/Conclusion Page 9

Attachments:

CFPB Research Report/Recommendations

CFPB Resource Guide

Executive Summary

Purpose:

The overall project goal of Combating Elder Financial Exploitation in New Hampshire was to develop recommendations for increasing collaborations, maximizing resources, and creating effective responses to address the growing problem of elder financial exploitation in New Hampshire. Key activities included the planning and implementation of a multi-sector initiative in two phases:

1.  A leadership summit convening professionals from criminal justice, banking, legal services and community supports to learn more about elder financial exploitation and to develop initial recommendations for improved response statewide

2.  Five regional meetings across the state to share initial summit findings and to engage additional local leaders in the process of developing region-specific recommendations for action

The compilation of overall project findings and related recommendations in this report are intended to provide an ongoing framework for continued efforts to promote coordinated, collaborative responses and the sharing of expertise and resources.

Development:

To secure major funding for the project, CALLA submitted successful grant requests to Endowment for Health and Bank of New Hampshire. New Hampshire Legal Assistance, an active member of CALLA, acted as the organizational sponsor. A project planning committee was formed in November 2015 and included representatives from criminal justice, legal services, community-based services for elders, and banking. A project coordinator facilitated monthly planning meetings and carried out follow-up activities during the project period.

A day-long agenda was developed for the April 20th leadership summit that featured a nationally-known keynote speaker followed by afternoon work groups facilitated by sector leaders. Five locations around the state were chosen as sites for regional follow-up meetings in May and June that engaged additional local leaders in sharing and gathering information.

Main findings:

The leadership summit and the regional meetings provided effective settings for participants to learn about financial exploitation, to share experiences and perspectives, and to develop recommendations for ways to improve response through collaborative efforts – at both the state and local levels. 140 professionals participated at the summit and provided positive feedback about the format and content. Participation in the regional meetings exceeded expectations with 175 professional sharing expertise, interests and ideas for enhancing response in their areas.

Major findings included the need for:

·  Educating the general public about elder financial exploitation

·  Providing role-specific professional trainings to increase professional competence

·  Developing more multi-disciplinary local/regional teams like CALLA to promote greater coordination and collaboration

·  Securing commitments from leadership in all sectors to make responding to elder financial exploitation a priority

Conclusion:

Elder financial exploitation will continue to be a major issue that will impact the well-being of the growing number of older adults in our state. The information shared and gathered through both project phases of Combating Elder Financial Exploitation in New Hampshire indicates a strong interest among professionals in developing multi-sector approaches, increasing professional trainings and supports and developing a statewide campaign to educate the general public.

Project Development

With major funding by Endowment for Health and Bank of New Hampshire in place, project planning was carried out by a committee including members of CALLA and its FAST team and led by a project coordinator. Organizations represented included:

New Hampshire Legal Assistance

NH Attorney General’s Office

Bank of New Hampshire

Lake Sunapee Bank

NH Division of Health and Human Services (Adult Protective Services)

Merrimack County Sheriff’s Office

Franklin Police Department

Portsmouth Police Department

Grafton County Attorney’s Office

Office of the Public Guardian

Concord Regional Visiting Nurse Association

Belknap-Merrimack Community Action Program

Representative Katherine Rogers, CALLA member and sponsor of the law criminalizing elder financial exploitation in New Hampshire, also participated in the planning and served as a liaison to the NH House and Senate and the Office of the Governor.

The committee created a summit agenda and identified the target audience. It was agreed that professionals with criminal justice roles would be given priority. Other sectors identified as potential participants included bankers, the legal service professionals and leaders of community-based services for elders. A summit brochure was created and mailed along with a letter of invitation to potential participants. Letters were followed-up with personal e-mails and phone calls. CALLA members and their supporters posted summit information on their websites and a Facebook page was also created.

The Grappone Conference Center in Concord was chosen as the site for the summit. Paul Greenwood, Deputy District Attorney in San Diego, CA and national expert in prosecuting elder abuse cases – including financial exploitation - was engaged as the keynote speaker. Six facilitators prepared to carry out afternoon workgroups in which participants met by sectors to continue the morning’s discussion and to identify challenges and initial ideas for improving overall response.

To ensure their participation, scholarships covering the registration fee were offered to criminal justice professionals – including law enforcement officers and prosecutors from county attorneys’ offices throughout the state. Funding to cover these scholarships was provided by scholarship sponsors that included: Lake Sunapee Bank, Optima Bank, Mortgage Bankers and Brokers Association of NH, Laboe & Tasker PLLC, and Western Union.

Plans for five regional meetings included selection of sites and dates, development of a meeting agenda, and creation of regional flyers. NH DHHS Adult Protective Services staff facilitated the selection of sites and the distribution of regional flyers through their regional networks.

Activity Summary:

Meeting / Location / Date / Number of Participants
Leadership Summit / Grappone Center
in Concord, NH / April 20, 2016 / 140
Northern Regional Meeting / Medallion Opera House
in Gorham, NH / May 17, 2016 / 30
Seacoast Regional Meeting / Rye Public Library
in Rye, NH / May 19, 2016 / 41
Southern Regional Meeting / Elliot Hospital
in Manchester, NH / May 24, 2016 / 34
Central Regional Meeting / Laconia Public Library
in Laconia, NH / May 25, 2016 / 28
Western Regional Meeting / Cheshire County Correctional Facility
in Keene, NH / June, 2016 / 42
Total # of Participants 315

Recording of Data:

The keynote address at the leadership summit was video-recorded with permission of the keynote speaker. The video will be useful as a training tool for criminal justice professionals. Key discussion topics from the summit work groups and each of the regional meetings were recorded on flip-charts during sessions and organized as summaries.

Findings

A.  The key findings from individual summit work group discussions and regional meetings are reported below.

Session / Key Findings
Summit
Criminal Justice Workgroup 1
(Police Officers and Prosecutors) / ·  Community Outreach – Must be out educating the public. Community centers and providers could help with expanding outreach.
·  Multi-Disciplinary Communications –Need a model that can be adapted in all parts of the state.
·  An updated AG protocol manual on how to address cases of elder abuse – Criminal justice professionals need to have this as a reference.
Summit
Criminal Justice Workgroup 2
(Police Officers and Prosecutors) / ·  Training – Very little formal training available for prosecutors and law enforcement on this issue.
·  Understanding Available Resources – Need to know what other state and community services are available.
·  Commitment From the “Top Down” - Need to have consistent, committed resources in place to address these issues – and make it a priority.
Summit
Criminal Justice Workgroup 3
(Police Officers and Prosecutors) / ·  Training – Need more training opportunities for criminal justice professionals – especially on the new law criminalizing elder financial exploitation.
·  Understanding Available Resources – Need to know where to look.
Session / Key Findings
Summit
Banking Workgroup
(Banking Professionals) / ·  Training & Education – In general, for bankers to recognize potential abuse – but also in making decisions about their own risk management operations. Would be ideal if there was one standard for all banks that was simple and consistent – would make collaboration with other community partners easier.
·  Need for Collaboration – Bankers have the power to stop activity – but then the case gets passed on to “enforcers.” It is a multi-disciplinary event. Understanding how each partner will behave – what they will do with the case – is instrumental in being successful. The “trust” factor that comes through collaborative experience enables all disciplines to give input and act quickly.
Summit
Legal Services Workgroup
(NHLA, Office of the Public Guardian, and Elder Law Attorneys.) / ·  Education – need to build public awareness – as empowerment and a deterrent. Also need more training of criminal justice professionals about using the new law. Mentioned possible training for the Chiefs Association.
·  Collaboration - Development of a state-wide FAST team and/or Governor’s Task Force to bring more attention to the issues and work together at meeting challenges. (Mentioned some of the work going on in Maine’s FAST as a potential model.)
·  “Best Practice” Model for POAs
Session / Key Findings
Summit
Community Supports Workgroup / ·  Provider Awareness - Knowing indicators of abuse and exploitation and how to respond. Can help educate older adults about abuse and exploitation.
·  Collaboration - Multi-disciplinary teams are the best approach. Suggest looking at regional elder-wraps or committees on aging to help build more local collaborative efforts.
·  Public Education – Need stronger efforts. Use of media to reach more people through PSA’s and tips for consumers.
Northern Regional Meeting / ·  More regional meetings – to share information and strategies
·  More collaboration and networking – use existing provider network meetings?
·  Approaching the NH Bar Association about the cost of POA’s (can they help?)
·  More public outreach – form teams to do community outreach events
Seacoast Regional Meeting / ·  More collaboration and networking – continue with regional meetings of interested organizations in fall. Find funding sources
·  Approach the NH Bankers Association – Can they help with training of bankers?
·  More public outreach – form local teams to do outreach and develop a state-level plan to utilize media
Session / Key Findings
Southern Regional Meeting / ·  More training of prosecutors – Need to increase understanding of and willingness to take financial exploitation cases
·  More training for law enforcement – especially in understanding financial documents
·  Public education – increase efforts toward building awareness in the general public
·  More collaboration and networking opportunities
Central Regional Meeting / ·  More training for law enforcement – especially around the new law
·  Public education – increase efforts toward the general public – social media, print, broadcast
·  More collaboration and networking opportunities – build a multi-disciplinary team for the region
·  Acknowledge lack of safe shelters for older victims – often have to go back home to the perpetrator
Western Regional Meeting / ·  More consistent training for bankers -– especially the “front line staff”
·  Working with reluctant victims – need for more victim supports and strategies
·  Public education – More community outreach to connect with older adults – especially through housing.
·  More professional education for front line providers – police, banks, and APS.

B.  Compiled major findings are listed according to the frequency with which they were cited by participants at the summit and in regional meetings. They include:

1.  The general public must be better informed about elder financial exploitation.

There was strong agreement among participants that lack of public awareness about this issue represents a major obstacle to be addressed. Lack of understanding about the nature elder financial exploitation, what to look for, and how to get help contribute to the under-reporting of these crimes and limit the ability of helping agencies to respond.

2.  Professionals need consistent and role-specific training.

Law enforcement officers, prosecutors, bankers and adult protective service workers are “front-line” responders with responsibilities and authorities to intervene quickly and stop elder financial exploitation. Participants from each of these sectors cited the need for better access to professional training specific to their roles. In addition, providers of emergency medical services were recognized as first responders to potential crime scenes and also in need of adequate training.

Other professionals interfacing with older adults need general training about elder financial exploitation and its criminal nature; common indicators, and NH reporting laws and process. These include all types of elder service programs and providers, health and home care providers (medical and non-medical) and religious/spiritual leaders.

3.  Improved response to elder financial exploitation requires improved inter-agency communication, coordination and collaboration.

There was general agreement that multi-disciplinary approaches are the most effective way to improve response. Various models of multi-disciplinary teams like CALLA offer participants the chance to share expertise and resources, develop effective working relationships, understand each agency’s capcities and limits, coordinate efforts, and build trust and confidence in sharing information.

4.  Responding to elder financial exploitation requires a commitment of leadership from the “top-down.”

At both the state and local level, improving response to elder financial exploitation means making it a priority. Participants cited the amount of time and resources required by these cases create significant challenges given the realities of organizational staffing and funding.

Other findings to report include:

·  Addressing concerns about Powers of Attorney – A best-practice model would be helpful as a guide to older adults, their families and elder law attorneys. Information about powers of attorney should be included in public education as well as professional trainings as appropriate for each audience. Another concern cited was the legal cost of executing a Power of Attorney (approx. $300) is often beyond the means of low income elders.

·  Lack of safe shelters for older victims – Several participants cited the need for a safe place for victims of any form of abuse in later life while longer-term options for their safety are considered. Crisis centers are often filled to capacity with younger victims and their children and cannot accommodate the special needs of older victims. Often, the only place for them is back at home with a suspected perpetrator.