Elder Law News

Reports Of Elder Abuse Drop Slightly In Pa

Still, because too many cases still go unreported, Secretary Dowd Eisenhower reminded Pennsylvanians to notify authorities of suspected abuse.

“Statistics alone do not tell the entire story – for every report of abuse that is received, there are countless others that we never hear about,” said Dowd Eisenhower. “Elder abuse continues to be a serious problem across all layers of society.”

The Department of Aging works with the state’s 52 Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) to provide protective services to older adults. During the 2004-05 fiscal year, Area Agencies on Aging received 13,006 reports of need for protective services, a drop of 205 reports from the previous fiscal year. Of those reports, 2,719 (20.9 percent) cases were substantiated as needing protective services, a decrease of 117 from the previous year.
Based on the 2004-05 data, two-thirds of those individuals found to need protective services were 75 or older. Most victims were female and were dependent on their abusers

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	Did You Know?
	Estimated that 820,000 elders became victims of elder abuse in 1994 The National Aging Resource Center on Elder Abuse (now the National Center on Elder Abuse) estimated that in 2004 there were 820,000 elders became victims of elder abuse. 106 percent increase in the number of reported cases between 1986 and 1994, from 117,000 to 241,000.