U.S. Attorney’s Office Promotes Elder Justice Initiative by Partnering With Meals On Wheels

RALEIGH – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina is promoting the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Elder Justice Initiative (EJI) throughout the Wake County area.  On June 13, 2019, the Eastern District partnered with Meals on Wheels in Wake County to conduct outreach to approximately 1,300 seniors in the area to raise awareness about DOJ’s Elder Justice Initiative and provide facts about elder abuse. Elder abuse includes physical abuse, psychological abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and abandonment, and financial abuse.    

Below are some facts shared with the community about the impact of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation: 

•Elder abuse triples the risk of premature death and causes unnecessary illness, injury, and suffering.

•Victims of elder abused are four times more likely to be admitted to a nursing home and three times more likely to be admitted to a hospital.

•Financial exploitation causes large economic losses for businesses, families, elders, and government programs, and increases reliance on federal and state health care programs, such as Medicare and    Medicaid.

•Older adults with cognitive incapacity suffer significantly greater economic losses than those without such incapacity.

•As a result of providing care for an older adult, some caregivers experience declines in their own physical and mental health.

The mission of the Elder Justice Initiative is to support and coordinate DOJ’s enforcement and programmatic efforts to prevent and combat elder abuse, neglect, financial exploitation and scams that target our nation’s seniors by promoting justice for older adults; helping older victims and their families; enhancing state and local efforts through training and resources; and supporting research to improve elder abuse policy and practice. 

For more information about DOJ’s efforts to prevent and combat elder abuse, please visit the Elder Justice Website at https://www.justice.gov/elderjustice.  Elder fraud complaints may be filed with the FTC at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov or at 877-FTC-HELP. You can also contact the Victim Connect Hotline between 9am-6pm, Monday through Friday, at: 1- 855-4VICTIM (1-855-4842846), or contact the Elder Justice Coordinator at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina at (919) 856-4530.