With thehelp of law enforcement and the Adult Protective Service (APS) division of Indiana's Family and Social Services Administration, www.in.gov/fssa, area bankers hope to keep their elder customers better protected.
In recent months, Julie Evers, office manager for Alliance Bank in Rensselaer, had a case of suspected elder abuse and wanted to know what could be done. Once she was in touch with Kristine Harlow, APS regional director, she was able to act appropriately.
“As a banker, with all the privacy issues surrounding that fact, I didn't know what I could and couldn't do when seeing questionable situations," Evers explained. "After learning about the Adult Protective Services and meeting Kristine, I wanted to share what I learned with other bankers in our area.”
At the April 28 training session Alliance Bank invited Harlow to speak. There were 25 in attendance, representing Alliance Bank, Key Bank, Lafayette Bank & Trust, Kentland Bank, Community State Bank, the Rensselaer Police Department and Jasper and Pulaski County’s Human Services Departments. The discussion was lively and clearly needed.
Indiana is unique in that Adult Protective Services is a part of the prosecuting attorney's office so cases get processed through the court system. APS investigates abuse, neglect, and exploitation of endangered adults. An endangered adult is at least 18 years of age, incapable by reason of mental illness, mental challenge, dementia, habitual drunkenness, excessive use of drugs, or other physical or mental incapacity of managing or directing the management of the individual's property or providing or directing the provision of self-care and harmed or threatened with harm as a result of neglect, battery, or exploitation of the individual's personal services or property. Financial exploitation includes the illegal or improper use of an older adult's funds, property, or assets.
Sadly, only a small fraction of financial exploitation incidents are reported. The Indiana Endangered Adult Statute allows for reports of abuse, neglect and exploitation to be made to APS or law enforcement. There are a number of types of elder financial exploitation including, but certainly not limited to: power of attorney or fiduciary abuse, abuse by care givers and in-home helpers, investment fraud such as ponzi schemes, promissory notes, unscrupulous financial advisers, affinity fraud, internet fraud, inappropriate or fraudulent annuity sales, lottery and sweepstakes scams, sweepstakes recovery scams, lottery reload scams, telephone scams such as grandchild scams, IRS scams, charity scams, and of course home access/diversion and home improvement scams.
There are a number of reasons why the elderly are targeted and why they themselves do not report incidents of abuse or when they feel they may have been victimized. The important take away is that a citizen can report it and is required to report it. In Indiana, every citizen is a mandated reporter and could be charged with a misdemeanor for failing to report. If you believe someone is in immediate danger, call 911. Law enforcement is very familiar with APS and trained to contact them based on their findings. If you would like to make a report to APS, call 219-326-6808 ext. 2348.
Alliance Bank is headquartered in Francesville, with banks in Monon, Monticello, Otterbein, Oxford, Rensselear and Winamac and their surrounding communities.
