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welcome to prevention and detection of financial exploitation a general training for financial agents in Connecticut this training was developed by the legislative Commission on Aging that is narrated by Laura snow from the Center for elder abuse prevention at Jewish Senior Services and the Coalition for elder justice in Connecticut additional tools related to this topic are available on the legislative Commission on Aging website to share additional tools case studies or ask questions contact the legislative Commission on Aging their information is available at the end of this presentation this training was developed in response to public act 15 - 236 which mandates all financial agents in the state of Connecticut to receive training to detect potential fraud exploitation and financial abuse of elderly persons this training is meant as a free general overview of this topic to help agents comply with this requirement which is deep further detailed on this slide if you or your organization has other materials it uses on this topic please consult your legal counsel as to whether those materials meet the standards set in PA 15 - 236 note mandated training is different than mandated reporting financial agents in Connecticut are not required to report suspicion of financial elder abuse fraud and exploitation to the Department of Social Services protective services for the elderly program protective services for the elderly is the agency that responds to well-being and safety concerns for individuals aged 60 and older more will be shared later in this presentation about what services they offer however financial agents may voluntarily report non-public information under federal exception guidelines public information and publicly viewed safety concerns and/or concerns of behavior or well-being furthermore financial institutions have immunity from civil and criminal liability for good faith reporting to protective services for the elderly before we proceed who is the population we are discussing and what is the issue the following definitions are different in every state here in Connecticut elderly is defined as any resident aged 60 years or older elder abuse includes but is not limited to the willful infliction of physical pain injury or mental anguish or the willful deprivation by a caregiver of services which are necessary to maintain physical and mental health elder financial exploitation is refers to the act or process of taking advantage of an elderly person by another person or caretaker whether for monetary personal or other benefit gain or profit why is this a concern we all know the population is aging and unfortunately they are also a target ninety percent of perpetrators unfortunately are trusted others forty-seven percent of which are adult children so while stranger danger through scams and frauds are indeed a major concern that we are all experiencing these types of cases do not make up the bulk of elder abuse cases rather trusted others in the individuals life are involved older adults are targeted and may be socially isolated dependent on others for assistance afraid to report embarrassed about what's happened to them living with the cognitive impairment and experiencing a decline in financial literacy or knowledge for these reasons people may not report a mate of the unable to report research is showing the financial literacy and knowledge may decline because we've seen more markets and have more experience or may have maila may have left the working world and not stayed as up-to-date on emerging trends as we once had as a result as a result our knowledge may decline just as our confidence in our abilities increase and some older adults may be less likely to seek for a second opinion if they are that confident life events may cause a change in management of finances for example the death of a spouse may change who is handling the finances then previously and older adults are potential victims of financial exploitation regardless of income level while these issues again may happen to us at any age recovering losses it's virtually impossible later in life and losses threaten the individuals ability to maintain their quality of life and unfortunately we all make paying for the person's care if their personal savings have been wrongfully depleted what are signs that we should be concerned about we've divided the following red flags between behavior and financial activities these are gathered for the National Association for Protective Services the Financial Services Roundtable and the Financial Crimes enforcement Network note the presence of any one or multiple red flags does not indicate definite abuse fraud or exploitation but should be considered as signs of potential or actual abuse fraud or exploitation red flags include noticeable neglect or decline in appearance grooming or hygiene note neglect whether inflicted by self or others is of concern that could be benefit from assistance it may be an indicator of physical or cognitive health declines financial stability or abuse fraud and exploitation perpetrated by someone else neglecting this individuals daily needs another sign includes increased confusion word finding problems memory issues Express stress regarding life and relationships an unusual degree of fear anxiety submissiveness or deference they lack knowledge about her personal financial status this is not just a cognitive issue but for example they may not be receiving their statements in the mail despite the best efforts to obtain them because someone else is intercepting them unexplained or unusual excitement over financial windfall or price check the new inability to afford to cost of daily living new associations with quote unquote friends or strangers sudden appearance of previously uninvolved relatives claiming their rights excessive interest in older adults finances or accounts as expressed by those trusted others red flags of suspicious financial activity are noticeable change in banking or financial management habits uncharacteristic non-payment for services and disregard to penalties that may be against the best interests of the older adult sudden changes in who is conducting financial transactions on behalf of the older adults abrupt changes to financial documents such as power of attorney joint accounts account beneficiaries making requests beyond legal authority outlined and provided the documents in particular those legal documents such as a power of attorney monies not being used in the interest or intent of the older adult change of addressed to new address suspicious signatures unexplained disappearance of funds or valuable possessions a few things to consider about whether or when you report your concerns protocols follow internal protocols provided to you by your place of employment or your legal counsel if your organization or practice does not have a protocol about older adults consider creating one time the sooner a report is made the faster the exploitation can be stopped through either internal or external processes however it is important to know the timeline of your partners as well because their timelines may influence which steps you take for example whether or not to freeze an account or take other actions to protect an older adults finances proof tangible proof is not necessary suspicion is adequate determination of financial abuse and exploitation is made by law enforcement and/or protective services for the elderly at the State Department of Social Services financial institutions that are subject to the gramm-leach-bliley Act are allowed certain confidentiality exemptions cases of elder abuse may be reported to local state and federal authorities under the following exceptions to federal confidentiality laws in cases to prevent fraud unauthorized transactions claims or other liability law enforcement regarding public safety issues with consent of the consumer in response to subpoenas for specific interpretation of confidentiality laws please consult your legal counsel ask your organization if they have our lease form our policy on how to verify when a client has provided consent you and whenever possible try to see consent from a client to call Protective Services or another party that may be helpful to them if you don't already have a written form of release to share information consider creating one and an internal policy to do so in your unique situation or role as brought up in the beginning of this presentation there may be situations you want to consider reporting to Protective Services for the elderly without the consent of your client it may be that the individual cannot give consent or you're concerned about their now lack of capacity you may be concerned about their personal care or well-being that is not financial undue influence or manipulation by another party inability to speak with the older adults and significant funds for that person are at stake remember you may consider starting the conversation of conservative Protective Services while they reach out to the individual and seek further consent to look into matters our safeguard their well-being or get further release forms for more information to primary resources to consider calling to help older consumers or law enforcement and protective services for the elderly consider if one or both organizations should be called it is possible that these agencies may also refer to each other in cases should they determine the situation or requires it or would benefit from it but do not assume that that will happen law enforcement of course should be called the crime as I suspected protective services for the elderly and the Connecticut Department of Social Services can be called if you have concerns about personal well-being and safety of a vulnerable party or if you have concerns about financial activity and behavior whenever possible or appropriate obtain consent or encourage a joint report to protective services for the elderly in the client presents every state has a different phone number for protective services for the elderly here in Connecticut the statewide referral line is listed below if you would like to report to another state you can do so by calling info line and ask me for another state's Adult Protective Services or protective services for the elderly which are two primary names of these organizations in different jurisdictions what are steps we can take to prevent elder financial exploitation each financial agent listening to this training will have some unique situations to their field or role however some guiding principles include check all proper authorization and documentation ensure that the person claiming to act for the older adult indeed has the authority to do so this includes signature cards powers of attorney and conservatorships many individuals exaggerate or misunderstand the authority granted to them by legal documents another good practice is ensuring you advise the right product for the consumer needs for example a person may obtain a joint account but it may not meet their goals or protect them transparency whenever possible build in transparency for example encourage multiple people in decisions we must balance autonomy and privacy with protection but generally these situations with greater transparency have more favorable outcomes transparency may be accomplished in different ways for each situation so for example if a client does not want to share with their family consider having a professional or other organization involved justice prevention happens with individual education consider if you can provide broader community education to consumers and other professionals examples of consumer education are listed below and there are more available on the legislative Commission on Aging's website there are many organizations that serve the unique needs of older adults in Connecticut the following may be of benefit to you professionally and possibly personally to your family and friends thank you for listening and working to make Connecticut a safe place for older adults