Making a complaint is important

Here’s something I learned recently: “When it comes to trauma, victims are five times more likely” to turn to clergy or church personnel for help.
That statistic came from a recently published tool kit for mental health professionals and church leaders: Where Faith and Safety Meet: Faith Communities Respond to Elder Abuse.
The finding certainly seems to hold true in the Diocese of Tucson, and probably is especially true among elders. Since raising consciousness in our communities about elder abuse, neglect and exploitation with the publication of a 2010 video, we have received many expressions of concern that have triggered reports to civil authorities.
Sometimes we’ve had situations of an elder coming to one of us for help. More often, it has been an encounter between a member of parish personnel and an elder. Often, it was something observed during a pastoral visit that triggered the concern. Very often, money has been involved.
Whatever the case, our personnel have been faithful in fulfilling their responsibility to protect the welfare of elders. Sometimes they call me to consider the situation. Sometimes they have gone directly to Adult Protective Services (APS).
They have learned, sometimes with frustration, that taking action doesn’t always go the way they thought. Incidents of potential child abuse or neglect sometimes can be complicated, but taking action on behalf of elders is far more confusing and challenging.
We have learned that APS and law enforcement are much more tightly constrained when it comes to investigating possible crimes against adults.
Adults, we are reminded, have the right to make their own choices, even if they are poor choices. There must be clear indications of intent to harm before civil authorities can act.
Because elder abuse, neglect and exploitation often occur at the hands of family members or others who have become important to the elder, the elder may find making a report or even cooperating with the reporting process very difficult. There is fear of losing the support from these important persons, even when they also are the source of mistreatment.
Regardless of whether civil authorities can respond, making the report is still the right thing to do. A more difficult issue, however, may be what we do when civil authorities cannot act.
A recent situation (facts changed to protect confidentiality) illustrates one way to handle such a situation.
An elder reported to a Eucharistic Minister that two family members had taken a large amount of money from her bank account without authorization. The same family members were now urging her to get a medical evaluation, raising the elder’s fear that they wanted to find a reason to put her out of her own home.
The Eucharistic Minister consulted a parish leader, who in turn called me. We determined that the parish leader needed to speak more with the elder, then make a report. The elder was adamant; she would not make a report. She did not want to “create problems” with the family members by reporting the financial loss to police. She did agree to consult an attorney regarding the fears that she might be put out of the house, but Adult Protective Services was clear that the agency could do nothing without a complaint from the elder.
This case is instructive because the parish did what it could at the moment. The outcome was not perfect, but at least the elder was going to talk with her attorney. The parish personnel will continue to observe and, if problems continue, make another report.
This can be a long process, particularly agonizing if the elder resists making a report to civil authorities until considerable damage has been done.
Nevertheless, we can be faithful in asking, listening, watching and waiting until there is an opportunity to act.
In our prayer and in the mutual support of our community we find strength to persevere. We do the right thing and try to keep doing it until good is accomplished.
The tool kit I mentioned can be obtained from Safe Havens Interfaith Partnership (http://www.interfaithpartners.org/elderhome.html).
Information about the reporting process is available from Adult Protective Services (https://www.azdes.gov/daas/aps). Brochures useful for training staff or informing elders are also available online (https://www.azdes.gov/appforms.aspx?Type=5&Category=114&menu=28).