2010 BJS Assessment of Administrative Data on Elder Abuse, Mistreatment, and Neglect

The 2010 Assessment of Administrative Data on Elder Abuse, Mistreatment and Neglect will examine the problem of elder abuse, mistreatment and neglect by collecting data on cases of suspected elder abuse referred to Adult Protective Services agencies and cases reported to local law enforcement. The goals of the program are two-fold: 1) to examine the characteristics of cases of suspected elder abuse referred to APS and/or reported to police, in order to understand routes of reporting of elder abuse, as well as whether certain case characteristics impact case outcomes; and 2) to ascertain the feasibility of an ongoing and expanded collection of administrative data on cases of suspected elder abuse, mistreatment and neglect. This project will expand on previous research in this area by looking across multiple jurisdictions and over a larger number of cases to examine the characteristics of suspected cases of elder abuse and the mechanisms by which they are reported to APS and/or local law enforcement. Specifically, the study aims to answer the following questions: 1. Who reports cases of suspected elder abuse to Adult Protective Services? To local law enforcement? Are these groups of reporters significantly different from one another? 2. What are the characteristics of the elders and the perpetrators in cases of suspected elder abuse, mistreatment and neglect that are referred to Adult Protective Services and/or reported to law enforcement? 3. What are the characteristics of the cases of suspected elder abuse, mistreatment and neglect that are referred to Adult Protective Services compared with cases reported to law enforcement? 4. Of cases of suspected elder abuse referred to APS and law enforcement, how many are investigated, substantiated, referred for prosecution, and/or result in some type of formal sanction or conviction? 5. How are the forensic markers associated with various types of elder abuse, mistreatment and neglect documented by APS investigators and law enforcement? CA/NCF