Table 1 provides some examples. 2). Federal legislation has established a foundation for the federal  government to assume a leadership role in combating elder abuse,  including elder financial exploitation, and basis for greater coordination  across federal agencies in this area. The EJA was enacted as part of the  Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law on March 23, 2010. o  annually collect and disseminate data regarding elder abuse,  neglect, and exploitation of elders in coordination with  Justice;o  develop and disseminate information on best practices and  provide training for carrying out adult protective services; o  conduct research related to the provision of adult protective  o  provide technical assistance to states and others that provide  or fund the provision of adult protective services; o  establish 10 elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation forensic  centers, in consultation with Justice, that would (1) conduct  research on forensic markers for elder abuse, neglect, or  exploitation, and methodologies for determining when and how  health care, emergency, social and protective, and legal  service providers should intervene and when these cases  should be reported to law enforcement; (2) develop forensic  expertise regarding elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation; and  (3) use the data they have collected to develop, in coordination  with Justice, the capacity of geriatric health care professionals  and law enforcement authorities to collect forensic evidence,  including evidence needed to determine if elder abuse,  neglect, or exploitation has occurred. Currently, the Elder Justice Coordinating Council consists of the following  federal agencies: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Corporation for  National and Community Service, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of  Justice, Department of Labor, Department of the Treasury, Department of  Veterans Affairs, Federal Trade Commission, Postal Inspection Service,  and Social Security Administration. States Identified the Need for More Safeguards and Public Awareness Activities to Prevent Elder Financial Exploitation

		States Cited Need for More Safeguards to Prevent Elder Financial Exploitation

According to officials in the four states we visited, financial exploitation of  older adults by financial services providers, power of attorney agents, and  in-home caregivers is particularly difficult to prevent. In  California, law enforcement officials noted that notaries were not always  held accountable for their role in signing power of attorney documents. Others have enacted various  other power of attorney laws. State and Federal Officials Called for Greater Focus on Public Awareness

Experts and federal, state, and local officials told us that older adults need  more information about what constitutes elder financial exploitation in  order to know how to avoid it.officials told us that it is difficult for them to reach many older adults with  this message and that they have little funding to promote public  awareness. However, although the OAA calls for a coordinated federal elder justice  system, which includes educating the public, the seven agencies we  reviewed do not conduct these activities as part of a broader coordinated  approach. State and local officials in the four states we reviewed are attempting to  increase their expertise. AoA and Justice have developed some resources that could be used to  help state and local agencies build expertise in identifying, investigating,  and prosecuting elder financial exploitation (see table 3). Officials we met  from state and local social service and criminal justice agencies in three  of the four states we reviewed said that while collaboration between their  systems is important for combating elder financial exploitation,  collaborating can sometimes be difficult because the two systems differ in  the way they respond to exploitation and carry out their work. Providing accurate  contact information is consistent with Justice’s strategic objective for fiscal  years 2012-2016 to strengthen its relationships with state and local law  enforcement. Conclusions

Elder financial exploitation is a multi-faceted problem spanning social  service, criminal justice and consumer protection systems of government. Each of the seven federal agencies we reviewed is working  to solve this problem in ways that are consistent with its own mission. A clearly articulated national strategy is needed to coordinate  and optimize such federal efforts to effectively prevent and respond to  elder financial exploitation, and the EJCC can be the vehicle for defining  and implementing this strategy. In addition to working together to build a national strategy to combat elder  financial exploitation, there are a number of ways individual federal  agencies could better support state and local APS and law enforcement  agencies. The strategy could address, among other things, the  need to  identify and disseminate promising practices and other information  nationwide that can be used by state and local agencies to  prevent exploitation, educate the public, and help state and local  agencies collaborate, investigate, and prosecute elder financial  exploitation; ensure coordination of public awareness activities across federal  agencies; and  collect and disseminate better data nationwide to inform federal,  state, and local decisions regarding prevention of and response to  elder financial exploitation. Given the potential for the  Consumer Sentinel database to support and enhance state and local law  enforcement agencies’ response to elder financial exploitation,  particularly interstate and international cases, we continue to believe that  FTC should study the feasibility of requiring that all complaints to the  Consumer Sentinel database include the victim’s age or another indicator  of whether the complaint involves elder financial exploitation. The report is available  at no charge on GAO’s website at http://www.gao.gov.
Why GAO Did This Study

Elder financial exploitation is the illegal or improper use of an older adult's funds or property. It has been described as an epidemic with society-wide repercussions. While combating elder financial exploitation is largely the responsibility of state and local social service, criminal justice, and consumer protection agencies, the federal government has a role to play in this area as well. GAO was asked to review issues related to elder financial exploitation. This report describes the challenges states face in (1) preventing and (2) responding to elder financial exploitation, as well as the actions some federal agencies have taken to help states address these challenges.
To obtain this information, GAO interviewed state and local social service, criminal justice, and consumer protection officials in California, Illinois, New York, and Pennsylvania--states with large elderly populations; officials in seven federal agencies; and various elder abuse experts. GAO also analyzed federal strategic plans and other documents and reviewed relevant research, federal laws and regulations, and state laws.

What GAO Found

Officials in each of the four states GAO contacted identified the need for more safeguards and public awareness activities to help prevent elder financial exploitation. They also noted that it is difficult to prevent exploitation by individuals such as financial services providers, power of attorney agents, guardians, and paid in-home caregivers. Although states have primary responsibility for combating elder financial exploitation, the federal government could disseminate information on model power of attorney legislation, for example, to help states better safeguard against power of attorney abuse--one type of federal activity authorized under the Older Americans Act of 1965. In addition, experts and state and local officials told GAO that many older adults need more information about what constitutes elder financial exploitation in order to report and avoid it. The seven federal agencies GAO reviewed have undertaken activities to increase public awareness of elder financial exploitation. While some experts observed that a nationwide approach to educating the public is needed, federal public awareness activities are not currently conducted as part of a broader coordinated approach, which GAO believes could help ensure the effective use of federal resources. The Elder Justice Coordinating Council, which held its first meeting in 2012, could be the vehicle for developing and implementing a coordinated national strategy. The Council is composed of officials from federal agencies and is charged with developing national priorities and coordinating federal elder justice activities.
Experts and officials in each state GAO reviewed indicated that difficulty 1) gaining expertise, 2) sustaining collaboration between law enforcement and adult protective services agencies, and 3) obtaining data hinders their response to elder financial exploitation. As with prevention, many federal agencies have individually taken steps to address these challenges that are in line with their own missions. For example, the Department of Justice (Justice) has begun to construct a website that contains training and other materials prosecutors can use to build their expertise in investigating and prosecuting elder abuse, which includes elder financial exploitation. However, there are gaps in federal support in some areas. For example, law enforcement officials in each of the four states GAO reviewed indicated that it is not clear how they should obtain the federal support they need to respond to interstate and international cases. Justice can provide this information, in keeping with its priority to strengthen its relationship with state and local law enforcement. Similarly, the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Consumer Sentinel Network database compiles incidents of financial exploitation reported to it by many sources around the country but receives incidents from state government agencies in only 12 states. The database would be of greater use if FTC obtained incidents from more of the states and contained an indicator that the incident involved an older adult.

What GAO Recommends

Federal agencies should develop a written national strategy addressing challenges GAO identified, facilitate case investigation and prosecution, and improve data, among other things. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Health and Human Services supported GAO's recommendations. FTC did not believe it is necessary to examine the feasibility of requiring victim's age in complaints. GAO maintains the importance of its recommendation.