1) What problem(s) does your program address?
2) What are the most significant results of the C.A.R.E. Program?
3) Who benefits from the C.A.R.E. Program?
4) What are the C.A.R.E. Program's most outstanding achievements? 

---  C.A.R.E. PROGRAM REGULATIONS  

These are the written regulations for the C.A.R.E. Program.

---  MDT FORMATION POWERPOINT 

This PowerPoint provides information and resources for the formation of a multidisciplinary elder abuse team.

---  C.A.R.E. PROGRAM'S ORGANIZATION CHART 

The C.A.R.E. Program addresses the following needs of abuse victims:

Elders need consumer fraud education because they are prime targets for scams.  While citizens aged 60 and over make up only 15% of the population, they make up 30% of the victims of fraud and they account for 60% of the victims contacting the National Fraud Information Center.

Advocacy:  Victims of fraud need trained consumer fraud advocates to assist them with consumer fraud issues.  Correcting consumer fraud problems is a time consuming, frustrating, and sometimes overwhelmingly complex task.  This is especially true for those victims experiencing ill heath, decreased mental acuity, memory problems, decreased access to transportation, or difficulties with hearing and/or vision.

Education:  Victims of abuse need the public to be aware of and report abuse.  The National Elder Abuse Incidence Study by the Administration on Aging estimates that for every reported incident of elder abuse, neglect or self-neglect, approximately five go unreported.  People do not report abuse if they don’t recognize it as a crime.

Multidisciplinary Teams:  To adequately provide for victims’ needs, it is imperative that agencies collaborate in the ongoing coordination of services.  Elder abuse cases often involve medical, legal, financial, interpersonal, home environment, and emotional issues.  Each of these issues is addressed separately by government agencies that all too often do not share case plans.

Education:  The Consumer Fraud Education Advocacy component incorporates the results of an AARP study which found that elders need:

1. Guidelines on recognizing deceptive practices,
2. Recognition that fraud is a crime, and
3. An awareness of the pervasiveness and seriousness of these crimes.

Consumer Fraud Advocacy:  The C.A.R.E. Program staff is specially trained to assist with technically complex and time-consuming consumer fraud issues such as identity theft and investment fraud.  To date, the C.A.R.E. Program has assisted over 6,705 consumer fraud victims.  While providing this advocacy, they have uncovered and reported over 1,478 cases of elder abuse to APS.  (Figures are as of August 2011.)

Increasing Collaboration among Agencies:  The C.A.R.E. Program has gathered and nurtures three regional Teams of 45 community partner agencies who actively participate in monthly MDT meetings.

The C.A.R.E. Program has stationed staff in Sheriff’s stations where they are immediately available to provide Law Enforcement with links to appropriate MDT partners.

The C.A.R.E. Program facilitated the development of an Elder Abuse Protocol for 58 Law Enforcement Jurisdictions, the District Attorney, and APS.

The C.A.R.E. Program’s MDTs have recovered (returned) over $87 mil to victims since the Program’s inception in 1997.  (Figures are as of August 2011.)

Since its inception in 1997, the C.A.R.E. Program has provided anti-fraud education to 78,404 people in Riverside County, including senior citizens, community groups, organizations, and agencies interested in the prevention and recognition of consumer fraud.  (Figures are as of August 2011.)

The C.A.R.E. Program provides direct advocacy to elder (65+) and dependent adult (18–64) victims of consumer fraud.

The C.A.R.E. Program provides gatekeeper and mandated reporter training to any agency in Riverside County that has regular contact with elders and dependent adults.  The list of reporters includes Mental Health Workers, Medical Providers, Fire Fighters, Law Enforcement, Public Guardian, Home-care providers, Court Investigators, Code Enforcement, Animal Control, Clergy, and Financial Institutions. Since its inception in 1997, the C.A.R.E. Program has provided gatekeeper and mandated reporter training to 20,314 people in Riverside County.  (Figures are as of August 2011.)

The C.A.R.E. Program MDT member agencies benefit from improved coordination of services, reduction of duplicative services, increased staff expertise and increased effectiveness of service delivery as cases are discussed at the monthly meetings.

All citizens of Riverside County benefit as reports of abuse and consumer fraud rise and the number of trained reporters and responders increases.  Although perpetrators target elders, often there are non-elderly victims who also benefit from the identification and prosecution of the perpetrators.  Early intervention and/or recovery of funds saves taxpayer dollars as elders are able to stay in their own homes and off various public assistance programs.

The C.A.R.E. Program was a 2004 finalist (top 15) in the National Innovations in American Government Awards from the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

The C.A.R.E. Program received the 2003 “Salute to Leaders in Aging” Award in the category of Elder Abuse Prevention from the National Committee to Preserve Social Security/Medicare in Washington D.C.

The C.A.R.E. Program received the “2007 Gatekeeper Award” from San Francisco’s Elder Financial Protection Network.

The C.A.R.E. Program/Team referred and assisted the District Attorney on specific elder abuse cases that resulted in combined sentences of over 765 years and four life sentences for the perpetrators, and $239.8 mil in restitution (as of August 2009).

The C.A.R.E. Program received awards of recognition honoring the C.A.R.E. Teams from the Riverside County Board of Supervisors in 2000, 2003, and 2007.

The C.A.R.E. Program manager was quoted in an elder abuse article in June, 2002 Newsweek Magazine.

The C.A.R.E. Program manager appeared on a “Good Morning America” segment on elder investment fraud in October, 2007.

The C.A.R.E. Program assisted Dateline NBC in the development and enactment of a one-half hour undercover story about mobile home repair fraud in Riverside County.  The segment, titled “Tin Men” was aired nationally in November of 1998.

Appeared on CBS Nightly News (national coverage) presenting a SAIF Investment Fraud Seminar to seniors (September 10, 2004).

Published on the National Center on Elder Abuse website as a “Best Practices Program” (2004).

Published on the California Attorney General’s SafeState website as an “Elder Abuse Model Program.”

The C.A.R.E. Program was presented as an “innovative response to elder abuse issues” at the Elder Abuse Symposium in Singapore in February, 2004.

The C.A.R.E. Program manager appeared on California District Attorneys Assoc. (CDAA) 2006 training DVD titled “Victims with Disabilities:  What the Prosecutor Needs to Know.”

The C.A.R.E. Program scripted and cast an elder abuse video with the Partnership to Preserve Independent Living titled “How to Recognize, Report, and Avoid Elder Abuse.”

The C.A.R.E. Program has provided trainings to the following specialized groups:  Local college classes, medical centers, State APS, Desert Estate Planning Council, the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the Riverside County Bar, Inland Empire Bankers Assoc., Annenberg Center Seminar for Attorneys and Financial Planners, Conservatorship Process Training, Mental Health Advisory Conference, California Assoc. of County Counsels, and police dispatchers.