"California In-Home Care System Plagued with Fraud"
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www.writethewrong1.com
www.premierewriters.ning.com
jlauderdale@premierewriters.ning.com
janicelauderdale@yahoo.com
word count: 848
CALIFORNIA IN-HOME CARE SYSTEM PLAGUED WITH FRAUD
The Monday, April 13, 2009 edition of the Los Angeles Times reports:
"Loose oversight and bureaucratic inertia have allowed fraud to fester in a rapidly expanding multibillion-dollar state program that provides personal caregivers to the impoverished elderly and disabled.
The article went on to state:
"Hundreds of reports of scams and swindles are going without investigation. Prosecutors and program administrators across the state say they are alarmed by the ease with which people are taking advantage of the program, In Home Support Services.
"The program is one of the fastest-growing in state government. This year it is budgeted at $5.42 billion to provide care for some 440,000 Californians. The aim is to allow low-income and elderly incapacitated people to remain in their homes, saving the state the expense of costly nursing homes."
It further states,
"Government funds are flowing in so quickly, with such limited oversight, that prosecutors say it is common for the state to send paychecks to scam artists claiming to be caring for someone who is dead. Or claiming to be caring for a relative or friend faking a disability. Or claiming to be providing care during the same hours they are working elsewhere.
One thing that is agreed upon it is very easy to abuse the program.
According to Michael Ramsey, district attorney of a Northern California County, "it invites chicanery and fraud." Because of budgetary cuts, the investigative units have been closed.
The article states that people receiving care are entitled to hire whomever they want -- all at government expense. In selecting the caregivers, the person receiving care should not assume that they will get better care from a family member rather than from a stranger. In recent conversation with a drafter of Living Trusts, she states she is being told by family members that some of these impoverished elders are living in abject poverty. She states that the caregiver is often either a son, grandson or nephew. The tragedy of this situation is that the caregiver receives the money at the beginning of each month, but the elderly have been discovered by other visiting family members to be unclean, unkempt, hair uncombed, no food in the refrigerator, preparing inappropriate meals for the elderly (pizza boxes and take-out food containers), dirty house, and if that wasn't bad enough, the 'caregiver' is often nowhere to be found.
Because county officials are prohibited by state law from using billions of dollars in state and federal program funds to hire investigators, they have symbolically surrendered by throwing up their hands. There are no investigators in Los Angeles County working these cases. As a result, fraud is rampant and oversight is non-existent. Philip Browning, director of the county DPSS, states "new cases came from social workers who had not been reporting suspicious activity because the state had shown so little interest." The case of a social worker, her brother and her grandson bears out the concerns of this system. They are accused of bilking $77,000 from the In-Home system and billing for care that was not provided. The social worker was full-time employed as well as collecting money from the In-Home system. They are awaiting trial.
What options does the elderly incapacitated person have especially when they are at a place in life that they cannot make decisions for themselves?
1. It would be best if the elderly incapacitated person had a Living Trust in place naming a responsible Administrator of the Estate.
2. A Power of Attorney naming a responsible party to select the appropriate caregiver would be ideal.
3. Examine whether or not it places the life of the incapacitated elder in more peril to leave them at home with an irresponsible caregiver or whether it would be prudent to place them in a nursing facility.
This scam could happen to anyone but an elderly person is most vulnerable. With the aging process, the older person’s ability to make sound decisions is compromised and the situation is always more tragic when a family member is involved. There are 1.2 million elderly people abused every year, either mentally, physically, emotionally, or financially.
About Janice Lauderdale: She has authored the cutting-edge book Wealth of the Wicked: An American Tragedy of Elderly Abuse, which chronicles her own personal encounter with elderly abuse, a modern-day scourge upon society. She is acutely sensitive to the abuses suffered by the elderly and is committed to shining a light on this disgrace. It puts a face on 1.2 million seniors who are abused annually, which illuminates the tragedy. Contact her at:
1. www.writethewrong1.com,
2. jlauderdale@premierewriters.ning.com
www.writethewrong1.com
www.premierewriters.ning.com
jlauderdale@premierewriters.ning.com
janicelauderdale@yahoo.com
word count: 848
CALIFORNIA IN-HOME CARE SYSTEM PLAGUED WITH FRAUD
The Monday, April 13, 2009 edition of the Los Angeles Times reports:
"Loose oversight and bureaucratic inertia have allowed fraud to fester in a rapidly expanding multibillion-dollar state program that provides personal caregivers to the impoverished elderly and disabled.
The article went on to state:
"Hundreds of reports of scams and swindles are going without investigation. Prosecutors and program administrators across the state say they are alarmed by the ease with which people are taking advantage of the program, In Home Support Services.
"The program is one of the fastest-growing in state government. This year it is budgeted at $5.42 billion to provide care for some 440,000 Californians. The aim is to allow low-income and elderly incapacitated people to remain in their homes, saving the state the expense of costly nursing homes."
It further states,
"Government funds are flowing in so quickly, with such limited oversight, that prosecutors say it is common for the state to send paychecks to scam artists claiming to be caring for someone who is dead. Or claiming to be caring for a relative or friend faking a disability. Or claiming to be providing care during the same hours they are working elsewhere.
One thing that is agreed upon it is very easy to abuse the program.
According to Michael Ramsey, district attorney of a Northern California County, "it invites chicanery and fraud." Because of budgetary cuts, the investigative units have been closed.
The article states that people receiving care are entitled to hire whomever they want -- all at government expense. In selecting the caregivers, the person receiving care should not assume that they will get better care from a family member rather than from a stranger. In recent conversation with a drafter of Living Trusts, she states she is being told by family members that some of these impoverished elders are living in abject poverty. She states that the caregiver is often either a son, grandson or nephew. The tragedy of this situation is that the caregiver receives the money at the beginning of each month, but the elderly have been discovered by other visiting family members to be unclean, unkempt, hair uncombed, no food in the refrigerator, preparing inappropriate meals for the elderly (pizza boxes and take-out food containers), dirty house, and if that wasn't bad enough, the 'caregiver' is often nowhere to be found.
Because county officials are prohibited by state law from using billions of dollars in state and federal program funds to hire investigators, they have symbolically surrendered by throwing up their hands. There are no investigators in Los Angeles County working these cases. As a result, fraud is rampant and oversight is non-existent. Philip Browning, director of the county DPSS, states "new cases came from social workers who had not been reporting suspicious activity because the state had shown so little interest." The case of a social worker, her brother and her grandson bears out the concerns of this system. They are accused of bilking $77,000 from the In-Home system and billing for care that was not provided. The social worker was full-time employed as well as collecting money from the In-Home system. They are awaiting trial.
What options does the elderly incapacitated person have especially when they are at a place in life that they cannot make decisions for themselves?
1. It would be best if the elderly incapacitated person had a Living Trust in place naming a responsible Administrator of the Estate.
2. A Power of Attorney naming a responsible party to select the appropriate caregiver would be ideal.
3. Examine whether or not it places the life of the incapacitated elder in more peril to leave them at home with an irresponsible caregiver or whether it would be prudent to place them in a nursing facility.
This scam could happen to anyone but an elderly person is most vulnerable. With the aging process, the older person’s ability to make sound decisions is compromised and the situation is always more tragic when a family member is involved. There are 1.2 million elderly people abused every year, either mentally, physically, emotionally, or financially.
About Janice Lauderdale: She has authored the cutting-edge book Wealth of the Wicked: An American Tragedy of Elderly Abuse, which chronicles her own personal encounter with elderly abuse, a modern-day scourge upon society. She is acutely sensitive to the abuses suffered by the elderly and is committed to shining a light on this disgrace. It puts a face on 1.2 million seniors who are abused annually, which illuminates the tragedy. Contact her at:
1. www.writethewrong1.com,
2. jlauderdale@premierewriters.ning.com
