Seniors, their advocates and government workers can take action against physical, emotional, sexual and financial exploitation, confinement and passive neglect. Illinois also is one of the few states that protects against self-neglect, such as hoarding.
Illinois has had the Elder Abuse and Neglect Act for several decades, which until recently had protected adults over age 60. The law was amended this year and renamed the Adult Protective Services Act, so now adults ages 18 to 59 with disabilities also are protected from abuse, neglect and exploitation.
Illinois lawmakers used the state’s child abuse laws as models when writing laws to protect the elderly. It made sense to follow the pattern because both populations need protective care in the likelihood of abuse, Kozak said at a recent John Marshall-sponsored panel on elderly issues.
As the public comes to recognize the needs of seniors, attorneys will be able to offer greater assistance because of Illinois’s protective statutes.
“This is a constituency that becomes more dependent on those around them,” Kozak said. “Attorneys will, in some cases, be their first line of defense against the unscrupulous actions of others who attempt to steal seniors’ assets or deny them the care they require.”
Panelists outlined how the Illinois Department on Aging, the Chicago Department of Aging, and support groups, including AARP, provide services.
The Illinois Department on Aging, for example, spends most of its budget working to keep people safe in their communities, said Mary Killough, deputy director for the Illinois Department on Aging. She explained to John Marshall students how the agency spent a year examining breakdowns in services and revamped many of its initiatives to make certain Illinois contractors were giving the care seniors needed. Today, Illinois’s Elder Abuse and Neglect Act is a societal model.
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Illinois Leads Way in Laws Protecting Seniors: John Marshall Professor