June 2023 Newsletter

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

Join VCPEA in honoring World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on June 15th. 1 in 10 older adults will experience some form of abuse, neglect or financial exploitation. However, only 1 in 24 cases are ever reported. WEAAD is a time to raise awareness about elder abuse in your community. Make sure professionals and community members know the warning signs of abuse and know how to report.

Share your WEAAD activities with us by emailing sydneypalinkas@gmail.com.

The National Center on Elder Abuse offers lots of great tools and tips to promote WEAAD in your community and organization.

Free Spanish Brochures for WEAAD

VCPEA is offering free Spanish brochures for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day! If you would like to order a batch of 50 brochures, please email info@vcpea.org. *Please note those brochures are only available in Spanish.

Highlights from the 27th Annual Conference

VCPEA's 27th Annual Conference took place in Virginia Beach May 24th to the 26th. It was wonderful to see so many advocates from across the state come together to learn and collaborate in our shared effort to support older adults who have experienced abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation.

We started out conference with our plenary speaker, Jonathan Martinis, Senior Director for Law and Policy, Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University. Martinis presented on the supportive decision-making as a powerful alternative to guardianship.

Michelle Temple received the 2023 Helen J. Napps Award of Excellence for her outstanding work as Long-Term Care Ombudsman. Learn more about this year's recipient.

We closed out the conference with an interactive and engaging presentation by Sardek Love, who discussed overcoming challenges.

We honored long-time VCPEA Board Members Joyce Martin and Susan Umidi for their many years of service and dedication to serving survivors of elder abuse. Thank you to all of our Board Members who helped make this conference possible!

Other Upcoming Events in Virginia

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day: Training Event for Virginia Professionals

June 15th 10am - 12:30pm

Join VCU Health, Project Empower, the Abuse in Later Life Project at the Virginia Center on Aging and our group of expert trainers for a half day training event for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. Cases of elder abuse have been on the rise in Virginia, and our event speakers bring crucial knowledge and information on successfully identifying, investigating and pursuing justice and access to resources for elders.

Topics include:

Forensic Indicators and Exploitation
Undue Influence: Power of Attorney, Guardianship, and More

Registration

VCPEA T-Shirt Fundraiser

We are offering another opportunity to purchase a t-shirt to support the work of VCPEA!

T-shirts are purple, short-sleeved, all cotton with a white VCPEA logo and conference information on left chest.

To order, please send the following information to Marjorie.marker@dars.virginia.gov by 5pm on June 12th: number of shirts you would like, sizes, and your name and contact information including email and telephone. Sizes available are S - 4X.

Shirts are $20. Payment can be made through check or credit card by phone.

Virginia Coalition for the

Prevention of Elder Abuse

PO Box 70054

Henrico, VA 23255