| Washington, D.C.-Congressman Dale E. Kildee (D-MI) announced today that the Legal Services of Eastern Michigan has been awarded a $200,000 grant to help improve services for older victims of fraud. The Office for Victims of Crime, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice, awarded this grant to Legal Services of Eastern Michigan in order to develop innovative research, training and materials that will enable law enforcement officers, victim service providers and professionals to provide better assistance to elderly victims.
“We must do more to protect elderly people from financial fraud. It is imperative that we provide our elderly citizens with better access to support services that will help deter crime through vigilance and education,” said Kildee. “These funds will allow the Legal Services of Eastern Michigan to effectively stop those criminals that intentionally deceive and mislead elderly people.”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 25% of the U.S. population will be 60 or older by the year 2020. Therefore, the rate of financial fraud committed against elderly people is likely to increase, unless we educate and train elderly people to identify criminal behavior. A 1999 study conducted by Association of American Retired People estimates that 56% of all telemarketing fraud victims are age 50 or over.
The Legal Services of Eastern Michigan will develop a comprehensive elder fraud-training program covering predatory lending, home solicitation, financial exploitation, and telemarketing fraud. The training can be modified for many different types of participants, such as law enforcement officers, bankers and senior care center directors. |
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