Podcasts

There are many reasons seniors don't report abuse. They are often embarrassed, they don't know where to go, they don't want to go down to a police station and make some kind of a formal complaint. Oftentimes, they're afraid of the very people who are providing their care; they don't want to make them angry, they don't want to really jeopardize their own care. So, what this bill would do, it would allow a third party to actually make that complaint, and this would allow a concerned citizen who suspects abuse to file a complaint on behalf of their neighbor or an elderly relative, so that we can stop the abuse. Michigan law currently makes an exception for victims of domestic abuse, for instance - they're not required to come to court to swear out a complaint. We would also provide that for people who file complaints in the case of elder abuse.