May is Older Americans Awareness Month. Senior care and safety have long been passionate issues for me. Prior to my political career, I worked for fifteen years as a coordinator for senior programs, working to make sure they received the resources they needed to age comfortably.

I have continued to champion senior and patient rights in the State Legislature, currently serving as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations subcommittees on Community Health and Retirement, which determine spending on a host of human and health services issues. I also sit on the Greater Flint Health Coalition, and was honored to serve on the Governor’s Long-Term Care Task Force, which developed comprehensive solutions for Michigan’s senior care system.

Unfortunately, there’s much more that needs to be done to make sure the elderly are properly accommodated and cared for.

Nearly everyone has heard a story or has seen a neighbor, family member or friend victimized by a caregiver, family member or con artist trying to steal a person’s life savings. In fact, the Governor’s Task Force on Elder Abuse estimated that at least 73,000 older adults in Michigan are victims of neglect, physical and emotional abuse or financial exploitation.

Our senior citizens deserve a system that keeps them safe, and protects them not only physically but financially. That’s why I am working with my colleagues in the Legislature to protect them.

On May 6th, my Senate colleagues and I introduced the “Safeguard our Seniors” (SOS) package to protect vulnerable senior citizens by strengthening the penalties for and offering new protections from financial exploitation and abuse. By fine-tuning our laws based on the recommendations of the Governor Granholm’s Elder Abuse Task Force, these bills will help protect the elderly from predators of all kinds. 

The SOS package includes legislation to make it easier for senior citizens to testify by allowing their testimony to be presented by videotape or closed circuit television to accommodate physical limitations and potential intimidation associated with confronting their abuser.

Too often money is at the root of the mistreatment of our senior citizens. My primary bill in the SOS legislation would ensure that any individual who abuses, neglects, or steals from a vulnerable adult would forfeit any inheritance they are in line to receive. The bills go a step further by increasing the penalties, in some cases doubling them, for financial exploitation of vulnerable adults based on the dollar amount involved. 

There is no greater criminal than those who prey on our most vulnerable citizens, our children and seniors. These new bills send a strong message that this behavior will not be tolerated, and that the severity of punishment will equal the vile nature of crimes against defenseless seniors.

The SOS package provides for consecutive sentences for crimes against vulnerable adults. It also increases the penalties when a death occurs in an unlicensed care facility, or for obstructing an investigation at an adult care facility. 

Our senior citizens have given us the best years of their lives through their work and the families many of them raised.  When they turn to us for help late in their lives, they deserve the best care.  By increasing these penalties and making these provisions, we serve notice that we will not stand for any mistreatment of these citizens. The Safeguarding Our Seniors legislation is our best opportunity to offer immediate protection now, and ensure protection for the rest of us as we age and find ourselves in need of assistance.