Oregon Releases Study on Financial Exploitation of Adults With Disabilities and the Elderly

By Angela Kellner

Published November 5, 2013 at 5:17 PM PST

Oregon has released the first-ever study on the financial exploitation of adults with disabilities and the elderly.

It may be a crime that happens over a long period or a one time event. And it may take years for the victim to discover it, if they ever do. The study found the majority of financial abuse is perpetrated by family, friends and non-relative caregivers. Researcher Rebecca Fetters says they鈥檙e not only stealing money.

Credit Jes Burns

Fetters: 鈥淧ersonal property, real estate, vehicles, food stamps and more and more often, medication theft is something we鈥檙e seeing an increasing amount of.鈥�

There are cases of identity theft, and the exploitation of legal documents such as power of attorney. In Josephine, Coos and Curry counties where the abuse numbers are higher, fetters says it actually means they鈥檙e doing a better job at reporting and investigating the crimes. The study of more than 400 cases looked at people over age 65 or adults with disabilities who don鈥檛 live in a licensed care facility.

Angela Kellner

Angela Kellner is the KLCC host of All Things Considered and a reporter. Angela began as a KLCC volunteer in 1991 when she was in high school. While a student at Lane Community College, she was hired in 1993 for a work-study position in the KLCC 老夫子传媒 Department and has been with the station in some role since then. Angela hosted KLCC's world music program Tropical Beat for 11 years from 1994 to 2005 and continues to fill in on a monthly basis.