THREE RIVERS, MI (WTVB) – It was announced at this week’s Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency Board of Health meeting in Three Rivers that the Area Agency on Aging has been awarded a three year grant to provide services to victims of elder abuse.
The “Services to Victims of Elder Abuse – Victims of Crime Act” was awarded after the Area Agency on Aging got help from Probate Courts in Branch and St. Joseph Counties in submitting the 60 page grant application to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
According to data from the department’s Adult Protective Services, the number of substantiated elder about cases has almost doubled in Branch and Saint Joseph Counties from 2012 until 2017.
There were 59 cases in Branch County and 133 in Saint Joseph County last year which is an 45 percent overall increase since 2012.
The agency will start working on the project over the next month with the official start up on October first.
The grant would require staff members to serve as Elder Abuse Victim Advocates which would be similar to Advocates who respond to cases of family violence, domestic violence and sexual abuse.
