The United States population is aging and care for elderly is a growing business. Most of the aging population expect to grow old in a safe environment and that they will be properly cared for. However, crimes against the elderly has continued to grow over the years and is only now being seen as a hidden epidemic in our society.
Enter caregiver background checks the best way to weed out malfeasant individuals looking to take advantage of the elderly. This form of risk mitigation is not always used when hiring caregivers for the elderly especially if it is the family that hires the caretaker. All caregivers given unsupervised time with the elderly population should all be thoroughly vetted before being hired. It is best to use a third party background screening company to conduct these background checks and should include criminal background checks, social security validation with address history, reference checks and the appropriate verification checks. The information gathered from these reports and background checks can then be compared to the information given by the caregiver on their resume and interviews.
As people age the risk of abuse grows and astonishingly that abuse comes from those hired to protect, assist or help the elderly in everyday activities and happenings. Depictions of elder abuse brought forth by caregivers are becoming rampant on the internet and their stories have been populating almost every news site.
Recently, in the Village of Oak Creek, Arizona, a caregiver was arrested for stealing from an elderly woman.
From VerdeNews.com (Feb. 22, 17):
…a 42-year-old caregiver of Village of Oak Creek, was arrested after the Yavapai County Sheriff’s office confirmed her as a suspect accused of stealing more than $100,000 from an elderly Sedona woman.
A family member of the legally blind 89-year-old victim contacted the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office last month to report concerns of caregiver theft. The caller indicated it appeared more than $100,000 had been stolen from the victim, according to a news release from YCSO. verdenews.com/news/2017/feb/22/caregiver-arrested-after-allegedly-stealing-190k-e/
Sometimes the abuse has a far greater impact than theft. An extreme situation occurred in Texas.
From KCENTV.com (Feb. 21, 17)
Emily Springer, 96, died just four months after she was seriously injured in a vehicle crash. According to her family, a Visiting Angels caretaker responsible for Springer failed to properly strap her into the van, which caused her to fly out of her handicap seat and into the dashboard.
… The caretaker involved was indicted for injury to an elderly person and is awaiting criminal trial. kcentv.com/news/local/elderly-woman-killed-by-negligent-caregiver-civil-suit-begins/409614262
An important deterrent in elder abuse by a caretaker is definitely by performing thorough background checks, reference checks and verifications on candidates before giving them unsupervised time with the elderly. This process should include a complete interview as well as a professional criminal background check. With more and more stories of elder abuse hitting the headlines and as more people in the USA enter their elder years it needs to become mandatory for caregivers to go through an in-depth employment screening before being allowed unsupervised time with the elderly.
To read more regarding the elder abuse epidemic in the USA and how thorough caregiver background checks can help avoid these situations read recent CriminalBackgroundRecords.com press release: http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/news/2017-3-21-Elder-Abuse-A-Hidden-Epidemic.html