Among the funding recipients - ACCORD Corporation: Allegany
County and Center for Elder Law and Justice: Erie Hub, which supports teams in
that county and Cattaraugus and Niagara counties.
Over the next three years, the Office of Victim Services
will provide $2 million in federal funding annually and the Office for the
Aging will provide another $500,000 in state funding annually to establish the
E-MDT Initiative. These teams consist of professionals from aging services,
adult protective, health care, financial services, criminal justice, victim
assistance, mental health and other disciplines to coordinate investigations
and develop interventions to stop or prevent elder abuse. The teams—first
piloted in the state in 2012—assist adults who are 60 or older and at risk for
harm or exploitation due to physical limitations, cognitive impairment or
dementia, and social isolation.
The Office for the Aging is partnering with Lifespan, which
is based in Monroe County, and Weill Cornell Medicine's NYC Elder Abuse Center
to manage, monitor, and distribute the funding this year through Sept. 30,
2020. The funding will sustain and expand existing enhanced multidisciplinary
teams and create additional teams to ensure that every county in the state is
represented, as well as provide technical assistance and training; collect
data; and provide teams with forensic accounting, geriatric psychiatry services
and community legal services, depending on the needs of cases they are
handling.
