Topic: Elder Financial Exploitation
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When reporting potential elder financial abuse to the Illinois Department on Aging, can we provide the amount of money we believe has been being wrongfully withdrawn?
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Yes, we believe it would be permissible to report the amount of money withdrawn from your customer’s account when voluntarily reporting suspected elder financial exploitation. Both Illinois and federal financial privacy laws include exceptions that permit you to reveal certain customer information in this situation. Illinois law does not define what information you may reveal,…
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We suspected that a customer was the victim of elder financial exploitation and filed a report with the Illinois Department on Aging. They referred us to the Illinois Long Term Care Ombudsman, since the customer is a nursing home resident. The Ombudsman now wants us to report the issue to the Illinois State Police. Are we risking any liability by reporting, since we don’t have any proof that fraud occurred?
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Yes, we believe that your institution could risk some liability when reporting suspected elder financial abuse concerning a nursing home resident. If your bank does believe that a report of suspected abuse would help the resident, we would recommend that you request the Ombudsman to report the issue to the Illinois State Police. Since your…
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We are coming up on the three year anniversary for the required refresher training on elder financial exploitation for many of our employees. Which courses are “certified” for the requisite training? Do we need to report our training records to anyone?
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Financial institution employees must complete elder financial exploitation training that complies with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR)’s rules. The IDFPR’s Illinois Financial Exploitation Training rules require that the training “minimally include information on the following subjects: 1) recognizing the indicators of financial exploitation; 2) to report financial exploitation of older adults.”…
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Under the Elder Financial Training rules, state-chartered institutions are required to report twice a year. When exactly should we make the reports, and how do we make the reports?
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The elder exploitation training rules require only that you maintain reports of employees and officers who have satisfactorily completed the required training and to make those reports available to the Illinois DFPR on request. 89 Ill. Adm. Code 271.130(b). We contacted the Illinois DFPR, and we were told that the department has only requested the…
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If we have a situation that looks like elder abuse but which does not directly involve a customer, can we report that as elder abuse?
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Based on these facts, our recommendation is that you file a report with the Department of Aging only if the alleged victim is an “eligible adult.” First, we note that banks and their employees are not “mandated reporters” in Illinois and are not required to report on elder financial abuse. 320 ILCS 20/2(f-5). The elder…
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Do you know of any resources that would help us to draft an elder financial exploitation policy?
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We recommend reading the elder financial exploitation regulations (particularly Section 120) and the IDFPR’s B-SAFE brochure for guidance on what to include in the policy. Here are some additional resources you may find helpful: The elder financial exploitation regulations (particularly Section 120) The IDFPR’s B-SAFE (Bankers and Seniors Against Financial Exploitation) Program, which lists a…
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What is the deadline for employees to complete the new elder financial exploitation training requirements?
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All employees with direct customer contact have six months to complete the training (starting either on August 1, 2011 for current employees or on the date of hiring or of entering a new position). 89 Ill. Adm. Code 271.120(d), (e). (This was a change from the proposed version of the rules, which required training prior…