BIO

Hi! My name is Nicole Kidd. I am an honors student and Criminology major from Miami, Florida. I am pursuing a career in intelligence analysis via the Emergency Management and Homeland Security program at FSU. I chose this research project because I am interested in the security and criminal aspects of financial exploitation.

State Policies and Practices Regarding the Financial Exploitation of Older Adults

Abstract

Elder justice has received more attention in the past decade as a pressing public issue, including a new focus on the financial exploitation of aging adults. This population of aging Americans holds a significant percentage of the nation’s wealth; an estimated $2.9 to $36.5 billion is lost annually to their financial exploitation (CFPB, 2019). State-and federal-level responses to this have been lacking in standardization and any evidential basis. While many states, such as Texas and West Virginia, have passed legislation criminalizing perpetrators of financial exploitation, ancillary factors such as data collection, specialized task forces, and nonpolice intervention vary from state to state (NCEA, 2021). Recent research and policy reports have acknowledged the previous state efforts to prevent the financial exploitation of aging adults while emphasizing the need for more centralized prevention, response, and data collection system. Cooperation and streamlined communication between state entities and private financial institutions is stressed as the most promising means to detect financial exploitation early on. This examination of state policies and practices will provide a foundation on which to examine state Attorneys General possible improvements and required further action.

Keywords: Financial exploitation, elder abuse