Council proclaims World Elder Abuse Awareness Day and takes up Financial Exploitation Protection Act

Montgomery County opened its June 16 work session with a proclamation recognizing World Elder Abuse Awareness Day and then moved into public hearings on bills aimed at protecting older and vulnerable adults.

The proclamation — read and presented during the meeting — cited the county’s elder and vulnerable adult abuse task force and encouraged residents to attend the county’s Older Adults Safety Forum on June 17. County Executive Mark Elrich and Council President Fanny Gonzalez signed the proclamation.

Dr. Patrice McGee, chief of Aging and Disability Services at the Department of Health and Human Services, described Adult Protective Services’ role and said 33% of APS investigations in the county are for financial exploitation. “Financial exploitation continues to rise here in Montgomery County,” she said, and she highlighted Bill 16-26, the Financial Exploitation Protection Act introduced by Council Member Stewart, as a timely policy.

Expedited Bill 16-26 would let the Office of Consumer Protection operate a voluntary mediation program, define “vulnerable adult” in county consumer-protection law, and prohibit deceptive or coercive practices to obtain money or property from older adults (and from people age 68 and older in a related provision). Two public speakers — Eric Freeman and Katrina Emerson Kugel — testified in favor. Freeman said county residents have long supported consumer-protection legislation; Katrina Emerson Kugel, on behalf of SEEK (a provider for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities), described cases in which people with IDD were targets of financial exploitation and said the bill would create an additional enforcement pathway.

The hearing record will inform committee review of Bill 16-26; no final council vote occurred during the session.