LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Watching elder abuse

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To the editor:

According to a joint report recently released by the city’s aging department and the Mayor Office to Combat Domestic Violence, in 2016, there were 33 felony assaults reported in the Bronx between intimate partners in which the victim was 60 and older.

Furthermore, intimate partner elder abuse victims were 20 percent less likely to have had the police called in relation to their case as compared to younger victims, indicating that the true number of assaults in this category in our borough is likely much higher.

The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Center for Elder Abuse Prevention at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale is grateful to Councilman Andrew Cohen for recognizing the prevalence of elder abuse in our community and the need for holistic intensive victim services and education. 

His support of the Weinberg Center, an elder abuse shelter program providing medical, therapeutic, legal and social services to older adults unsafe in their homes due to ongoing abuse, will allow us to continue our local outreach and education, bringing us closer to our goal of ensuring elder justice for all of the Bronx’s older adults, their families, and caregivers.

Joy Solomon

The author is director and managing attorney for The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Center for Elder Abuse Prevention at The Hebrew Home at Riverdale.

Joy Solomon

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