Summary:

Financial exploitation of older adults is evolving fast. Scammers are now using artificial intelligence (AI) to clone voices, spoof family members, and stage realistic fraud schemes. This webinar highlights recent scam trends and explores how multidisciplinary teams (MDT) can best respond to these crimes in a coordinated, thoughtful manner while working with older adults, utilizing trauma-informed and person-centered best practices. It also covers how this work can be time consuming and emotionally and morally draining, and how to work through these challenges with your team when they occur.

Summary:

This session focuses on what is needed to create a successful multidisciplinary team (MDT) for elder abuse case reviews, including building a strong foundation and overcoming common challenges. 

This webinar features teams funded by the Office for Victims of Crime and developed through the National MDT Technical Assistance Center and reviews the Center's evaluation of team needs at various stages. It also includes a panel of seasoned MDT coordinators who can speak from direct experience about the lessons they learned as they planned and built their teams.

Summary:

This webinar discusses the findings from the 2025 National Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) Listening Sessions and the 2025 National Elder Abuse MDT Needs Assessment Survey. Key takeaways from both reports are presented, and the audience is engaged to provide feedback on the findings and refine and prioritize planned educational offerings and materials. In addition to highlighting MDT needs, the session includes a discussion about promising practices and novel ideas that teams currently employ to meet their clients’ unique needs.

Summary:

The Weill Cornell/New York-Presbyterian Hospital’s Vulnerable Elder Protection Team (VEPT) is a first-of-its-kind emergency department/hospital-based multidisciplinary team created to address elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. VEPT is a consultation service available 24/7 to assess, treat, and ensure the safety of older victims of abuse while also collecting evidence, when appropriate, and working closely with APS and law enforcement. VEPT brings together health care professionals, law enforcement, social workers, and legal experts to provide a coordinated response to elder abuse cases. Learn more about VEPT and what you can do as part of a local team to address elder abuse.

Summary:

Consent is a frequent defense in financial crimes, sexual assaults, and caregiver neglect cases involving older adults; however, a victim’s diminished decision-making capacity may undermine what appears to be consent, triggering a violation of the law. In this webinar, Dr. LoFaso, a geriatrician, discusses the concept of decision-making capacity and how it is assessed. Then, Page Ulrey, a prosecutor, discusses how a victim’s diminished decision-making capacity is used in making charging decisions, how to access professional evaluators, and how evidence of diminished decision-making capacity is used and defended at trial.

Summary:

Whether it occurred recently or decades ago, trauma can influence the interactions that elder justice professionals, including law enforcement, have when working with older victims. In this webinar, attendees will learn how trauma affects behaviors and emotions and the signs and symptoms of trauma observed in older adults. Attendees learn how understanding trauma can improve engagement with older victims and create more positive outcomes for law enforcement investigations. A detective with the Cambridge Police Department discusses how and why the entire department adopted trauma-informed practices.

Summary:

Law enforcement faces significant challenges in handling cases of Power of Attorney (POA) abuse, where terms like "durability," "fiduciary," and "capacity" are often mistakenly linked solely to civil legal issues. This webinar offers guidance on investigating and prosecuting abuse and financial exploitation involving POAs, helping law enforcement and prosecutors to discern when and why actions involving these instruments may constitute crimes. Participants gain a deeper understanding of the complexities and legal nuances in POA abuse cases, enabling more effective responses and protections for victims.