MONDAY UPDATE: Advocacy center for older adult abuse, neglect victims nears fruition in city

JEFF HORVATH, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
·2 min read

Construction work is ongoing but nearing completion at the future site of a Scranton advocacy center for older adult victims of abuse, neglect and exploitation.

Crews broke ground last year on the project at Telespond Senior Services, 1200 Saginaw St., where officials still hope to see construction of the advocacy center completed in June. The goal is for the center to open its doors to clients later this year, potentially in the fall, Telespond President and CEO Helen Schmid said last week.

Telespond was the site of a December roundtable discussion where local lawmakers, aging advocates and other stakeholders praised the center as an invaluable resource for vulnerable older adults.

It will serve as a short-term transitional living space connected to personal care, transportation, legal and other services, and should better facilitate abuse investigations, care and treatment plans, physical and behavioral health and older adult education, officials said at the time.

Along with victims of abuse, exploitation and neglect, the center also will provide critical support for older adults facing homelessness, mental and behavioral health issues and other challenges. Those older adults will be referred to the center through county area agencies on aging, including those covering Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wyoming, Wayne, Pike, Carbon and Monroe counties.

State Secretary of Aging Jason Kavulich, who hosted the December roundtable, reiterated his praise for the advocacy center project in a phone interview Friday.

“It’s a culmination of a long journey and it’s a true testament of what partnership delivers,” said Kavulich, the former director of Lackawanna County’s Area Agency on Aging. “This will be a model that will make sure that older adults who are victims have the resources (and) have the supports that they need, that they’re safe and provided for and that they’re treated with the dignity and the respect that they deserve and have earned throughout their lives.”

Kavulich said in December that just one in 10 incidents of older-adult abuse is reported. He said Friday that incidents of older-adult financial exploitation are on the rise.

“They are the ones who are targeted for exploitation and ... too often they don’t feel safe to come forward, and they’re embarrassed,” he said. “This gives us a haven for them to walk into. This gives us a place for them to stay, and it also gives us new opportunities to expand partnerships and serve older adults differently.”