NCJ Number
145893
Journal
Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect Volume: 5 Issue: 1 Dated: (1993) Pages: 77-93
Date Published
1993
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This article reports on the evaluation of the Elderly Abuse Support Project, which recruits, trains, and places volunteers with elderly victims of abuse.
Abstract
In 1990, the Rhode Island Governor's Justice Commission awarded the Department of Elderly Affairs a grant for the Elderly Abuse Support Project. Subcontracted to Rhode Island Meals on Wheels, the Project's goals are to recruit, train, and place volunteers with elderly abuse victims. To date, over 20 volunteers have attended an initial 8-hour training session and monthly inservice training programs. If investigation shows that a victim would benefit from volunteer services, the Project assigns volunteers to provide assistance, support, and advocacy to victims during case processing in the criminal justice system. Since the project had been operating for 1 year before the evaluation was planned, a rigorous experimental design with a matched treatment and control group was not possible. Instead, evaluators constructed a control group by matching the 42 Project cases with cases investigated by the Elder Abuse Unit but not referred to the Project. The data-collection form obtained information on demographic characteristics and dependency status of the victim and the perpetrator, living arrangements, resistance to intervention, case goals, objectives accomplished, involvement of other agencies, length of project involvement with the case, current case status, and recurrence of abuse. The evaluators compared the 42 elder abuse cases handled by the Project in its first 18 months of operation with 28 control-group cases. The findings show that the volunteer advocate program, compared with the conventional system, produce more ambitious goal- setting, greater goal achievement, and more extensive monitoring of cases. 3 tables and 10 references