Police attend to elderly in need

Officials say neighbors should keep an eye on elderly neighbors.
& lt;a href=mailto:jgoodwin@vindy.com & gt;By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR & lt;/a & gt;.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- It all started with a routine check of an abandoned automobile in a Boardman church parking lot.
Officers ran the car's registration and went to the owner's Forest Park Drive home earlier this month. What they found at the home was shocking.
A pale, 84-year-old delusional woman was the only person living in the house. Police reports say the woman wore heavily soiled clothes, had a cut on her forehead and her left foot was worn raw with maggots crawling inside the shoes she was wearing.
Capt. Jack Nichols of the Boardman police said the situation is sad but not all that uncommon for police. Township officers have discovered two elderly individuals living in poor conditions and unable to care for themselves in the last several weeks.
Nichols said the police department will take action when notified about these situations.
"Unfortunately it's one of those things that you really wouldn't think of as a police matter, but when there is no one else to take care of it we have to get involved," he said.
Improved care
Nichols said police, as with the Forest Park Drive woman, often contact the Mahoning County Adult Protective Services Agency to handle such situations. The police department and Protective services will mobilize medical, psychiatric, legal and other services for an older person found to be incapable or incompetent and with no family or friends to assume responsibility.
Krishmu Shipmon, a supervisor at Adult Protective Services, would not discuss any specific cases, but said the agency will work hard at finding family members to get involved in the situation and send a caseworker to assess the situation.
Shipmon said people are removed from their homes and placed in a nursing facility only if found incompetent by a medical professional. She said removing a person from the home is a last resort.
Before the situation becomes that urgent, another option is contacting the Area Agency on Aging. Deanna Clifford, director of communications for the Area Agency on Aging, said the agency offers various type of assistance geared toward helping individuals stay in their own homes.
"When surveyed most people say they would rather stay in their own home," she said. "What usually happens is people having difficulty at home don't tell anybody, and things usually get worse before they get better."
When an elderly person is believed to be unable to do certain things around the house, Clifford said, representatives will come out to the home and assess the individual's eligibility for assistance. She said a variety of assistance can be offered including Meals on Wheels, homemaker assistance, personal care assistance, minor home modification and legal services.
Nichols and Clifford agree that neighbors are instrumental in finding those in need of assistance. Clifford said, with the cold days ahead, special attention should be paid to elderly neighbors who may turn down heat to save money or may be making difficult decisions between buying food or medication.
Nichols suggest neighbors stop by for an occasional visit or look for certain signs such as lights left on overnight, mail and newspapers piling up, or a lack of tracks in the snow around the person's home in the winter to determine if there may be a problem with an elderly neighbor. Police say a person making a report is immune from civil or criminal liability, and the name of the person making the report is kept confidential.
& lt;a href=mailto:jgoodwin@vindy.com & gt;jgoodwin@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;