MORGANTOWN — Morgantown Area Meals on Wheels and Senior Monongalians are partnering with the attorney general’s office to deliver financial abuse warning information to their clients.
“The local collaboration, which is part of a statewide initiative,” Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said in an email exchange, “ is the direct result of input received from the attorney general’s Senior Protection Advisory Council – groups of experts formed in each region of the state as part of the attorney general’s Elder Abuse Litigation and Prevention Unit.
“Discussions within these groups brought to our attention the need and vulnerabilities faced by this special group of senior citizens,” he said.
The information is presented on two-sided rack cards. The front lists red flags of financial abuse and gives the Senior Protection Hotline number: 304-558-1155. The back offers the hotline number again along with a web address to sign up for senior scam alerts and the web address to reach the Senior Protection Page.
Meals on Wheels Manager Sara Bishop said the cards are sent out with meals to existing clients and given to all new clients in interview packets. They have 92 clients at the moment and average about 100 at a time.
In addition, she said, about 25 percent of clients have family members handle their billing and some use a third-party payer such as CrissCross or CarePartners. In those instances, cards are also provided through the mailed invoices.
The service is free to the agency and to the clients, Bishop said. When the board learned about it, “They were excited about it.”
Staff will review the cards with new applicants, although she doesn’t know if the drivers take the time to review the cards during their deliveries or simply present them for the client to review.
Drivers sometimes go above and beyond, she said. If a client doesn’t answer the door in a timely manner, the drivers call for help or go in to assist. Last month, one client had fallen and the driver called 911. Another client was ill and that driver contacted the family.
In another case, a client had fallen for a scam perpetrated by a caregiver. That driver couldn’t do much. “All they can do is hug them. This was why these are very timely.”
Senior Monongalians Executive Director Calleen Liddle said they make sure every in-home and homebound senior who receives a lunch receives a card. They also give out the cards to seniors to come to the center at Mountaineer Mall.
They also will put the information on their website and Facebook page, she said. “We want to get the word out that this resource is out there.”
Morrisey said the in-home card deliveries are particularly important. “We are finding this is a very effective way to reach senior citizens who cannot make it to senior centers and other locations we frequently visit.”
Asked about the program costs, Morrisey didn’t give a precise figure, but said, “The initiative comes at a minimal expense, primarily printing and postage costs associated with distribution.”
He concluded, “The effort has been well received.”
They’ve distributed cards in 16 counties so far, he said: Berkeley, Brooke, Calhoun, Doddridge, Grant, Greenbrier, Hampshire, Hancock, Hardy, Harrison, Jefferson, Mercer, Monongalia, Pendleton, Raleigh and Randolph.
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