Strengthening Community Response to Financial Exploitation: A Cross-Sector Interagency Initiative for Early Intervention, Improved Outcomes, and Systemic Capacity Building - Benjamin Rose is partnering with the Cuyahoga County Division of Senior and Adult Services and the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department to address the rapidly increasing number of older adults experiencing financial exploitation (FE). The goals of the three-year project are to: 1) Develop and implement a cross-sector interagency program to strengthen the response to FE by: effectively identifying and intervening early in cases of FE; measurably improving outcomes for individuals experiencing or at risk of FE; and developing community-wide capacity to address FE through collaboration and education; and 2) Evaluate the effectiveness of the cross-sector interagency program by determining whether the program increases the number of FE cases opened by APS; improves outcomes for adults experiencing and/or at risk of experiencing FE; and creates community-wide capacity to address FE. The objectives are to: establish the agreements and contracts necessary to successfully implement this collaborative project; develop a cross-sector interagency program to address FE; implement a cross-sector interagency program to serve individuals experiencing or at risk of FE; measure the effectiveness of the cross-sector interagency program; and disseminate findings locally and nationally. Anticipated outcomes include referring rescreened cases to APS; improving safety, financial stability, service access, and reducing repeat victimization through the cross-sector interagency intervention; and expanding professional capacity, enhancing collaboration, and fostering community engagement via the Cuyahoga County FE Task Force. Expected products include intake and case management assessments and client interviews, trainings that are developed for specialized project staff, educational materials developed by the task force, a final report, presentations at conferences, a webinar, and a clean copy of the final dataset for ACL.
