Honoring her elders
DOWNTOWN Sheryl Hayashida wants respect, for senior citizens that is.
The new director of the Elder Abuse and Prevention Program at Wise & Healthy Aging is on a mission to bring more esteem to the silver-haired set.
It’s a mission that started two years ago when Hayashida moved back to her native hometown of Torrance to care for her ill mother, the long-time employment law attorney leaving her job as a staff counsel for Washington County in Oregon.
Always interested in pursuing elder law work in her own retirement, advising on matters related to conservatorships and estate planning, Hayashida joined the staff at Bet Tzedek in Los Angeles,a firm that provides free legal assistance to low-income individuals.
She focused specifically on the elder law section, working in the nonprofit’s clinic where senior citizens would come in and begin their paperwork on conservatorships and other legal matters.
But what she was surprised to see was the overwhelming majority of cases specifically dealt with abuse.
“Elder abuse was not something I thought would be included when I started working at Bet Tzedek,” she said. “A lot of them were caregivers who had abused, a lot of them were family members.
An estimated 2.1 million American seniors become victims of elder abuse every year, cases ranging from neglect, abandonment, to physical, mental and financial abuse.
Only one in 14 cases are likely to be reported.
“I used to ask people why did you wait so long (to report),” Hayashida said. “The answer was always the same — ‘we were so ashamed that (a family member) would do this to our mother.’
“I think part of it was the family shame.” The position as an elder law attorney with Bet Tzedek often required collaboration with the Technical Advisement Group at what was then called the Center for Healthy Aging in Santa Monica, currently known as Wise & Healthy Aging.
When the position of Elder Abuse Prevention Program director opened recently, Hayashida jumped at the opportunity, a chance to raise awareness.
The program runs several different initiatives, all connecting volunteers with senior citizens in need, whether it is the Advocates for Conserved Elders through which volunteers visit residents in long-term facilities, or the Senior Fraud Prevention Call Center where elderly-aged “Fraud Fighters” contact their peers nationwide about illegal telemar-keting scams. A similar initiative, the Seniors Against Investment Fraud, trains volunteers to educate the elderly about fraud through local seminars.
A fourth element of the program, the Financial Abuse Specialist Team, consists of volunteer experts in the field of estate plan-ning, health care, law enforcement and real estate, all reviewing cases of elder financial abuse and advising accordingly.
“I just wasn’t aware of the extent of the problem and so I became more interested in doing something.”
A major part of elder abuse comes from financial motivation, whether it be e-mail scams or greed coming from the victim’s own children.
“A lot of these people purchased their homes in the 50s and 60s when they paid $27,000,” Hayashida said. “When they can sell them for $750,000, a lot of the kids say ‘hey, I don’t have to work.’”
The reason why many elders fall victim to abuse is the yearning for companionship.
“They become isolated so when someone befriends them, whether it’s someone down the street or some caller who keeps calling, they grow attached,” Hayashida said.
Planning for the future Following her undergraduate work at the California Baptist College, the Torrance native decided to leave the warm and familiar, attending what was then the University of Puget Sound School of Law, now known as Seattle University.
She would remain in the northwest for much of her legal career, working with the Attorney General’s Office in Washington and later in Oregon, her time up north interspersed with a few years practicing in Iowa.
Just three weeks into her new part-time job, the new elder abuse prevention director has already compiled a long-term to-do list, including drafting a new strategic plan designed to bring more attention to the issue of abuse, including talking to the youth about respecting their elders.
For the baby boomer population, the old-est of which are in their senior years, the strategic plan would address planning for the future, including how best to avoid legal messes.
She would like to establish a way to recognize elders who have contributed to the community, modeling it after the “Living Treasures” designation given to older individuals in Japan.
“I think L.A. County must have so many stories of people,” she said. “We should honor them in some way about their contribution.”
Then there is helping those who have been wronged.
Hayashida recently had a conversation with a volunteer who fell prey to a scam, told she had won a prize with a magazine publisher, sending $6,000 and later learning it was all a lie.
The volunteer is currently paying $100 a month back to the bank, a chunk out of her Social Security income of about $800 a month.
To help similar victims, Hayashida hopes to establish some sort of fund, fueled by donations from the community.
“It’s so devastating,” she said. “At their age, what are they going to do?”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 11, 2008. Read the original PDF.