Napa Approves Protection Law For the Elderly

By Alisha Wyman, napavalleyregister.com

February 5, 2010

The city of Napa has signed onto an effort to require criminal background checks for those who care for the elderly.

Napa City Council members voted to draft an ordinance Tuesday, following a presentation on the issue from the Napa County Commission on Aging and Napa County district attorney’s office officials.

Under the proposed ordinance, anyone who receives any kind of compensation for caring for elders or dependent adults would have to apply for a permit. They would undergo a background check before their permit is approved.

The commission is making presentations to the county and other Napa Valley cities, as well. If advocates are successful, Napa County and its cities would be the first in the state to enact such a measure.

The goal of the ordinance is to prevent physical abuse, embezzlement and other crimes by caretakers, said Napa County District Attorney Gary Lieberstein.

Under the commission’s plan, applicants would seek for a permit through the Napa-Solano Area Agency on Aging, which would contract a third party to complete background checks. The Napa County Clerk’s office would issue permits to those who passed the background checks.

Those who fail could still work under a restricted permit if the elder or dependent adult consented and signed a notarized form.

The county’s In-Home Support Services programs, nurses and other organizations or professions that already have a system in place as effective or better than the city’s will be exempt, said Jane Hinshaw, an investigator for the Napa County district attorney’s office.

First-time permits would cost $90. The price would fall to $79 for a first-time renewal and $67 for every year thereafter.

The cost to run the program is estimated to be almost $50,000, Hinshaw said. Some of the money will come from application fees, and other sources will fund the remainder. Lieberstein has offered to use his office’s consumer fraud trust fund money to cover start-up costs.

Other grant opportunities may arise, Hinshaw said, adding that officials hope to have all local jurisdictions begin the program at the same time. There would be a year-long start up period to allow for people to remain working while they get their first permits.

An estimated 300 people will apply for permits, Hinshaw said.

Ultimately, Hinshaw hopes the state will take over running a system that includes fingerprinting. For now, county-required background checks are a start. “It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s a step better than we have today,” she said.

Elder crimes are often unreported, Lieberstein said, and are seen by the public the way child abuse was 20 years ago. Awareness is growing as more and more people are seen as victims of abuse or neglect.

The Napa County district attorney’s office has seen the number of reports triple and quadruple in recent years, he said. That is likely not because the crimes themselves have increased, but the reporting of them has, officials said.

Elders tend to be easy targets since they are trusting and polite, Lieberstein said. “We are dealing with a population that is still a handshake generation,” he said.

Lieberstein told the city council that his father needed a caretaker about five or six years ago. It was disconcerting leaving his dad at night with a stranger, he said.

“I’m leaving this person I know nothing about to roam my parent’s home while they’re asleep,” he said.

The permits will allow families and elders to know the caretakers’ backgrounds, he said.

Although Napa City Councilman Mark van Gorder said he supported the program, he worried that there might be a shortage of caretakers if many are weeded out through background checks.

“We don’t want to have (caretakers) with criminal backgrounds, but then we will have people who have no care at all,” he said.

Councilman James Krider also wondered about those who chose to dodge the system.

“How are you going to know when someone’s doing it outside the law?” he said.

Law enforcement agencies get reports of abuse through many different channels, Hinshaw said. Some people call adult protective services or report problems to police.

Although the district attorney’s office will prosecute violators, the purpose of the permits is preventative, Lieberstein added. However, operating without a permit could be an additional aggravating charge if someone is caught embezzling or abusing elders.

Mayor Jill Techel recognized Betty Rhodes, a member of the Napa County Commission on Aging, as a major force behind organizing the background check effort. The law has come to be called “Betty’s Law.”

“It’s so heartening to see that it might actually happen,” Rhodes said after the meeting.

Some of the most common embezzlers from elders are family members, said Deputy District Attorney Michael Mautner. They may be available because they’re out of work and find themselves in a tempting situation. Family members who don’t otherwise have a criminal history might be dissuaded if “they had to go through this process where someone was looking over their shoulder,” he said.

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