Louisville Metro Elder Abuse Coordinating Council Honored

Vesselina Romanov, Social Services Planner

KIPDA would like to congratulate the Louisville Metro Elder Abuse Coordinating Council and its Chair, Jennifer Leibson, on winning the Southeastern Association of Area Agencies on Aging 2008 Outstanding Community Service Award. The Outstanding Community Service Award was established to recognize religious institutions, service agencies and organizations, civic clubs, and governmental departments that have made positive contributions to the lives of older people.

KIPDA Social Services Director Barbara Gordon (left) presents the Outstanding Community Service Award to Jennifer Leibson, Chair of the Louisville Metro Elder Abuse Coordinating Council ______________________

The Elder Abuse Services Coordinating Committee was formed in 2001 and consisted mainly of persons working directly with victims within the criminal justice system. Today, members are frontline personnel within agencies—prosecutors, detectives, probation and parole officers, judges, advocates, social workers, health care professionals, etc. The Louisville Metro Elder Abuse Coordinating Council is a collaborative group of local agencies whose goal is to prevent elder abuse in the community. The Council and its members apply a coordinated approach to cases of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation to address the identified problems that were hindering efforts at the local level as it pertains to elder abuse response. 

The Council has many accomplishments. It provides training to criminal justice and public safety personnel on elder abuse. It started the first elder abuse fatality review committee in the state to ensure there are no gaps in services which may have prevented an elder’s death.  It just recorded a series of commercials for prevention of elder abuse. The Council is currently working on an animal foster care network for seniors who need to go to the hospital or rehab facility. Many seniors refuse to get necessary treatments because they do not want to leave their pets.

We would like to thank Jennifer Leibson and the Council members for their hard work and outstanding services in the area of elder abuse prevention and increasing awareness of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation.