JdDM Oct 22 9:01

Do you agree or disagree with your colleague’s interpretation of the situation? Expand on their thoughts and offer suggestions as to how the situation could be addressed appropriately.

AK Stat § 47.24.900 (2024) describes the protection of vulnerable adults. Vulnerable adults are defined as “people who may not be able to protect themselves due to age, illness, or disability” (State of Alaska, n.d.). The statue describes types of abuse, such as. physical harm, emotional harm, or sexual assault; and neglect, such as failing to provide basic needs or medical care, financial exploitation, and abandonment (AK Stat § 47.24.900).

In the given scenario, the elderly couple are being neglected by their adult child as described by Alaska statues. The adult child is not providing adequate supervision of the elderly couple. They could get hurt wandering their rural neighborhood, and also run the risk of harming others.

Proceeding with the Case

If I was given this case as a forensic professional, I would want to gather more information on the adult child’s involvement. While neighbors have tried to speak to the adult child, I would question the adult child about their knowledge of their parent’s behavior when the adult child is not around. I would also want to ensure the adult child was really ensuring all the needs of the parents were met with food, medical care, hygiene, etc. I would want to make sure the adult child was not financially abusing the couple as well.

Additionally, elder abuse is something I would be required to report, under mandatory reporting laws in Alaska (State of Alaska, n.d.). I assume as a forensic professional, I would be brought in because of a mandatory report, but if I was working for a community agency, that may not be the case. So I would need to make sure I followed any mandatory reporting laws.