A Prosecutor's Perspective on Protecting Older Americans:

The prosecutorial response is an essential ingredient in any program to protect elderly Americans from abuse and neglect. Prosecution treats these cases as the crimes that they are; it also provides leverage to get offenders to enter into treatment. Lawyers and Adult Protective Services workers have many misperceptions about each other; both sides must work to eradicate the barriers that have arisen becuase of these misperceptions. A multidisciplinary approach is not only mutually beneficial but also crucial to effective resolutions of cases of elder abuse and neglect.