PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Lori Sitler 
Public Information Officer
Phone: (302) 577-8314
Pager: (302) 247-1132
Date: May 16, 2002

ATTORNEY GENERAL BRADY TO ADDRESS

U.S. SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING

Testimony will Focus on Financial Exploitation of the Elderly

(Wilmington, DE): Attorney General M. Jane Brady has been invited to testify before the Senate Special Committee on Aging on Monday, May 20th at 1:30 p.m. to discuss Delaware's efforts to address the financial exploitation of the elderly. At the hearing, which will be held in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 215, Brady will focus on the Elder Abuse and Exploitation Project which she created in 1996. She will discuss how staff from this innovative Project assists in the investigations of financial exploitation and physical abuse of seniors in the community, conducts training for all law enforcement officers, responds to complaints, and acts as a liaison between social services agencies for seniors, the law enforcement community and the Attorney General's Office. She will also highlight the Senior Victim Advocate Program, which uses volunteer peer advocates for senior victims of crime. 

The Attorney General will also discuss with Committee members the work of her Task Force on Senior Victims which provides a blueprint for improving the State of Delaware's response to the problem of senior victimization. Finally, Brady will share information about changes to Delaware laws, such as the Adult Abuse Registry and enhanced penalties for offenders who commit crimes against seniors, which are an important component to addressing the victimization of senior citizens. 

The Attorney General stated, "This is an important issue to me personally, and I am pleased that the initiatives we have undertaken in Delaware have merited attention by the Senate Special Committee on Aging."

Attorney General Brady's oral testimony that she will offer to the Committee on Monday, (2 pages) follows this release. The full text of her written statement will be included in the printed hearing record and will be posted on the Committee's Internet Home Page, www.senate.gov/~aging following the hearing on May 20th.

The Dirksen Senate Office Building sits northeast of the Capitol adjoining the Hart Senate Office Building on a site bound by Constitution Ave., Second St., First St. and "C" Street, N.E. 

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