Enhanced MultiDisciplinary Teams
About E-MDTs
Each year at least 260,000 older adults are victims of elder abuse in New York State, and most of those cases go unreported. Elder abuse is the willful actions or inactions of a trusted person against an older adult. In New York State, we consider elder abuse to refer to individuals age 60 and older. Elder abuse may be emotional abuse, financial exploitation, active or passive neglect by other, physical abuse and sexual abuse. Most often, more than one form of abuse is occurring.
Enhanced Multidisciplinary Teams (E-MDTs) provide a coordinated response to elder abuse cases in each county in New York State. E-MDTs are comprised of professionals from various disciplines within each county whose primary focus is to intervene and prevent abuse of older adults including financial exploitation, physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect by other and/or emotional abuse. E-MDTs have unique access to a forensic accountant, civil legal attorney and geriatric psychiatrist/mental health provider in addition to drawing on the expertise of disciplines including aging services, the financial industry, and local legal and law enforcement. The team provides a holistic response which includes recommendations and support to those working on cases of elder abuse.
E-MDT Membership
Membership is based on the unique needs and resources of the individual county. It is important to identify and recruit E-MDT members representing key programs and services within each county.
Key member agencies for each county include:
Coordinator
Adult Protective Services
District Attorney’s Office
Law enforcement
Office for the Aging
Specialty Service Providers:
Civil legal service providers
Forensic Accountant
Geriatric Psychiatrist/Mental Health Provider
Additional member agencies to consider may include:
Elder abuse prevention providers
Bank/credit unions
Financial advisors
Domestic violence service providers
Ombudsman
Welfare fraud investigator
Veterans Administration
Department of Social Services
Elder law attorney
County Attorney’s Office
Attorney General’s Office
Department of Taxation and Finance
Lifespan oversees development of E-MDTs in Upstate NY. The New York City Elder Abuse Center (NYCEAC) oversees E-MDT development in New York City.
For more information regarding the Enhanced Multidisciplinary Team program and/or to find the contact of a coordinator in a specific county, contact Allison Granata, Assistant Director for E-MDT Initiatives, 585-287-6440.
This program is funded in part by New York State Office for the Aging, U.S. Department of Justice Office of Victims of Crime, New York State Office of Victim Services and Lifespan of Greater Rochester. Any opinions, results, findings, and/or interpretations of data contained herein are the responsibility of Lifespan of Greater Rochester and do not necessarily represent the opinions, interpretations, or policy of the State of New York or the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Victims of Crime.
In 2020, the Center for Human Services Research (CHSR), in collaboration with the University at Albany School of Social Welfare, worked with Lifespan of Greater Rochester, Weill Cornell Medicine’s New York City Elder Abuse Center (NYCEAC), and the New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) to develop and perform a preliminary program evaluation of the Elder Abuse Interventions and Enhanced Multidisciplinary Team (E-MDT) Initiative in New York State. The evaluation was designed and conducted between January and August 2020.The full report containing the findings of the preliminary evaluation of the initiative is below.
ADDITIONAL LINKS
What is Elder Abuse?
- Types of Elder Abuse
- Stories of Elder Abuse
What We Do
- Advocacy
- Education and Training
- Elder Abuse Prevention Certificate Program
• Student Portal
- Elder Abuse Helpline for Concerned Persons
- Enhanced Multidisciplinary Teams
- Intervention Services
- Scams / Consumer Protection
- Shelters
Resources
- County by County
- In the News
- Research, Studies and Reports
