As of recent times, nursing home residents across the state are being robbed by the people you trust to take care of them, the nursing home staff. Although it may be hard to imagine, these individuals are stealing from our elderly, while dozens of incidents are beginning to appear each year.
According to an investigation done by the USA Today, in regards to thefts from nursing home trust funds, they found over 100 cases of nursing home theft which have occurred since 2010. The investigation also found that it is incredibly easy for nursing home staff to get away with this, no matter what type of nursing home.
Essentially, states have no audit requirements for the nursing home staff, while the people who inspect nursing homes do not pay much attention to trust funds. Furthermore, nursing home administrators are not required to go through a criminal background check, so if an individual has been charged for a crime in another state, they can relocate and find a similar job in another nursing home.
In order to prevent these types of crimes from occurring to our loved ones, our attorneys recommend requesting and closely monitoring monthly statements from the facility a keeping all receipts on purchases made for our loved ones living in a facility.
Of course, if you recognize anything unusual, or if a fraud has been committed, nursing homes are required to have theft insurance to cover these types of incidents in order for victims to get their money back.
