Finger Lakes (NY) Identity Theft Coalition
Coordinated by Lifespan of Greater Rochester
Lifespan of Greater Rochester is a not-for profit social agency in western New York State that has provided social services to older adults and their caregivers for 40 years. Through 30 separate programs, Lifespan supports older adults to take on both the challenges and opportunities of longer life. The agency has a long history of leadership in preserving the safety and welfare of older adults. Its Elder Abuse Prevention Program, initiated in 1986, has served thousands of clients and is recognized as a leader in elder abuse education and intervention statewide and nationally. Lifespan is also the coordinator of the New York State Elder Abuse Coalition.
While older adults are not the exclusive targets of identity theft, they are especially susceptible to victimization. The impact of ID theft is devastating for older adult victims who are unable to
restore stolen funds through employment. As the lead agency in the Finger Lakes Identity Theft Coalition, the Lifespan project is focusing on the victimization of older adults (age 60 or older). A regional network of professionals and other stakeholders in eight counties in the Finger Lakes region of New York are working together to sponsor and coordinate activities around prevention, education of older adults and training of aging service professionals around prevention and identification of ID theft. The total population for the region is 1.1 million persons with an older adult population of 236,771 in the eight counties.
Coalition members have been recruited from aging service providers, elder abuse and adult protective staff, legal and criminal justice professionals, and law enforcement units.The goals of the coalition are to organize a systematic campaign to educate older persons at risk about preventive strategies and to enable those individuals who become victims of ID theft to take appropriate legal action to recover assets, when possible, and to receive supportive services to restore a sense of safety and integrity.
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