Arizona AARP has been asked to serve on the Arizona Attorney General’s Task Force Against Senior Abuse (TASA). The task force was formed last year to help raise awareness of abuse among the elderly. Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne has made fighting senior abuse a statewide goal and priority since taking office in 2011. AARP is one of several organizations and community groups participating in the task force.

“I’m honored to represent AARP on this committee as the organization is concerned about the growing problem of abuse among the elderly, said David Mitchell, AARP Arizona State Director.

According AARP’s Public Policy Institute (PPI), recent data finds that one in ten older adults are victims of abuse with financial exploitation being the highest cause of mistreatment among the elderly. PPI also finds that calls to Adult Protective Services nationwide, usually the first responders to elder abuse, have risen since the recession began in December of 2007.

Among several goals listed in TASA’s mission statement is the establishment of a line of communication for people to contact the Arizona Attorney General’s office for help in reporting instances of senior abuse as well as the promotion of local coalitions statewide to assist in raising awareness of the problem.

“It’s likely that the problem of senior abuse is of a far greater magnitude than we know, as many incidents are under reported,” added Mitchell. “AARP looks forward to working with Attorney General Horne and the task force to find ways to prevent the mistreatment of older adults which includes criminal, physical and emotional abuse, neglect and financial exploitation.”