Strengthening community response to financial exploitation: a cross-sector interagency initiative for early intervention, improved outcomes, and systemic capacity building - benjamin rose is…

The Benjamin Rose Institute received a $276,409 Cooperative Agreement from the Administration on Aging (Administration for Community Living) under the Special Programs for the Aging, Title IV, and Title II, Discretionary Projects program (CFDA 93.048), effective September 30, 2025 through September 29, 2028. The three-year initiative, titled "Strengthening Community Response to Financial Exploitation: A Cross-Sector Interagency Initiative for Early Intervention, Improved Outcomes, and Systemic Capacity Building," partners with the Cuyahoga County Division of Senior and Adult Services and the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department to address financial exploitation of older adults. The project develops and implements a cross-sector interagency program designed to identify and intervene early in financial exploitation cases, improve outcomes for affected individuals, and build community-wide capacity through collaboration and education.

Expected deliverables include intake and case management assessments, client interview protocols, specialized training materials for project staff, and educational resources developed by the Cuyahoga County Financial Exploitation Task Force. Key anticipated outcomes include increased referrals of rescreened cases to Adult Protective Services, improved safety and financial stability for vulnerable older adults, reduced repeat victimization, enhanced professional collaboration, and expanded community engagement through the task force. The project will measure effectiveness by tracking the number of financial exploitation cases opened by Adult Protective Services and evaluating improvements in client safety, financial stability, and service access, with findings to be disseminated locally and nationally.

Strengthening community response to financial exploitation: a cross-sector interagency initiative for early intervention, improved outcomes, and systemic capacity building - benjamin rose is partnering with the cuyahoga county division of senior and adult services and the cuyahoga county sheriff's department to address the rapidly increasing number of older adults experiencing financial exploitation (FE). The goals of the three-year project are to: 1) develop and implement a cross-sector interagency program to strengthen the response to FE by: effectively identifying and intervening early in cases of FE; measurably improving outcomes for individuals experiencing or at risk of FE; and developing community-wide capacity to address FE through collaboration and education; and 2) evaluate the effectiveness of the cross-sector interagency program by determining whether the program increases the number of FE cases opened by APS; improves outcomes for adults experiencing and/or at risk of experiencing FE; and creates community-wide capacity to address FE. The objectives are to: establish the agreements and contracts necessary to successfully implement this collaborative project; develop a cross-sector interagency program to address FE; implement a cross-sector interagency program to serve individuals experiencing or at risk of FE; measure the effectiveness of the cross-sector interagency program; and disseminate findings locally and nationally. Anticipated outcomes include referring rescreened cases to APS; improving safety, financial stability, service access, and reducing repeat victimization through the cross-sector interagency intervention; and expanding professional capacity, enhancing collaboration, and fostering community engagement via the cuyahoga county FE task force. Expected products include intake and case management assessments and client interviews, trainings that are developed for specialized project staff, educational materials developed by the task force, a final report, presentations at conferences, a webinar, and a clean copy of the final dataset for ACL.