Make Elder Abuse a Crime. It's Time.
AARP Iowa’s top legislative priority is to make elder abuse a crime and fix the gap in Iowa law enforcement and financial institutions’ tools to stop and prevent it. SF 522 would create a new criminal offense of “financial exploitation against an older individual” and would treat assault or theft against Iowans 60 or older as more serious crimes when an Iowan is targeted because they are 60+. Elder abuse takes many forms. Financial exploitation is the easiest to detect and most reported form of elder abuse, but rarely occurs on its own, often occurring with other forms of abuse: emotional, physical, even sexual.
Perpetrators are sometimes strangers, but abusers are more often known and trusted, including family members. AARP Iowa is proud to join Iowa aging advocates and a broad cross-section of other Iowa groups, many on the front line of combatting elder abuse, in supporting SF 522 to create criminal sanctions against elder abuse. The bill has no registered opposition.
SF 522 passed the Iowa Senate unanimously in 2021, and an amended version of the bill passed the Iowa House unanimously in March 2022 and the Senate in April 2022. The bill was signed by Governor Reynolds on June 15, World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, and is effective July 1, 2022.
Contact the AARP Iowa office for more information at: IA@aarp.org
