The Navigator
May 2021 Newsletter
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Scott's Thoughts.
Self-Reflection
By, Options for Senior Living Founder, Scott Fischer
As I have detailed over the last year a lot of my thoughts, I've touched on emotions as we’ve gone through 2020. Now into 2021, we are still under the shadow of the pandemic. I have recently undergone a process of self-reflection. I have had deep thoughts about things personal and all things business.
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This journey led to an encounter with a gentleman you’ll be meeting and getting to know in the next several months. This person, Tim Bingham, approached me about developing some energy and collaboration to review the current status of Options. He then began to challenge me to think about our future. As a consultant, he explained his role was to ask questions. Lots of questions.
He was challenging me! He wanted me to distill and articulate what makes Options for Senior Living different. He identified our core values. He asked me where on our website and in our social media did our core values appear. He asked me about how people came to work at Options for Senior Living. He asked me how I trained people. He asked me what values I looked for in people. He asked me about the values I wanted to make sure were instilled in our team. See, lots of questions.
Over 18 years ago I entered this industry when it was in its infancy. There may have been a couple of dozen agents around town offering to help families find the right placement. Most placement people found their work as part of the discharge planning process out of skilled nursing and hospital facilities. Today there are literally hundreds of people engaged in this process. However, there is no way of knowing exactly how many because the state of Arizona still does not require any sort of registration or regulation of our industry. That’s great for entrepreneurial people who are looking to own their own business. The barriers to entry are low and there are no regulatory restrictions. But, due to those lack of restraints, any and anyone can engage in this practice. This leaves consumers, professional referral sources, and senior living operators with no knowledge of how these people do business. So with that being the case, the industry is wrought with many characters. Many good and many that are not.
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This process of Tim asking lots of questions has let me develop thoughtful answers. It has further helped me define our core values. They are family first, leadership, trust, quality, and honor.
I think I’m gonna take some time over the next few months to discuss each of these in detail. They each deserve their own attention and expression. Options is ever-evolving and improving. This process, with Tim, is challenging me to look at every process and function in the company. Our goal is to see how we can improve for our families, for our senior living partners, and our referral partners.
One comment I hear quite a lot is that we do what we do because that’s what we’ve always done. That’s fine to an extent, but that’s not fine when you need a business like ours. We work most often with people who are in crisis. We need to grow and we need to be better. We need to improve in getting our message out to families who need our help.
We need to be better at communicating with professionals that could refer a trusted family to us. Our core values distinguish us from other companies in the marketplace. We've placed over 3500 residents here in Arizona. That's a lot of trust to get to that point.
We need to improve on receiving feedback for our work. Of course, it’s great to hear when you do well but it’s also important to hear where opportunities to improve exist. We are on a mission to improve and to help every senior citizen prepare for long-term care.
So thanks for taking a few minutes to spend with me. As we go through the summer, I will be diving into each of our five core values. Next month, we will introduce Tim Bingham as our new Director of Strategy, Innovation, and Development. We are already better because of his presence. We look forward to great things in the coming months.
Have a great month and I'll see you next time
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Event Registration.
Protect Yourself Series- Part 2 Adult/Elder Exploitation
May 19, 2021 05:30 PM
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Please join us to learn more about the financial exploitation of elders. It is one of the most frequently reported forms of elder abuse. The National Center on Elder Abuse estimates that such abuse costs older adults around $36.5 billion annually, a problem that’s only expected to increase in the coming years as the elderly population grows. Learn how to protect yourself.
SPEAKER / JENNIFER PITT With a Master’s Degree in Psychology and a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice, she’s the owner of Voice Against Fraud, LLC and is a fraud investigator herself.
Enter to win our drawing:
Dinner for 4 at The Park at Copper Creek Independent living & a gift basket.
Call Paige Gunn at (480) 285-9097 for any questions.
Brought to you by:
https://koelschseniorcommunities.com
https://s4grouprealestate.com
https://optionsforseniorliving.com
https://voiceagainstfraud.com
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Empowering Seniors to Protect Themselves Against Fraud
Jennifer Pitt, Owner of Voice Against Fraud
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An estimated that 7.68 million cases of elder fraud occur every year in the United States, equating to approximately $148 billion dollars in loss each year (according to Comparitech.com, a site that compares crime, service, and medical data). This figure may be low, as many states do not include the term “elder” in criminal law, and these cases are not always reported. This is my journey from frustrated, reactive, fraud fighter to proactive fraud consultant empowering seniors to avoid becoming victims. Please join me on this journey and learn how to protect yourself against fraud.
Being a former law enforcement officer, seasoned fraud investigator, and a recognized Subject Matter Expert in elder financial exploitation (in both Colorado and Arizona) has helped me to truly realize how often the elderly are forgotten. Laws protecting children are far more current and advanced than laws protecting the elderly, and law enforcement action is often reactive. While many seniors are very capable of protecting themselves, there are still those that (due to advanced aging, physical impairments, or cognitive issues) are forced to rely on others for help. Because of this and their often-trusting nature, these “vulnerable adults” and other seniors are often the targets of many types of fraud. This fraud includes identity theft (stealing personal identifying information through technology or surveys), scams (fraud in which the suspect casts a wide net looking for anyone’s information or money), and financial exploitation (a targeted attack on a specific individual – usually by caregivers or family - in order to take money over a longer period of time).
Unfortunately, criminal investigations or prosecutions of these cases are often unsuccessful, and (depending on the jurisdiction), these crimes often carry very little penalty. Identity theft is so rampant that police often cannot keep up with it. With our increasing reliance on technology and the pace at which technology changes, identity thieves can very easily steal your personal information. Scams are often difficult to prosecute or even investigate, as these suspects are often in countries, and therefore can evade capture.
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Financial exploitation often occurs over a long period of time, therefore these cases often take several months to a year to investigate. After the investigation is complete, prosecutors are often hesitant to try these cases in court, because they are more challenging (family members, powers of attorney, or caregivers are
often the suspects).
It has been very frustrating, to say the least, to realize and understand these hurdles when we are all simply trying to help elderly victims of financial crimes.
So many times in my career, I have spoken to elderly victims who lost everything from these financial criminals. They lost their life savings. They lost money that was to be endowed to family. Some lost their homes or other memorable items. They lost hope in humanity – to know that someone could be so cruel as to take their last dime or prized possessions. They were embarrassed and didn’t know where to turn. These victims were from all walks of life – teachers, military veterans, former police officers, and financial and business moguls.
It’s heartbreaking to look into the eyes of an elderly victim as they try to hold back tears, not knowing what to do next or how to handle the situation, wondering how they could have been fooled, wondering why they were targeted. And I’ve spoken to their families, who are just as confused and heartbroken that their loved one, a senior, who we are supposed to protect, was a victim…again.
It has been heartbreaking to know that I was not able to prevent this from happening, that I was there to investigate after it happened. I want to empower seniors to not become victims, so they can avoid this heartache and live their lives as carefree as possible.
In early 2020, I created Voice Against Fraud, LLC in hopes of empowering seniors and their families to fight against fraud, by teaching classes on prevention of identity theft, scams, and financial exploitation. Please join me in my quest to help seniors protect themselves.
Information about my services can be found on my website: VoiceAgainstFraud.com
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Testimonial.
"We appreciate the entire Options For Senior Living team but want to give a special shout out to Tammy for being a true professional and for always being a pleasure to work with."
~Jonathan Grosvenor
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Your Referral Is Our Biggest Compliment.
We wouldn't be able to make the impact we do without your trust and referrals. Thank you!
If you have a loved one, neighbor, friend or coworker in your life in need of assistance, please contact us at 602.845.1320. We are here to help.
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