Ombudsman records alarming rate of abuse toward senior citizens

House bill would give law enforcement more resources to investigate & prosecute cases

Yolanda Varela Rosa, ombudsman for the elderly (Facebook via Jenniffer González Colón)

By The Star Staff

The Office of the Ombudsman for the Elderly (OPPEA by its initials in Spanish) has recently received an alarming 952 complaints regarding mistreatment and other crimes against older adults from October 2024 through February of this year.

The concern deepens when considering that, during fiscal year 2023-2024, there were 2,246 complaints filed by elderly individuals living in long-term care facilities. In total, the OPPEA recorded some 8,138 complaints, including those from various care centers, with 109 complaints coming from service providers.

The information was shared during a public hearing of the House of Representatives Public Safety Committee, chaired by Rep. Félix Pacheco Burgos, held Wednesday to discuss House Bill 487. The measure seeks to amend Act 20 of 2017, known as the “Puerto Rico Department of Public Safety Act,” by adding provisions that would allow the Bureau of Special Investigations (NIE) to take concurrent jurisdiction in cases of financial exploitation involving personnel from residential facilities, foster homes.

“The goal of this bill is to provide our law enforcement agencies with more resources to investigate and ultimately prosecute those who mistreat our elderly,” Pacheco Burgos said. “It’s essential to ensure the safety and dignity of our older population.”

Yolanda Varela Rosa, the ombudsman for the elderly, said “House Bill 487 is a vital step toward protecting vulnerable older adults from financial exploitation in institutional settings.”

“Approving this measure will strengthen our ability to investigate and prosecute those who commit these crimes,” she said.

Family Secretary Suzanne Roig Fuertes expressed her support for the bill in an explanatory memorandum, as did the Department of Justice.

According to 2023 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, one in five people in Puerto Rico is 60 years of age or older. This translates to around 785,016 individuals aged 65 or older, or 23.2% of the island’s population.