Learning Wednesday: Financial Exploitation of Seniors

Course Description:
 

Do you personally know a senior who was targeted or successfully scammed by perpetrators looking for quick money - perhaps even your own parents or grandparents? This webinar will review the reasons why seniors are often successfully targeted as victims of financial exploitation; it will discuss the risk factors that make certain seniors more vulnerable to exploitation than others; and, it will identify strategies that can be deployed to disrupt and prevent financial exploitation.

Goals:

1. Learn about the common strategies used to exploit seniors;
2. Learn the risk and protective factors involved in financial exploitation;
3. Learn how to help seniors avoid and/or disrupt scams for which they may be targeted; and,
4. Learn about the resources available to investigate and prosecute those responsible for financial exploitation.

Presenter:

Dr. Joseph Hunter, PhD, LCSW is a highly experienced and well-educated behavioral health leader with over 16 years of combined state and federal government employment experience, primarily as a subject matter expert in the behavioral health field in the areas of substance use disorders and suicide prevention; he possess strong leadership and team building skills that have contributed to the development of numerous specialized innovations in the areas of clinical practice, research, and treatment programming; and, he is an experienced and talented educator for graduate students, as well as seasoned professionals. His education includes a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology (1989), a Masters Degree in Social Work (1993), and a Ph.D. in Social Work (2010).

In 2005, Dr. Hunter was awarded the SAMHSA Dissertation Grant to complete his study on adolescent substance use disorder treatment. In 2011, Dr. Hunter was selected for two-year post-doctoral fellowship, and as a result was recognized as a VA/Hartford Geriatric Social Work Scholar. This year, Dr. Hunter has received distinguished recognition for his innovative work in behavioral health.

Dr. Hunter serves as the VA Suicide Prevention Coordinator at the Stratton VA Medical Center in Albany, NY, currently on detail to the National Suicide Prevention Office. In addition, Dr. Hunter joined the University of Southern California (USC) School of Social Work as part-time adjunct lecturer in 2013. Currently, as an Adjunct Assistant Professor, he teaches Masters of Social Work (MSW) courses in the areas of: clinical practice with service members and veterans, evidence-based clinical practice in mental health settings, mental health and human development, and mental health research. He is also a New York State approved provider of online and in-person continuing education for licensed social workers in New York State, offering training privately and for the National Association of Social Workers (NASW).