Laws Currently in Place to Protect Nursing Home Residents

Elders are one of our most vulnerable populations and there are so many laws in place that are intended to protect vulnerable elders. In California alone, we have the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act. This was designed specifically for elders to enforce cases against people who are abusing and neglecting them, such as nursing homes or assisted living facilities. These laws were created to encourage civil litigation attorneys, like myself, to take up these cases against these facilities. Although elder abuse can be considered a crime as well, we handle civil cases against these facilities. Essentially, the legislature created these laws because there weren’t enough resources to prosecute every case of elder abuse in the state of California.

So, under the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act, we’re able to bring these civil cases against facilities and seek compensation for the elder abuse and neglect that occurs in care facilities. There are several other areas of the law that apply to protect elders. There are state regulations that govern so many things about nursing homes: staffing levels, the amount of training that staff need to have, and there are also federal regulations that govern nursing homes that receive Medicare assistance.

Even though there are all these wide variety of laws intended to protect our beloved elders, unfortunately, a lot of the time, facilities are not complying with all of these laws. That’s kind of where we come in. At Lanzone Morgan, we have the experience and the tools to be able to help you enforce your loved one’s rights and ensure that these facilities are held accountable when they are not following the laws designed to govern them.