It was the kind of mess many police officers don't like to tackle: an allegation of neglect by the caregiver of an elderly woman.

But after the caregiver's outburst in court and continued complaints brought the woman's condition to light, a Newport News officer started an investigation.

Before long, the case - complicated by concern that the caregiver who brought the problem forward could be culpable - ended up in the hands of the Peninsula Elder Abuse Forensic Center.

It's a regional team, the only one of its kind in Virginia, that brings social workers together with police officers, sheriff's deputies, prosecutors, mental health workers and domestic abuse agencies to tackle those tough cases where the elderly are abused or neglected.

The team also includes a doctor who specializes in treating the elderly, forensic nurses from Riverside Health System and forensic accountant Oscar Alvarez, who tracks down cases where the bank accounts, credit cards and income of the elderly are raided.

"We're excited by how it's working," said Kendall Perry, family services supervisor for the York-Poquoson Social Services Department.

Del. Mike Mullin, D-Newport News, who sat in on a couple of team meetings, thinks it is a model that could be copied across the state.

The cases are tough because those responsible for the abuse or neglect are often family members or trusted caregivers of many years' standing. The victims are often unaware of abuse or unable to remember enough to help police determine if there was a crime or social workers to see if there are services that could help.

The idea of the one-year-old team is to handle the hardest cases by bringing together agencies with different perspectives on the problem of elder abuse and possible solutions, said Stephanie Edwards, a social worker specializing in adult and family services for the York-Poquoson Social Services Department. Edwards pushed for the team after researching the first such effort, in Orange County, Calif., while working on her master's degree.

Police bring expertise in investigation; the accountant, experience in tracing financial crime; and prosecutors, the knowledge of whether a case will stand in court. The doctor and nurses' years of experience help the team figure out when an injury is just an accident, or neglect or active abuse.

"We meet once a month. It's not just talking. When we're brought a case, the idea is to do something. Everybody says what they can do. And the next month, we report on what we did," Edwards said.

In its first year, the team worked on 19 cases. Four of them are still open.

Nine cases involved some form of theft from elderly victims: using their credit cards, stealing their checks or withdrawing money from their accounts. Some arrests have been made.

In a couple of cases, courts revoked a caregiver's power of attorney. In others, courts have appointed a conservator or social workers have been able to separate the elderly victim from the abuser. In the rest, a request for a conservator or guardian is still pending.

In one case, the victim didn't want to do anything - that can be a big problem, since those accused of abuse are often family members.

Of the seven cases alleging neglect, the team's investigations deemed a couple unfounded. In one case, the elderly person refused any help. In a couple of cases where the team found neglect, social workers convinced the victims to move somewhere they could get the daily care they need.

The rest aren't yet resolved.

Three cases involve other abuse, including a charge of sexual abuse that prosecutors said couldn't be proven in court. One particularly complex case ended with a court appointing a conservator to take control of the person's finances and a guardian.

After the Newport News investigation that started with the caregiver's outburst in court, the team found the older woman had been left alone and shouldn't have been.

Then came what's often the toughest part, since elderly people and those who watch them typically grow so close. Namely, was the caregiver to blame?

That took a lot of discussion and a lot of thought, Edwards said. The caregiver had a troubled history herself - an issue social workers often see.

"But she tried to fix things," Edwards said.

In the end, that's what mattered. For that caregiver. And for the team.

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