Protecting Seniors

Our senior citizens are a treasured part of our families, and we want them to receive the best care available. Many Tennessee families rely on outside help for the medical and daily living assistance that our seniors can’t provide for themselves. This relationship is built on trust and assurance that service providers treat our family members as if they were their own.

In the legislature, I have worked to:

• Sponsor SB 2832, which will give relatives the power to ask for legal protection for senior and disabled adults from their abusers. This bill will help families obtain restraining orders against abusive and neglectful caretakers, and ensure that their loved ones are not in harm’s way. Those accused of abuse and neglect would not be allowed to contact their former patients, and could be arrested if they violated a protective order.
• co-sponsor SB 532, which creates two senior alert systems. First, A statewide alert system to be activated on behalf of adults who are developmentally disabled or who suffer from cognitive impairment or who may reasonably be believed to be disabled; and second, A "Silver Alert" system for rapid dissemination of information regarding a missing person who is believed to be suffering from dementia or cognitive impairment.