By some estimates, up to 14.1 percent of non-institutionalized elderly suffer abuse or neglect, and the number of reported cases likely dramatically understates the problem.

The Family Violence Statewide Assessment Report on the website of the Health Policy Institute of Ohio estimated annual occurrence of elder abuse and neglect in Ohio ranges from 90,000 incidents to 115,000.

In 2012, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services received 14,344 reports of abuse, neglect and exploitation of Ohio adults over 60. The National Elder Abuse Incidence Study of 1998 estimated that for each reported case of elder abuse, five cases are unreported; the Family Violence Statewide Assessment Report indicates that for every reported case, between six and eight are unreported. The number could be much higher.

Each county in Ohio provides adult protective services for seniors. The map above provides information about reported cases, state funding (from the General Revenue Fund), federal funding (Title XX -- "Social Security Block Grant"), and number of staff assigned to adult protective services.

Data are from two sources. Estimates of lower and upper levels of possible incidents of elder abuse are taken from Kenneth Steinman, “Family Violence in Ohio: Statewide Assessment Report,” Health Policy Institute of Ohio, October 29, 2010. County-by-county data on reported incidents and state and federal funding, as well as staffing, are taken from the Center for Community Solutions, “Adult Protective Services: Opportunities for Savings through Economies of Scale,” April 2013.

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