New program to bring awareness of elder abuse

The North Georgia Elder Abuse Task Force Foundation (NGEATF) has announced a new award recognition program.

NGEATF is dedicated to raising public awareness to the problem of elder abuse and neglect, coordinating activities of public health and public safety agencies responsible for fighting elder abuse and neglect and educating public officials to better protect Georgia’s adult elderly population (65+), according to a NGEATF and Marietta Police Department (MPD) statement

Recognizing there are numerous heroes within Georgia’s first responder/public safety agencies who go the extra mile to protect and rescue elderly citizens and that there are private Georgia citizens who also make bold, extraordinary efforts to guard or protect the elderly, the NGEATF has established the Pat King Guardian Award program to publicly recognize heroes in both categories.

The new award is named after King, the late Georgia POST Certified Forensic Nurse who dedicated 15 years of her professional life to championing the causes of Georgia’s elderly and disabled adults by rallying support for fighting all forms of abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

King passed away this year, and to honor her legacy, the NGEATF has named this new award in her remembrance.

The basis of the award is to recognize an individual or a team who makes an unselfish or otherwise extraordinary effort to rescue, guard or protect an elderly at-risk adult(s) from abuse, neglect, exploitation or fraud.

• First Responders Award – Recipients must be an active or a retired law enforcement officer or deputy sheriff, an active or a volunteer firefighter or an emergency medical technician.
• Citizen Hero Award – Recipients will include, but not be limited to, whistleblowers, employees of public or private healthcare or financial institutions and government employees. What matters most is that their actions were extraordinary, unselfish and bold.